There is an election scenario that is giving social media company leaders nightmares. The period between the closing of the polls and the declared result usually lasts a few hours.
But this time around it will likely take days, maybe even weeks. Processing millions of postal votes will take time.
Social media companies believe this period - of claims and counterclaims - could push the United States over the edge.
If both Donald Trump and Joe Biden declare themselves winners, there are fears of violence among already polarized communities in the United States.
And all of this could be played on social media.
Three weeks ago, Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg said he was "worried".
On Facebook he wrote: "With our nation so divided and election results potentially taking days or even weeks to finalize, there could be an increased risk of civil unrest across the country."
In what may be the first, many of the Big Tech companies worked together to "plan a scenario" for different voting results.
Essentially they were war election night.
There is a scenario that worries tech leaders: postal votes are expected to be weighted towards the Democratic candidate, while voting at the polls should favor the incumbent Republican.
This is because Trump has told his supporters to vote in person. He says the mail-order voting process is rigged (there is no evidence of this).
Democrats, on the other hand, have no problem encouraging mail-order voting.
As a result, these two ways of voting have become politically distorted.
This could create what is coined as a "red mirage" on the night of the survey and a "blue pass" in the following days.
In this scenario, Trump would "win" the same day because the ballot box votes will have been counted.
But then, after the postal votes slowly built up, Biden would work his way up to Trump's lead.
Contested result
What would Mr. Trump do? Well, almost everything he has said and tweeted so far suggests he would declare victory, or at least question the outcome.
"[We] must know the election results on election night, not days, months or even years later! " she tweeted in July.
His constant speeches about postal vote fraud also lead him to question the final tally.
And last week he refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power.
In fact, Mr. Trump has already done something similar. During the 2018 mid-term election in Florida, as reports were starting to garner a Republican majority, he tweeted the following:
So the evidence points to a way. Mr. Trump doesn't want to hang around counting all those postal votes.
This is where Big Tech garments come in.
If Mr. Trump is going to declare victory, he is likely to do so via Twitter and Facebook.
And these platforms have said - unequivocally - that they won't let them do that.
Twitter said "it will label or remove misleading information intended to undermine public confidence in an election ... for example, claim victory before election results have been certified."
Facebook has said it will reject ads from US political campaigns claiming victory prematurely before the results are declared and will remove the misinformation about the vote.
On Friday, the Axios news site reported that Google would block election ads after election day as a response to this same concern.
So now we have this chance: Trump claims victory, but he is prevented from spreading the word on social media.
Dangerous moment
This could possibly create the most dangerous time any of these social media companies have faced.
They will have to potentially censor thousands of politically accused posts.
As passions intensify, presidential candidates can swear revenge for decisions made about what to leave or remove that they disagree with.
What could Mr. Trump do to punish them? Well, in the future it may seek to repeal Section 230, which protects social media companies from being accountable for the content people post.
He has already indicated - through executive orders - that he is willing to do so.
Even Biden may refuse to admit defeat - or exaggerate by claiming that Republicans are trying to "steal" the election.
What if Mr. Biden wins but feels that social media has fueled the split flames? Well, there are many Democrats who care about the power these companies have. Some believe they should also be divided.
Of course this may not happen. Mr Trump could win with a landslide and Mr Biden could immediately accept defeat. Or Mr. Biden could win the popular vote in the night and Mr. Trump could kindly go.
But all the evidence so far suggests it won't happen.
And that could spell serious problems not just for the United States, but for the future of social media itself.
