The people have spoken. And now we wait.
By the end of today, more than 150 million Americans will have voted in the presidential election. That includes more than 4 million people in Washington and some 300,000 in Clark County. And despite the impatience of our instant-gratification society, accurately counting those votes takes some time.
Nationally, that means the results of the presidential election might not be known tonight. Seven states are considered swing states, where the presidential race is expected to be closely contested, which could lead to delays in projecting a winner.
On the other hand, many things have changed since the 2020 presidential election, when it took five days for reliable media outlets to declare a winner. That year, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, a larger percentage of voters cast ballots by mail, which leads to delays in counting. Since then, several states have enacted procedures to expedite the results.
As election expert Quinn Yeargain of Michigan State University tells The Hill: “Things will be different this year. It may not be as quick as 2022. Famous last words I suppose, but I would be surprised if the process took as long as it did in 2020.
“At the same time, the ultimate outcome in 2020 was quite clear before the networks called it on that Saturday. There was no real question as to what was going to happen probably after Wednesday afternoon or Thursday.”
While delays can be frustrating and can induce anxiety among voters, the public should be wary of candidates prematurely declaring victory. They also should be wary of candidates spreading lies about election fraud or a “stolen election.”
This, of course, was Donald Trump’s strategy in 2020. After being rejected by the American people, Trump issued a litany of falsehoods that he has continued to espouse. After four years of Trump’s accusations being undermined by facts and evidence — including in 60-some lawsuits — the public should be wise to his subterfuge this time around.
Meanwhile, local and state election results in Washington also could see some delays. Results from a significant segment of the ballots will be released tonight beginning at 8 p.m. — the deadline for turning in ballots — but the count will continue for several days. For ballots that are returned by mail, they must be postmarked by today in order to be counted, delaying the final results.
In years past, The Columbian has editorially argued that laws should be changed to require that ballots be received by Election Day. We since have acknowledged that such a stance was misguided. If a ballot is mailed, say, five days before the election but delays in the U.S. Postal Service cause it to arrive after Election Day, the voter should not be punished. Now imagine if delays caused 100 or 1,000 ballots to arrive late through no fault of the voters; it would undermine the integrity of the election.
Integrity, after all, is the preeminent requirement as ballots are cast and counted today. That integrity is increasingly called into question, including with a recent video that falsely purported to show undocumented immigrants voting in Georgia. The FBI responded to the claim: “This Russian activity is part of Moscow’s broader effort to raise unfounded questions about the integrity of the U.S. election and stoke divisions among Americans.”
Some divisions are unavoidable in a hotly contested election. But we hope that patience and cool heads will prevail as we await the verdict of the American public.
