This Isn't The First Time People Have Anxiously Waited For Election Returns

We won't know who the winner of the US presidential election is for an undetermined amount of time. We're not the first Americans to wait.

If you're anxious right now, you're not alone. Many Americans across the political spectrum are struggling with their feelings. But this is not an invitation to grind your teeth or bite your nails down to tiny, tiny nubs. Instead it's a reminder to take deep breaths, take care of yourself and your loved ones, and think about your role in our country the next four years, no matter what the outcome.

With mail-in voting at an all-time high due to the coronavirus pandemic, we don't know when we'll know the projected winner. While the election has yet to be called, this stress and doomscrolling has happened before, and people survived it. We assembled some historical photos of different election stressfests as people wait and watch the returns.

Crowd of people watching a screen, which we only see the back of
Man writing on chalkboard
Man holds his temples in election number room
Nancy Pelosi looking over election returns.
Men in camouflage watching a television with election results
Numbers and faces on election ticker tags on a table
Old Times Square with crowd of people
George Bush and family watching television
Man and woman watching election returns on television
People working on election night
Large crowd of people in Times Square
Men in black-and-white photo crowded around a TV
Ronald and Nancy Reagan watching multiple televisions
Man speaking into a very old microphone
Family watching television
Man scratching his head
Happy people.
A woman in a chair looking sad in an empty hall.







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