THE BIG STORY

Donald Trump is lying about the early election results

After an extraordinary night, the results of the presidential race remain unsettled thanks to outstanding votes to be counted in key battleground states.

There is nothing unusual or unexpected about what is going on so far. We knew that states like North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin could be slower to count votes than in previous presidential elections because of the impact of COVID-19, which led to unprecedented early voting and the specific rules around when those votes are counted. Legitimate votes are still being counted.

President Donald Trump lied about the outcome, falsely spinning incomplete election results to make it sound like there was a conspiracy to prevent him from winning reelection. There was absolutely no evidence to back up any of his claims.

Trump could still win the election legitimately, with votes currently being counted. But by essentially declaring victory, or claiming victory was stolen from him, he tried to steal it.

Trump added, “we will be going to the US Supreme Court.” It is unclear what he’s talking about at this moment.

Joe Biden told his supporters he was confident he would ultimately win. “We knew because of the unprecedented early vote and the mail-in vote it was going to take a while,” he said.

👉 Bottom line: The scenario playing out is one that was long-predicted. A reminder to be patient as votes get counted. This may take a few days.

Carlos Barria / Reuters

STAYING ON TOP OF THIS

Let’s do the math, because who doesn’t love math?

Donald Trump won key states in his path, like Ohio and Florida. His re-election runs through the same states he carried in 2016 — states like Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Michigan. Biden leads in Wisconsin, while Trump leads in the other two.

Biden has options when it comes to his path to 270 electoral votes. His campaign pushed hard for the Rust Belt states, but he’s also currently leading in Arizona — a state Trump carried in 2016 — and sits within striking distance of Trump’s lead in Georgia, which allows him greater flexibility as votes continue to be counted.

Here’s our live results page. Return to it often. This will be a journey, so let’s all remain calm.

RESULTS YOU NEED TO KNOW

Delaware has elected the first openly trans state senator in the US. Sarah McBride, a 30-year-old LGBTQ activist, will become the most powerful openly trans lawmaker in the nation after winning her state senator race in Delaware during Tuesday's elections.

A QAnon supporter has been elected to Congress for the first time. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s win emphasizes the extent to which the GOP will embrace QAnon candidates with a chance at winning while trying to distance themselves from the mass delusion itself.

Ritchie Torres and Mondaire Jones make history as the first openly gay Black members of Congress. Both New Yorkers will enter the House in January.

New Jersey, Montana, Arizona, and South Dakota voted to legalize recreational marijuana. In Arizona, the new measure also allows people with past marijuana convictions to petition the courts for expungements through restorative justice provisions.

Trump’s cheerleader Lindsey Graham will hold on to his South Carolina seat. Graham was reelected despite his Democratic opponent raising more money than any Senate candidate in history.

A 25-year-old Republican won in North Carolina. He’ll soon be the youngest member of Congress. When Madison Cawthorn is sworn into his seat in January, he will be the minimum age set forth in the Constitution to serve in the House.

We won’t know who won this Georgia Senate race until January. Since neither candidate passed the necessary 50% threshold, Democrat Raphael Warnock will face incumbent Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler in a runoff on Jan. 5, 2021.

It looks like a man who died of COVID-19 was elected to North Dakota’s state legislature. David Andahl, 55, died of COVID-19 last month and appears to have won a seat in the state legislature, according to unofficial election results.

Sarah McBride, the first openly trans state senator in US history. Sarah McBride

ELECTION DAY STORIES YOU SHOULD KNOW

False information about voting in Pennsylvania is flooding the internet. We reached out to officials on the ground. They told us the online misinformation has been “relentless.”

A former Republican candidate in North Carolina was arrested after showing up to the polls with a gun. Police said Justin Dunn, who wore a camouflage Trump hat and no mask, returned to the polling site two hours after being banned from it.

Bernie Sanders explained what would happen on election night a week ago, and the clip is going viral. Ten days ago, the senator was on The Tonight Show, and people are saying he “predicted” exactly what would play out on election night.

FACEBOOK AND LIBERAL PAGES

Facebook cut traffic to leading liberal pages just before the election

Beginning in early October, the Facebook pages Occupy Democrats, the Other 98%, and Being Liberal experienced significant declines in their reach, a measurement of how many people see a page’s content on the platform.

This meant their content received fewer shares, reactions, and comments. This is noteworthy because the pages collectively have more than 18.5 million followers.

Owners of these pages said Facebook representatives told them the company had mistakenly applied old “false news” strikes against their pages.

One of the people who runs these pages told us, “It's incredibly demoralizing, especially given the cataclysmic state of America, to know that the memes our team is making are being unfairly spiked in the Facebook algorithm.”

VOTING WHILE COVID-19 POSITIVE

People with COVID-19 voting is peak 2020

The 2020 election is happening under the extraordinary circumstances of a global pandemic. But folks who have COVID-19 still have the right to vote — so polling places nationwide have taken to curbside voting for people who have tested positive for the coronavirus.

CDC recommendations are for election workers to wear head-to-toe medical gear, not just masks and gloves, and to collect ballots via drive-thru services or alternate locations for sick voters.

The pictures look surreal, but they’re also a demonstration of the flexibility of democracy. Have a look:

Diane Carroll of the St. Louis Board of Election Commissioners hands a ballot to a voter during curbside voting for COVID-19 positive people in St. Louis. Robert Cohen / St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Remember to lean on the resilience you've cultivated,

Elamin