Beer, sushi and hope: Voters election nights are all planned out

PHILADELPHIA — Mike Fitchett left his Philadelphia polling place at about 1 p.m. on Tuesday and planned to do what any self-respecting, anxiety-ridden American citizen would do on Election Day in 2016: He was going to drink. 

"I know we're not gonna get these results until tomorrow," he told Mashable. "But until then, I'm gonna drink beer."

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Plenty of voters in Germantown, Philadelphia, had their election night plans all mapped out — where they were going to be, who they would be with, and what they were going to eat as they watched votes pour in for Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. 

"Of course I'm not gonna let it go by without watching it," Helen Smith, 81 and from Philadelphia, told Mashable. "I'm just gonna be home and have the TV on."

Renee Keene, Taylor Adams and a few other Clinton supporters spent the majority of their day hanging out near Widener Branch Library, but were planning on a sushi dinner. When the voting tallies began to come in, they planned to be in front of the same TV, riding it out together. 

"We need to see what goes on," Keene said. "We don't want to miss it."

Other voters planned on steak. Some said they would sit and watch CNN all night. Some Philadelphians planned to flip channels to get a feel for which stations were showing what. One voter had decided to go home, turn off the TV, go to sleep and wait until morning to figure out just how much the country had changed while she was in bed. 

But for the vast majority of those whom Mashable spoke to, there was no way they were going to be anywhere without a TV in earshot. 

Marsie Shubert, a poll volunteer, summed it all up with her plan: "Sitting back and watching, hoping we win."