College students speak about the 2020 election
The 2020 presidential election between Joe Biden and Donald Trump finally came to an end on Saturday, Nov. 7.
Around noon, the Associated Press (AP) announced that Biden won his native state of Pennsylvania, which earned him an additional 20 electoral votes that got him past the 270 electoral vote benchmark required to beat Trump.
Biden triumphed after failing to win the presidency in the 1988 and 2008 election campaigns. He made history along the way by choosing Kamala Harris as his vice president, the first woman of color to ever hold the position in the U.S.. The importance of this broken glass ceiling is not lost on younger voters like Kaitlyn Standhart, an 18 year-old freshman at SUNY Brockport and first time Democratic voter.
“I’m happy that Biden is president and Kamala is VP but I’m also happy simply because Trump isn’t in office anymore,” Standhart said. “Plus to have the first woman vice president is significant.”
The results of the election may not shock those who paid close attention to polling data, since the majority of projections predicted Biden to win the race. However, the same could be said for Hillary Clinton when she ran against Trump in 2016, so an air of uncertainty remained.
Undoubtedly, this year’s presidential race was the most chaotic and memorable national election in recent years. With several unique phenomena taking place simultaneously in the span of a few short days.
One major difference between this election and those in the past is the sheer volume of early voting, a result of the coronavirus pandemic and people’s desire to stay socially distanced. Consequently, the number of people who voted prior to election day was unprecedented, passing over 70 percent of the total vote in 2016 before Nov. 3 arrived.
This was one of the main factors contributing to the upheaval of the election, since most polling locations weren’t prepared for a flood of mail-in and absentee ballots. Certain states like Pennsylvania could not access mail-in ballots until the day of the election.
Another uncommon thing about this election is the massive amount of Generation Z and Millennial voters that participated. According to the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) at Tufts University, youth voter turnout increased by around 10% as compared to the 2016 election. Across America, young people voted for Biden by a huge margin, carrying him to victory in several key battleground states.
Although young people in general contributed to Biden’s success, young voters of color were particularly instrumental in his eventual victory. In total, Biden earned 87% of votes from young Black people and 73% of Latino youth votes. Meanwhile, young white people barely preferred Biden with 51% of them voting for him to Trump’s 45%.
Among voters such as 21 year-old Democrat and Brockport student Nyasia Nedd, there was a palpable change in young people participating in the electoral process.
“Because of the whole Black Lives Matter movement, I feel like a lot of people are voting for Democrats compared to 2016 when Trump was first running,” Nedd said. “I wasn’t old enough to vote then, so yeah it is a generational thing now because everyone is able to vote. I’m glad that a lot of people my age did vote, but I also know a lot of people who didn’t vote.”
The elongated 2020 election delivered delayed gratitude and happiness to people supporting the Democratic ticket. For many on the opposite end of the political aisle, this year’s election has only fomented disappointment, outrage and allegations of fraud.
Yet, some Republicans, particularly young ones, were not so heavily affected by the results of the election. Abigail Grimaudo is a 19 year old Brockport undergraduate who supports Trump and “voted conservative across the board.”
“Honestly I didn’t really care, I followed it because it is relevant,” Grimaudo said. “But I wouldn’t really say I was emotionally impacted by the results.”
Indeed, a certain section of conservatives are already looking past the election and are hopeful about a Biden presidency. Jared Brown, a 20 year-old Army ROTC cadet at West Virginia University, expressed disappointment over the results but he is not threatened by a Biden presidency.
“I was disheartened at first, though after hearing Biden speak for the first time I was optimistic,” Brown said. “I don’t care if Trump loses, but if there was voter fraud I want those individuals held accountable. I like that Biden said he will be an American president and work just as hard for those who didn’t vote for him as those that did. I’m optimistic about his moderate outlook and wanting to unite the nation.”
According to a preliminary estimate by University of Florida professor Michael McDonald, who runs the elections data website US Elections Project, over 160 million people have voted in this election. This is the largest turnout America has seen in 120 years, with millions of Americans participating that would otherwise not vote. The largest voting bloc historically disenchanted with political involvement are young people, creating the stereotype that the youth don’t vote.
The majority of young adults in the U.S. disproved that stereotype by rallying behind Biden, substantially expanding his base and becoming a crucial part of his victorious campaign.
