To our amazing volunteers,
You guys rock!!! The level of engagement we've experienced over the last several months, and especially in these past weeks has been inspiring and invigorating. Thank you, thank you to all of you who made phone calls, wrote postcards, sent text messages, donated, and reached out to friends. YOU MADE A DIFFERENCE.
Now we wait (unless you're making phone calls right up until the last hour which is awesome!!) Results will start trickling in around 6 p.m. Eastern, when the first polls close. But the full picture could take days or weeks to emerge. Some pivotal states, like Pennsylvania, can take days to count votes. And Georgia’s Senate race, which may decide control of the chamber, could go to a December runoff.
In California, vote counting tends to be slow because there are so many voters. And there is a seven-day window after the election to allow mail-in ballots postmarked on Nov. 8 to arrive. But early returns should help streamline the tally, and counties must begin reporting results to the states within two hours after the polls close.
To help get us all through the intense Election Watch period, we've curated below some words of inspiration and links for how to best follow along. Feel free to scroll and skim and find the nuggets that work best for you.
Two things to keep in mind:
- Regardless of the midterms' outcome, Joe Biden, who we helped elect, will continue to be our President and his veto power will make all the difference.
- Regardless of the outcome, we at IndiMarin and the entire Democratic community will keep up the fight. We may be needed in the very near future for ballot curing or runoff elections. So please keep an eye out for our newsletters in the days and weeks to come.
We are proud to work alongside of such wonderful, like-minded people who are committed to serving our country, our democracy and the greater good.
The IndiMarin Steering Committee - Joy, Amy, Andie, Laurie, Betsy, Betty, and Susan
GENERAL ELECTION WATCHING
Good sites for following updates online:
NPR Election Coverage
The Associated Press
The New York Times - "Midterm Election Live Updates" and "The Needle," a forecasting tool that debuted in 2016. It is intended to help you understand what the votes tallied so far suggest about possible winners in key contests, before the election is called.
For TV viewing or streaming:
PBS Midterm Election Coverage with Judy Woodruff is very good, as well as MSNBC (with Steve Kornacki and the Big Board) and CNN with Jake Tapper taking the helm from Wolf Blitzer this year.
GUIDANCE FOR WHICH RACES TO FOLLOW:
There are two places to keep an eye on — New Hampshire and Virginia — if you want an barometer early on for where the night is headed:
Cook Political Report’s Dave Wasserman says: “Don’t get too carried away by the first numbers you see... We’re going to have “blue mirages” and “red mirages” to some extent. The one place where I would expect no mirage would be New Hampshire, because towns typically report their results all at once and there’s typically almost no absentee vote.”
University of Virginia’s J. Miles Coleman offers a shorthand for the VA results, which will come early in the night: “Rs flip Luria’s seat in VA-2 = bare minimum types of seat they’d need. Rs flip Spanberger’s seat in VA-7 = likely an R gain of 25+ seats. Rs flip Wexton’s seat in VA-10 = biggest R majority since WW2.”
Dan Pfeiffer - What to Watch for on a Confusing Election Night
Gabe Fleisher of Wake Up to Politics: Election Night Viewer’s Guide
WORDS OF INSPIRATION
Heather Cox Richardson - "Finally, for all the uncertainty surrounding tomorrow's election, there is one thing of which I am 100% certain. Far more Americans today are concerned about our democracy, and determined to reclaim it, than were even paying attention to it in 2016. There are new organizations, new connections, new voters, new efforts to remake the country better than it has ever been, and the frantic efforts of the Republicans to suppress voting, gerrymander the country, and now to take away our right to choose our leaders indicates we are far more powerful than we believe we are. No matter what happens tomorrow, that will continue to be true, and I am ever so proud to be one of you."
Robert Hubbell - Have faith in democracy - "So, we should not await the election results with fear but with confidence and a clear-eyed recognition of the challenges we face—and certainty about the ultimate victory we will achieve. Republicans are fighting dirty because they know they are a minority party on a burning platform. Democrats have a vision that includes the majority of Americans in a future based on liberty, tolerance, peace, prosperity, and security."
Robert Reich - Regardless of what happens today, we are the future of America
Robert Hubbell - No effort is wasted - "In assessing the “success” or “failure” of our efforts, the most elusive and counterintuitive truth is that our efforts cannot be measured only by whether our candidates win or lose. In evaluating our efforts, we must ask two additional questions: First, what would have happened if we had not put in the effort to affect the outcome? Second, how many new voters did our efforts bring into the lifeblood of democracy?
As to the first question, imagine a scenario in which Democrats lose five seats in the House. That outcome will be portrayed as an apocalyptic defeat by the media. But it might have been much worse if not for the millions of postcards, texts, door knocks, Zoom calls, and house-party fundraisers by hundreds of thousands of dedicated volunteers. The measure of success is not only what did happen, but what might have happened but for our efforts.
As to the second question, if our efforts bring new voters into the democratic process, that is a long-term win without regard to short-term outcomes. Building democracy is a slow, accretive process. Our goal is to bring as many new voters into the process as possible. If we can do that, we will win—it is only a matter of time. Republicans understand that truth—which is why their business model involves excluding new voters and suppressing existing voters. As between those two approaches, the one that favors more inclusion and involvement aligns with the long arc of our nation’s progress. We should take hope and confidence from the alignment of our efforts with the unstoppable momentum of America toward greater liberty, tolerance, and inclusion.
In other words, no effort is wasted. Remember that fundamental truth on election night—and every day thereafter!"
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. - "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”
