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.
People gathering at Washington state Democratic Party headquarters during election night in Seattle, Washington, 1964.
A man writes in the results of the presidential election on a chalkboard, Nov. 2, 1948. Despite a three-way split in the Democratic base, President Harry Truman won reelection against challenger Gov. Thomas E. Dewey.
California state Sen.-elect Richard Alarcon goes over numbers with his staff shortly after the polls closed on June 2, 1998, at his campaign office in North Hollywood. Early returns showed him trailing opponent Richard Katz by double digits.
President Bill Clinton watches returns along during election night at the Old State House in Little Rock, Arkansas, Nov. 5, 1996, during his second bid for the White House.
Nancy Pelosi looks over early returns with Jemma Turner and John Burton at election headquarters on primary election night, April 7, 1987.
US Marines from Charlie Company watch news about the tight US presidential race at a base near Iraq's rebel-held western city of Falluja, Nov. 3, 2004.
Tally board numbers and tags featuring photos of John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon from the 1960 general election night returns at CBS News on Nov. 8, 1960.
An elevated night view of people gathered in Times Square to get early election returns in New York, Nov. 2, 1948. If you look closely, you can see Truman on the screen.
George H.W. Bush and his family watch the election results in the hotel room, on Nov. 8, 1988, in Houston.
W. Wilson Goode and his wife, Velma, smile as they see news heavy voter turn out in West Philadelphia in the Democratic primary election on May 17, 1983.
People working on the reports from precincts in an election, tabulating results, 1958.
The speakers from the radio station La Voix de L'Amerique transmitting the result of the US presidential elections in worldwide languages in 1952.
New Yorkers pack Times Square to watch the 1940 presidential election results under the glow of neon signs at night.
Election night at Kennedy Headquarters in 1960, as Nixon half-concedes defeat.
Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan watching election results at the Plaza in 1984.
Newscaster Mel Allen reads New York City mayoral election night coverage and returns over CBS Radio, Nov. 4, 1941.
Boston mayoral candidate Ray Flynn watches the 8 p.m. election results at his home in South Boston with his family, Nov. 15, 1983.
Los Angeles 12th District city council candidate Greig Smith reacts to early returns that show him in the lead at his campaign headquarters in Granada Hills in 2003.
Massachusetts Representative Barney Frank and his mother, Elsie, watch the returns from their Framingham hotel suite as Frank wins the Democratic nomination for the 4th Congressional District on Sept. 16, 1980.
Obama supporters (from left) Michelle Ester, Joyce Townes, Edward Townes, Earline Wallace, and Jackie Woods react as they watch election returns at an election night party at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina, Nov. 4, 2008.
A girl slouches in a chair at the Democratic Party's headquarters in Washington, DC, as her boyfriend scans election returns on Nov. 7, 1956, after a walloping Republican victory.
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Pia Peterson is a photo editor at BuzzFeed News, and is based in Brooklyn.
Contact Pia Peterson at pia.peterson@buzzfeed.com.
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