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Brooklynites Nervously Await Official Election Results

Joe Biden was close to victory, but President Trump has vowed to fight on in the courts.
Barclays Center. Photo: Nigel Roberts

Brooklyn's Barclays Center was a hub of political activity during the early voting period, as residents stood in long lines waiting to cast ballots.

Three days after the election, the atmosphere was more subdued outside the sports arena, but the election was still on people's minds.

The most important presidential election in a generation remained a cliffhanger on Friday morning, making many Democrats a bit nervous about whether their candidate, Joe Biden, would deny President Donald Trump a second term.

Atlantic Center
Atlantic Center. Photo: Nigel Roberts

Biden's electoral vote count stood still for days at 253 (though some news outlets put him 264) but closing in on the 270 votes needed to win the election.

Trump prematurely declared victory on election night and demanded that officials in swing states stop counting mail-in absentee ballots, claiming without evidence that there was widespread voter fraud.

As the counting continued, Trump's early lead eroded over the past two days, prompting the president to file legal challenges to win reelection.

"They should count all the votes. Trump is the one who's trying to steal the election," Dashaun Williams, a Biden supporter, told BK Reader. "I hope Trump doesn't get back in office."

Brooklynites voted overwhelmingly for Biden and his running mate Sen. Kamala Harris. Voters in the borough accounted for 373,270 of the 1.1 million early voting ballots, according to the New York City Board of Elections.

Indeed, Brooklyn did its part to evict Trump from the White House, giving Biden 74.1% of the votes cast across the borough.

Mohamed Youssef, who declined to identify which presidential candidate he voted for, said he feels secure about the election process and blamed the pandemic for causing confusion.

"Coronavirus made a lot of older people vote by mail, so they have to count all the votes. That's the right thing to do," Agnes Chang said.

"I don't trust the Republican Party, and I don't trust Donald Trump," said a woman who emerged from the Atlantic Terminal subway station. "They are probably going to find a way to change the results."

While the results were still in limbo, Biden was on track for a historic popular vote count. The former vice president received more votes than any previous presidential candidate. By Friday afternoon, Biden collected more than 73 million votes, surpassing President Barack Obama's 2008 record of more than 69 million votes.

However, the U.S. Constitution lays out an electoral system in which the popular vote is actually secondary to the electors' vote in each state.

Brooklynites in Canarsie are also sitting on the edge of their seats, nervously hoping for a Biden victory.

"I watch the news to keep up with the results," Michelle Phillips said, who added that seeing Biden pull ahead in Georgia and Pennsylvania by Friday morning made her feel optimistic. "Trump looked defeated Thursday night on television."

"The Republicans can be ruthless. I hope the Democrats don't let them steal this from us," Marc Graham stated.



About the Author: Nigel Roberts

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