Suspense like none other
With election day come and gone, the nation anxiously waits to learn who the next President is.
I shot to the couch as the time crept up on 7 p.m. to turn on the live presidential updates. Anxiety sat right beside me as we watched the night unfold.
The first few states to share their results were Virginia, West Virginia, and Kentucky. Virginia went Democratic with 13 electoral votes. West Virginia went Republican with 10 electoral votes, and Kentucky was right behind them with seven electoral votes. 30 minutes in, Delaware and Vermont chimed in for Democrats. Time was going by so slowly and so many votes were still yet to be counted. The left former Vice President Joe Biden with 16 electoral votes and President Donald Trump with 22.
9 a.m. hits and more states had reported their votes.
Trump gained Mississippi, Oklahoma, Alabama and South Carolina leaving him with 55 points. Biden gained Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey and Illinois leaving him with 85 points.
The night went tit-for-tat with each party scraping every point they could. My emotions were running all over the place. Biden scooped a big win with California but Trump counteracted with Texas.
Then my mood switched. I got scared thinking about the future with how safe Americans will be, especially African Americans like myself. There are countless other important issues on the line tonight such as healthcare, tax additions, unemployment, and etc.
Each vote cast was infused with personalized beliefs and expectations of the next four years. Hopefully those beliefs that millions of citizens voted for are in the best interest of the country.
I believe the pandemic played a huge part in deciding who to vote for this year for many Americans, specifically families who lost cherished loved ones. Maybe it will be enough to bring a surprising turn over thus far in results.
Around midnight, the only states left to reveal their votes are Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Maine. With those states, the race is close but Biden is falling slightly behind except for Nevada, Arizona, and Maine.
The electoral votes were 225 for Biden and 213 for the current president. In Individual votes, Biden led with 66,588,754 votes and Trump right behind with 64,955,758 votes. There are still thousands of votes waiting to be counted towards the final total. I restlessly wait for the announcement of the next President of America as the days progress.
My name is Teuana Smith and I’m a mass media major with a minor in music. I am a sports writer for The Oracle and an OBU Correspondent for the Arkadelphia Dispatch. I am a member of Black Student Association,...
