When advising her clients on how to best prepare for Mercury’s retrograde coinciding with the presidential election, Hannah Ouijdani, an astrologer who runs the Twitter account @astrobebs, had one big piece of advice- check and double check their signatures, as communication is thrown out of whack during this period.

The 2020 election falls on the last day of Mercury’s retrograde which, “is the planet’s most powerful time. It goes from spinning backwards to spinning forwards, which can almost be a shock to our systems,” said Shontel Anestasia, a Harlem-based astrologer who practices Eastern astrology and runs the account @The.Urban.Gurvi.Mama on Instagram. 

This event has caused astrologers to worry, because Mercury’s retrograde leads to communication errors and the need for things to be redone, especially if people don’t take the time to slow down. 

Also top of mind: The last time that Mercury retrograde fell during an election was in 2000 when ballots had to be tallied again to determine whether George W. Bush or Al Gore won. Th outcome went known until mid-December, when the Supreme Court shut down the recount in Florida, leading to a victory for Bush. 

Mercury is the planet that controls communication, travel, the intuitive mind and technology (among other things) and it retrogrades three times a year, once every 88 days. When this occurs, the planet spins backwards, causing chaos in the areas under its control. This retrograde began on Oct. 13 and will end on Nov. 3.

Not only is Mercury in retrograde during the election, so is Mars.. Mars is the planet of action and willpower, so when it moves backward, it brings destruction. It retrogrades in the sign of Pieces, which represents the 12th house of illusion, deception and hidden enemies, making this a time when a lot goes on behind the scenes. 

“A new method of voting was introduced, the punch-card ballot, [which was] responsible for a lot of confusion,”said Ouijdani, referring to the 2000 election. “I do see a lot of similarities, and I see the Supreme Court playing a large role in deciding the outcome of this election.”

Like 2000, a new method of voting became mainstream this year, except, rather than dealing with any “hanging chads” this election season, voters are concerned about their mail-in ballots being counted.

“Mercurial things — such as ballots, written things, communication— , are not moving forward because they’re being destroyed and obstructed throughout this retrograde cycle,” said Blaze Max Hiigli, owner of Max Hiigli Astrology. 

For Mercury, it takes 20 years for the planet to get back to its same position, in terms of its retrograde cycle.

“That’s what the astrology is right now, and we are seeing it played out in the political climate,” said Hiigli.

When their clients have asked how to best prepare for voting during retrograde, the astrologers’ answers have been relatively similar. 

“Things have the potential to go wrong with retrogrades if certain preliminary precautions are not met, [such as] double-checking to make sure that your document is absolutely correct,” said Hiigli. “With retrograde, there is definitely a need to work a lot slower and to really take your time to review it. That way, you are certain what you want.”