Opinion | Don’t ‘STOP THE COUNT’
Mady Dever, Opinions Editor
I’m tired of talking about President Donald Trump.
I’m done debating in endless circles, trying to wrap my head around every word he speaks or every action he takes – it’s like scaling Mount Whitney with no hiking gear in a windstorm. I’m done waking up every morning for the past four years to trending Twitter hashtags and exploding news stories of something outrageous Trump spouted off. I’m worn out from enduring small-talk elevator chats at work about the latest Trump scandal. I hate that he has taken up so much mental real estate and let me tell you, the rent isn’t cheap.
And just by writing this article, I am adding one more drop of fuel to the fire that is sheer exasperation toward Donald Trump.
We are all done. Hopefully, we won’t have to talk about him for much longer.
Throughout this election, I feel like I’ve been watching “Harry Potter,” shouting “10 points for Gryffindor” with each Biden gain, except there’s no Daniel Radcliffe involved and I’m incredibly high-strung because it feels as if everything is on the line.
This “nail-biting” election, as it has been coined by various news outlets throughout the ballot count, is unlike anything I’ve seen in my lifetime. Sure, this isn’t saying much, given the fact that I was only old enough to comprehend about four elections: 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020. But I’ve seen enough to know that something is amiss.
The unrest and loss of sleep my peers and I have felt since the start of the week is not because the election is dragging on for days, but because our own president is attempting to delegitimize the counting process – in turn stripping away our democracy.
Here’s some food for thought: We’ve actually never had an election where the final vote tabulations were complete by midnight on Election Day, as Trump has so demanded. The Associated Press, Fox News, CNN and other news organizations have been providing projections for viewers, not finalized wins. And they won’t be final until the tally is complete.
Every vote needs to be counted and it’s mind-boggling that our own president demands we “STOP THE COUNT!”. Of course, he broadcasted this demand from Twitter, and alongside his many other tweets condemning the vote-counting process, he is spreading false information and making up his own rules of how to elect a president.
Let’s remind ourselves that this message is coming from an actual sitting president. He even attempted to preemptively declare victory, claiming states like Georgia, North Carolina and Pennsylvania were Trump victories – all of which are still counting votes.
Why ask people to vote if you simply don’t want to include their voice in the count at all? Why campaign and travel across America, holding massive COVID-19 hotspot rallies, only to disregard them and leave their ballots in the back of a dusty drawer?
I simply don’t understand. There has not been one moment during Trump's four years I have been able to wrap my head around. I don’t want to try to understand anymore.
I’m done.
That being said, if we legally complete the count that happens to end in a Trump victory, at least we can say we followed the rules of our democracy.
We’re going to call the election the right way – not Trump’s way – no matter how many days of counting it takes. Everyone's voice must be heard.