Election night is finally here, and the stakes couldn’t be higher. Across the country Americans have entered the polls to decide whether Donald Trump will remain president, or if former Vice President Joe Biden will assume his position. However, with 92 million Americans having voted early this election primarily by mail, the counting of votes will take longer than usual and election night is unlikely to show any end results of this election, and Americans likely won’t see answers for a few weeks.
It is crucial for our readers to understand that the winners of the general election will not be decided until after November 3. The concept of voting by mail is nothing new, however due to the overwhelming increase due to COVID-19, it could be days or weeks before the final tally is known. This is important to know because some bad actors may intentionally declare a premature victory in order to stop the results from being counted fairly. While watching the election this year it’s important to remember that it’s not over till it’s over, and when it’ll be over is still undecided.
We will be providing you hourly updates on this page starting at 7 p.m. when the polls close across Kansas. These updates will go into the night as we get information from several news sources and talk to students and staff of the college as the night progresses.
Nov. 3 updates
7:00 p.m. CST:
Polls have closed statewide. Similar to other states like Michigan, Kansas was allowed to count early votes before Election Day so we will start seeing those results soon.
As of now, Joe Biden leads with 85 votes after Virginia, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, Illinois and Vermont in his favor. Donald Trump follows with 55 votes after AP calls West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Oklahoma and South Carolina in his favor.
8:00 p.m. CST:
According to the Associated Press with 39% reporting in Kansas, Biden leads with 270,087 votes and Trump trails closely behind with 247,723 votes. In the district three House of Representatives there is only 1% reporting with Sharice Davids leading with 147,199 votes and Amanda Adkins with 108,563 is behind her. The US Senate Race for Kansas has 45% reporting with Barbara Bollier in the lead with 305,381 and Roger Marshall trailing with 258,006.
Kat Hooley-Lickteig, who works on voter engagement with JCCC college students, said it’s very important that young people vote in elections and pay attention to congressional and local candidates and the record breaking voter turnout of this year has shown this.
“A lot of young people don’t realize is we out number every other generation,” Hooley-Lickteig said. “So, the overwhelming sentiment I’ve gotten throughout my voter education and my Get Out to Vote work is that students and younger generations don’t feel like their vote or their voice matters and I try to remind them that it’s like raindrops. One raindrop may not seem like it’s making a difference, but collectively can do inspiring things.”
9:00 p.m. CST:
AP is reporting Donald Trump is now projected to win Kansas, with 63% reported Trump has 448,657 votes as Biden trails with 380,530 votes
Democrat Sharice Davids is projected to win her congressional re-election, leading GOP Challenger Amanda Adkins 173,796 to 153,846 votes with 80% reported. Roger Marshall is projected to win his Senate bid, leading Democrat Barbara Bollier with 487,864 to 425,693 votes with 74% reported.
Joe Biden remains in the lead with 131 electoral college votes to Donald Trump’s 98.
Kate Boyer, who works with PELA and JCCC crush the vote, believes young voters have significant power in this election.
“I think this increase will definitely turn the tides on what is expected to happen this election,” Boyer said. “I think we’re going to see a turnout unlike anything we’ve ever seen before.”
10:00 p.m. CST:
The US senate race for Kansas has been called by Associated Press with Marshall as the winner with 85% reporting. The district three House or Representative race has been called for Kansas with Davids winning with 80% reporting.
Both presidential candidates are leading in swing states. Trump is leading in Texas with 71% reporting where vote-by-mail ballots began being counted once polls opened on today. In counties consisting of a population with 100,000 or more individuals, ballots began being counted following the end of the in-person early voting period on Oct. 30. Trump is also leading in Florida with 91% reporting where absentee ballots have been being counted since Oct. 12. Trump is also leading in Biden’s home state, Pennsylvania, with 36% reporting. Pennsylvania began counting early ballots tonight at 8 p.m ET. Biden is leading in Iowa, New Hampshire and Arizona. Iowa is 49% reporting and began counting early votes at 10:00 p.m. CST. New Hampshire is 42% reporting and began counting early votes at 7 p.m. ET. Arizona is 73% reporting and began counting early votes on Oct. 20.
11:00 p.m. CST:
AP has declared Jake Turner the victor in the district two representative race, defeating his democrat opponent Michelle De La Isla 173,421 to 127,813 votes with 95% reporting.
Joe Biden continues to lead in the electoral college, with 209 votes to Donald Trump’s 118 votes. Biden leads in Arizona with 1,297,831 to Trump’s 1,090,037 votes with 76% reported. Biden leads in Minnesota with 1,154,598 to Trump’s 914,228 votes with 62% reported. Trump leads in Pennsylvania with 2,187,038 to Biden’s 1,630,541 votes with 54% reported.
12:00 p.m. CST:
As of now, AP has reported Biden having 223 electoral votes and Trump having 174 votes. We will not know the final results of this election until all votes have been counted, and most states are counting votes after tonight as long as they are post marked on Nov. 3.
Sailor Usher, president of the student senate, said that there was worries that lockdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the immense amount of advanced and mail-in ballots could affect this election, but there has been amazing voter turnout across the board.
“It’s great to see such high voter turnout,” Usher said. “The worry was that lockdowns would have a negative effects on voter turnout, but that is clearly not the case.”
AP has called all four U.S. Kansas House of Representative races with the winners being Republican candidate Tracey Mann in district one, Republican candidate Jake LaTurner in district two, Democratic candidate Sharice Davids in district three and Republican candidate Ron Estes in district four.
Nov. 4 updates
12:00 p.m. CST:
We are still getting in results from this election and there is still no clear path that is visible for how the presidential election will end. AP currently projects Biden having 238 electoral votes and Trump having 213.
According to AP, the winners of the presidential election have been called for all but seven states.
Alaska, which is 45% reporting with Trump in a long lead, would give three electoral votes to the President. Pennsylvania is also leaning Trump with 64% reporting, if Trump takes Pennsylvania that will be 20 votes for him. North Carolina and Georgia are both reporting Trump is taking the lead in the race, if he takes those states that will be 15 and 16 more electoral votes, bring his projected grand total to 263.
Biden is winning in three swing states right now, Michigan, Wisconsin and Nevada. They are very close races at this point, all within 1 to 2% of each other. If Biden takes these states that will give him 16, 10 and six more electoral votes, bringing his projected grand total to 270.
Though it is unlikely with the projections that are being reported, there is lots of discussion about an electoral college tie and what happens if that is the case. In this scenario according the the 12th Amendment, the tie has to be broken in congress. The House of Representatives would pick the president and the senate would pick the vice president. They cannot pick from just anyone, they are allowed to vote for one of the top three electoral college candidates.