With a new generation of voters being able to partake in the 2020 election, political parties and their supporters have gone to the internet to tell Gen Z the best way to get their vote in.
Though the Democratic and Republican parties disagree, people have been able to get in their vote and make their voices heard. Even so, 24 hours later, there is no certainty on who the President of the United States of America is.
With the presence of COVID-19 being a very real threat to many who have elderly or at-risk family members at home, many have decided to mail in their votes. This has been a trend specifically in more left-leaning states and younger voters. This is expected to be a large number of votes— and yet, USPS (the United States Postal Service) has reported over 300,000 ballots missing.
While political scientists are expectant of states turning in their numbers later than expected, this number of votes going missing was not accounted for. This energy was kept for mail-in ballots before the 300k+ went missing, with people advocating that every vote get counted no matter how much time had passed from election day as long as the ballot had been turned in.
These mail-in and absentee ballots are especially important in swing states— such as Florida, Pennsylvania, Texas, Arizona, and North Carolina. In Florida, all early and mail-in ballots are tabulated by 7:30 PM EST, though mail-in ballots that come in before polls close are still counted. States that still have not called a win towards either candidate have different measures for mail-in ballots, however.
Pennsylvania, a state projected to be won by President Trump, accepts any mail-in ballots that have been delivered by November 3rd. This stands in contrast to Florida, who’s votes only count if the ballots have been received by election day.
In Nevada, something similar is set in place—as long as ballots are postmarked by election day and have been received no later than seven days after the election, they will be counted.
As of 6:25 PM EST, former Vice President Joe Biden leads the presidential race, with a total of 264 electoral votes, and President Donald Trump with 214. Nevada, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Georgia have not been called towards either candidate.
