Obama shares Election Night advice to anxious voters awaiting results: Be patient
As polls begin to close on Election Night, former President Barack Obama relayed advice to voters anxiously awaiting the final results: Be patient.
“It took several days to count every ballot in 2020, and it’s very likely we won’t know the outcome tonight either,” the former president wrote in a post on X, which has garnered nearly 19 million views.
“So please keep a few things in mind as you make your voice heard today,” he wrote. “Thousands of election workers around the country are working hard today. Respect them. Thank them.”
Obama — who hit the campaign trail in support of Harris — also urged Americans to be cautious about sharing unsubstantiated information and to “let the process run its course.”
His comments come as polls in states across the country are near to close — with election workers now engaged in the process of counting ballots.
Officials and experts, though, have said that some states will not finish counting their ballots by the end of Election Night. The results in hotly contested swing states, in particular, may not be known for days, McClatchy News reported.
Obama’s recommendation to exercise restraint also comes in contrast to then-President Donald Trump’s comments shortly after Election Day in 2020.
Hours after the polls had closed, Trump prematurely claimed victory, telling his supporters at the White House, “Frankly, we did win this election.”
Days later, then-candidate Joe Biden was declared the winner after the final ballot counts were delivered in states like Nevada and Pennsylvania.
Some lawmakers and former officials have predicted that Trump could pull from the same playbook this year.
When asked during a CNN interview what might happen if Trump falsely claims victory, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders said, “It is not ‘what if’ — he will…Everybody should be aware,” according to The Hill.
Similarly, John Bolton — Trump’s former national security advisor — told CNN that “we should be ready” for the former president to say he won the election before all the results are in.
This story was originally published November 5, 2024 at 6:48 PM with the headline "Obama shares Election Night advice to anxious voters awaiting results: Be patient."