As people finalize their voting choices on Election Day, a lot remains uncertain. But one thing is already abundantly clear, which is that our democracy is alive and well. All those warnings about President Trump destroying our democratic institutions are being exposed for what they were — tactical or strategic partisan shots.
Heading into Tuesday, about 100 million people had already cast ballots either through in-person early voting or by mail. In many states, turnout met or exceeded total turnout for all 2016 as of midday Monday. Turnout was already at 91.2% of the state’s total 2016 vote in Nevada; 93.7% in Florida; 93.9% in Georgia; 95.4% in North Carolina; 97.3% in New Mexico; 99.1% in Montana; and a staggering 108.3% in Texas. That’s all before a single in-person Election Day vote has been cast.
All the signs, in other words, point to massive turnout in 2020, if not record turnout. This indicates a vibrant democracy, not the hollowed-out shell that you would expect if you’ve been listening to Chicken Little.
This should not be a surprise, given the importance of the election. But it stands in sharp contrast to the past four years of breathless coverage warning that Trump’s election was a threat to the future of American democracy.
Trump’s election triggered the Washington Post to change its slogan to the dramatic “democracy dies in darkness.” For years, we’ve read stories about how Trump was going to jail journalists. We were treated to regular ominous comparisons to the early days of the Third Reich, and his immigration polices were routinely compared to the Holocaust.
Going into the election, there were repeated news cycles manufacturing controversies about how Trump was going to refuse to leave office if elected, or even that the election would be canceled.
None of this has happened, and none of it will happen.
Although election disputes remain likely, especially if the results turn out to be close, the bottom line is that voters are turning out in droves. Millions of new voters are participating in the process. Their votes will be counted, and a winner will ultimately be declared.
If Trump wins, it will be because voters in a critical mass of states decided that he deserves another term, not because he damaged institutions or prevented votes from being cast. If Trump loses, it will be because voters decided that they’ve had enough of him and want to give Joe Biden a chance to govern instead.
In other words, democracy lives. It’s not much of a surprise, unless, like much of the media and establishment class, you’ve been spending the last four years in a constant unnecessary panic.
