Whenever this election is over, we’re all still Americans
With only two days remaining before in-person polling, we would love to say the 2020 presidential election is 72 hours from being over, but any reader of this newspaper knows that wouldn’t be accurate. h Even if we’re blessed with a seemingly decisive result sometime late Tuesday evening, most states don’t make their official declarations for several more days, and the nature of this contest is such that the side appearing to lose will demand every available recount and reconsideration. h That means the responsibilities of good citizenship aren’t yet discharged.
From Wednesday forward, Americans need to remain vigilant against two forces that are assailing our democracy: disinformation and the angry tribalism it inspires.
WHAT ABOUT THE NEXT TWO DAYS?
• Don’t vote by mail; it’s too late. Technically, a mailed ballot has to be postmarked before Election Day, but at this point, to be sure your absentee ballot arrives on time, take it to your county board of elections (in Franklin County, it’s at 1700 Morse Rd.) and put it in the drop box.
• If you have an absentee ballot but would rather vote in person, either before or on Tuesday, you can do so but you’ll have to use a provisional ballot. It’ll be counted after elections workers make sure you didn’t cast a mail-in ballot as well.
• If you plan to vote in person, be sure to take a driver’s license or other legal form of identification. Early voting centers are open today 1-5 p.m. and Monday 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Polls are open on Tuesday from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
• If you need to do some last-minute homework on the election, visit www.dispatch.com/votersguide. You also can find many details about the election and voting on the Ohio secretary of state’s website: www.ohiosos.gov.
The foreign actors so intent on stoking division in American society won’t stop just because a new president is elected or President Donald Trump wins a second term.
They’ll use the lingering hostility of this bitterly fought contest as a medium in which to grow fresh lines of conflict.
And if enough state vote totals on Tuesday are close enough to depend on mail-in and provisional votes not yet counted, the noise could be infinitely greater, as the candidates’ supporters seize on threads to press their man’s case and delay a loss.
While Facebook, Twitter, Google, Apple and other enablers of high-speed disinformation mostly fail to contain the damage spread by their creations, Americans must continue to rely on themselves to judge whether a claim or story is trustworthy.
If you’re not sure about something, don’t share it.
And keep in mind the fact that the cyber trolls’ aim is to make people angry — angry enough to turn on their fellow Americans. The claims that make you the angriest should be the most suspect.
That’s not to say that there aren’t reasons for Americans to be angry.
The intense opposition to Trump is inspired by his mishandling of the coronavirus, his cruel immigration policies, his financial self-dealing, his encouragement of white supremacy and other serious flaws — not by some inexplicable, irrational “hatred” as his followers like to allege.
The utter failure of the Republicancontrolled Senate to condemn even Trump’s worst excesses has trained that anger on the GOP in general.
By the same token, too many of those enraged Trump critics have left their own humanity behind in how they consider those Americans who support the president.
All-too-obvious contempt and mockery have scorched the earth between the two sides, leaving little room for honest discussion or understanding.
If Trump wins, we hope the opposition will rededicate itself to challenging his misgovernance and involving more like-minded people in the democratic process.
If Biden wins, Democrats will have a long list of policy priorities to pursue. But we hope their highest priority will be restoring the democratic institutions and governing capacity that Trump has so badly damaged in the past four years. Rebuild confidence in government and policy victories will follow.
Win or lose, we hope Trump opponents will work to understand and address the concerns that motivate his supporters. The election will be over eventually, and Americans will have to continue sharing the same country.