Around 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2020, the Associated Press called the 2020 presidential election and announced Joseph R. Biden, Jr., as the president-elect. The New York Times confirmed the AP’s announcement at 11:43 a.m. The decision to call the race was made when 99% of precincts in Pennsylvania were reporting and Biden was ahead in the state by over 30,000 votes. According to the AP, which has called Arizona in favor of Biden, he currently has 284 electoral votes. However, The New York Times and other news outlets have not yet called Arizona, which gives Biden 273 electoral votes.
Fellow swing states Nevada, Georgia and North Carolina are still too close to call, and Alaska has also not finished counting its votes, but is expected to give its electoral votes to Donald Trump. Nevada and Georgia are both leaning toward the Democrats, while North Carolina is still leaning Republican. However, vote counting is expected to go on in these states for several more days and there may additionally be recounts in close races like Georgia’s.
Biden’s campaign and the major news outlets have all declared their expectation that Biden will become the 46th president of the United States regardless of continued vote counting and recounts. However, the country may not know for certain for several weeks or months yet. The Trump administration is expected to continue filing lawsuits in states like Arizona, Georgia, Michigan and Pennsylvania, and has said that he has no plans to concede and has promised legal action. However, despite widespread claims of voter fraud by President Trump, his campaign and his supporters, there is little evidence that recounts will yield a different result than what has already been seen.
Joe Biden will deliver a speech tonight meant to “unify the country,” according to CNN. Biden will be the oldest president ever elected, as he will be 78 when he is sworn in. With Biden’s election, Kamala Harris will also become the nation’s first female vice president and first person of color to be vice president. Biden’s supporters hope that with his election, the COVID-19 pandemic will be stabilized, racial inequities will be addressed and the country will be united. However, there is still a long road ahead in confirming the results of the election and transferring power from the Trump administration to the Biden team.
By Olivia Slack, Co-Editor in Chief
Comments