Midterm madness: the only clear winner is paranoia

Election night, folks – America decides! Except, it doesn’t. On 8 November 2022, as on 3 November 2020, the polls closed, the votes came in and, er, nobody appeared to have won. Everybody now looks nervously again to the state of Georgia, which is probably too close to call and will be decided in a run-off in four weeks’ time. 

The people have spoken but once again nobody knows quite what they’ve said. Americans have spent decades arguing that Washington doesn’t work and their political system is broken. Well, they’re right. America is indeed polarised and terribly divided, as this week’s results show. It’s not just the politics, though: it’s the elections, stupid.

The most powerful and sophisticated democracy in the world can’t get the basics right. They can’t tabulate the votes very well. In Maricopa County, a vital part of the swing state of Arizona, the voting machines malfunctioned, triggering delays – and inevitable outcries from angry Republicans who think the system is rigged against them. Cock-up – or conspiracy? You decide! The only clear winner of each American election is paranoia. 

One problem is that, with at least a third of Americans now posting in their votes ahead of time, there isn’t really election ‘night’ as such. It’s more of a season. The much-hyped television debates between candidates are often silly, since large chunks of the electorate have already voted by the time they are held. Different states have different rules and processes for counting mail-ins and other votes. As a result, in some of the most decisive states, more early voting means more late counting, which means more mystery and suspicion. In a sane and functioning democracy, both sides would agree to a new set of federal rules to regulate modern voting habits.