Americans must be prepared for the results of the US presidential elections 2020 will have to wait for several days, or even weeks, besides, as the results are announced, there will likely be “large fluctuations” between the positions of candidates, writes The Economist…
Between July 2019 and June 2020, the “US electoral field” shrank from nearly 30 candidates to two: Democrat Joe Biden and Republican Donald Trump. Voting began when North Carolina sent out its first “absentee ballots.” It will end Wednesday morning when polling stations close in Alaska.
As always, millions of Americans will sit carefully in front of their televisions, watching the counting process.
The 2020 U.S. election is different from past elections. This is due to the unprecedented number of ballots submitted by mail following the COVID-19 pandemic, which has made queues and crowds at polling stations an object of fear for many Americans.
Until Monday, 63 million mailed ballots were returned, while in 2016 only 8.2 million Americans voted by mail.
Some states will not accept “mailing ballots” received after Election Day. For example, Texas will accept postmarked ballots as early as November 3, while the deadline for Pennsylvania is November 6, and North Carolina is November 12. States will also need time to count the votes.
Trump has called for a “final announcement of the November 3 results.” He told reporters that “it is absolutely inappropriate to count ballots for two weeks, and I do not think this is in line with our laws.”
He’s wrong. The election night announcement that Americans are used to is an unofficial artifact of the news services that report and summarize results at the precinct level.
Trump himself was not declared the winner on election night in 2016, his victory was announced the next day.
Trump’s assertion that the states “should announce the final vote count” by Tuesday night is without law or history.
Of course, breaking the rules was a sign of Trump’s presidency, and he, apparently, will not give up this habit now.
Some speculate that the Republican plans to declare victory on election night if Trump gains the upper hand before the final vote count.
States, where Democratic voters rise overnight as more ballots are counted, is widespread. A disproportionate share of the Republican vote comes from less populated rural districts, which count votes faster than crowded urban and suburban districts because there are fewer votes to count.
The 2020 voting process could reinforce this pattern: Democrats were more active than Republicans in voting by mail, so states that first report “personal vote” results may create the illusion that Trump is winning. Legally announcing Trump’s victory would be pointless. However, politically, this can be dangerous.
Although it may have to wait several days for the results of the presidential election, on Tuesday night, Americans may have an idea of ​​which party will control Congress. The states of Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, and Maine must report the results at night, if the Democrats get a majority there, they will most likely “take” the Senate.
Whatever happens on Tuesday, the US is bound to face weeks of legal and political wrangling. Republicans were defeated on Monday when a federal judge in Texas rejected their attempt to “throw away” 127,000 legally sent ballots in Houston, but there will be more battles ahead. Both campaigns have already sent out lawyers throughout the country and are raising money for the “fight.” The details of this battle vary from state to state, but the broad outlines are clear: one side wants to count all legally cast votes, the other wants to announce the election result early. This is not only a war between Democrats and Republicans, it is a confrontation between Democrats and those who consider democracy “an obstacle” to victory, the magazine sums up.
Ahead of the final round of the Trump-Biden debate, a Gallup poll showed 56% of Americans believe Trump does not deserve a second term. Historically, in the United States, all candidates with an approval rating of 50% and above won re-election, while presidents with an approval rating well below 50% lost.
It’s worth noting that Biden has better ratings ahead of the election than any US presidential contender since 1936.
