Late in the morning of Tuesday, October 13th, the last day that Virginia residents could register to vote in the 2020 general election, the news began to filter itself. A disconnected fiber optic cable had destroyed the Commonwealth's voter registration portal. Officials said the cut was an accident caused by road works; Skeptics on Twitter "accidentally" had trends. The paper registration was still available – if it was stamped or dropped off at the local voter registration offices.
In the afternoon, after an outage of about six hours, the site was operational again. A federal judge ordered an extension of the deadline to compensate potential voters for lost time. Anyone could still register to vote. Everything is fine, that ends well, right?
And yet. For many people, the snafu seemed just another alarming twist in the history of an election season – and an election year – so fraught with unprecedented crises that it would most likely arouse skepticism among readers if they got to the pages of a novel would be found.
The national elections in the USA are already intended to serve as a proxy for the country's stance on climate change, general health care, racism, police brutality and (duel visions of) democracy. The whirlpool of events in 2020 has brought everything to the fore in Technicolor. The death of George Floyd under the knee of a cop. The protests that followed against the brutality of the police and continued demands for an end to racial injustice. The spread of violence by white supremacist groups. Record breaking forest fires in California and Oregon. An incredibly active and ongoing hurricane season. The death of the Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the rush to appoint her successor. All of this amid a pandemic like no other in the last 102 years.
When most Americans stayed home in March hoping to reduce the rate of infection from the novel coronavirus, they most likely did not expect that almost everything about COVID-19 would become partisan. The level of threat posed by the virus. Whether to shut down businesses and restrict community movement. To mask or not to mask? In a few quarters – albeit marginally – the existence of the novel coronavirus became a partisan matter. Now, less than a month before the election, more than 225,000 Americans are dead – a total that includes a disproportionately large number of blacks, indigenous peoples, and coloreds – and voters have wondered for months how best to vote.
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In response to voters' concerns about voting in person, most states expanded postal voting by allowing anyone to use COVID-19 to justify their request. However, the US Postal Service, which had prepared for the surge, was subject to organizational and equipment changes that made the Post less punctual. So many voters were worried: if they asked for a postal vote, would it arrive in time? The requirements for postal ballot papers vary from state to state, leaving some voters confused as well. A process that is usually pretty straightforward has become just another tangle to unravel in a year of knots.
"Our ability to deal with uncertainty is at its full potential," says Keri Riggs, Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), a member of the American Counseling Association with a private practice in Richardson, Texas. The pandemic has also challenged most of our pre-established schedules.
"We can't make plans," says Riggs, who specializes in depression and anxiety. "The thing about the choice is that we have a theoretical deadline." We always thought we understood when the vote for the election was over, but this year we can't even be sure when it might end and when an undisputed presidential winner might be announced, she says. Part of the election anxiety this year has to do with not relying on this usual deadline as an endpoint for at least one source of uncertainty.
With the exception of the controversial number of votes in Bush versus Gore in 2000, modern Americans are used to knowing who will be the winner of the presidential election on election night or the next morning. But because so many people are voting by mail this year and it will take time to process those ballots, the votes collected on Election Day will not be the final record.
"If there is a controversial election, it could drag on for a very long time," emphasizes Riggs. "Everything has been dragging on for a long time."
And it's not just about the end point. Many voters see this election as more than just a partisan competition. For these voters, it is something on which the future of bigger issues like climate change, immigration and racial justice rests. A recent poll from the Pew Research Center found that 83% of registered voters say it really matters who wins the presidency. Those results are up from the 74% of voters who said the same thing four years ago and the highest percentage who said so in two decades of the Pew Research Center polls.
The stories we tell ourselves play a crucial role in dealing with stress, fear and the apparent chaos around us, says Riggs. Too often, customers focus on the “what if” of a doomsday future that may or may not happen, she explains.
“The Islamic theologian, Sufi mystic and poet Rumi once said: 'The words you speak become the house you live in,' 'notes Ryan Thomas Neace LPC, the founder and CEO of Change Inc., a St. Louis consulting practice focused on healing and personal growth in the face of pain. There is a similar saying in the Hebrew scriptures: "The power of life and death is on the tongue," he continues. "In other words, what we say is important."
Neace does not deny that voters face serious problems when casting their votes, but that the narratives we have produced do not solve anything. Instead, people fall into the trap of thinking that constant worry and panic equates to civic engagement or political cause.
Customers can break their "doom" loops with current awareness, Riggs says. For example, when fear of the future and visions of disaster threaten to take over, she lets clients practice telling themselves that they and everyone they love are safe in that moment.
Riggs also advises customers to use social media and news in moderation and to take breaks. She urges customers to turn their energies into productive action, either by getting involved in the political process with a campaign donation or volunteering in the elections, or through a smaller personal point of sale such as journaling or even cleaning the bathroom.
Riggs says it is also important to practice self-compassion and what one of her clients calls "grace".
"We have to give grace to ourselves and one another – the benefit of the doubt," she says. "We're not all in our A-game."
Neace reminds customers that it is okay – indeed helpful – to share resilience building stories such as, “There's a lot at stake here, but we'll get through this no matter what happened. "
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President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden, pictured in a nationwide televised debate on September 29.
Fear of racist violence
"There is ample evidence that there are a number of groups who are actively violating and depriving black Americans of their rights," says Harrison Davis, an Atlanta LPC specializing in depression, anxiety, resentment, and overcoming specializes in personal obstacles. These groups have emerged from the shadows and seem empowered by what they – and many black Americans – perceive to be the support of the police and the armed forces in certain parts of the government and justice system.
The customers and community members he spoke to say their sense of security has diminished over the past year because they feel betrayed by people they believed were their allies. Some of his black clients have told Davis that some of their white neighbors and friends supported these law enforcement efforts and actively criticized the protests that followed, instead of helping them fight for racial justice and end police brutality.
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In addition to this vulnerability, some of his black clients have raised concerns that President Trump has not committed himself to a smooth transfer of power if he loses while white supremacists face violence or even war, Davis says.
Some clients have an almost panic-stricken need to prepare for an emergency – as if this could prevent their darker fears from manifesting, he continues. That sense of disaster is heightened not only by the elections, but also by the many deaths the coronavirus has brought to the black community.
While the threat is real, the response of its customers – who live in a constant state of fear and panic – is neither healthy nor sustainable, says Davis.
Like Riggs and Neace, Davis makes zero consumption of news and social media when working with customers struggling with election anxiety. Not only are customers bombarded with a sense of general disaster, they also have conversations that are often lethal and harmful.
"When I grew up, you only watched the political news on TV," he says. Now anyone can follow a developing story or scandal in real time. Therefore, Davis asks customers to note how they react when they follow this stream of information. "Does it make you tense?" he asks. "Lose sleep?" Customers also report irritability and constant worry – not just about the choice, but about everything. Right now, the constant urgency and concern of news and social media is affecting customers so much that Davis no longer recommends balancing their usage. Instead, he lets her do a full detox.
"Channel this energy into positives instead of arguing with people," he urges clients. Instead of trying to convince others of their point of view, they could help people register to vote on election day or to vote in elections. Davis also encourages customers to find hobbies and outlets that have nothing to do with politics or current events.
On a deeper level, he states that customers have difficulty accepting the world as it is. You may have believed that we have grown as a nation and society in the past decade, but now you may see that things have not changed much. One way to deal with this reality and find more peace is to find ways to help the community, Davis says.
In his own life, Davis' father, who was a civil rights activist, told him and his siblings that they might have thought things had changed, but they really hadn't. Black Americans are still embroiled in the struggle for racial equality that has been denied them for generations.
That doesn't mean customers have to live in fear, says Davis. Living like this gives power only to those who want blacks to be afraid. He urges customers to find a place where they feel they belong and think about who they invite into their inner world. They may not yet be able to change the world, but they can control elements of their world by removing unsupportive friends or leaving environments where they feel triggered or insecure – like social groups or toxic work environments.
Some of his clients are very spiritual, Davis adds. You will find strength in the Bible, which contains many stories of people who have experienced tragedy and injustice but made their way through trusting the faith and their fellowship.
Power and connection in chaos
Although many of us view the cacophony of the election cycle as something to endure while keeping our sanity in check, ACA member Laura Brackett encourages customers to find their personal power in chaos.
The year 2020 and the years before it was traumatic in a number of ways, and exploring personal power is a constant part of trauma work, she says. "The beauty of it is that personal power takes a myriad of forms," says Brackett, who also works at Change, Inc. in St. Louis. “For some customers this meant external action in the form of votes, protests and community activities. For others, this has meant taking into account their own emotional responses and how this affects their behavior and empathy towards themselves and others. "
Often the process involves a combination of external and internal work, she says. Brackett's goal is to encourage clients to use their personal power without losing sight of how their expression affects others.
"If anything has shown us anything this year, then we are not living in a vacuum," she says. “Our words and actions have real effects on others. I want to help my clients recognize this networking and learn how best to live in a way that is both compassionate and empowered. "
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Laurie Meyers is a senior writer for Counseling Today. Contact them at [email protected].
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It should not be assumed that opinions or statements in articles appearing on CT Online represent the opinions of the editors or guidelines of the American Counseling Association.
