Biolans follow 2020 presidential election from home

As the election comes to a close, Biola faculty and students avidly watch the race from around the world.

Lacey Patrick, Maria Weyne, and Ashley Grams • November 3, 2020

Biolans follow 2020 presidential election from home

Photo courtesy of Graphic by Maria Weyne

This article is being updated with new information as it comes in.

Throughout this semester, Biola has informed students of ways they can engage in their civic duties through chapels, emails and newsletters. But as the race comes to an end, Biolans all around the world come together to watch the new president be elected.

ELECTORAL VOTES

As election night continues into the next day, Donald Trump sits with 23 confirmed states and 214 electoral votes, while Joe Biden has 23 confirmed states and 264 electoral votes. The two candidates are fighting over Pennsylvania, according to the Associated Press.

POPULAR VOTE

The Guardian reports that Biden is leading in popular votes at 71,170,353 votes, while Trump follows with 68,078,590 votes.

BATTLEGROUND STATES

Earlier in the evening on Nov. 3, Biden took battleground states New Hampshire and Illinois, while flipping Wisconsin, Michigan and Arizona, making Biden the second Democratic candidate to win Arizona since 1948, according to AP.

Trump won Iowa, Ohio and at 9:35 p.m. took Florida, a crucial state to his campaign, reported AP. At 10:06 p.m., The Guardian reported that Trump had also taken Texas, giving him 38 more electoral votes.

Currently, Trump is leading in the swing states Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Alaska.

Biden is leading in Nevada, which would give him the last 6 electoral college votes needed to reach the winning number of 270. Business Insider has also reported that Biden has the most votes ever reported in U.S. history with over 70 million votes to his name.

CALLING FOR A RECOUNT

As volunteers continue to tally the ballots, President Trump has called for a recount of Wisconsin votes.

“The President is well within the threshold to request a recount and we will immediately do so,” Bill Stepien, manager for the Trump campaign said in a written statement.

Edison Research results misreported the ballot count in Arizona and The New York Times reported incorrectly on the winner of the state.

An error was found in the data feed from Edison Research (used by @nytimes and other news organizations) for Arizona results — 86 percent of ballots have been counted, not 98 percent. NYT has not called the state for Biden, though he still leads. https://t.co/mPDkiKsExQ

— Patrick LaForge (@palafo) November 4, 2020

Pennsylvania and Nevada are still counting their votes. The Nevada election Twitter account has claimed they will have updates on Nov. 4, instead of Nov. 5 as previously mentioned.

JUST IN: Instead of delaying releasing results until tomorrow, Nevada officials will release more results later today due to the high interest in how Nevada voted. #8NN #Election2020 #NVElection #YLHE https://t.co/DjPUNesbeO

— 8 News NOW (@8NewsNow) November 4, 2020

While Michigan continues to count its votes, there have been reports of miscounts in Shiawassee county where a typo was seen in their voting reports.

They forgot to carry the one. https://t.co/E0JeBTQrGy

— Dave Rubin (@RubinReport) November 4, 2020

FACT CHECKING

Donald Trump has also called Michigan’s senate vote count fraudulent, claiming they “found the ballots necessary” to keep John James out of the election. In light of his recent claims, Twitter has begun blocking his tweets with warnings about misleading information on the election.

Facebook also decided to add fact-check boxes to some of Trump’s posts on the platform.

ABSENTEE BALLOTS

Due to the pandemic, many voters are choosing to fill out absentee ballots. Pennsylvania, a battleground state, began counting absentee ballots election morning. ABC News reported that the state will not have complete results until Friday. In some states like Ohio, the absentee ballots are accepted up to ten days after Nov. 3.

While some mail in ballots were counted weeks ago like those in North Carolina, the process in other states will continue long after election night. Americans are not expected to know the results on Nov. 3.

FALSE CLAIMS

As the night continued, Trump was quick to claim his victory in an address to the nation from the White House. Trump asked the Supreme Court to intervene and claimed the Democrats would steal the election

Former Vice President Joe Biden also spoke to his supporters from Wilmington, Delaware. Biden said it was not up to him or Trump to call the election and encouraged the continued counting of votes.

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About the Contributors

Lacey Patrick, Editor-in-Chief

Lacey Patrick is a junior journalism major who collects feathers, wears too much jewelry, and works too many jobs. A year ago I had never written a news article. Now, I’m editor-in-chief of an entire student news publication. I had originally transferred to Biola as a Psychology major, but just three days before classes started, I had a revelation after watching the movie “Spotlight” at a Chimes training. I always felt dissatisfied with a career that did not help people. But journalism does. It gives a voice to the voiceless and holds leadership accountable. When I was a girl, I used to write poems and short stories. I grew up in the forest, so of course my mind wandered to fairytales quite often. I’ve always expressed myself in the most unstructured sense, never following the rules of writing because my pen had no bounds. Yet, structure became essential to my stories when I began writing news. It felt almost unnatural. It was a skill I had to refine, but it came quickly once my editors ripped my first few articles to shreds. I wouldn’t have had it any other way, though. God has a funny way of taking us out of our comfort zone.

Maria Weyne, News Editor

Ashley Grams, Deputy News Editor

Ashley is a sophomore broadcast journalism major and Spanish minor who dreams of working for ESPN. She loves the Seattle Seahawks, watching “Friends” and telling stories. Hi there! My name is Ashley Grams and I grew up in a small town north of Seattle –– it is so far north that many people resort to saying we live in Canada. Every weekend I watched sports with my dad, especially the Seattle Seahawks. Thursday, Sunday or Monday night, it didn't matter when they were on, my dad and I were glued to the TV. My love of sports started at a young age and translated into my teen years as I found myself following in the footsteps of Erin Andrews and other broadcasters. Sports journalism became my dream and I moved to Biola University, near Los Angeles, to pursue it. As a sophomore broadcast journalism major and Spanish minor, I am excited to continue writing for the Chimes as a sports staff writer. I enjoy the challenge of communicating effectively with a joyful heart, not to mention watching tons of games on campus! Outside of the Chimes you might find me playing intramural sports, watching “Friends” or eating gluten-free food.

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Sarah Dougher

4 years ago

Lacey, Ashley and Maria…WOW! Well done on this. Reporting politics is no easy feat, and you ladies did so well and are continuing to do so. Keep it up, lady Eagles!