Tracking the Final Count: America Votes for President
What You Need To Know
America’s election system faced a historic stress test this year, and, for the most part, it passed it.
While the Trump campaign has filed post-election lawsuits in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, Arizona, and Nevada, few legal experts believe that they will ultimately affect the outcome of the race.
That’s not to say there weren’t problems. A federal judge is still pressing the U.S. Postal Service over its handling of ballots. Rigid rules over the processing of ballots led to slow counts in Michigan and Pennsylvania. And the president continues to sow doubt about the election with baseless claims of fraud.
But things went fairly well considering the challenge: A pandemic unfolding in the midst of the presidential primary, millions more Americans asking to vote by mail in states that were ill-equipped to handle them, and partisan disputes over how to respond that spilled over into courtrooms.
In the end, a record-shattering 101 million Americans voted early, with nearly two-thirds of those from mail-in ballots. Nine states plus Washington, D.C. sent every registered voter a ballot, up from just three states in 2016. And voters tried out new things, from ballot drop boxes to drive-thru voting, that may become routine in future elections.
Another consequence of this year’s election was the first partisan gap over vote-by-mail, with Republicans largely following Trump’s lead in dismissing it and Democrats eagerly adopting it. That could hamper further expansion of the practice if it continues, and some Republicans fear it may hurt their own get-out-the-vote efforts in the future.
Key Coverage
By The Numbers
- 300+ Number of lawsuits that were filed across 44 states over voting issues related to the pandemic
- 9 States (plus Washington, D.C.) that conducted the November election entirely by mail
- 101,214,494 Number of ballots that were cast by mail or in early voting, according to the U.S. Elections Project, nearly three-fourths of the 2016 turnout
Why It Matters
Vote-by-mail has long been considered a safe and convenient option, and researchers have found very little fraud. But elections officials faced a massive logistical challenge in states that have not typically had high rates of mail-in voting.
The recent partisan divide over voting by mail has hurt confidence in the election. With more Democrats voting by mail and those ballots taking longer to process, the so-called “blue shift” was even more pronounced, prompting the president to make baseless claims of massive fraud.
The fights extended beyond the battleground states and into the courts. With more than 300 lawsuits filed across 44 states, including some by the Trump campaign itself, it is clear that the arguments over how to vote will continue.
Losing the presidency leaves him vulnerable to financial and legal danger.
Timeline
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3 years ago Should Biden Call Out Trump’s Lawlessness?
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3 years ago Why Trump Fears Leaving the White House
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3 years ago How Donald Trump Lost America
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3 years ago Giuliani Accuses Pennsylvania of Voter Fraud
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3 years ago Election 2020: Mapping Live Results