Aya de Leon: As a pathological clutterer, half my anxiety this election cycle was about whether or not I had misplaced my ballot. I have probably been voting by mail for a decade. In the pandemic, I didn’t want to do what I usually do when I misplace my ballot: vote in person on the day of with a provisional ballot. Two weeks ago, when I found my ballot, I was quite relieved. Then, of course, there was the other half of my anxiety: that our country would slide into fascism. No thanks!

But Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are going to win this election. And the GOP is going to use every lever of power to steal the election, but they will not succeed. Because there are too many things working against them. Tr*mp was not able to win the popular vote in 2016. At that time, I was one of many who saw him as a hideous joke. We underestimated the threat and were caught unaware. But look at the numbers. Since then, millions of young voters have come of age. Nobody is getting caught unaware in 2020. Concerted efforts at voter registration and mobilization have been successful. A re-enfranchisement victory in Florida has meant that many formerly incarcerated folks will regain their right to vote. Tr*mp has alienated many in his party and many former supporters. Prominent Republicans are voting for Biden. Progressive third parties, like the Working Families Party, have a clear and effective strategy to give left-leaning voters a way to signal their allegiances while still voting effectively against Tr*mp.

When we fight we win. We are fighting with all our might. It might get ugly. It might take a while. But we will win.

Tr*mp has been going around smugly insisting that he will win. Let us recall that he has also encouraged people to inject bleach and thought that COVID was a hoax. The most important thing here is not to believe him. Even if there are moments when he is able to spin a narrative of victory, we need to maintain our clarity. The nation does not want him in the White House any longer.

Because Democrats have been more likely to vote early, our ballots may take longer to count. This may mean that early totals could possibly favor Tr*mp. He and his surrogates are likely to claim victory if this happens, with only a fraction of the results tallied. But we need to persist. We can’t let our fear and despair keep us from fighting to have every vote counted. As of November 3, 2020, this is still a democracy, in which elections determine who wins. There is a long and painful history of disenfranchisement and voter suppression of people of color, poor people, and women, but in spite of these histories, Joe Biden is still going to win. By millions of votes. And our movements will need to fight to defend and enact that victory.

And then we can roll up our sleeves and get to work, pressuring Biden on racial justice, addressing income inequality, and the Green New Deal.

Elizabeth Stark: This is exactly what I needed to hear! I got up this morning and my partner, Angie, started calling Philly voters at 7 am while I was texting Michigan voters and getting the kids onto Zoom for school. A few hours later, the flurry subsided and my anxiety took over. I stumbled on an article about a discredited Republican pollster calling the election for T$%$p, as he had in 2016.

I want to say that I am angry. I am an angry optimist, and I have had to doubt my measure of the American people, but I am still hoping to see some redemption here. Of course we need the initial course-correction of Biden-Harris, need desperately to get back to a place where conversation is even the mode of communication. From there, we can push toward a future for our kids, the laws of political gravity intact. It shocks me to hear people talk about taxes, their personal wealth, their pet politics, when the very future of the earth is at stake, imminently. But then again, I am naive. I have in some senses protected the robust sweetness of that naivete, born of privilege and also of living my whole life inside a deeply imperfect but profoundly progressive bubble. I believe in a particular vision of America not because that’s what she is but because that’s what she might become. And I’m here, in the fight, texting, praying, pacing, writing. Let’s do this thing, people!