Former President Barack Obama proclaimed on X Tuesday that “it’s very likely” Americans won’t know the election results by tonight, echoing the uncertainty seen in 2020.
The former Democrat president reminded voters that they should expect voting delays similar to the 2020 presidential election, which was a historical anomaly due largely in part to universal mail-in voting enacted in response to the COVID plandemic.
“It took several days to count every ballot in 2020, and it’s very likely we won’t know the outcome tonight either,” Obama wrote.
It took several days to count every ballot in 2020, and it’s very likely we won’t know the outcome tonight either. So please keep a few things in mind as you make your voice heard today:
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) November 5, 2024
– Thousands of election workers around the country are working hard today. Respect them.…
Obama then offered advice to voters as Election Day unfolds.
“Thousands of election workers around the country are working hard today. Respect them. Thank them. Don’t share things before checking your sources. Let the process run its course. It takes time to count every ballot,” he wrote.
Former President Donald Trump repeatedly criticized swing states that have announced expected vote-counting delays, such as Maricopa County, Arizona, announcing in mid-October that election results could take up to two weeks to determine.
“We got a phony press, we got a lot of crooked people out there. We’re fighting like a son of a gun. They are fighting so hard to steal this damn thing,” Trump said at a rally in Lititz, Pennsylvania, Sunday.
“Look at what’s going on in your state. They’re talking about extending hours, whoever heard of this stuff? We should have one-day voting and paper ballots. Then I just heard that a couple of states could go an extra 12 days. How the hell do you have an election?”
President Trump slams the swing states that have announced Election Results may not be announced on election night pic.twitter.com/9GTb6jjymS
— Drew Hernandez (@DrewHLive) November 3, 2024
“They spend all of this money on these damn machines. And paper ballots, you’d have the answer by 9 o’ clock tonight. It’s a damn shame,” Trump continued. “And I’m the only one that talks about it because everyone’s afraid to damn talk about it. And then they accuse you of being a ‘conspiracy theorist’ and they want to lock you up and put you in jail. The ones that should be locked up are the ones that cheat on these horrible elections that we go through in our country.”
“I’m hearing now they’re going to take weeks. Can you imagine? They spend all this money on machines and they’re gonna say ‘we may take an extra 12 days to determine..’ And what do you think happens during that 12 days? What do you think happens? These elections have to be decided by 9, 10, 11 o’ clock on Tuesday night. These are crooked people,” Trump added.
Several swing states warned voters to expect prolonged delays in the vote count.
The Pennsylvania State Department in August warned voters that they “won’t always know the final results of all races on election night.”
Nevada likewise announced mail-in ballots without postmarks would be counted three days after Election Day.
Michigan said election results may also be delayed in some counties.
Election results not being known by the next day has historically been a rare occurrence in America until 2020, when universal mail-in ballots were introduced in the wake of COVID.
But Democrats like Obama are trying to normalize what should be an unacceptable oddity into a common feature of U.S. elections.
In anticipation of expected delays and voting shenanigans already taking place across the country, Trump and his surrogates have encouraged his supporters to overwhelm the cheating with a “too big to rig” turnout effort.
STAY IN LINE—TOO BIG TO RIG! https://t.co/N3xUNg0g4H
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 5, 2024