Biden-Harris Win the 2020 Presidential Election

After days of counting, election called in favor of Democratic ticket.

**2020 presidential election finally wrapped up the saturday after election day.**
Illustration by Mazie Neill – *The Sentry*

As predicted, the 2020 Presidential Election turned out to be a whirlwind. After three long days of counting, media outlets finally declared former Vice President Joe Biden the next President-Elect of the United States, alongside Vice Presidential Running mate Kamala Harris. Despite congratulations pouring in for Biden from across the political spectrum, including Senator Mitt Romney of Utah and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Trump still refuses to accept his loss.

With record turnout of more than 70 million people for both Biden and the incumbent President Donald Trump, this election proved especially challenging in the midst of a global pandemic. In order to avoid crowded polling centers on election day, states began enacting regulations around voting-by-mail, which enabled millions more people this year to vote than in previous elections.

From the start, Trump signaled his intentions to dispute the results if he lost. Earlier this year, he encouraged his supporters to vote in-person or even vote twice if possible, saying in two separate speeches, “These mail-in ballots are a disgrace and they know it,” and “So let them send it in and go vote, and if their system’s as good as they say it is, then obviously they won’t be able to vote.” When the votes first began adding up on the night of November 3, it seemed like Trump had secured his reign for another term; however, the tallies appeared lopsided because many states counted in-person voting first.

As states moved on to counting mail-in ballots by the next morning, it became clearer that Biden had a better chance of getting the highest number of votes and electors, and Trump continued to invalidate the process. Filing contradictory lawsuits, his legal team further undermined the reality of the situation. They attempted to argue a similar case as former President George W. Bush in 2000, despite multiple states being involved with different situations and the margins being much higher this time. When the Democratic “Blue Wall” fell for Trump in 2016, Hillary Clinton lost by lower totals than Trump did in 2020.

Biden managed to flip several states blue, including Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Arizona. All of these states voted for Trump in 2016, and all of them were among the last states to tally votes, leading to a nailbiting race to get the 270 electoral votes needed.

From the moment media outlets first projected that Biden would become the next president, people began pouring onto the streets to celebrate in cities around the country. What little crowds had gathered to support Trump were soon drowned out by a not-so-silent majority.

Even after several days, Trump has refused to concede the race to Biden. In a shocking statement on November 10, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said, “There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration.” By this point four years ago, Trump and Pence had communications with former President Barack Obama and then-VP Biden about the transition, but it seems like no such cooperation will happen this year as the fight drags on with not much sign of ending.

This is a selection from the Nov. 11 issue. To view the full issue, visit: https://online.flippingbook.com/view/834159/