We are all about instant gratification, and election results are no different. We all want to go to bed at a decent hour on November 3 knowing how the election turned out. But this year is different; because of the volume of votes to be counted, we must assume that there will be no “election night” winners.

Every vote counts, and it will take time to count every vote, partly because of the number of votes expected to be cast, but also because of the labor-intensive processing of absentee ballots. Many states do not even start processing absentee ballots until Nov. 3, while other states accept mailed in ballots for several days thereafter. So it will take some time, and that’s OK. We want accurate results, not fast results.

The media, candidates, and even your friends and family may holler, complain, and demand an end to the counting. Resist their impatience, and educate them if you can.

We can go ahead and remind the Georgia elected officials who supervise the counting and certification of the vote, as well as any legal challenges to election procedures, that Georgia voters want certainty in election results, not speed.

Here’s a draft request you can send to the officials (it seems abrupt because their email message boxes have space limitations):

Please make the following commitments publicly, either through a press release or on video.

I commit to listen to and amplify the voice of all my constituents.
I commit to use my authority to protect every vote and refuse to accept election results until all votes are counted.
I commit to defend the voice of the people of Georgia, as evidenced by their votes, when presenting Georgia’s election results.

Protect our democracy.

Please send the message today, and feel free to share it with your friends. Email it to Gov. Brian Kemp at https://georgia.gov/message, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger at https://sos.ga.gov/cgi-bin/email.asp, and Attorney General Chris Carr at http://carrforgeorgia.com (scroll down the page).

Because every vote counts.