Whatever Happened To A Sacred Election Day?

Before you know it, Election Day 2019 will be here.
When I was a kid, Election Day was sacrosanct. In my family it was like a Holy Day of Obligation except that instead of going to church you went to the polls and voted.
It was sacred -- a quiet day that allowed people to speak through their actions.
There were no campaign commercials on the airwaves on Election Day. None.
Campaigning ceased.
Candidates, if they appeared at all, appeared to vote and maybe showed up at one or two polling places or phoned in to see how things were going.
"This is the people's day," my father used to say. "It belongs to them."
Yes, tensions could be high. But polling places remained places of honor. Campaigning or politicking anywhere near a polling place was strictly forbidden. Poll workers and party workers at the polls (and my father was one of these) remained civil, regardless of parties. If a disagreement, dispute or disturbance arose, it was usually resolved quickly and quietly.
At the end of the day, the tedium finally subsided. The machines were opened. The tallies were revealed. The mystery was over.
One side celebrated and the other sulked.
That's the way I remember it. That's the way it should be.
But now Election Day is as noisy and as raucous as any other day. And it's also a day of campaigning. The greedy TV and radio stations still run campaign spots. The newspapers still print campaign ads. And the internet is now still clogged with the same huckster messages as well. It's campaign, campaign, campaign right up to the last moment.
Even on Election Day, shameless candidates are still pitching their wares and still hunting for votes.
It's disgraceful. Tawdry. Unseemly. Disrespectful.
It disses the very system -- and the treasured principles -- that make a free and fair election possible.
The secret ballot is sacred. Honor it. Don't diss it.
So, this year, try to SHUT UP, EVERYBODY -- until the polls are closed and the votes are tallied.
All power to the people means letting the people vote peacefully and quietly -- even till the very end.
They'll be time enough for shouting later.