After the Election Ed Lesson One — Election Week Roundup

Written by Rachele Terranova, Graphics by Nadia Nugent

The election that felt as if it went on forever now feels like it happened ages ago. With the results finally in, there is still so much work to be done — that means time for After the Election Ed! I am going to be following up on the election and will be starting off with an election week round up. In After the Election Ed, I will be getting into what to do next and why it matters, the upcoming senate runoff elections, a deep dive on Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris, President-Elect Joe Biden’s First Day and first one hundred days, and some important pre-inauguration information.

Election Timeline

After four days, the election was finally called on Nov. 7 in favor of former Vice President Joe Biden. He won 306 electoral college votes compared to Trump’s 232. In terms of the popular vote, Biden won approximately 51 percent of votes at 79 million votes, while Trump won approximately 47.3 percent of votes at around 73 million.

A lot happened between election day on November 3rd and the time Joe Biden reached the 270 Electoral College votes, and where we stand now there are still several checkpoints left on the road to inauguration —

Nov. 3

Election Day

Nov. 7

Election results called in favor of Joseph R. Biden Jr.

Nov. 4 – 23

Deadlines to receive absentee and overseas ballots varies from state to state.

Nov. 5 – Dec. 12

Deadlines to certify election results to determine how state electors will vote varies by state.

Dec. 8

States make decisions on controversies over appointing electors (this is at least six days before electors meet).

December 14

Electors will meet to cast their ballots for president and vice president in their respective states — 270 electoral votes wins.

Dec. 23

Electoral votes must be received by the Senate president and the archivist (this must happen no later than nine days after the meeting of electors).

Jan. 6, 2021

The vice president as president of the Senate presides over a joint session of Congress as they convene to count the vote — if no candidate reaches 270 required votes the House certifies a winner, and if no Vice President wins the Senate certifies a winner.

Jan. 20, 2021

At noon, the swearing in of the president and vice president commences as the elects take the oath into office.

Official Results

Battleground Races

The focal point of this election quickly became the battleground states as the whole world began watching the results slowly trickle in. Battleground or swing states are the states where the two major political parties have close to equal numbers in terms of support. These states include Georgia, Arizona, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and Wisconsin.

In this Election, all eyes were specifically on Pennsylvania, Florida, Texas, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin, Nevada and Georgia.

Flipped (or not flipped) States

Pennsylvania: historically Democrat but Republican in 2016, flipped to Democrat.

Florida: historically Republican, remained Republican.

Texas: historically Republican, remained Republican.

Arizona: recently Republican, flipped to Democrat.

Michigan: recently Democratic but Republican in 2016, flipped to Democrat.

Wisconsin: recently Republican, flipped to Democrat.

Nevada: recently Democrat, remained Democrat.

Georgia: historically Republican, flipped to Democrat.

Georgia was a big and unexpected win for Biden, as Georgian voters have historically elected Republicans. Pennsylvania’s flip to supporting a Democratic candidate got 270 electoral college votes for Biden. Following Pennsylvania, the long-contested Nevada was also called for Biden.

Down-Ballot Results

Wins in Diversity

Federal and local election results reached new milestones in terms of the diverse members elected in down-ballot races nationwide.

Six Native Americans were elected to Congress: Sharice Davids, Kaial’l Kahele, Debra Haaland, Tom Cole, Yvette Herrell and Markwayne Mullin.

Sarah McBride, Taylor Small, and Stephanie Byers, Lisa Bunker and Brianna Titone are all openly transgender elected officials who made history in this election.

Mauree Turner became the first nonbinary state legislator.

We reached a number of other record-breaking appointments in the 2020 election with several states gaining their first legislators who are Black, South Asian, Muslim, gay, bisexual, trans or non-binary. We are finally electing the Americans that represent who we are, people who are just people: activists, artists, lawyers, nurses, teachers, preachers, people who are or formally were low income, people with single parents and people who are single parents. Finally, lawmakers with any or many of these traits are the representation of who this country is truly made of and for.

Ballot Questions

As we previously discussed during Election Ed, there were many states with important down-ballot questions up for debate this election with many states making progressive strides.

New Jersey, Arizona, Montana and South Dakota legalized recreational marijuana. Washington D.C. and Oregon decriminalized psilocybin, or mushrooms, while Oregon also voted to decriminalize heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine in small amounts and chose to use law-enforcement savings to support addiction treatment.

Mississippi voted to adopt a new flag without confederate symbols, and Rhode Island voted to drop “Providence Plantations” from the official state name.

Colorado and Oregon approved tobacco tax increases and in Arizona they approved raising the tax rate for wealthier residents in order to boost school funding.

California voted on the side of delivery and rideshare companies and against labor unions that block making it harder for drivers to claim full-time employee status.

Looking Forward

As I mentioned before, there is still a mountain to climb in terms of fighting for the measures many Americans are looking to get passed under the new administration. This is a time to learn and engage — with break approaching it is the perfect time to research what matters drive you, what do YOU want to see from your administration, and find out how you can get involved to make these changes. There is no voice that is too big or too small. Make the effort to use whatever resources you have, work for what you believe in, fight to amplify marginalized voices.