The World and Everything in It: November 5, 2024

PREROLL: While many Americans exercise their freedom today by heading to the polls, other countries continue to crack down on religious convictions. I’m Mary Muncy, and in a moment, a couple stories on what it cost to stand up for conscience sake. Stay with us.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Good morning!

It’s been a long wait for Election Day … and it’s finally here. How long, though, before election results day?

DEGRAFFENREID: We have never had final election results on election night. That is the unofficial count.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Also today, a pro-abortion law in the United Kingdom with draconian provisions …

And US immigration gives a German family reprieve from deportation. The issue: educational freedom.

HANNE: I counted the costs, and I was willing. I said, Lord, it's worth it. Our children are worth it.

And prayers for today’s election from WORLD listeners.

REICHARD: It’s Tuesday, November 5th. This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Mary Reichard.

EICHER: And I’m Nick Eicher. Good morning!

REICHARD: Up next, Kent Covington with today’s news.

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: Election Day » Americans are heading to the polls across the country, that is, those not among the more than 80 million who voted early.

Voters in Pennsylvania, like much of the country, appear sharply divided on whether Kamala Harris or Donald Trump should lead the country forward. 

VOTER 1: There’s no question that at the very least, she will preserve our democracy. And that’s what this is about more than anything.

VOTER 2: I voted for President Trump. It’s common sense. We’re going in the wrong direction.

And on the final day of campaigning on Monday, the candidates showed us which states they believe will decide the race.

Former President Trump held his final rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan last night, after campaigning in Raleigh, North Carolina, and in Pittsburgh. 

TRUMP: With your vote tomorrow, we can fix every single problem our country faces and lead America, and indeed the whole world, to new heights of glory.

Vice President Harris also rallied supporters in Pittsburgh, one of several events in Pennsylvania. 

HARRIS: And we are not going back because America is ready for a fresh start.

The vice presidential candidates appeared in Wisconsin and Georgia.

Final polls, polling accuracy » The polls suggest a very close election. The final RealClearPolitics average of recent national polls has the race dead even.

At the state level, the polls give Donald Trump a lead of just under 2 points in both Georgia and North Carolina.

If his estimated lead in those two states is confirmed at the ballot box, it could all come down to the so-called “blue wall.” WORLD’s Kristen Flavin explains.

KRISTEN FLAVIN: The ‘blue wall’ is a handful of states in the Great Lakes region that a Democratic candidate traditionally must win.

Trump broke through that wall in 2016 to defeat Hillary Clinton.

And Kamala Harris needs that wall to hold up for her, as it did—narrowly—for Joe Biden 4 years ago.

She can ill afford to lose Pennsylvania, Michigan, or Wisconsin — any of the three.

And the final polling there shows a virtual tie in each of those three states.

It’s also worth noting that in 2020, pollsters underestimated Trump’s performance in those states by an average of more than 3 points.

And in 2016, the polls missed the mark in those ‘blue wall’ states by nearly five points.

For WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

The national polls also underestimated Trump by 3.5 points in 2020.

For Harris to win, the polls will have to have at least slightly overestimated Trump this time.

House » The battle for control of the House could also rest on a knife’s edge.

The University of Virginia’s Center for Politics projects that the most likely outcome is a 1-seat advantage for Democrats. But FiveThirtyEight.com gives Republicans a little over a 50% chance of retaining narrow control of the House.

Senate » And there are some close Senate races. Political science professor Jenna Bednar with the University of Michigan says one of those races is in her home state.

BEDNAR:  On the Democratic side is Alyssa Slotkin. She currently is in, um, in her third term in Congress. Uh, and the other is Mike Rogers, who, uh, was a member of Congress from the same seat that Alyssa Slotkin now is in.

The last three polls conducted in that race have it effectively tied.

But overall, analysts are largely in agreement that Republicans are very likely to claim a slim majority in the Senate.

Israel latest » Israel has officially notified the United Nations that it has canceled a 1967 agreement allowing the UN Palestinian aid group UNRWA to operate on its soil.

That decision follows a vote by Israel's parliament late last month to do just that.

The Biden administration is not happy about it. State Dept spokesman Matthew Miller says UNRWA is essential to getting desperately needed aid to Palestinians.

MILLER - There are other humanitarian organizations that operate inside Gaza that are delivering aid. There are other UN agencies that are operating inside, Gaza. But we see UNRWA as continuing to play a critical role.

But Israel insists that UNRWA has become a front for the Gaza-based terror group Hamas...and that some of its employees actually participated in the October 7th terror attacks against Israel.

Quicy Jones obituary » Music industry titan Quincy Jones has died. Jones was, among other things, a prolific producer, working with hundreds of artists, from Frank Sinatra, to Michael Jackson.

He also wrote or co-wrote prize-winning film and television scores, including the theme to Sanford and Son.

The Sanford and Son theme song among his credits.

He died at his home in Los Angeles. Quincy Jones was 91 years old.

I'm Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: counting votes… it’s no small task. We’ll learn why. Plus, a persecuted homeschool family from Germany are allowed to stay in the US another year.

This is The World and Everything in It.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: It’s Tuesday the 5th of November.

This is WORLD Radio and we’re so glad you’ve joined us today. Good morning, I’m Mary Reichard.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher. Up first, Election Day!

Today, Americans head to the polls, the final day for many to vote, though more than 80 million voters have done so already.

The votes now in represent more than half of the total ballots cast in 2016.

Of course, we’ll tell you what we know about the result tomorrow, but in the meantime, you can keep up with the news in WORLD’s Election Center. We’ll have a live election map with updated numbers from all the races—and our reporters will be chugging coffee and posting stories with results as we get them.

Check it out at https://wng.org/election2024.

REICHARD: Well, in 2020, it took four days after Election Day before the presidential race was called … and the key was Joe Biden securing Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral votes…and crossing the 270-vote threshold in the electoral college.

This time, many expect a similar timeline.

LIEWER: We do expect that it will take between 10 and 13 days to complete tabulation of all of the ballots that come in.

EICHER: That’s Jennifer Liewer, a spokeswoman for the board of elections in Maricopa County, Arizona.

From WORLD’s Washington Bureau, Carolina Lumetta reports.

CAROLINA LUMETTA: Once the votes are in, the race to count them begins …with millions watching.

CBS NORAH O’DONNELL: Polls have now closed in nine states across America. Neither candidate has any electoral votes in that race to 270 because it is still very early in the counting.

In 2020, results for the presidential election trickled in over several days while poll workers methodically tallied a record number of mail-in ballots.

DEGRAFFENREID: I was there in Pennsylvania when the counties were canvassing.

Veronica Degraffenreid was an election adviser for Pennsylvania in 2020…and then acting Secretary of the Commonwealth. She previously oversaw election operations in North Carolina…and now works at the Brennan Center for Justice.

This year, some campaign officials expect the vote count process to be quicker, but we still likely won’t get results on the presidential contest tonight.

DEGRAFFENREID: No contest is final on election night. That is the unofficial count.

During the night, news networks will announce projected winners for races across the country based on those unofficial counts, exit polls, and statistics about total eligible voters. Many news outlets across the country, including WORLD, rely on the Associated Press to call races…and AP typically makes projections before 100% of the ballots are counted.

OHLEMACHER: At the Associated Press, we declare winners on election night when we determine that there is no path for the trailing candidates to catch the leader.

But the official tally is a separate number and takes longer to tabulate…

Ballots cast in person on Election Day are easiest to count, since they just need to be run through an electronic tabulator. But mail-in votes come with extra steps…

DEGRAFFENREID: So they're going through making sure that this is a ballot that can be approved for counting and then they can remove the ballot from the various envelopes.

Add to that verifying signatures and voter information. And making sure absentee voters didn’t also cast provisional ballots in person.

DEGRAFFENREID: And then they have to be fed into the tabulator. So that just takes time.

States have different rules for when election workers can process those ballots.

DEGRAFFENREID: Some states like Arizona and Georgia, and Michigan, North Carolina allow their election officials to begin pre-processing those mail ballots prior to election day.

Georgia changed its rules in 2021 to allow election workers to sort absentee ballots before Election Day. And Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger announced a strict timeline for counting those ballots before tabulating the in-person votes. Here’s Raffensperger at an election eve news conference in Atlanta yesterday:

RAFFENSPERGER: All these people that have voted early – that's about 65% expected votes – will be reported one hour after the polls close…

Other states, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania in particular, had to wait until today to start processing the millions of mail-in ballots received. Here’s Pennsylvania Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt.

AL SCHMIDT: Nearly two million mail-in ballots have already been returned for this election. And state law doesn’t permit counties in Pennsylvania to begin opening these ballots until 7 a.m. on election morning… which is the same time those officials will also be running more than 9,100 polling places across the commonwealth for in person voting.

Pennsylvania took four days to count votes in 2020, and while its ballot processing rules are the same, officials are hoping to speed up the timeline this year by boosting funding for election workers. Erie County spent $900,000 dollars to hire more staff and buy new equipment, including automatic letter openers.

DEGRAFFENREID: Automatic letter openers, who knew? It is a thing.

These machines can slice open hundreds of envelopes in minutes, and Degraffenreid says that small improvement can speed up the process.

DEGRAFFENREID: Do I believe that they will be done sooner than Saturday? I do, I do. And again, because they have taken additional measures and invested some resources in ensuring that they can get all of the results in a lot quicker. But it does take some time.

Each state has its own deadlines for finishing the vote count, but a federal law from 2022 requires every state to certify its presidential vote and identify its electors by December 11. On December 17th, those electors will cast Electoral College votes at the state capitols and then send them along to Washington. On January 6th, Congress will convene to certify the nationwide Electoral College vote.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Carolina Lumetta.

MARY REICHARD, HOST:Up next, buffer zones around abortion businesses.

Last week in the UK, a new law took full effect. It makes it a crime “intentionally or recklessly” in the words of the statute … to do any of the following at an abortion clinic:

• “influence any person’s decision to access or facilitate abortion services”
• “obstruct any person from accessing or facilitating abortion services”
• “cause harassment, alarm, or distress to any person in connection with a decision to access, provide or facilitate abortion services”

NICK EICHER, HOST: Within days a man was convicted for silent prayer outside an abortion business.

Last month, a court convicted a British army vet for his thoughtswhen he was caught silently praying within a buffer zone.

Here to talk about is Lois McLatchie Miller. She’s with Alliance Defending Freedom International.

REICHARD: Lois, good morning.

LOIS MCLATCHIE MILLER: Good morning.

REICHARD: First of all, tell us about the case of Adam Smith-Conner. Praying for the unborn outside an abortion center as many people do, but why him in particular? And how did the police know that’s what he was doing?

LOIS MILLER: Well, it's no exaggeration to say that this is a watershed moment for British freedoms. Adam Smith-Connor was simply praying silently within his head on November 24, 2022. He had abortion on his heart because he had participated in abortion 20 years prior, he wanted to pray about the child that he had lost in that experience, he stopped to pray just for three or four minutes across the road from an abortion clinic with his back to the entrance, so that he wasn't disturbing anyone or looking like he was trying to engage anyone in conversation. Yet, this was enough for officers to arrive, ask him about the nature of his prayers, which led to a criminal charge, three days of trial, and now a guilty verdict for Adam based only on the content of his thoughts. This is the first conviction in modern British history that we've seen just based on what somebody was thinking and where they are standing. So it's incredibly concerning.

REICHARD: And just to clarify this, Smith-Conner wasn’t doing anything outward. He wasn’t kneeling, he wasn’t gesticulating, or waving his arms around, or being disruptive in any way?

MILLER: No, that's absolutely right. You know, if you had walked past him that morning, you might have thought he was waiting for a taxi or waiting for a friend. He simply stood in a kind of at-ease position with his hands clasped around his front, his eyes open and just thinking his prayer.

REICHARD: Well as you say, a UK court convicted him. He’s required to pay 9,000 Euros in legal fees, but ADF UK is appealing… Lois, are there other cases like his?

MILLER: Yes, that's right. Yeah, we've have got four ADF, UK, we're supporting four legal defenses across the country, of people who have been prosecuted for peaceful activities, like thinking, praying or Livia Tossici-Bolt her trial will be next in March. She just held a sign saying, here to talk, if you want. She is a retired medical scientist. She spends a lot of her time now devoted to charity work, and she just wanted to be there to offer support for women in crisis pregnancies. That's a very typical activity that we see outside abortion facilities in the United Kingdom. There was a government review about what's really happening in these spaces. Of course, many people argue, though there's a harassment and protest, that's simply not the case. The government found that harassment is incredibly rare outside abortion facilities in the UK, and what typically happens is people just standing, offering help, offering conversation or praying.

REICHARD: And yet, Parliament voted overwhelmingly in support of these laws. Why is that do you think, and is there any precedent for this in the UK?

MILLER: It’s very strange that Parliament voted in support of these laws because the evidence that was gathered by the government in 2017 showed that they were disproportionate, that we did not need buffer zones, that instances of harassment are rare, and when they occurred, existing police powers and laws were already available to deal with any instances of true harassment, because, of course, we all stand against any form of violence and harassment against women. But Parliament didn't vote on the evidence and I fear the real core issue in this debate, which is about free speech and freedom of thought, got lost in a sort of ideological battle. Freedom of Speech often becomes an issue when we're talking about subjects of sensitivity, subjects upon which people disagree. And that's why freedom of speech is so important in these issues, when it is an unpopular view, when it is a pro-life view, or a gender-critical view, or any view that that can face criticism that needs free speech protection more than most, but it seems that our Parliament forgot that instead, took quite an ideological stance.

REICHARD: In the United States, the closest thing we have to a buffer zone law is the FACE Act, an acronym for the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, the FACE Act. That prohibits threats of force or obstructing the entrance to healthcare facilities… but we haven’t seen anyone arrested for their thoughts here—at least so far. What are the differences, you kind of mentioned that before, but what are the differences, between the UK law and the FACE Act here in the US? Could the US get there?

MILLER: Well, no one can predict the future. It's tricky to think. I think, of course, America has a very robust free speech protection in its constitution, which, I know you guys incredibly value, which is great. I think the danger with these kinds of laws, which is something to look out for in America as well as across the world, is the elasticity of the wording. The law that has been passed on the 31st of October, which is a new law which came in to rule out these buffer zones across the United Kingdom. It bans influencing around an abortion facility. It doesn't specifically name silent prayer. It doesn't specifically name these things. But we don't know exactly what influencing means, and it could be subjectively interpreted by an officer, by a prosecutor, to be meaning things like prayer or like offering help or a consensual conversation between a mother and daughter or friends approaching the clinic. And so we have to be watching out for these laws that are vague expansive. Can ban large swaths of communication without being specific. We need to make sure law is clear and that everybody knows exactly what is allowed and what isn't

REICHARD:You’ve been looking at this for a long time. What do you wish the public knew about it that perhaps it doesn’t know, or that media don’t adequately cover?

MILLER: Yes, I think the greatest missed communication within this debate is the voice of women who have benefited from from pro life volunteers being there at the clinic for them. We often, often in the media, this is framed as a debate between women who want to get an abortion and women who want to pray about abortion. But that's not the case at all. Actually, there's been hundreds of women who spoke out on a campaign called Be Here For Me. It was led by Alina Dulgheriu, who was a woman who found herself at an abortion clinic 11 years ago. She thought that abortion was her only option. She'd been left by her partner, she'd lost her job, and she thought that that was her only choice. But because of information she received from a pro-life counselor standing in the streets near the clinic, she actually found out about support available financially, emotionally, practically, with baby supplies, with housing, even, and she made an empowered choice to become a mother, and their voice, the voices of those women, those vulnerable women who would like another option than abortion, have been lost in this debate, sadly. It's absolutely crazy, even from a pro—choice perspective, this doesn't make any sense to ban options from women.

REICHARD: Lois McLatchie Miller is a senior Legal Communications Officer with Alliance Defending Freedom International. Lois, thank you for your time.

MILLER: Thank you so much for covering the story.

NICK EICHER, HOST: The town of Dixville Notch, New Hampshire opened its polls to voters as the clock rolled just past midnight last night. Just as it’s done for 64 years.

And man what a veritable beehive of activity every election year!

OK, so maybe a veritable library.

And the reason is, Dixville Notch has only has six registered voters. And they crossed field and stream 20 rugged miles south of the Canadian border to exercise their right to vote. No excuses!

And the result?

Inconclusive. I hope that’s not a sign of things to come.

It’s The World and Everything in It.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Today is Tuesday, November 5th.

Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Mary Reichard.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher.

Coming next on The World and Everything in It: an unusual political asylum claim. The central issue is educational freedom.

Homeschooling is legal in many countries, but some governments require public school attendance. And parents can face fines or even lose custody if they don’t comply.

REICHARD: The US has provided asylum for some of those families, but many are living in limbo, as asylum requests must be renewed each year.

WORLD has been following one family’s case for several years,  reporting last year that the US government had threatened to deport them, but last week they were granted asylum for another year.

Reporter Mary Muncy brings us their story.

UWE ROMEIKE: Alright, let’s do some math.

MARY MUNCY: Uwe Romeike is helping his 11-year-old daughter Rebecca with her math. They live in east Tennessee… and Rebecca is the youngest of seven… Everyone but she and her sister Sarah have graduated.

They’ve been in Tennessee for 16 years… checking in with Immigration and Customs Enforcement every year… just like they’re supposed to.

HANNE: You have no legal rights and no way to become a citizen here. It’s very hard.

Every year, it’s an open question whether their asylum status will be reapproved—allowing them to stay in the US. If the request is denied, they would have to take Rebecca and Sarah back to Germany… where the government has been cracking down on homeschooling even more than when they left … and it was bad then.

HANNE: Daniel was very, very much bullied in school.

Daniel is their oldest, and the first one to go to German public school.

HANNE: He changed into an introvert in one year. And our oldest two, they're one year apart. So when, it was Lydia's turn. When she came to school, I was scared that she would change too.

They also learned that the curriculum did not line up with the Romeikes Christian beliefs about sexuality and marriage.

HANNE: Every day when I brought Lydia to school, I cried out to the Lord, and I really cried, and I said, ‘Lord, you have to change something, you know, change something.’

A year later, they heard about homeschooling. It’s illegal in Germany… but other homeschooling families said they had gotten some nuisance fines, but nothing much more than that.

So, they started in the fall of 2006. Around that time, they went to a conference of homeschooling families. They were gone for about a week.

The morning after they got back, the doorbell rang.

UWE: Our doorbell would never ring in the morning, so we looked outside, because it didn't stop ringing.

They saw a couple cars out front… and a police officer, yelling. They talked to him from upstairs… trying to stall long enough to get the kids ready to go to school.

When the officer threatened to break into their home, the couple let him in and brought their now three school-aged children downstairs with their backpacks—still full of books from the conference.

But Hanne knew the principal… and knew he would be curious about what they were teaching their kids and might look at their curriculum while they were at school… she also worried that he would use that information to make up reasons why they couldn’t teach their kids at home.

So she tried removing the books in chaos before they left.

HANNE: And a policeman was screaming at me and cursing at me and say they are not going with empty bags.

Hanne tried to explain that they didn’t have any school books except their home school material.

HANNE: So he was pulling on one side, and I tried to keep it. And so that's when, when our children started to cry, because it is scary. The whole thing was so scary.

The officer told her kids to get into his van and he took them to school… school books still in their bags.

Hanne picked them up a few hours later and went to her sister’s house.

It was a Friday… so they had the weekend to figure out what they would do. The couple was sure the police would come back on Monday.

HANNE: I thought, wow, during the weekend, I will just disappear, maybe Switzerland.

They called other homeschoolers and they said they shouldn’t do that… otherwise, the authorities would use the same tactics on their families too.

The Romeikes learned that the police weren’t allowed to enter their house without a warrant.

So, when Monday morning came, some of the homeschool families, people from their church, and their friends came to their house as witnesses.

UWE: They came again, and we had all kinds of friends there, and we actually were just witnessing, because they were all talking to the police and having discussions and talking in support of us and questioned them— what they were doing.

After about 40 minutes, the police left… and they didn’t come back. They thought maybe that was the end of it. But then the fines began.

UWE: They started with fining notices for each parent and each child. So that was that 600 per day, and they went on for months.

They ended up with about $12,000 in fines and they had to go to court because they couldn’t pay them.

Then, a year after they started homeschooling… the government proposed a new law that would allow the state to take custody of their children without a court order if they didn’t send them to school.

It was the final straw, and they needed to leave… but they didn’t have anywhere to go.

UWE: Then we got a phone call from an attorney from HSLDA.

That’s the Home School Legal Defense Association.

UWE: We told him our situation, and he brought up the option, or the offer, actually, to support us to come here and give us legal support to apply for political asylum.

They decided to do it, and two years after they started homeschooling, they were on their way to Tennessee.

UWE: We came in August, and within a week, we had a house to move in.

HANNE: The people were so nice and helpful and open arms, you know, and shared and gave us so much. We came with only seven suitcases with some material and clothes and toys.

Since then, they’ve built a life for themselves and continued homeschooling their children… checking in annually with the US government.

A little over a year ago, it looked like they were going to have to return to Germany…then two weeks ago, they got word they could stay…at least another year.

UWE: Sarah!

So, the Romeikes are continuing to homeschool their last two children. Hanne says they’re not sure what will happen next year or the year after that… and they don’t have anything in Germany to go back to if they do have to leave.

HANNE: It feels scary, but, but you have no security either. We don't know what brings tomorrow. Yeah, we have no safety, you know, in worldly meaning. But the Lord covered us with peace and and he assured us, you know, he brought us here and now.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Mary Muncy.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Tuesday, November 5th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Nick Eicher.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard. For the rest of this week we’re going to end each program with a handful of scripture readings and prayers sent in by WORLD listeners.

Since Friday, the response has been significant. Thank you so much. It’s such an encouragement to hear these heartfelt prayers.

EICHER: Today we’re going to feature prayers and readings around the election itself, specifically for voter discernment, a secure process, and for peace at the polling place—all while thanking God for placing us in a constitutional republic.

CINDA MARTURANO: Father in heaven. We thank you for Jesus, our righteous king, the only ruler who has the scepter. We ask that our country would stop giving their allegiance to man, but to return to you, and honor you in this election. Lord, give man discernment of who to vote for. I also pray against corruption, that Lord, you would hold it back so that your will would be done on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.

CYNTHIA LONGABAUGH: Dear Heavenly Father you're still the Lord who raises kings and deposes them, and we ask you to have mercy on us. There are coins that say that we are a nation under God, but we have forgotten you, and that is why all this has happened. Forgive us and have mercy on us and raise up leaders, up and down the ballot who want to serve your purposes. Protect the integrity of our election, so that no one will cry foul on the day after. Lord, grant us your mercy. Renew the church. We pray these things in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

DAVID SABLE: Almighty God to whom we must account for all our powers and privileges, guide and direct, we humbly pray, the mind of all those who are called to elect fit persons to serve in government. Grant that in the exercise of our choice, we may promote your glory and the welfare of this nation. This we ask for the sake of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

EMILY RISHEL: Lord Jesus, you are the King of Kings, and one specific thing I want to ask Jesus is that you will keep eruptions of violence from happening no matter who wins the election. And God, I pray that we can have a fair election and accept the results and move on to what you call us to do. Because you are the King. For your glory, not because we deserve it. We ask this in Jesus name.

AMY HUFFMAN: Dear Heavenly Father, Sovereign God, rule in our hearts and in our land. Blessed Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer, you live, died, and rose for our salvation. Bring all peoples to a saving knowledge of yourself. Holy Spirit, enlighten our hearts and minds with your truth. Guide people to see the evil that is abortion and defeat the pro-abortion amendments in 10 states. Protect unborn babies and their parents. Triune God, defend us and restrain evil in our country, now and in the weeks and years ahead. Amen.

KIM ELLIS: Heavenly Father, we pray for justice to be done in our land. For our election to be fair. For our leaders to honor you. Second Chronicles 7:14 says: “If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” I pray Lord, that it's not too late for us.

TERESA PAGE: God, we lift up our nation today. We thank You, Father, God, that you are holy. You are on your throne, and you're in control of all things, of our life and of history as it unfolds. We come before you today, and we pray Lord against national disruption related to the outcome of this election, and we pray for peace, Lord in our hearts, and we pray that this election would be done legitimately, Lord, that the results would be tallied accurately and with legitimacy and integrity. Lord, we pray for your will to be done in this election. And we trust that you're hearing the cries of your children's hearts for the well being and the health of our nation. Lord for the ability to enact laws, Lord that will glorify You Lord. We ask these in Jesus name, amen.

MICAH FELBER: Our God we thank you for the privileges and freedoms that we have enjoyed as a nation. And we pray that they would continue. We thank You for the privilege to vote. But you know, Father, there are no perfect candidates to vote for this week. And Father, this election is causing divisions with the very neighbors that we desire to share the gospel with. We pray that You would give us good conversations with our neighbors that point them not toward better politics, but point them toward you. That they would come to the knowledge of the truth. And we pray these things in Jesus name Amen.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Tomorrow: the results, we hope.

And, a WORLD Opinions roundtable discussion on the 2024 election and what it may mean for the future.

That and more tomorrow. And get out there and vote!

I’m Nick Eicher.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard.

The World and Everything in It comes to you from WORLD Radio. WORLD’s mission is Biblically objective journalism that informs, educates, and inspires.

The Bible says: “And they shall be my people, and I will be their God.” —Jeremiah 32:38.

Go now in grace and peace.

WORLD Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of WORLD Radio programming is the audio record.