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It’s over. On Saturday 7th November, four days after the election, Vice-President Joe Biden was elected as the 46th President of the United States of America. He will lead a government from January 20th with Senator Kamala Harris, who is the first woman and person of colour to be elected as Vice President in the history of America.
It’s been a long, historic, and nail biting election like no other. It has arguably been the most brilliant display of democracy in years, as millions upon millions of Americans took to the streets, campaigning passionately for the party and leader they believed in. Many queued outside of polling stations and cast their votes at the height of a deadly pandemic, while poll workers and volunteers have braved COVID-19 to ensure everyone’s voice was heard.
Multiple networks and pollsters including CNN, The BBC, AP and Fox News have projected that Biden and the Democrats will turn Pennsylvania blue. This would take Biden’s already-acclaimed 253 electoral college votes to 273, and put him past the 270 required for a seat at the Oval Office. Biden and Harris are also expected to turn the usually-Republican states of Arizona, Nevada and Georgia back into Democrat control. If this is the case, Biden’s electoral college vote count will be pushed to 306 - the same number President Trump collected in 2016.
The news of a Biden-Harris administration has relieved many across the nation, and indeed across the world, as Trump has come under criticism for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. He’s also been denounced for allegations of sexual harassment and racism, heightened by the protests after George Floyd’s death. Allegations of racism were bolstered when Trump refused to condemn the white supremacist group ‘Proud Boys’ in the first Presidential debate last month. Democrats now see a chance to rebuild America, to join together across the political spectrum, across races, and across genders. President-Elect Biden has promised to, in his words “Build Back Better”.
Biden has said that it is now time for America to “unite and heal” after four years of the Trump-Pence administration. He said, “With the campaign over, it’s time to put the anger and harsh rhetoric behind us and come together as a nation”. He also added that he was ‘’honoured and humbled’’ to be elected to the highest office in the world and said that the record turnout in the face of ‘’unprecedented obstacles’’ showed that democracy ‘’beats deep in the heart of America”. Many Democrats feel that, after years of division, chaos and violence, the people of America have fought to choose a fairer future for themselves and future generations.
This result makes Donald Trump the first one-term president since the 1990s. This record does not bode well in the Republican camp, as Trump has previously described Biden as the “worst presidential candidate” in US history. If he were to lose, Trump also said he may "have to leave the country". However, the 45th President of the United States is refusing to admit defeat.
The projection that Biden would be the 46th President was announced while Trump was playing golf at one of his resorts. Sources have indicated that the Republican candidate does not plan to concede victory to his challenger. Since November 3rd, we have seen an infuriated Donald Trump consistently tweet that the election was “rigged” against him. He has made it clear that he will be filing lawsuits, and fighting against the democratic choice of the American people.
The election turnout has been the highest since 1900, and Biden has won nearly 75 million votes so far, which is the most votes any presidential candidate has received in the history of the United States. Meanwhile, Trump has racked up more than 70 million votes - the second highest tally in history - which shows how deeply divided America is at the moment.
Days ago, Trump falsely claimed via tweets and a press conference that he had won the most votes, and had therefore won the election. These accusations were made long before counting was finished, yet he has continued to claim that there were irregularities in the election. Neither he nor his lawyers have provided substantial evidence to support these statements.
Trump supporters have fought against the results via social media, and by turning up to polling booths armed. They too have made allegations of widespread election fraud; in some states where Trump was ahead, protesters were recorded saying “stop counting”. In other states, where Trump was behind, demonstrators have been screaming “count the votes”. Messages have been mixed.
Biden’s projected victory comes after four days of exhausting vote counting. It is the reward for a campaign that Biden claims is built on unification, hope, fairness, equality, and inclusivity. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are now faced with the monumental task of forming a unified America, as Obama once said: not as "red or blue states", but "just the United States".