明天是选举日. 在过去的几周里, Poly students and faculty gathered for two virtual Election Forums for conversations about our country’s polarized political landscape and how to help manage the potential uncertainty of election night and beyond.

“2020年大选:为什么我们如此两极分化??”

In the first forum, on September 25, 历史 Department Chair 玛吉Moslander 主持 “2020年大选:为什么我们如此两极分化??” Moslander asked the students to consider the consequences of polarization. 她说得越来越多, “political party ID has become part of our personal ID” and that “over time the parties are getting further apart.” She noted we are experiencing a “loss of overlap in political values.”

“This concern about polarization is not new,” 说 Moslander. “两极分化并不新鲜.” She used as an example that after World War II there was concern that the political parties “were not different enough from each other.她分享了一段采访片段 吉尔Lepore，《 《博彩网站排名》 on CBS This Morning about putting the current polarization into context and highlighting the role women played in America’s political history.

一名教员补充以供考虑, “If we imagine a world without social media do you imagine a world without polarization?” This led to the question of whether social media allowed people to engage in “performative activism” instead of actually doing something to make real change.

学生 and faculty used breakout rooms for small group discussions.

“2020年选举论坛:如果?”

Just days before the election, a second virtual forum, “2020年选举论坛:如果?” 于10月30日举行. The forum asked,  “How can we prepare ourselves to manage potential uncertainty around the election? What should we be paying attention to on election night and the days following?”

再一次。, 莫斯兰德担任论坛的主持人, noting that the election was already underway with early voting across the country. She 说 that the goals of the forum were to “get a sense of what to expect and what we shouldn’t expect.” Also, it provided a chance to manage uncertainty.

莫斯兰德注意到了那位记者 玛莎·葛森 has 说 that ideally, democracy is what would happen between elections. 

Moslander shared a news photo of people waiting to vote early in line outside, 戴口罩，保持社交距离. “它讲了什么故事??” she asked the faculty and students attending the forum. One student 说 she thought that people wearing masks were “making a political statement.” The image shows “a real different time in history,” someone 说.

莫斯兰德分享了一段国家公共电台的视频 英里的公园, “为什么我们可能不知道谁赢了。,” that stated there is a “very real chance we won’t know the results on Election Day.” Parks described how vote counting, especially of mail-in ballots, varies from state to state.

“We will have to practice patience,” Moslander 说. She made a brief survey of “battleground states” and when we might know election results including Arizina, 佛罗里达, 乔治亚州, 密歇根, 宾西法尼亚, 和威斯康辛州. She noted that 佛罗里达 is a “big pathway to victory.” In 乔治亚州, mail-in ballots cannot be counted until after polls close. There is the potential for controversy in 宾西法尼亚 where the question of extending the deadline for mail-in ballots has already gone to the Supreme Court. The Court allowed both North Carolina and 宾西法尼亚 to accept absentee ballots for several days after the election.

在一个 视频 华盛顿邮报, 莫斯兰德分享了什么, the narrator considered what happens if an election is too close to call and what triggers a recount.

The attendees then had a brief discussion about why it is so difficult to vote in the United States with voter registration, not having Election Day off as a national holiday, 以及为什么“我们不强迫人们投票”.”

当他们进入分组会议时, 莫斯兰德要求他们考虑一下, “What are you most concerned about as you think about next week’s election? What do you need from your peers, from your teachers, and from the Poly community as a whole? What can you do to help our community navigate this election? How will you contribute to making our community safe, brave, and supportive? 你将如何鼓励别人也这样做?”

Ryantony Exuma, 22岁 说, “The election forum was a very revealing and informative one in terms of how it demonstrated the Poly community’s awareness around the very pertinent issues of voter suppression, 错误信息, 选举后的混乱, 以及所有这些问题的可能解决方案. Other things that were notable and vital also came up throughout the forum. 例如, the beginning presentation was an important counter to the dedicated 错误信息 campaign that has been waged against people across the nation and it emphasized that it is okay for the counting of mail ballots to take time and that patience will be key in this election. 整体, it was very assuring to hear that many other attendees had the same concerns and anxieties as I do, 知道他们的起源吗, and are committed to figuring what could be done to solve it.”

之后, 威廉·凌里根，1924年 说, “This forum made me understand how complicated voting in the U.S. is, and that there are a lot more challenges to voting than most people realize. 除了大流行之外, there are state laws that make voting harder and affect different groups disproportionately.”