By the end of tomorrow, an estimated 130 million Americans will have cast their votes for the next president of the United States of America.
Of this number, an estimated 90 million have already cast their ballots, essentially guaranteeing that the majority of ballots will be cast before Election Day.
With only a day left for the voter population to cast ballots in-person, early voting continues to set records, making this year’s election different from any in recent memory.
Evidently, the COVID-19 pandemic has changed everything – from how the campaign is conducted to how votes are cast to what Americans value.
Furthermore, the disease has led to the cancellation of conventions, and campaign formats have been varied in some cases to conform to the COVID-19 protocols.
It is this same reason that has forced many Americans to change how they vote in this year’s elections for their choice of a leader.
More importantly, the pandemic has led the two frontrunners, President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden, to refocus the US attention, bringing issues like public health and economic as well as racial inequality to the fore and prompting the public to revisit what characteristics it wants in its leaders.
Above all, whatever the outcome tomorrow, the election could shape the American politics and government for decades to come, particularly conducting an election in abnormal times.
Although the focus right now – that is today and tomorrow – is on the election, most people are rightly preoccupied with the immediate impacts of the coronavirus on public health and the national economy.
But those of us watching from the outside have our eyes on how the election is going to pan out, especially how the oldest democracy is going to function in a highly polarised and acrimonious era to ensure and guarantee a free, fair, and accurate and timely election that would be acceptable to all.
We have no doubt that the US has the capacity to hold a credible election, something they have done for many decades and we look forward to just that because many countries look up to America and compare its democratic tenets to theirs back home. A disputed election in the US is likely to send the wrong signal across the world and this is where America dare not fail.
The integrity of the election is critical to the legitimacy of the next US leader, and it would send a strong measure to our countries to follow suit and conduct credible elections.
To all American voters, we wish to admonish that no matter their politics, the most important thing to remember is that this election is not going to look like what they are used to, and so must be patient if final results are not on election night.
Whatever the outcome may be, for us, all we wish for the people of the US is that may the better candidate and the rightful choice of the people become the next leader of the country.
