Like you, we are eager for this election season to be over. 2020 has been a year like no other– and this election is certainly no exception.
We know that an unprecedented amount is at stake in this election– including our very democracy. Many of us will stay up late next Tuesday watching poll numbers from across our state and country roll in, but we know it is unlikely that we will get a result that night. And that’s okay:
Every vote must be counted; that is the basis of our democracy.
Due to coronavirus and health concerns, more people are voting absentee than ever before. More than 1.3 million voters in North Carolina have requested absentee ballots for the November general election, as compared to 231,000 total ballots requested for the 2016 general election. Absentee ballots take longer to count because of strict security measures to verify the accuracy of those ballots. It is undoubtedly going to take longer for election officials to count the votes and verify a winner — and we need to defend this process and allow them to take their time. We must get this right.
Every vote matters. The soldiers who cast her ballot from overseas, the homebound grandfather who has mailed in his ballot, the teacher who dashed into an early voting site between teaching online classes, the machinist who ate his lunch while waiting in line on Election day. We all make up this country, all our votes will count.
We can’t win elections without all our folks coming out. So many of our local candidates are in close races, with a handful of votes likely to decide the outcome.
Our work isn’t done yet. Join our Weekend of Action Phonebanking.
