Arizona has officially certified its results of the 2020 election cycle indicating President-elect Joe Biden won the Grand Canyon State’s 11 electoral votes. The certification also makes it possible for Senator-elect Mark Kelly to be sworn in to the U.S. Senate this week. From CNN:
Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, certified the election results Monday morning, saying the elections process was the most secure in recent history, “despite unfounded claims to the contrary.” The state’s Gov. Doug Ducey and Attorney General Mark Brnovich, along with Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert Brutinel, witnessed the certification, as required by state law. These three officials are Republicans.
Ducey, who echoed Hobbs’ comments and praised the integrity of Arizona’s election system, also said he would sign official documentation on Monday and have it hand-delivered to the president of the US Senate, so that Kelly “can be sworn in as swiftly as possible.”
More than 3.4 million ballots were cast in Arizona this election cycle indicating a turnout of nearly 80% of eligible voters in the state. The official tally shows Biden beat Donald Trump by 10,457 votes. Donald Trump’s lawyer Jenna Ellis complained on Twitter the certification was ‘rushed’ but it’s been 27 days since Election Day – the exact same length of time as in 2016.
JUST IN: Arizona certifies its 2020 election results, with President-elect Biden winning the state's electoral votes. pic.twitter.com/Hz64xJJn9q
Former Vice President Joe Biden (via campaign) President-elect Joe Biden told voters during the 2020 campaign that his cabinet and staff would reflect the diversity of the American people. And early in the transition, he appears to be keeping those promises. So far, he’s announced the following picks for high profile positions in his administration: • Janet Yellen, expected to be nominated as Treasury Secretary, would be the first woman to ever hold the position. • Linda Thomas-Greenfield, to be nominated as ambassador to the United Nations, would be the first Black woman to serve in that capacity. • Cuban American Alejandro Mayorkas, nominated for homeland security secretary, would be the first Latino to hold the cabinet position. • Avril Haines, a former CIA deputy director, could be the first woman to be the director of national intelligence if confirmed • Carlos Elizondo, an openly gay event planner who lives in Washington with his partner, has been tapped to be the social secretary in the Biden White House. Elizondo is the first LGBTQ person to be named to a prominent position in the incoming administration. Karine Jean-Pierre, a Black lesbian, is reported to be a top contender for White House press secretary. Other experienced names previewed include former Senator/Secretary of State/Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry as Biden’s ‘Climate Czar,’ and former Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken as Secretary of State. As many in the media have noted, many of those we’re hearing about hold deep experience in their respective niches. While Donald Trump liked to surprise and entertain with unexpected and disjointed choices in key roles, you can almost hear a sigh of relief in the ‘mundane-ness’ of Biden’s picks. Brendan Buck, ex-counselor to former Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan, wrote on Twitter, “These Biden nominations and appointments are so delightfully boring.”
These Biden nominations and appointments are so delightfully boring
Nevada’s seven nonpartisan Supreme Court justices unanimously approved the state’s final canvass of the November 3 election today. From the Las Vegas Review-Journal:
The Nevada Supreme Court signed off on the state’s election results Tuesday, making President-elect Joe Biden’s win in the state official, following numerous failed post-election court challenges that sought to delay or thwart the statutory move.
Though a few legal challenges are still pending, the court’s formal acceptance of the results from the Secretary of State’s office essentially closes the book on the 2020 election. It took less than half an hour of the court’s time Tuesday to conclude a routine matter in an election year that was anything but routine.
Nevada’s certification follows Michigan’s move to certify on Monday and Pennsylvania’s certification early Tuesday, and ahead of Wisconsin’s and Arizona’s certifications later this week. All are states President Donald Trump lost on Nov. 3, and all are states where the Republican Party and the Trump campaign filed lawsuits challenging the outcome.
Biden officially won Nevada by 33, 796 votes – 703,486 to Trump’s 669,690.
Following the certification of key states’ Election Day results plus the announcement of former Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen to be the next Treasury secretary, stock markets are heading for record territory this morning. From the New York Times:
The S&P 500 rose about 1.4 percent, and by late morning was trading above its most recent closing record of 3,626.91, reached on Nov. 16. The Dow Jones industrial average rose to a new high, crossing above the 30,000 mark for the first time.
The gains on Tuesday seemed to reflect optimism about the economy, with shares of economically sensitive companies among the best performers. Oil prices also jumped to levels not seen since early March.
“ ‘Biden wins,’ Trump told a cheering crowd near Reading, PA on Halloween, ‘you’re going to have a stock market collapse the likes of which you never had.’
“That didn’t happen. Instead, the stock market has notched new record highs”
UPDATE: I realized I wanted to include this information as some GOP officials or Trump supporters have made mention of ‘unbalanced precincts’ which occurs when there are a small number of ballots that don’t equal the total number of voters noted in the poll books. I think this is important to know. From the Washington Post:
Out-of-balance precincts can occur for several reasons. A machine may fail to scan the name of a voter on an absentee ballot envelope. A voter can make a mistake on a ballot and request a new one, or sign into the poll book but leave before casting a ballot.
This fall, 179 Detroit precincts, or 28 percent of the total, had discrepancies of at least one ballot, accounting for at least 433 votes, according to state and county data.
Four years ago, when Trump won the state by a narrow margin, the number of out-of-balance precincts was larger: 392 Detroit precincts, or 59 percent of the total, had discrepancies of at least one ballot, accounting for at least 916 votes, the data show.
In 2016, when the discrepancy was less than half that of 2020, neither the RNC nor the Trump campaign asked for an audit to verify the veracity of the ballot count.
The Michigan Board of Canvassers voted to certify the results of the 2020 election on Monday. The 3-1 vote by the board – made up of two Democrats and two Republicans – effectively awards the state’s 16 electoral votes to President-elect Joe Biden, who garnered over 155,000 more votes than Donald Trump in the election. One of the two Republican members – Norman Shinkle – was the lone holdout who abstained from approving the results. Shinkle told the Washington Post in an interview last week that he was considering delaying the certification citing a debunked conspiracy theory pushed by Trump and his campaign that voting machines had deleted thousands of Trump votes. As CNN’s Jake Tapper points out via Twitter, with Georgia having certified Friday, Michigan doing so today, and Pennsylvania tonight (once Philadelphia certifies at 7 pm tonight), President-elect Joe Biden will have more than 270 electoral votes.
So looking just at contested states ….
With Georgia having certified Friday… Michigan just now…. and Pennsylvania tonight (after Philly certifies at 7)… that’s more than 270 electoral votes and President-elect Biden will once again be the clear president-elect. pic.twitter.com/tu2hh0Uecj — Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) November 23, 2020
(graphic via MSNBC) And the final two states have been projected in the 2020 presidential election. Multiple news outlets have projected President-elect Joe Biden will win Georgia, and as expected, Donald Trump will win North Carolina. Biden is the first Democrat to win Georgia in 28 years and the first non-southern Democrat to win the state in 60 years. Biden wins 306 electoral votes to Trump’s 232. In 2016, Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway called Trump’s win with 306 electoral votes a “massive landslide” and “historic.” Trump would repeat that claim many, many times.
CNN PROJECTION: President-elect Joe Biden wins Georgia, flipping the traditionally red state, and Donald Trump wins North Carolina. This brings the final electoral vote tally to 306 for Biden and 232 for Trump https://t.co/A6zhdqRxV6#CNNElectionpic.twitter.com/2VCXWD2UhH
Breaking News: President-elect Joe Biden won Georgia, a major victory for Democrats, and President Trump took North Carolina. The results do not affect the overall election outcome. https://t.co/SSIFp1hDOdpic.twitter.com/tF2KjmZm10
The last two states of the 2020 election have been called 🇺🇸 Joe Biden wins Georgia — while Trump wins North Carolina, giving President-elect Biden 306 electoral votes to 232 for Trump https://t.co/vhp5nBI14Ypic.twitter.com/XUbSwhIyoj
More major news outlets have projected Joe Biden to win Arizona Thursday night as his margin in the Grand Canyon state is remains over 11,000 votes. The Associated Press and Fox News Channel called Arizona for President-elect Biden on Election Night. The only two states not officially called by news outlets are Georgia (where Biden leads by 14,149 votes) and North Carolina (where Trump leads by 73,274) per the New York Times.
CBS News projects Joe Biden wins Arizona, after counties reported more vote tallies tonight. The current CBS News electoral vote estimate is Biden 290 and Trump 217. https://t.co/tmz7Wv4phapic.twitter.com/YukIVAvv24
With Biden’s win Arizona, he’s now flipped four states Trump won in 2016.
According to CNN’s numbers, of the two states remaining, Biden is leading Trump by 14,149 votes (or 0.3%) in Georgia while Trump is leading Biden by 71,399 votes (or 1.3%) in North Carolina. pic.twitter.com/D64jWeACnr — Nathan McDermott (@natemcdermott) November 13, 2020
(images via Joe Biden/Jill Biden Instagram) As part of the Biden family, I’m thrilled to see we’ll be welcoming Champ and Major Biden as the nation’s ‘First Dogs.’ Presidential pets have long been a tradition in the White House although Donald Trump is the first president since James Polk to not have a pet while in office. According to PEOPLE, Biden’s German shepherd, Major, will also make history as the first rescue dog to live at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
The Biden family adopted Major from the Delaware Humane Association in November 2018, 10 years after the couple welcomed their first German shepherd, Champ.
Champ was welcomed on Christmas 2008 and the beloved pet lived at the vice presidential residence at the U.S. Naval Observatory during Biden’s two terms with former President Barack Obama.
President-elect Joe Biden LGBTQ organizations across the U.S. are celebrating the victory of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. From Alphonso David, President of the Human Rights Campaign:
After four long years, we can finally celebrate — our voices were loud and clear, and together, we have elected Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to the White House, by more than four million votes and counting! Their election proves once again that equality is a winning issue, and reflects both the incredible work of this organization and the strength of our shared unity.
The Biden/Harris White House will be the most pro-equality in history. President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris are not just our allies, but they are true advocates for LGBTQ equality. These leaders have a clear vision: a vision where LGBTQ people are protected from discrimination; a vision where transgender and gender non-conforming people don’t fear for their lives walking down the street; a vision where LGBTQ children are loved, embraced and protected from bullying.
The results of this presidential election affirm that every vote and every voter counts. LGBTQ people and all marginalized Americans came together to make this victory possible, and now the journey to safety, equality and acceptance can continue forward.
President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris have promised to fight for America as a place where we all can belong and succeed, where truth and kindness matter. In the early days of their administration, they must prioritize protecting LGBTQ people equally under the law in a country where we can live without fear. We must all also confront the racism and bias that fueled the division of the last four years, and resolve to come together for justice and equality for all. We are eager to act on this historic vote for progress and get our country back on track.
From Rea Carey, Executive Director of the National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund:
Today, I breathed a sigh of relief for the first time in years, even as we know that we have hard work ahead of us. My hope is that after four years of white supremacist policies, actions and rhetoric aimed at the worst impulses of those who see LGBTQ+ people, immigrants, people of color, people with disabilities, and so many as the ‘other’ as targets for discrimination and prejudice, we have elected national leaders who have vowed to see and fight for the humanity in all of us.
I am filled with hope because our children will again live in a nation led by an administration that sees their potential, their resilience, and their diversity as strengths. I am filled with hope because for the first time in history a woman will serve as Vice President of the United States of America. After more than 100 years of women of color being cut out of the protections gained by the constitutional amendment granting mostly white women the right to vote, a woman of color will be bringing her expertise, experience and vision to lead this nation.
From Rebecca Isaacs, Executive Director of Equality Federation:
The will of the people is clear: voters have chosen Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to move us forward together towards a better future. This has been a long, difficult election unlike any we have witnessed before. But the story of the election is this: Despite all of the obstacles, we voted in enormous numbers for democracy, for justice, for equality, and for each other.
There is no question that President-Elect Joe Biden and Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris will be champions for advancing LGBTQ equality.
The will of the people is clear: voters have chosen Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to move us forward together towards a better future. pic.twitter.com/Ie0TyZp3td
From Imani Rupert-Gordon, National Center for Lesbian Rights Executive Director:
President-Elect Joe Biden has long been a champion of our community and he has promised the most LGBTQ-inclusive administration that has ever been in the White House. The opportunity to partner with a friendly administration and rebuild has never been greater.
And additionally noteworthy, Kamala Harris not only represents the first woman ever with the title Vice President-Elect, but also the first Black woman and South Asian woman to hold the position, which will provide a perspective that we have never had in that role before.
Joe Biden will be the 46th president of the United States, CNN projects, after a victory in Pennsylvania puts the Scranton-born Democrat over 270 electoral votes.
Arizona has officially certified its results of the 2020 election cycle indicating President-elect Joe Biden won the Grand Canyon State’s 11 electoral votes. The certification also makes it possible for Senator-elect Mark Kelly to be sworn in to the U.S. Senate this week. From CNN: 
