t h e i n de p e n de n t s t u de n t n e w s pa p e r of s y r ac u s e , n e w yor k |
dailyorange.com
THURSDAY, NOV. 5. 2020
DOWN TO THE WIRE Students anxious as presidential election comes down to key states
Former Vice President and SU College of Law alumnus Joe Biden leads in several key states, including Wisconsin, Michigan and Arizona, as others continue to count the final ballots. emily steinberger photo editor
By Sarah Alessandrini and Abby Weiss the daily orange
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oommates Kathyrn Voler and Shockey Sanders were certain they wouldn’t know the results of the presidential election until days after polls closed. But they still watched the ballots being counted until 1 a.m. after Election Day. While polls across the country began closing around 5 p.m. on Tuesday, neither President Donald Trump nor former Vice President Joe Biden had been declared the winner as of early Thursday morning. Several states, including Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, remained too close to call.
“(We) had a little dance party to celebrate the end of the world,” said Voler, a sophomore public relations major at Syracuse University. “Cause that’s what it feels like. Just everyone is nervous and freaking out.” Nearly all 50 states allowed residents to vote early or by mail in addition to coming to the polls in person on Election Day, causing delays in tallying votes for many states. Students said they felt anxious watching the votes come in Tuesday night and are still on edge waiting for the final results to arrive. This was the first presidential election that sophomores Elizabeth McAdoo and Zach Meyerson voted in. McAdoo stayed up until 2 a.m. watching the polls, but neither she nor Meyerson believed the country would have a winner by morning.
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Local races remain undecided without absentee ballots counted By Daily Orange News Staff
As the presidential election results come down to a few key states, some local and congressional races remain undecided until absentee ballots are counted next week. Onondaga County recorded close to 233,000 in-person votes before polls closed at 9 p.m. on Election Day, though the county board of elections may receive absentee ballots through Nov. 10. The county has already received
over 55,000 absentee ballots but will not be able to open them until Nov. 9, according to the board of elections. Though some local and national races will be decided by absentee ballots, here is a rundown of the results from in-person Election Day and early voting:
New York’s 24th Congressional District: Rep. John Katko (R-Camilus) is leading against Democratic chal-
lenger Dana Balter to represent New York’s 24th Congressional District. Katko has received about 57%, or 155,830, of the district’s in-person votes. Balter received about 40%, or 100,728, of in-person votes. Katko declared victory late Tuesday night, but Balter’s campaign announced Wednesday morning that she will not concede the race until the district’s nearly 70,000 absentee ballots are counted. About 20,000 more people in
Onondaga County voted in person for Katko instead of Balter. The three-term incumbent has received 94,979 of the county’s inperson votes, representing about 53% of ballots cast in person. Balter has received about 42%, or 74,072, of the votes. Despite Katko’s lead, the nearly 70,000 absentee ballots received as of Tuesday trend Democratic. Democrats returned slightly over 33,000 absentee ballots as of Tuesday night, while Republicans
returned about 16,600, Syracuse. com found. About 53,000 of the district’s absentee ballots were received in Onondaga County. Katko has represented the district since 2015. He’s pushed to find an alternative to the Affordable Care Act but has also opposed efforts to repeal legislation that lack a replacement plan. Balter previously worked as a professor at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and
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