On November 7 2020, Democratic Presidential candidate Joe Biden emerged winner of the 2020 elections after crossing the 270-vote threshold. Mr Biden captured key states that Republican candidate, Donald Trump had won in 2016 like Arizona, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, delivering one of the most important moments from the elections––red states flipping to blue as mail-in votes were counted.
Asides from election night stretching into election week, what else made the US elections special?
Trump Lost Popular Vote Twice: This is the second time President Donald Trump is losing the popular vote. In 2016, he lost to Hilary Clinton by 2.1% of popular votes but scored up to 306 electoral college votes compared to 227 votes for Hilary Clinton. In, 2020 he scored over 70 million popular votes and 214 electoral college votes, losing to Joe Biden who scored over 74 million electoral votes and 290 electoral votes.
First Female Vice President: An epoch-making part of the 2020 elections is the emergence of Kamala Harris, an Afro-Indian American as the first female vice president as well as the first from her race. She became the fourth woman to appear on a major political party’s presidential ticket in the history of the country (1984-vice presidential nominee Geraldine, 2008 – Republican nominee Sarah Palin, 2016 – Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton). She is the first to win.
High Voter Turnout: Voter turnout surged despite the coronavirus pandemic. The 2020 Elections had the highest voter turnout in America in the last 12 decades with a record voter turnout of 66.9%, the highest turnout rate since 1900. Voter turnout was 56% in the last elections in 2016.
First Time Voters: 2020 marks the first time that members of Gen -Z became eligible to vote. A record number of immigrants also naturalized in the US and became eligible to vote on their own.
Mail-in-Voting Surged: Mail-in balloting and early voting was very prominent during the elections largely due to the coronavirus pandemic and was vastly more popular this year than it was in 2016, with mostly democrats voting by mail.
Oldest President: Joe Biden, when he takes office in January 2021 will become the oldest president to come into office in the United States, after previously being Vice President for the Obama administration.
Democrats Keep Control of House: Elections to the House of Representatives which held alongside presidential elections has the Democrats currently leading by 211 seats. 218 seats are required for control of the House. CNN projects that the democratic party will retain control of the US House of Representatives.
What Next for America?
President-elect, Joe Biden and his vice will be inaugurated into Office at noon on January 20, 2021, as stipulated by the US constitution. Prior to this, the votes need to be certified across all the states where elections took place. This process is expected to begin in the next few weeks. The president-elect is also expected to create a transition team who will select cabinet members and advise on policy decisions. The Biden team has since set up a transition website for this purpose. His immediate priority will be tackling the health and economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the United States of America.
