In one of the most contentious and strange elections in history, Americans are left holding their breath even late into election night on Nov. 3. Viewers watched states rapidly change color, and bar graphs bounce up and down on the television. With the high increase in mail-in voting, the delayed numbers caused anxiety, increased blood pressure, and suspicions. The 2020 election saw a higher voter turnout than in the past, with over 98 million votes cast–mainly from mail-in ballots.

Biden and Trump both made confident announcements this evening. Biden kicked off election night with a rally in Delaware, where he commended American citizens for their patience. “We feel good about where we are, we really do,” Biden promised his supporters. He also assured voters that “…it ain’t over ‘til every vote is counted.” Overall, Biden claimed that he is feeling good about where he stands in the race, and that he is confident about winning Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania.

On the other hand, Trump and his administration “want all the voting to stop” as of around 3 a.m. EST.  He threatened that if the voting continues, “[He] will be going to the U.S. Supreme Court…We don’t want any ballots found at 4:00 in the morning to be counted.” These statements highlight Trump’s adamacy against the mail-in ballots, as he found them unjust and believes they could result in voter fraud. 

“This is a fraud on the American public. This is an embarrassment to our country. We were getting ready to win this election, frankly, we won this election,” announced Trump. 

Both candidates expressed confidence in their ability to win the presidential race during their announcements this evening. As many news sources predicted, there will not be a confirmed winner until later in the week. This is unlike tradition on Election Night and leaves many Americans anxiously waiting.

The election is coming down to the wire, with key battles in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Wisconsin. However, even though results have not been officially announced yet, the Trump Administration declared a fallacious, premature victory, early morning on Nov. 4. Throughout the night, news sources, analysts, and citizens crammed numbers of every situation possible for both candidates. 

As a whole, this election thus far reveals the deep polarization between political parties that the nation has felt in the last few months. “Both [candidates] have a pathway to victory,” said CBSN.