U.S Elections 2020: 15 Statistics To Give You An Overview

In the U.S political history, few presidential elections have been as polarizing as this one. And rightly so – a lot is riding on who gets to run the country for the next four years. Will it be a continuation of the last four or do we get to have a fresh start. From education to healthcare, immigration to social reforms, and from economy to America’s position in global politics, so much depends on how people vote (or have voted, in case of early voting) today.

Image Source: iStock/Ayman Haykal

Since these elections have brought a lot of anxiety to American citizens (and others within and outside the country) we are combating ours by presenting you an overview of these general elections in the form of stats.

These 15 stats cover everything from early voting numbers to the latest polling predictions, and from the results of first ballots to how long the vote count can take.

So, let’s jump right in.

1. The U.S holds its presidential elections every four years and this year will see the process taking place for the 59th time. Since quite a few presidents have won their re-elections, and some VPs have had to take on the job due to various circumstances, the current count of U.S Presidents stands at 45.
2. What are the chances of Donald Trump making his reappearance as our next President? 43.9%, as of October 31, 2020.
3. The candidate who has raised the most funds: Trump – $1.49B, Biden – $1.35.
4. In around 142 national polls conducted so far, Joe Biden leads in all of them but two. 
5. The top 5 key issues in people’s minds as they elect a president: poor leadership, covid-19, racism, violence, unifying the country.
6. Disenchantment with the two-party system is high. 41% of U.S adults do not identify as Republicans or Democrats, rather as politically independent.
7. 4% of Americans are unsure that this year’s elections will be held fairly.
8. The number of people who have voted early is staggering. Nearly 100 million people have voted early in the 2020 presidential elections. That’s more than two-thirds of all the votes cast in the 2016 elections.
9. This early voter turnout in key states like Florida and North Carolina is more than 80% of the overall voter turnout in 2016.
10. Democrats represent 45.5% of the early vote, while Republicans 30.4%.
11. But do early vote casting means a quicker result? Hardly. In some states, the vote count is predicted to last for weeks, as it has happened in the past too. In 2016, Michigan took more than two weeks to finish its vote count before it declared for Trump.
12. The pandemic has resulted in a lack of appropriate resources necessary to count votes in time. At least seven counties in Pennsylvania, amounting to nearly 150,000 mail-in ballots have chosen to wait till Wednesday morning to start the counting due to lack of resources. 
13. 100,000 naked ballots could be thrown out in Pennsylvania due to being delivered without their secrecy envelopes, as per a ruling by the state Supreme Court.
14. Start of Vote Count: 16 states will count nearly all votes on election night, 23 states will count most but not all votes, and 11 states will count only some votes on election night.
15. The latest polls suggest this Electoral College outcome: Biden – 252 votes; Trump – 125 votes.

The Parting Thought

With so much riding on these elections and the race so close, it is imperative that each one of us who can vote should and must do so. There’s power in having a portion of control in deciding who governs us, leads us, and decides on our behalf. Use that power. Go out and vote.

Sources:

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1118047/2020-presidential-election-latest-polls-us/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationwide_opinion_polling_for_the_2020_United_States_presidential_election
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2020/11/02/us/trump-biden-election
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/01/us/politics/trump-ballot-counting-election.html
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/10/16/politics/ballots-cast-florida-michigan/index.html
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/pennsylvania-voting-issues-5-things-watch-election-day-n1245871
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/pennsylvania-voting-issues-5-things-watch-election-day-n1245871
https://ig.ft.com/us-election-2020/
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/americas/us-presidential-election-when-to-expect-results/2028296
https://ig.ft.com/us-election-2020/
https://www.statista.com/statistics/323380/public-opinion-on-the-most-important-problem-facing-the-us/
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1006825/leading-2020-presidential-election-candidates-amount-fundraised/
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1147424/us-presidential-election-adults-confident-election-held-fairly/
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1078383/political-party-identification-in-the-us/