Trenney said she knew of other families doing the same in Bellevue, a Pittsburgh suburb and an electoral hotbed prized by both Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump, rivals in a race that analysts say will go down to the wire.
“Just trying to pacify the anxiety,” said Trenney, who voted for Harris ahead of Tuesday’s Election Day. “Anything and everything to distract from, ‘Oh my God, what’s going to happen?’”
Sitting on a park bench nearby was Jennifer Bunecke, 68 and a retired graphic designer who plans to vote for Trump. Bunecke is so sick of the acrimony, the incessant calls from pollsters and the campaign ads bombarding her in the battleground state of Pennsylvania that she would rather tune out completely.
She spent a chunk of Saturday reading a booklet of pastry recipes to keep calm. “I was never into politics. I wasn’t raised with it,” she said.
On Election Eve, America is stressed out. Like really. Faced with two radically different candidates and visions for the country’s future, voters are girding themselves for the results—and fear of the possible unrest that could follow.
In recent days Reuters correspondents spoke to more than 50 voters across the seven competitive states that will determine the next president. They encountered an electorate on edge: Worried how the country will look should their preferred candidate lose. Worried the other side will make trouble. Worried the political divide will only grow deeper.
