JAMES MEAD
Managing Editor
For many of us, today marks the beginning of a waiting game.
We’ve voted.
We’ve come out.
We’ve said our piece.
Now, we’ll watch 50 U.S. states tally their votes and declare their pick — Biden, or Trump?
Four years ago, I turned 18 on Election Day.
I cast my first vote without a thought and woke up the next day to a major shock.
By now, however, I think we’re all out of shocks.
This year, we’ve seen terror attacks worldwide, we’ve seen celebrities and icons die, we’ve seen police kill Black citizens and later armor up to assault peaceful protesters, we’ve seen cities explode. To top it off, we’ve seen a global pandemic rip through our lives and for too many, our loved ones.
I cannot overstate the importance of voting, but there is one thing I’ve learned in my four chaotic years as an adult: life, and the need to stay engaged with our democracy, doesn’t end when the votes are tallied.
We’ve lost people, we’ve gained people, we’ve celebrated and we’ve mourned — countless shocks later, I think we’re all a little surprised to have made it this far.
There will likely be legal battles to come, and there will likely be disinformation spread about the results.
However, we should be proud of at least one achievement from this election: as of this morning, over 100 million citizens have already voted.
Early voters in 2020 have cast 72.3 percent of all votes cast in 2016 — not 72.3 percent of all early votes in 2016, but of all votes total.
We are well on our way to the greatest voter turnout rate since 1908.
If the sign of a well-functioning democracy is participation, then we are proving that we haven’t forgotten the sacrifices our parents, grandparents and ancestors have made.
There are already too many legal citizens denied the right to vote for various reasons: residency in U.S. territories like Puerto Rico and Guam, felony convictions that haunt them even after release, unproven allegations of voter fraud that are nevertheless used to systematically restrict minorities.
To be clear, we have more work to do.
Regardless of who wins this election, so long as it appears legitimate according to our laws, we should honor the votes of our peers.
Yet, regardless of who wins this election, we should not be waiting four years to speak up again.
I don’t have the experience to know whether previous presidencies have encountered this level of activism, but I suspect that it’s unusual.
We should not slow down.
All of us, across all party lines, are concerned about the state of our country.
We’ve felt higher levels of hostility toward each other, greater disbelief in our government, worse fear over the path we may be taking.
The solution is to continue to do what many have been trying: raising our voices through petitions, speaking with elected officials, demonstrating at peaceful protests, donating to and volunteering with causes we support and raising awareness of the problems we see.
Remember that we’re fighting hatred, ignorance and injustice — not each other.
Celebrate your candidate’s success, but try to have empathy for those that don’t; we may disagree with each other, but we should always make the attempt to come together.
Maybe we’ll feel better in these next few weeks.
Maybe we’ll feel worse.
As we begin our waiting though, remember that time doesn’t stop at the end of an election.
Keep listening, and keep speaking up.