UPDATE: Joe Biden will be the next President of the United States. Kamala Harris will be the next Vice President of the United States. More people voted in this election than any other in American history. After a week of counting votes, all major news organizations have determined that Joe Biden has won.
Some states have not finished counting votes. In some states, the election was close enough that there will be recounts. President Donald Trump has refused to concede [publicly tell people that he has lost] the election. However, people who have counted the vote returns and added up the total votes have determined that there is no way that Trump can make up the votes. Next, votes from each state will be certified and electors from the states will officially make Joe Biden the president-elect. Then he will be inaugurated, or officially become president, on January 20, 2021. For more information, see our special update.
A few weeks ago, the candidates had their last debate. They spoke about important issues, such as climate change, the economy, health care, and racism. Americans will now decide which candidate they would vote for.
50 million Americans had actually already voted before the final debate. Why have so many people voted early this year? Some people are worried about COVID. If they mailed their ballot, they would stay safe. Other people have voted early. They want to avoid waiting in a long line to vote.
Some states count the votes as soon as they come in. Other states wait for Election Day to count the votes. With so many mail-in votes, only eight states believe that they will have most of the votes counted the day after the Election.
Millions of Americans are excited about voting this year. But we may have to wait to see if we will have President Trump or President Biden.
What Do You Think? Talk to someone in your family about voting. Did they vote by mail? Did they vote early? Are they going to vote on Election Day? What helped them make their decision?
Photo Credit: Official White House photo by David Lienemann. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division [LC-DIG-ppbd-00605]
