WASHINGTON—According to a report released Thursday by the Pew Research Center, Election Day 2016 will, for the majority of Americans, mark the only time this year they will occupy the same room as a person who supports a different presidential candidate. “For the majority of those backing either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump, this upcoming Tuesday will be the first and last time in 2016 they will share the same enclosed physical space with someone whose viewpoints fall on the opposite side of the political spectrum,” the report read in part, noting that on average, American voters will spend 18 minutes this year in the physical presence of those who would prefer a different outcome in the election, beginning from the moment they enter their local polling place on November 8, to the moment they submit their ballot and exit the premises. “Furthermore, the typically brief intervals spent waiting in line to cast one’s vote will represent the only point in 2016 when most voters with differing opinions on the issues and disparate desires for the direction of the nation will be within several feet of one another, a distance from which they could, theoretically, engage in a normal conversation.” The report went on to state that as soon as they left the shared space on Election Day, tens of millions of Americans would go back to their regular interactions with those supporting the other candidate by brutally vilifying them and questioning their intelligence on social media.

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