The road to Election Day is a never-ending endurance task for who can garner the least exhausted supporters instead of a simple invitation to practice one’s right. Although the match-up between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump has lasted for less than half a year, the familiar ups and downs make it feel like one part of a long, continuous election cycle that kicked off when Trump initially ran in 2016.

While the drawn-out nature of the race is largely due to Trump’s presence, 2024 nearly becoming a rematch — the first since 1956 — it’s not a milestone the United States should have in its sights. And when plans for the next cycle begin before Election Day arrives, Americans are denied a breather and given more reason to scoff at voter outreach texts, debates and TV advertisements.

Aside from the pressure of mounting an unconventional campaign, Harris’ bid for the presidency is also an experiment of sorts for whether or not a smaller campaigning window works. Leading up to Election Day, polls remained deadlocked and too close for either campaign’s liking. However, polls have underestimated candidates before, notably in 2020 when Trump over-performed against expectations in favor of Biden.

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The same could be true for Trump this time, but the opposite is also a possible reality for Harris. If Harris overperforms and does better than the polls indicated, her 107-day stretch could prove that shorter campaigns work to benefit candidates and the interests of everyday people forced to endure relentless back and forths.

Considering Biden deemed 384 days too late to join the 2016 race, a successful Harris campaign would be the equivalent of a baseball team clinching a win after falling behind prior to the last few innings. But even if Harris falls short of a win, the 2024 cycle is not entirely indicative of what a balanced race looks like, where the candidates have the same amount of time to campaign.

Until former President Jimmy Carter saw an opportunity to gain momentum through the Iowa caucus in 1976, making the top of an election year the pole position, election cycles were brief and not at all the years’ worth of campaigning frequent today. The added time does give Americans more time to get to know candidates, but that does not always translate, a setback Harris faces with voters still unfamiliar with her after she’s acted as vice president for almost four years.

While other solutions exist  — such as abolishing the Electoral College — several issues are largely due to the logistics. Regarding the Electoral College, its unpopularity among Americans is not yet fueling any bipartisan agreement between Republicans or Democrats, the latter of whom were quick to clarify Gov. Tim Walz’s stance on the issue. Taking a step as miniscule as shortening the time candidates are allowed to campaign lessens the potential for voter burnout.

In France, laws permit campaigns to start two weeks before the first and sometimes only round of voting depending on if a candidate wins more than 50% of the vote. In Canada, campaigns for prime minister must last 37 days but no more than 51 days. Like its response to pressing issues like gun violence, the U.S. takes its sweet time compared to the rest of the world.

With a timeline similar to France, U.S. voters could be less susceptible to political oversaturation, a change that reduces the number of surprises that derail entire campaigns and asks little of voters’ attention. Given the rise in political polarization, which has plagued the last few presidential races and worsened with two assassination attempts, treating politics as though it were the time a child is allowed to watch TV before bedtime is good for everyone’s sake.

Reshaping the U.S. election system is a Pandora’s box unlikely to happen overnight. The lack of commitment on either side of the aisle makes an overhaul even less likely to occur on any significant level. However, when voter turnout remains a core issue in presidential elections, resorting to relatively simple solutions is the sole way to pave a path forward rather than being stuck at the drawing board forever.