When is this election anxiety going to end, plaintive Americans ask?
Don’t expect it to happen on Election Day – unless you believe in a slam-dunk outcome in this abnormal, vehemently argued presidential contest.
Polls, pundits and early voting by Democrats and Republicans point to razor-thin margins in the seven swing states expected to play a central role in who wins.
If that occurs, there may be no final end for weeks. Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris are both primed to scrutinize too close to believe results.
The probability of delay is underpinned by Trump’s oft-stated comment he can only lose if the election is stolen.
That’s a redo of his admonition four years ago that led to the courts dismissing more than 60 election fraud lawsuits – and the Jan. 6, 2021, violent attack on the national Capitol.
The last presidential election saw some states revising their election laws to make it harder to vote this time, a combative response to the baseless accusations about mail ballots, drop boxes, voting machines and noncitizen ballots.
Trump’s grievances prompted problematic requirements for voter registration, absentee voting, voter identification, early voting and mail voting. Legal disputes over the changes persist.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court, in a temporary order, allowed Virginia to purge 1,600 names from its voter rolls. The state claimed some were noncitizens. Voter advocates want to see the evidence. The conflict will play out in lower courts after the election.
On Tuesday, a federal judge rejected a lawsuit by six Republican members of Congress from Pennsylvania over their concerns about 25,000 ballots sent to military personnel and other citizens overseas.
Time is running out on other challenges to election laws. Frustration and confusion cannot move Tuesday’s Election Day. From the beginning of their matchup, Harris and Trump have been spending much of their time and campaign millions courting voters in the Big 7 swing states: Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, Nevada and Arizona.
With good reason. They account for 93 electoral votes of the 270 needed to become president. Success is measured by knowing why they swing and their history of narrow preference.
In the 2020 election, President Biden won the swing states except North Carolina. Four years earlier, Trump lost only Nevada. This year, the polls say, the outcomes are mostly a jump ball.
Trump and Harris are pouring ad money into Big 7 broadcast television stations, cable TV and digital outlets, complemented by ground games featuring door-to-door canvassing and neighborhood gatherings. Data directs who they want to reach and how best to do it.
The sprint to the finish includes guerrilla tactics on social media.
Misinformation and disinformation flourish from digital influencers, including foreign agents hoping to tilt the playing field and sow distrust in American democracy. A few examples:
Fabricated video of Trump ballots being destroyed in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. U.S. intelligence agencies say the recent video was the work of Russian actors.A post on the social media site X claimed a rural Georgia voter had his Trump ballot flipped by a voting machine. Local election official checked the ballot, said it was spoiled, not altered, when processed with 6,000 others. The voter cast a replacement.Video ads that encourage online voting, which isn’t legal in federal elections. Another stated you need to pass an English language test to vote. The intent is to discourage voting.
On and on they go, like a funny hamster on a wheel.
But it is no laughing matter.
The consequences of dishonesty are harmful to democracy and the nation’s character.