The count of the ballots for the 2020 elections taking longer was a good thing. As it puts accuracy on the forefront over anything else and it helps diminish voter fraud, helps prevent the election being stolen and combats any other form of cheating.

I say this because in my experience, being patient when it comes to big moments or big decisions is key as it brings the proper and correct outcome to light — for the most part. Take for example the state of Nevada. Nevada was one of the states that took the longest in their ballot-counting wanting to make sure that the correct vote was put out there.  Nevada also had a lot of presidential race resting on their shoulders.

In an article by The Guardian titled “Why is the Nevada vote count taking so long?” the author goes into more detail explaining the process, and the reasoning behind Nevada’s lengthy decision-making. The article itself explains how “government officials say they are emphasizing accuracy over speed in a year when processing an unprecedented flood of mail-in ballots under extended headlines is taking more time.” Nevada’s legislature also passed a bill that sent in mail-in ballots to all active voters. During the pandemic, this plan was set in motion to help slow down the virus — this is yet another reason as to why the counting was a long process as well as a good one.

The elections shouldn’t be won the same day they begin. It should be a few days of double and triple checking as whoever ends up winning in their respective cities, counties, states and even the presidential race will be there for a long time. This is not something that should be taken lightly, nor should it be done so hastily.

When you compare the same-day in-person voting to the by-mail voting, the process is quite different. Once you go to vote same-day and in-person your vote automatically goes and gets registered in the machine while by-mail votes have to be checked that the signatures match, that ballot is flattened out — as it allows for the machine to read the information correctly due to it fitting more properly. Once all of that is done, the vote can be counted.

You might ask yourself: If the process takes so long to make sure no cheating is going on, wouldn’t you be able to use that same line of thinking the other way around? What if the vote count taking longer allows for false ballots to be submitted or for people’s votes to be changed? False. At each of the counting stations, there were an equal amount of representatives from both the Democratic party and the Republican party.

At the end of the day, patience is a virtue as the saying goes. A long wait-time, making sure each ballot is counted properly and accordingly, is one of the best ways to go about things. There is no need to rush a process that puts people in an immense amount of power for multiple years. If these people in power are there for four years, the process to decide who gets to do those four years should be a lengthy one.