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Still No Clear Winner in Too-Close-to-Call Presidential Election

As of Wednesday morning, both presidential candidates still have viable paths to victory and there are still millions of votes to be counted.
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Election night watch party. Photo: Mateo Ruiz Gonzalez for BK Reader.

The landslide that many Brooklyn voters had hoped for did not eventuate last night. Also, we have learned a few more things about the soul of this country and its views around what really matters.

Democratic presidential candidate former-Vice President Joe Biden and President Donald Trump are neck-and-neck in the race to claiming 270 electoral seats, the number needed to secure the White House. The New York Times is declaring Biden has gathered 227 seats and 50% of the popular vote, to Trump's 213 seats and 48.3% of the popular vote.

NYT reports  54.2% of New Yorkers voted for Biden and 40.5% voted for Trump, with 84% of votes having been counted.

New York State Board of Election unofficial results have those numbers at 50.73% for Biden and 38.97% for Trump, earning Biden all of New York State's 29 electoral college votes. In New York, mail-in ballots can still be counted until Nov. 10, meaning those numbers will undoubtably shift.

What was interesting, and what also seemed to be a local, state and national trend, Donald J. Trump's support in New York, an historically blue state, had gained ground from 2016 to 2018; whereas the Democratic support in numbers seemed to peel off somewhat.

In fact, in New York City, only in Queens County did we see the numbers for the Democratic presidential candidate gain ground from 2016.

The rise in social justice protests and frustration around climate change and coronavirus deaths on one side; and the lies, bullying, misinformation and racial division by the other seemed to matter little in swinging the pendulum at the end of the day. The polls predicting a Biden landslide were wrong.

Trump also carried the important battleground state of Florida and claimed other crucial victories in Ohio, Texas and South Carolina.

Many are now looking to results in Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Georgia as deciding factors in the race. Together those states account for 62 electoral seats, but it could still be days before all mail-in votes are tallied.

Just after 1:00am, Biden addressed supporters saying it wasn't over until every vote was counted, and Democrats were feeling good about their election chances.

"I'm here to tell you tonight we believe we're on track to win this election," he said.

"We knew because of the unprecedented early vote and the mail-in vote that it was going to take a while, that we're going to have to be patient until the hard work of tallying the votes is finished—and it ain't over until every ballot is counted."

Trump tweeted: "We are up BIG, but they are trying to STEAL the Election. We will never let them do it. Votes cannot be cast after the polls are closed!" The tweet was censored by Twitter for being possibly misleading about the election process.

The election has been a tumultuous, contentious and highly tense referendum on President Donald Trump's polarizing four years in office. In a first of its kind, it has been carried out amidst an economic crisis, global pandemic, nationwide protests of racial inequality and an increasingly divided electorate-- issues that seemed to galvanize, if not polarize electorates.

Because of the pandemic, mail-in voting rights were expanded resulting in the now millions of absentee votes that still need to be counted and could be deciding factors in who is declared the next president of the United States.

One of the few certainties from the start of Election Day was the record voter turnout across the country. Before Election Day even began, more than 100 million Americans had cast their vote early or via mail-in ballot to make sure their voices were heard in this pivotal election.

Stay tuned into BK Reader as we continue to provide updates, as more votes are counted and the numbers come in.

Regardless of the results, the 2020 general election is showing us one thing for sure: Even if Donald J. Trump's 2016 victory was once viewed as a possible consequence of election meddling, his supporters this time have left less to guess: They are here; they are large in number; and they stand resoundingly behind him and his views.




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