Time flies.

It seems like only yesterday that Joe Biden was running for president, an assassin tried to shoot Donald Trump, and Robert Kennedy Jr. was running for president as an independent and solving an eight-year-old mystery of a dead bear carcass found next to a bicycle in Central Park.

But all that is now solidly in the rear-view mirror and things are about to come to a head in the election.

And if you think there’s been a lot of insanity in the presidential race this year, well, it seems pretty safe to say you ain’t seen nothing yet.

There’s only one safe prediction that can be counted on before now and Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5: That one sure-fire prediction is that whatever is about to happen is completely unpredictable.

That’s why Guilford County Elections Director George Collicutt and his staff are preparing for all eventualities. Collicutt and his very hardworking crew are busy training poll workers, proofreading ballots, checking out machinery and taking other steps to put on an election where even the slightest innocent mistake will immediately become a central cog in a nationwide conspiracy theory spread virally by one side or the other.

So, the Guilford County Board of Elections Department will definitely be earning their pay over the next three months.

It all starts happening next week, on Friday, Sept. 6. That’s when “Absentee by Mail” voting begins.

The next big moment falls on Friday, Oct. 11 at 5 p.m. That’s the deadline for voter registration. Those of legal age who have established residency by Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2024, will be eligible to register.

The next big date of the 2024 election cycle falls on Thursday, Oct. 17.  That’s when Early Voting begins in Guilford County.

As in previous years, the Guilford County Board of Elections has spent a good deal of time and effort deciding where those early voting sites should be placed so that they’ll be easily accessible and be in locations fair to all parties and candidates.

Tuesday, Oct. 29 is the last day for civilians to request and absentee ballot by mail.

Then, on Saturday, Nov. 2, Early Voting ends at 3 p.m. sharp.

Monday, Nov. 4 at 5 p.m. is the deadline for absentee ballot requests for military and overseas voters covered by the federal Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act.

This is just one day before the election, but the law allows this group of voters an option to request and receive absentee ballot applications by electronic transmission and it also establishes electronic transmission options for delivery of blank absentee ballots to these voters.

Then, of course, comes the big day.

Election Day – which will be known as “Doomsday” for the losing party in the presidential election.

That will be on Tuesday, Nov. 5, and it’s also the last day to return an absentee ballot by mail in person or received by mail. The ballots must be returned by 7:30 p.m.

In Guilford County, for those who like to vote the old-fashioned way on Election Day, the polls will open on Tuesday, Nov. 5 at 6:30 a.m. and they are scheduled to close at 7:30 p.m.

On Friday, Nov. 15 at 11 a.m. County boards of elections in North Carolina are scheduled to meet and certify the winners.

Across the country, county election boards will be doing the same thing at various times.  After that, as the past presidential election demonstrated, you might better hold onto your hats.