The political mailers were piled on the counter, the campaign ads were still running, and one local reporter was wondering if she had enough coffee stashed up.

(It’s me. I’m the reporter.)

I’ve spent the last few weeks compiling candidate questionnaires, digging through ballot proposals, attending debates, talking to local officials and trying to make sense of it all for readers.

And tomorrow, I get to see how it all shakes out.

I’ve long been a bit of an election nerd. I’ve managed campaigns, knocked on doors, researched voter demographics and designed everything from campaign mailers to yard signs. In past election seasons, I was actively working toward a particular outcome.

Not this year.

This year, I’ve been learning to be a little quieter and a lot more observant. No yard signs in my lawn, no public endorsements, no campaigning for anyone. I’m still asking plenty of questions, and I’m listening to different perspectives and trying to understand the whole picture.

It’s been a pretty big adjustment, but an interesting one.

During my last year at Washtenaw Community College, I took a Campaigns and Elections class, and it was one of my favorites. I’m especially fascinated by the money behind campaigns (even local races can have a surprising amount!) and what makes people vote the way they do. Why do certain issues resonate? What changes someone’s mind? There’s so much more to an election than the final vote count.

Now I get to explore those questions while reporting on the communities where I live and work. I care about what happens here, and I take seriously the responsibility of helping people understand their choices without trying to steer them toward a particular one.

I already voted early, so tomorrow’s plan is to hopefully sneak in a strategic midday nap, consume an unreasonable amount of coffee and settle in for a long night of refreshing election results.

Here’s to the election workers, the voters and my fellow journalists getting ready for a very… very long couple days.