Joe Biden Elected 46th President of the United States

Gage Skidmore

On Saturday, Nov. 7, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden was declared victorious over President Donald Trump, set to become the 46th President of the United States of America. His running mate, Kamala Harris will make history as not only the first woman to serve as Vice President but also the first woman of color to hold the office, being both the first person of South Asian descent and the first Black woman to be named Vice President.

With results coming nearly four full days after America's votes were cast, millions sat waiting in anticipation, as focus shifted to a select few swing states. Eyes were turned to Nevada, North Carolina, Arizona, Georgia, and Pennsylvania. 

The largest electoral prize in play was the Keystone State, with its 20 electoral votes. As mail-in votes continued to come in, the results accumulated in Biden's favor. On Tuesday, the results looked much different. As of this writing, according to VotesPA.com, the Scranton-born Biden has received 3,344,182 total votes, 1,401,147 on election day 1,942,596 by mail (with 439 provisional ballots). 

Trump, on the other hand, has received 3,310,423 total votes, with 2,726,599 coming on election day and 582,430 by mail (with 1,394 provisional votes).  82% of Trump's votes came on Nov. 3, while 58% of Biden's occurred by mail-in ballot. 

In Erie, the situation was similar, with Biden at 67,265 to Trump's 65,834. The margin was slim, consisting of 1,431 separating the candidates. Here, 49% of Biden's votes were done by mail-in ballots, while 84% of Trump's came in-person on election day. 

As Erie flipped blue, so did Pennsylvania, and so did the nation.

For days, Biden's electoral count sat teetering near 270 (the amount needed to win). Biden supports waited at 264 votes or 253 votes, depending on who you were following and whether or not they had called Arizona and its 11 electoral votes (CNN, for example, held a lower total than the Associated Press). For those counting Arizona as a done deal, all Democrats needed was Nevada and its six electoral votes (achieving the bare minimum of electoral votes needed to win). If Pennsylvania went officially blue, however, that would without a doubt send Biden well over the 270 line. 

On Saturday afternoon. Pennsylvania did just that. Then Nevada did too. 

As of this writing, two states remain unresolved. North Carolina, with its 15 electoral votes seems to be a lock for Trump, who is currently leading by over 75,000 votes. In Georgia, Biden overtook Trump by just over 7,000 votes, with the state calling for an official recount. 

If these numbers hold, it can be expected that Joe Biden will win the presidency by a margin of 306 votes to 231, two votes more than Trump took in 2016 against Hillary Clinton. 

One thing is for certain though, more people voted for Joe Biden than any presidential candidate in history. Winning the popular vote by over 4 million votes, Biden has made a decisive victory. 

While Trump will no doubt seek to dispute the election results, our President-Elect is Joseph R. Biden, set to be sworn into office Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021.