U.S. citizens braced Wednesday for an anxious day of watching for headlines about the progress of the vote count and potential partisan battles over vote-counting protocols.
Election results remained too close to call in key states such as Michigan, Wisconsin, Nevada, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia and Arizona after Election Day. Tallies for some of the potential swing states may not be finished until Wednesday night or even Friday as mail-in ballots are still being recorded.
“We are exactly where we said we would be,” said Kathy Boockvar, Pennsylvania’s secretary of state, during a news conference in Harrisburg on Wednesday morning. She asserted that ballots postmarked by Nov. 3 will be counted, and she added that absentee ballots from residents living overseas and those serving in the military will be valid if received by Nov. 10.
Boockvar also noted that despite much speculation about problems and even the threat of violence at the polls, voting was orderly in the Keystone state.
“It could not have gone more smoothly in the middle of a global pandemic,” she said.
Boockvar emphasized that Pennsylvania still has “millions of ballots yet to be counted.” She noted that in 2016 the state had only about 260,000 mail-in ballots, but this year’s tally will be “10 times” that number.
“Rest assured, your vote will be counted,” Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf told the state’s citizens before giving the podium to Boockvar, who came to the mic wearing an American flag mask.
Jocelyn Benson, the Michigan secretary of state, said that tens of thousands of votes remain to be counted in Detroit, Flint and other cities. She said that she expected the bulk of those votes would be counted by the end of the day.
After falsely claiming victory and saying the Supreme Court should stop counting votes on Tuesday night, President Trump continued to sow baseless doubt about the validity of mail-in ballots.
“How come every time they count mail-in ballot dumps they are so devastating in their percentage and power of destruction?” Trump tweeted on Wednesday at 10:15 a.m. Eastern.
Twitter marked two of the president’s tweets about mail-in voting as “disputed” and “misleading” about the election process, hiding them from users on the social media platform.
After many actors in Hollywood expressed uncertainty and anxiety on the night of the election, the tone shifted to one of more hope and perseverance on Wednesday morning.
“Every single vote in this country matters, will be counted and will matter! It is the emblem of our democracy! I have so much faith in the human spirit! We’ve got this America! Sending EVERYONE A BIG HUG!” Lady Gaga, who performed at Biden’s final campaign rally on Monday night, tweeted.
Every single vote in this country matters, will be counted and will matter! It is the emblem of our democracy! I have so much faith in the human spirit! We’ve got this America! Sending EVERYONE A BIG HUG!
— Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) November 4, 2020
Shonda Rhimes quote tweeted Georgia Rep. Stacey Abrams urging people to “Keep calm. Be patient. Allow local elections officials to do their jobs.”
Preach, @staceyabrams #CountEveryVote https://t.co/HIv8E1wfjb
— shonda rhimes (@shondarhimes) November 4, 2020
Demi Lovato expressed dismay at how close the election results came to be on Wednesday.
I’m not losing hope. My faith is strong. Just very disappointed at how close this is. Like…. really y’all? 🤯🥺😔
— Demi Lovato (@ddlovato) November 4, 2020
Read more reactions below:
The reason PA WI MI are taking so long is because the GOP did not allow mail in ballots to be counted early. They wanted exactly the kind of uncertainty we all had. They wanted these states to look red in the beginning. But the blue shift happened or is happening.
— Kumail Nanjiani (@kumailn) November 4, 2020
To be clear, this wasn’t a presidential election, it was just a survey on how much this country loves racism and most white people checked the box for “very satisfied”
— Robin Thede (@robinthede) November 4, 2020
I do not regret one dime I sent to this guy’s campaign. He’s a keeper.
👁❤️U, Jaime. https://t.co/VqJN0iXtgl— J. Smith-Cameron🇺🇸 (@j_smithcameron) November 4, 2020
Let’s take this as a YAY! Our blue “coast” seems to be spreading. 🤞🤞🤞 https://t.co/azQHoH3nD9
— NOX NOX WHO’S WEARING A MASK? (@martinoxon) November 4, 2020