Uptown Athens was filled with locals, anxiously watching television screens in restaurants and bars as Election Day results trickled in. Many cited this cycle as one of the most important elections in history.
Final Athens County results were posted around 10 p.m., but word carried fast about the progress on elections. Some residents expressed a sense of hope and optimism, while others voiced concerns about the country’s future.
Jeff Maiden, an Athens local running for Athens County Engineer, was appalled by the closeness of the national election so far. Maiden has followed elections closely since Jimmy Carter’s election in 1976, and said this is unlike anything he has ever seen.
“I never dreamed it would be in a situation where we would have on one side, a Black woman, who is running for president, who's very positive about the future, who's trying to pull everybody together,” Maiden said. “And then we have a former president, who talks about wanting to see reporters shot and all these crazy things.”
Nancy Covington, another Athens local, is from the west side of Athens and worked the Lodi township holding location that morning, assisting many who were coming in to vote.
She believed the language on the ballot was confusing, despite having researched it prior.
“I do strongly react negatively to the ballot language for Issue 1,” Covington said. “I think that was embarrassingly awful.”
Covington received a lot of helpful information from the Athens League of Women Voters and complimented them for a legible voter guide.
As for how locals were feeling about the incoming results, Maiden said despite his concern for the outcome of the votes, he stands behind the system and has a decent level of trust in the voter count during elections.
Despite this, Maiden is concerned by what politicians and candidates say to persuade their voters.
“I believe the United States (has) the most legitimate, pure, accurate elections on Earth,” he said. “I think some political candidates will say what they know is not true, and believe that … if they say (untrue information) enough, people will believe it.”
Athens resident Charlie Rowe voiced his concerns regarding the state of the election. Contrary to Maiden, he believes this election, no matter how true the results, could determine the future of democracy.
“I’m worried about our democracy,” Rowe said. “That’s what I worry about. History repeating itself, I think of Germany.”
Covington was disappointed with a lot of the news she had been receiving that evening because she went into election night hopeful. Despite her concerns, she remained smiling among her friends.
“I'm disappointed to hear about Issue 1,” she said. “I'm not terribly surprised about the Supreme Court Justice elections at this point, unfortunately. But has there been stress? Yes, absolutely. I do worry about a lot of drug advisors. There are some people that I know are very inside that I am very frightened by their perspectives.”
As Athens locals gathered with their loved ones and watched as history was made live on television, there was a combination of stress and hope among residents.
“If you wrote a fictional book about this, people would laugh,” Maiden said. “They’d say, ‘There's no way this could happen in America. What has happened? What has happened to our country?’ The lowest common denominator is a lot lower than I ever expected.”
