The Election Upset

by Temi Akinyoade

VOL. 22 — published November 08, 2020 under 2020 Presidential Election

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With 290 electoral votes, Joe Biden is the 2020 president-elect. This was met with protests from people who believed Trump’s loss was the result of voter fraud.

In Lansing, Michigan, Trump supporters peacefully gathered outside the Michigan State Capitol waving around signs that said “It’s not over” and chanting things like “we won” and “four more years.” A woman there claimed that “election integrity is a cornerstone of society that is crumbling away.” Pretty much the same thing went down in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. A protest at the Oregon State Capitol attracted the Oregon State Police and four protestors ended up arrested.

Trump posted a tweet where he said, “I WON THE ELECTION, GOT 71,000,000 LEGAL VOTES.” That tweet was later fact-checked and flagged by Twitter. In this claim, legal votes refer to the ballots that weren’t cast through mail-in. Trump’s administration filed lawsuits against Georgia and Michigan over alleged voter fraud, but those lawsuits were quickly rejected by judges. On Saturday after Biden won the election, Trump filed a lawsuit in Arizona claiming in-person ballots marked with Sharpie were mistakenly rejected.

Aside from that, this year’s presidential election had the largest voter turnout percentage-wise since 1900. The 1900 election had a turnout of 73.7% while this year’s election had a turnout of 66.9%. Kamala Harris also became the first woman and person of color to be vice president-elect.

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