UPDATE (11:10 A.M. SATURDAY NOV. 7, 2020): The Associated Press has called the election. Joe Biden has won the presidential election against incumbent Donald Trump with 284 of 214 electoral votes.
ORIGINAL (2:28 P.M. NOV. 6, 2020)
ORIGINALWhile the nation is waiting on the 2020 presidential results, UTRGV students share their thoughts on the election and prediction of the next commander in chief.
As of 5:25 p.m. today, according to the Associated Press, unofficial results for the presidential election show Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden ahead of Republican incumbent Donald Trump with 264 to 214 electoral votes.
A candidate needs 270 electoral votes in order to win the presidential election.
Vaquero Radio asked the campus community through a Facebook poll in the UTRGV Student page on their prediction on who’s going to win the presidential election.
As of 5:25 p.m. Friday, 78 people voted for Biden and 18 for Trump.
Clinical laboratory sciences sophomore Angelica Velasquez said she has been keeping up with the election and feels that the nation is heading towards a good direction regarding progress in the country.
“Not saying that, you know, Biden is the best option we have, but he’s definitely better than I’m pretty sure Trump would have been considering that the past four years haven’t really been the greatest under his administration,” Velasquez said. “Mainly most of his, the benefits that he brought to this country, benefited really those who are wealthy or who have privileged lives compared to all of us that live here in the [Rio Grande Valley].”
Asked her thoughts on how some states have voted, Velasquez said it could be predicted on which states were going to vote for who.
“It’s no big surprise that most of the Southern States stayed red since they are very traditional and like to keep their old-fashioned ways,” she said. “And which is expected for someone who wants to vote for Trump, although he doesn’t really keep up to par with his old-fashioned respectful traditions.”
Velasquez is surprised that states such as Wisconsin were flipped compared to the 2016 presidential election in which it was a red state.
“It just shows that everyone is starting to come out of their true traditionalistic cocoon that everyone has built around them,” she said. “Those things should be this way and things can only be this way.”
Velasquez predicts Biden will win the presidential election.
Political science junior Ivan Zarandona has also been keeping up with the election and shares his thoughts on the outcome so far.
“I’ve been having mixed feelings about it. I’m seeing different medias, you know, apparently there’s news about, you know, absentee ballots, making it … flawed for the county, things like that,” Zarandona said. “And then next thing, you know, I mean, we have people who really want the certain candidate, right? Like, you know, Biden’s winning so far. I mean, I respect that, you know, he’s winning, but I have, I would say, a little bit of scrutiny when it comes to the absentee ballots, you know, as opposed to just showing up to the polls, things like that, or even accounting, especially when it comes to Nevada, for example, and what’s going on over there.”
Although Zarandona is Republican, he said regardless of who the president is, it should not divide people.
“We gotta stay clear-headed and not be emotionally impulsive and just still have faith in the American people,” he said. “I mean, I’m not saying trust the American government, right, but to have and being united, you know, like sorting out our differences and for all of us to work hard together.”
Asked his prediction on who is going to win the presidential election, Zarandona said Biden is probably going to.
“We saw that Trump definitely did have a chance of winning. Just, I mean, if you look at it, I guess you can say this is a pretty superficial because, well, he had more folks in the rallies, you know, things like that,” Zarandona said. “Massive waves of it. … So, it’s a working-class for the most part that Trump is trying to reach out to. So, he did have a chance in the beginning, that’s my initial thought. But as of right now seeing the results, well then, yeah, I don’t know too much about that.”
For election updates and much more, visit utrgvradio.com.
For Vaquero News, I’m Victor Ramirez.
