This year’s election has been nothing but full of chaos, competition and controversy. It seems like this year’s election will define politics for many of the younger generations and has caused many people to rethink their idea of government. As election season comes to an end, let’s review the crazy time that was the Nov. 3, 2020 presidential election.

On Oct. 29, 2020, candidate Joe Biden was leading the polls. He seemed to be having more of a foot hold over the battleground states compared to current President, Donald Trump. Many people think this could be due to Trump’s handling of the Coronavirus and the disapproval from white seniors who helped lead Trump to victory in 2016.

California was also breaking records in early voter turnout. Over 4.5 million Californian voters had cast their ballots with still 12 days to go. According to the Vice President of Political Data, Inc., three times as many residents participated in early voting compared to this time in 2016.

In the early portions of Election Day, Nov. 3, Trump won many key battleground states, but heading into the night, Biden was holding a slight lead that carried into the next day. Many votes still needed to be counted, but Donald Trump prematurely stated that he had won the election during a speech he gave early Wednesday. This has been a very controversial statement and he has received criticism from his own party for it.

Trump had also been tweeting up a storm, questioning the legitimacy of the votes being counted, and making statements that he wants a recount in Wisconsin. He has also gone as far as wanting to take legal actions against battleground states, like Michigan, to apparently stop vote counting, claiming that the ballots arrived after the Election Day deadline. Social media outlets like Twitter have gone crazy on both sides as Trump’s tweets continue to be cited by Twitter as “disputed” and “misleading,” and Biden urges the country to stay patient and for his followers to “keep faith.”

Nothing is certain at the time this article is being released, but much anxiety has been surrounding the swing states. Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin have been predicted for, or leaning for, Biden, while it seems as though Trump has Georgia, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. Votes are still being counted and many of the swing states are a close toss up. As of Nov. 5, Biden is in the lead and many of his supporters have been waiting for hours on the Nevada votes that could solidify his victory.

The public is still very conflicted and divided on how this election will end in the next coming weeks. As social media websites flood with reactions, memes and serious conversations, everyone is on the edge of their seat watching it all play out. It has been a close call this whole time, but it is important that we count every vote, keeping the American promise of fair democracy.

No matter who ends up in office, this whole election period will be meaningless if we, as Americans, don’t change our ways. We have become a nation divided by party instead of united by the common virus. We are full of pointing fingers and not caring about others or the consequences of our actions. Long gone are the days of casual disagreements. Now, it’s all mean comments, irrelevant attacks, blind following and a nation that is so divided along the terms of Democrat and Republican. It has gotten to the point where people are so scared of the world post election that streets and stores have boarded up to be safe from rioting and people are again stocking up on supplies.

Our nation will not be defined so much by who is in office, but rather how we as a people react. Without change, our nation will continue into the next four years looking exactly how it has the last year, broken and divided.