I’ll go to bed at my normal time. I usually wake up in the middle of the night so if there’s any news I’ll see it then. That’s what happened in 2016. I woke up at 3 to the NYT notification.
I can't imagine my level of anxiety on election day. It's going to be off the charts. The only way I know how to work that out is through exercise, so there's a chance I'll go for a really long evening run or just sit on the peloton all night while checking in every half hour or so to see if the world is ending.
Post by Velar Fricative on Oct 26, 2020 6:46:40 GMT -5
I’m preparing to not know the results that night, but there are things that can happen in other states even if we don’t know the big three that gave Trump the win. If AZ or FL can be called that night and either goes to Biden, that gives Biden a 98%+ chance of winning the election.
I have class, which IMO should be cancelled. It is going to be hard to pay attention. It should end by 8:15ish so at least that gives me the rest of the night.
I am working during the day, but I may sign up for a shift to call voter at some point that day. I will see if I can tolerate it after doing a couple of shifts this weekend.
Not sure about after class. Maybe we will order takeout. I haven't thought ahead that far.
I’ll probably obsess over numbers all day. I don’t want to buy any champagne or anything like that because I’m very superstitious, ESPECIALLY after 2016.
The same thing I do for most big elections, order some Chinese food, watch the results come in, and pretend like I'm not going to bed until there's an answer. Then around 10:30pm or 11pm I'll get tired and decide to just look in the morning.
Can I ask a dumb question? Why aren’t we expecting results on election night? Is it because so many more states than normal are allowing early and mail in voting and there are expected to be delays with those states?
NJ won’t have results for a while. It’s our first ever primarily vote by mail election due to the pandemic. Thankfully they also changed state law to allow counting to begin 10 days before Election Day instead of after the polls close on Election Day. Usually ballots have to be postmarked by Election Day and received by Thursday to count, but our governor that deadline to one week after Election Day due to the issues at the post office.
I suspect we’ll know who won before all ballots arrive and are counted but it will be delayed a few days.
I am certain I’ll be watching extensive coverage of results, even if it may not be called until some later point. I’m impressed with how many of you are saying you’ll be doing anything else!
I think many of us want to stay away from the speculation but will do a really bad job of it. Maybe we won't watch on TV but how many of us have the willpower to avoid checking our phones?
Post by underwaterrhymes on Oct 26, 2020 7:44:08 GMT -5
I’m going to watch sporadically. I’ll probably need to take anxiety breaks and will probably watch a few episodes of Schitt’s creek since H and I just started watching and are hooked.
I remember how awful I felt in 2016 going to work. Barely slept, puffy eyes, slightly hungover. I am glad I don't have to go to the office this year and face people, but I don't plan to repeat the hangover part, lol.
DH and I are planning an ice cream party for ourselves that night in honor of Joe—ever the optimists, lol.
Should the unspeakable happen, well then I can eat my feelings as well.
This post makes me sad thinking about the bottle of pink champagne I had chilling while I worked the polls in 2016. I was so certain and so naive.
I love this idea. I'm trying so, so hard to stay hopeful. Channeling my nerves into texting and writing postcards this week.
I'm working the polls on election day so I might just go to bed as soon as I get home. But I took off Wednesday, so I think it's more likely that I will stay up late watching news coverage.
Post by lilypad1126 on Oct 26, 2020 8:11:28 GMT -5
I'd like to say that I won't watch any news that night, but I know that's a lie. I've been trying to curtail late night (ie, after 8pm) eating/drinking lately, but I think I'll make an exception for election day. Besides, while the presidency is important, it's not the only election that matters, and I'd like to keep track of a few others. And maybe some of the down ballot races will show a glimmer of hope.
I distinctly remember in 2016, about 9:30pm, my H was like, hey let's take a walk and get some fresh air. We were both so dejected by that point (that feels so early in the night!) that we were spiraling. We took a long leisurely walk and by the time we came back in around 10:30, I just knew he was going to win. It was such a gut punch. This year, I'm going into it with low expectations, and I'm so afraid I'll have that terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach again. But I can't just go to bed and not have any idea what's going on.
Thank God for WFH and no early in the day appts on 11/4.
My H is having surgery the day before and election night may be his first night home from the hospital, so that should force us into an early night.
As others have said, I doubt we'll have am answer on election night. Definitely won't in PA where I live. So I'm not going to torture myself watching too much tv.
Haven't both campaigns said that they won't concede on election night?
@@@@ My 6 year old will tell us it’s boring. My 14 year old will watch some and then decide to play Xbox.
I have plans to have mimosas at the park with my friend once the kids are in Zoom school. We are hoping they will be “Mimosas of Merriment” and not “Mimosas of Misery.”
I will not be watching. But will wait for recaps from DH since he likely will be. I don't think I can take the ups and downs and it may be few weeks before final results will be able to be seen.
No specific plan, but I imagine it will consist of me sitting on the couch or love sac filling my face with shit food and booze. While destroying my nails, and driving my husband crazy with freak outs and random outbursts. Before I finally make myself fall asleep with a pit in my stomach.
I remember how awful I felt in 2016 going to work. Barely slept, puffy eyes, slightly hungover. I am glad I don't have to go to the office this year and face people, but I don't plan to repeat the hangover part, lol.
I was sober in 2016 and woke up dry heaving at 2 am, I was so upset. I don't think I could have physically handled drinking that night. This is why I'm seeking distractions.
God. Having flashbacks about waiting for the polls to close in 2016. Oof.
I'll watch and so will H. Not sure how late we'll stay up this time (last time I was up until almost 3am) because we both have to be productive the next day.
I don't want to drown my sorrows or celebrate with food/alcohol too much but I will have Halloween candy and beer ready to go.
I don’t think we’ll have an answer that night, and I’d rather not watch hours of speculation, so I’ll probably try to watch other stuff — movie marathon, I don’t know, and go to bed at a reasonable hour. My anxiety is already starting to spiral out of control, but due to my job I can’t take anything for it, so I’ll probably try to step up my meditation and exercise in the next few weeks.
ETA: we have another potential cat II hurricane headed our way, so I guess i have that to keep me busy.
You are having bad hurricane luck this year.
This system has been sitting over us for a few days - we have had a ton of rain - landslides all over, roads blocked, communities flooded and unfortunately some lives have been lost through houses washing away. It actually blew down some branches - and this was all before it was even an official depression. I hope you stay safe.
Pennsylvania and Wisconsin aren’t allowed to start processing absentee ballots until Election Day and Michigan can’t start processing them until November 2nd. Some states also accept ballots that are postmarked by Election Day even if they’re received after so with the large number of absentee and mail in ballots, it’ll take a longer time to get everything counted.
And this is different than normal because there are significantly more absentee ballots than they typically get? Is this more difficult to count than actual Election Day votes (which obviously can’t be counted until people cast their votes)?
Yes, but also many states have expanded vote-by-mail abilities this year. In PA, prior to 2019, you needed an excuse to request an absentee ballot, so unlike, say, California, they don't have ANY experience with large scale vote-by-mail. Serendipitously, PA updated the voting laws last year to allow a longer period to register, no-excuse mail in ballots, and a few other things. During the primary, many, many people requested mail-in ballots, and even with the primary being moved from the end of April to June 6th there were still issues with people getting their ballots and in counting some of the close races, but at least they go to practice.
So I plan to watch a movie and check with the news around 11 or 12. I am off the next day so I am fine staying up if I think it is worth it to see how the races are shaking out. I am hoping that we're have a sense of the presidential race by morning of 11/4 at the latest. If that is not the case I would assume that PA is too close to call and other redish-swing states end up voting for Trump (FL, OH, Iowa etc) keep the path for Trump open. If that is the case we'll all wait a week or more while they count ballots in all the close states.
States like AZ and TX may end up being bellweather states as early reads on the overall shape of the race. If things are within 2% in TX that would point to a very close national election IMO. TX turn out is currently sky high so far. Seems like they are going to excede their 2016 vote before election day. Since there is very limited mail in voting I would expect counts before midnight on 11/3. I am also curious how SC and GA senate races look. I am hoping they are as close as the polling shows now though I think undecides are more likely to break for the GOP candidates in the end.
I remember how awful I felt in 2016 going to work. Barely slept, puffy eyes, slightly hungover. I am glad I don't have to go to the office this year and face people, but I don't plan to repeat the hangover part, lol.
I was sober in 2016 and woke up dry heaving at 2 am, I was so upset. I don't think I could have physically handled drinking that night. This is why I'm seeking distractions.
I don't think I even had more than a few glasses of wine, I think it just felt like the worse hangover ever.
Pretending to watch a movie while surreptitiously, repeatedly refreshing election returns.
I still remember watching the map turn red on TV in 2016. I can't even anticipate or imagine enjoying watching it turn blue 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻, even if it does. I'll still be a wreck.