By: Chris Andrews ’18

Despite what you read in the news these days, the official winner of the 2016 U.S. presidential election has not yet been declared. Although we are thankfully in the home stretch, the votes are not yet in.

The New York Times, which continues to report results of polls until election day, most recently reports that Hillary has an 89% chance to win. While most polls project Hillary Clinton to be the winner, I did see an article about a history professor (who has predicted the winner of every presidential election since 1984) that thinks Donald Trump is the favorite.

I presume that Secretary Clinton is not yet celebrating, particularly in light of the latest announcement of another FBI review of her emails. I imagine this spotlight may last a little longer than Trump’s latest bombshell from TV archives. Given the way this campaign has been going, it would not be surprising for more scandalous information to come out as we get closer to the date.

Many states began allowing early voting as early as the end of September, though typically the majority of the country votes on Election Day. In the last presidential election, 30% of votes came in via mail or early balloting, with the majority being Democrats.

I, for one, am tired of this election. I am not old enough to vote, but I wish it were over already. I’ve watched each of the debates and was disappointed to hear many of the same lines from the candidates – verbatim. Apparently, there is no new information that can be provided to educate voters on who to choose. I am shocked by each new allegation that surfaces and even more shocked that few seem to care.

We need to care. Selecting the President is important to the future of our country and the responsibility shouldn’t be taken lightly. Every U.S. citizen of age needs to get out to the polls on Tuesday, November 8th because every vote counts. And while there is so much speculation, a race isn’t over until the winner crosses the finish line and this election is no different.