WASHINGTON — The 78 days between Election Day this fall and Inauguration Day next January could be a greatly unsettled time for American democracy.
Unlike most presidential elections, when ballots are tallied and counted in a majority of precincts by midnight on Election Day and news outlets are able to project a winner before you go to bed, this November’s election is likely to be different. Because of a surge in mail-in ballots caused by people’s reluctance to physically go to the polls with COVID-19 still coursing through the population, results are likely to be delayed.
Mail-in ballots take longer to collect and count, and that is likely to cause delays in counting and in reporting of results.
That interregnum of 11 weeks could also be rife with disinformation coming from all directions as criminal hackers, enemy states and even domestic political forces try to shape people’s perceptions of what actually happened. Lawsuits are also likely to proliferate if the outcome is not clear.