UNITED STATES—I have never had this level of anxiety waiting for the results of a presidential election for as long as I can remember. I have been actively voting, and I mean actively on a local, state and national scale since I turned 18. I was one of those people who couldn’t wait to have the opportunity to vote and I used that weapon as I call it to have my voice heard.

With that said, nothing annoys me more than hearing about people who are in their mid-20s, their 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, heck some people in their 70s, who have never cast a ballot or vote in my life. People of such magnitude boil my blood. Don’t talk to me, just don’t even speak a word to be me because I cannot fathom or try to grasp why you think it’s NOT important to vote. I just don’t understand it, but I guess when some people have the privilege of NOT voting, they don’t have to vote.

With that said the 2020 Presidential Election has been beyond what I call a nail bitter. I mean when I went to the polls at 7:30 a.m. it was a long line. I hadn’t seen a long that line at my polling station since 2008 when Barack Obama made history becoming the first African-American to become President of the United States of America. So that was a cue for me that it would be a long election night. Yeah, I knew plenty of people who decided to cast their ballot absentee or by mail-in, but not me.

I know we’re in a pandemic, but I have always been one who wanted to cast my ballot in person considering my grandparents, and their parents were NOT given the opportunity to actually vote. It’s hard to fathom that this country had to have not one, but two constitutional amendments. First, the 15th Amendment that first gave individuals who had been denied the right to vote because of the color of their skin, the opportunity to vote without suppression. Then years later, the 19th Amendment was passed that allowed women the right to vote. Yeah, I am still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that amendments had to be passed to allow PEOPLE the right to vote. It is indeed ugly and it says a lot about our country.

With that said, Election Night was one that left me on pins and needles. I feel like as Americans we have always, and I mean always known who the next President of the United States would be by the time the night was upon us. I mean there was another time, back in 2000 when Al Gore battled George W. Bush, where Bush edged out a victory winning Florida and winning the 270 votes in the Electoral College.

I knew it would not be a quick night because there were so many people who case absentee and mail-in ballots. Those ballots are valid those are American voters speaking to the public, and as long as those votes were postmarked by the deadline that was initiated by the law they should be counted plain and simple, you can’t tamper with votes or it raises a question of the legitimacy of American democracy. States that have typically been red stayed red, states that have been predominately blue stayed blue.

With that said there was a slight surprise in Arizona going BLUE for the first time in 24 years, followed by Wisconsin being called for Joe Biden mid-Wednesday afternoon. Yes, two stated that were predominately won by Donald Trump had flipped to the Democrats favor. However, Florida which for reasons I can never fathom, had people on edge, and ultimately was a victory for Republicans and President Trump.

We might not know the winner of this election for a few days, perhaps a few weeks depending on the legal challenges that could unravel in the coming days with such close races like Nevada, Michigan and Pennsylvania. Michigan and Nevada is neck-and-neck right now, with Pennsylvania leaning in Trump’s favor, but there are mail-in ballots that still have to be counted.

Lawyers have gotten involved, ballots are being questioned and it just adds to the level of anxiety and stress so many Americans have already had to deal with when it comes to this particular job. It sucks, it really sucks, but all I can say to ensure the American public is that rather you’re Democrat, Republican, an Independent or you have no party affiliation, win or lose, you will survive. We cannot always win, and if you lose you lose, take the loss gracefully, noting no funny business has transpired and hope of the best the next time around. When it comes to politics the power ALWAYS and I mean ALWAYS shifts, no one party or individual stays in power forever.

Written By Jason Jones