Biden clinches victory in race for US presidency
The number of votes received was an indication that voters gave a mandate for action to those in power in terms of Covid-19, the economy, climate change and systemic racism, Biden was quoted as saying.
After four days of counting and controversy in the race for the presidential seat, Democrat Joseph R. Biden Jr has, according to major news agencies, beat Republican and incumbent President, Donald Trump by 273 electoral college votes to 214 to become the 46th president of the US.
Americans took to the polls on 3 November in a record-breaking election, which saw over 74 million votes cast for Biden. By Wednesday, 4 November, Biden had surpassed former president Barack Obama’s popular vote record of 2008 against John McCain of 69 498 516 votes, with more than 160 million voted expected overall.
According to US media sources, this would result in the highest turnout rate in 100 years, at 67%.
But after three days, all votes had not been counted yes as many states awaited mail-in ballots as voters cast their votes via mail due to growing concerns over the Coronavirus pandemic sweeping America.
On Friday evening, Biden addressed the nation and urged Americans to be patient as votes continued to be counted. Speaking in his home state of Delaware, Biden said he would win the presidency thanks to a growing lead in battleground states.
“The numbers tell us, it’s a clear and convincing story: We’re going to win this race,” he said.
Biden spoke as Trump offered little indication that he was prepared to concede defeat.
In a written statement on Friday, Trump signalled his intentions to continue waging a legal battle, over what he claimed was a “fraudulent election” and after demanding recounts in several states.
“This is no longer about any single election. This is about the integrity of our entire election process,” he wrote. “We will pursue this process through every aspect of the law to guarantee the American people have confidence in our government. I will never give up fighting for you and our nation.”
Trump’s statements come after losing votes in key states that would have won him his second term in office. The election’s focus turned to four key-states towards the end, which included Pennsylvania, Nevada, Arizona as well as Georgia.
Pennsylvania:
Officials in Pennsylvania, a critical battleground state, were prevented from processing mail-in ballots until Election Day, which led to a backlog and inevitably, a delay in announcing the winner.
On Friday evening, three days after polls closed, Biden had about 20 000 more counted votes than Trump. He was ahead by 0,3% of the counted 6,7 million votes.
With 20 electoral votes up for grabs, Biden pulled ahead thanks to mail-in votes and more support in urban areas such as Philadelphia, but officials stated there were thousands left to be processed which “could take several days to complete the reporting of that”.
The state also forms a crucial part of the rust-belt, a term referring to an area of the northern United States, which Biden managed to turn blue along with Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan.
Nevada:
Biden’s lead doubled to more than 22 000 from Clark County, the home of Las Vegas, on Friday.
With six electoral votes up for grabs in the state, voting took some time as Nevada was one of a handful that mailed ballots to all active registered voters.
Arizona:
The notable republican state turned blue during this election, with majority of Biden’s support coming from Maricopa County, which houses Phoenix, the state’s most populous area.
Arizona was an important win for Biden as he became the first democrat to win in the state in 24 years, partly thanks to a large voting turnout by the state’s Latino community.
Georgia:
Biden became the first Democrat to win the state of Georgia, a powerhouse of the southern states, in 28 years.
He took a narrow lead in Georgia on Friday and Trump’s lead dropped steadily as more ballots were counted, eventually winning by a margin of over 1 000 votes.
Biden reportedly said the number of votes received was an indication that voters gave a mandate for action to those in power regarding Covid-19, the economy, climate change and systemic racism.
“They made it clear they want the country to come together, not continue to fall apart,” he said.
Biden is set to be inaugurated in Washington DC on 20 January 2021.
