THE BIG STORY

Biden has finally won Arizona, turning it Democratic for the first time in decades

Joe Biden officially crossed the 270 count in the Electoral College on Saturday after Pennsylvania and Nevada were called for him and Kamala Harris, but the addition of Arizona’s 11 votes to his victory column is historic. The state last voted for a Democrat in 1996 when Ross Perot’s third party bid helped Bill Clinton defeat Republican Bob Dole. Before that, Arizona hadn’t voted for a Democrat since 1948.

The Arizona result was called by Decision Desk HQ at 8:29 p.m. local time with an estimated 24,738 ballots still left to be counted, according to the state's election tracker. Candidates cannot request recounts in Arizona, and the margin to trigger an automatic recount is a razor-thin 0.1% discrepancy between candidates.

Joe Biden delivers remarks at the Chase Center in Wilmington, Delaware, on Nov. 6, 2020. Angela Weiss / Getty Images

STAYING ON TOP OF THIS

Trump was expected to lose votes in places where more people died of COVID-19. He didn't.

Joe Biden’s campaign bet on the idea that the 2020 election would hinge on President Donald Trump’s response to a pandemic that has killed over 241,000 Americans and ravaged the nation’s economy.

Biden won a decisive majority of the popular vote and the Electoral College — but the simple narrative that the devastation caused by COVID-19 would clearly swing votes his way doesn’t seem to be true, according to a BuzzFeed News analysis of county-level results.

SNAPSHOTS

ICE is trying to deport immigrant women who witnessed alleged aggressive, unwanted, or medically unnecessary gynecological procedures in detention, attorneys say.

Emily In Paris is getting a second season. Netflix's love-it-or-hate-it rom-com series emerged as a breakout hit during the lockdown.

Rapper Mo3 was shot and killed on a Dallas freeway. Mo3, whose real name was Melvin Noble, ran out of his car when a man carrying a gun started walking toward him on the freeway, police said.

Climate activists put aside their differences with Biden to help get him elected. Now they want results.

Mike Pompeo loves to talk about peaceful transitions of power. But the secretary of state’s remarks about “a smooth transition to a second Trump administration” sparked criticism from current and former diplomats.

SOCIAL INSECURITY

Her disability check wasn't enough to live on. The pandemic took away her other options to get by.

America’s safety net for people with disabilities was never secure. In the pandemic, it’s failing them. Reporter Venessa Wong spoke to Chelsy, a woman who was diagnosed with primary immunodeficiency disorder and is on disability, about how what little stability she had was stripped away. Her story is an example of the bureaucratic quagmire and uncertainty many Americans are struggling with right now. .

“I've done essentially everything, adjusted every knob and dial to try and maximize and make our finances work as best as possible, and trimmed every bit of fat," Chelsy said. "And as of last month, I am officially out of money. I have nothing left for the rest of the year."

Chelsy and her daughter at a hospital. Courtesy Chelsy

POP QUIZ, HOTSHOT

Which New Book Should You Read Next?

Using a quiz to give out book recommendations? A BuzzFeed classic, you love to see it. Pick a location, choose a job, bam! You got yourself a book suggestion. (I got Black Sun, the first book in a fantasy trilogy about a child blinded by their mother who is to become the Crow God reborn and wreak vengeance on the Sun Priest and their followers, whew.)

And just in case you don't like what you get (or aren't the quiz-taking type), scroll to the bottom for all the recommendations and maybe find a good read to hunker down deeper into fall with.

Take time. That's it. Just take some,

Brandon