#WORLDWIDE #USA #News #Journal - Don't call the presidential race until every last vote is counted

 

Tell the media: don't call a presidential election winner until every last vote is counted!

Sign Now

Dear friends, Everyone wants to break the Big Story. Whether it's about a salacious true crime verdict, a groundbreaking undercover investigation, or declaring the winner of a U.S. presidential election, every news organization in the entire country wants to be The First to break the news. It makes sense that media outlets would be competing with each other on a daily basis to dish out the drama, but when it comes to this year's presidential election, we can't let the itch to "be first" get in the way of accurate, careful, diligent reporting. This is particularly important when it comes to the idea of "Election Night" and the myth of accurately determining the president-elect that evening. In most states, early voting — both in-person and by mail — begins weeks before actual "Election Day," and this has been the case for years. Additionally, mail-in ballots can often be received and accepted several days after Election Day, and it takes time to count all these votes. This year, during the still-raging and deadly COVID-19 pandemic, there is going to be an unprecedented surge in mail-in ballots, and this additional chaos will surely complicate journalists' desire to jump to conclusions about who won. If they try to extrapolate just based on the evening's in-person tallies, that could seriously undermine accurate reporting. We must insist that every single vote is counted before news outlets start projecting possible victors. Why? Because Donald Trump is already screaming that we can't trust elections and peddling falsified stories about supposed 'voter fraud.' And if the media pre-emptively announces any verdicts that later have to be revisited, it will only feed into Trump's confusing narrative. This could sow distrust in our system the likes of which we have never seen before. We must not let this happen. Demand that major U.S. news organizations, including CNN, CBS, ABC, NBC, and Fox all vow to NOT call the winner early, and to wait until the results are 100% verified! Thank you for all that you do,   Miranda B. The Care2 Petitions Team P.S. Journalists love the thrill of being "the first" to break a story — but the matter of who is elected President of the United States is too important to rush into. Tell all major news outlets to wait until every single last vote is counted and verified before projecting an electoral winner!