ORLANDO, Fla. — Votes continue to pour in after voters went to the polls on Tuesday to decide whether President Donald Trump or former Vice President Joe Biden would win the presidency.
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11 p.m. update
Normally, as goes Florida, so goes the nation.
That’s been true every election since 1996, but it looks like that may not be the case this year.
Even in 2018, as the rest of the country swung blue, Florida did not, except in the case of some constitutional amendments.
Channel 9′s Deanna Allbrittin explores the dynamic between the policies voters say they want, and the lawmakers for whom they vote.
10 p.m. update
It’s been more than 24 hours since polls closed in the 48 contiguous states, and the presidential election has not yet been decided.
Right now that information is looking good for Joe Biden, but President Donald Trump isn’t going down without a fight.
According to the latest total by ABC News, Biden has 264 electoral college votes to Trump’s 214. Five states have not been called, but Biden leads in Nevada, and those six votes would give him the 270 majority.
8:35 p.m. update
We are waiting for a better breakdown of voters here in Florida.
We already know that Latinos showed up at the polls, especially in Miami-Dade County, more than in 2016, for Trump.
See the full story below:
7:35 p.m. update
More than 24-hours after the first polls closed on election day, Americans are still left wondering who their next president will be.
Joe Biden says he’s confident he will be the victor once all the votes are counted, but stopped short of declaring it a win. President Trump is planning legal action, he says, to “ensure the integrity” of the election.
READ: White House protests continue, calling for all votes to be counted
6:35 p.m. update
Votes continue to pour in after voters went to the polls on Tuesday to decide whether President Donald Trump or former Vice President Joe Biden would win the presidency.
Click here to read previous coverage of election night.
The Associated Press reports that Joe Biden is projected to win Michigan and its 16 electoral votes, putting the Democratic candidate six shy of the 270 total needed to become president.
5:50 p.m. update
The accuracy of polling is something that has come into question in the past couple of election cycles.
In 2016 many of the public polls had Hillary Clinton beating Donald Trump. And in 2018, polls showed Andrew Gillum beating Ron DeSantis in the race for Florida governor. Both of those things turned out the opposite way.
“We won states some didn’t expect us to win. Florida, we didn’t' win it, we won it by a lot,” Trump said Tuesday night.
READ: Electoral College: How does it work; what happens if there is a tie?
So what is going on with the polls?
“Polling is supposed to be random. It’s supposed to be so everyone has an equal chance of being selected,” said Dr. John Hanley, a University of Central Florida political science professor.
But he said the reality is it’s now easier for people who don’t want to answer the pollsters to hide, so getting a random sample of actual voters is harder.
READ: Florida voters choose to increase minimum wage to $15; here are the amendments that passed
He said he also believes Trump himself disrupts the norm:
“The Trump phenomena has been to bring out a lot of voters who are more blue collar,” he said.
And he said some Trump voters may be shy about admitting to pollsters they’re voting for him.
READ: Election 2020: When will we know who won?
“Particularly for African American or Latino voters, that they might be a little bit more likely to be shy Trump voters,” he said.
The other issue he sees with the polls is what he calls “herd mentality.”
If an outlet gets an outcome far different from the other polls, they’re less likely to release it for fear of being wrong. So many polls will tend to have similar results.
4:40 p.m. update
ABC News projects that Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden will win Michigan.
Tune into Channel 9 NOW for live updates and analysis.
BREAKING: Joe Biden will win the state of Michigan, @ABC News projects, flipping a crucial Midwestern state. https://t.co/i4uTCV10Me #Election2020 pic.twitter.com/HqsVdew4D2
— ABC News (@ABC) November 4, 2020
4:35 p.m. update
For once, Florida is not in the national spotlight the day after Election Day.
More than 11 million Floridians cast ballots in yesterday’s elections with nearly every county seeing more than 70% voter turnout.
Sumter County had one of the highest turnouts in Florida with nearly 88%, and Brevard and Lake counties were also over 80%.
READ: Election 2020: When will we know who won?
4:20 p.m. update
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said in a news conference Wednesday that he expects to win the presidential race once all votes are counted.
“No one is going to take our democracy away from us. Not now, not ever," he said.
Click here to tune into Channel 9 NOW for live updates and analysis, and watch Biden’s news conference in full below:
WATCH LIVE: Joe Biden gives update on election after winning WisconsinWATCH LIVE: Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden is hosting a news conference to discuss the election. READ LIVE UPDATES >>> at.wftv.com/2HQxAIV
Posted by WFTV Channel 9 on Wednesday, November 4, 2020
4 p.m. update
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden is set to provide an election update any minute.
Click here to watch it live when it happens.
Tune into Channel 9 Eyewitness News NOW for live updates.
It's still too close to call who will be the next president of the United States. Political reporter @CHeathWFTV is monitoring the newest updates from key states, today starting at 4 p.m. on Channel 9 Eyewitness News. pic.twitter.com/jRxpqBLP3P
— WFTV Channel 9 (@WFTV) November 4, 2020
3 p.m. update
Former Vice President Joe Biden has won the battleground state of Wisconsin, according to a vote count from The Associated Press.
He is expected to host a news conference following his win. Click here to watch it live when it happens.
Tune into Channel 9 Eyewitness News starting at 4 p.m. for live updates.
1 p.m. update
Biden tallies more votes than any presidential candidate in U.S. history
Vice President Joe Biden has 69,543,071 votes tallied for him so far, breaking a record of most votes for any presidential candidate, according to ABC News.
In 2008, then-candidate Barack Obama made history by winning 69,498,516 total votes, according to the FEC, the most of any presidential candidate in history at that time.
READ: Election 2020: When will we know who won?
12:05 p.m. update
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis gives update on election
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis praised the state’s election officials handling of the 2020 election at a press conference in Tallahassee Wednesday.
“I think it’s a testament to the state’s performance that as we see chaos unfolding in these other battleground states where votes may not be counted for days”, DeSantis said.
READ: Electoral College: How does it work; what happens if there is a tie?
Desantis says Florida should be an example of how other states can better process ballots and provide timely results in future elections.
“We’re now being looked at as the state that did it right and that these other states should emulate", he said.
DeSantis also criticized coverage of the election saying that many networks failed to call Florida for President Trump sooner.
“They waited when it was obvious Florida was in the bag”, he said.
11:15 a.m. update
Marco Lopez gives update after winning Osceola County sheriff race
Marco Lopez, who won the Osceola County sheriff race, gave an update Wednesday morning to thank his supporters.
“I want to make a difference in the community,” Lopez said.
Lopez, a former Osceola County sheriff’s deputy, defeated other former deputy Luis “Tony” Fernández, according to precincts reporting.
He will be the county’s first Hispanic sheriff.
Watch the news conference below:
10:45 a.m. update
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf gives update on election
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf gave an update on the election after the state paused counting votes overnight.
Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar said the state is approaching 50% of mail-in ballots being counted.
9:15 a.m. update
Florida voters choose to increase minimum wage to $15; here are other amendments that passed
The presidential race was the biggest issue on the ballot, but Florida voters were also faced with making a decision on six proposed amendments to the state’s constitution.
One of the most controversial of the six was amendment two: whether to give minimum wage workers a boost in pay.
Florida voters decided to raise minimum wage to $15 an hour.
READ: Florida voters choose to increase minimum wage to $15; here are the amendments that passed
There were five other amendments on the ballots. Floridians passed all but two of them.
Amendment one, a citizenship requirement to vote in elections was approved.
It is already a requirement, but it the amendment changed the wording in the state’s constitution to be more direct.
Amendments five and six also passed.
7 a.m. update
Which states have been called for Trump, Biden?
Former Vice President Joe Biden continues to lead President Donald Trump with 238 Electoral votes to Trump’s 213.
As of 7 a.m., here is the tally of states:
For Biden, the Associated Press has called Maine; Arizona; Hawaii; Minnesota; New Hampshire; California; Oregon; Washington; Washington, D.C.; New York; New Mexico; Vermont; Virginia; Colorado; Connecticut; Delaware; Illinois; New Jersey; Maryland; Massachusetts; and Rhode Island for former Vice President Joe Biden.
Meanwhile, the AP has called the following states for Trump: Oklahoma, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina, West Virginia, Kentucky, Arkansas, Indiana, North Dakota, Nebraska, Louisiana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Kansas, Idaho, Missouri, Utah, Ohio, Iowa, Montana, Florida and Texas.
According to the AP, the following states remain too close to call: Georgia, North Carolina, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. The AP also has not yet called a winner for Alaska.
Election officials in Nevada said they will not give an update on the ballots counted until Thursday.
5:15 a.m. update
Presidency race coming down to the wire, votes continue to be counted in key states
The race between Trump and Biden is coming down to the wire.
Votes are still being counted and the race is coming down to a few states.
As of 5 a.m., Biden leads Trump with 238 Electoral votes to Trump’s 213.
READ: Electoral College: How does it work; what happens if there is a tie?
Biden also holds the popular vote with over 67 million votes. He leads Trump by more than 2 million votes.
Trump did win Florida, with more than 51% of the vote. He beat Biden by about 400,000 votes.
Though Biden is leading, all the states except for Nevada and Wisconsin have Trump in the lead.
Overnight, both candidates said they felt confident they are going to win the election.
3:30 a.m. update
Votes continue to pour in for presidency race
Votes are still being counted in several states across the U.S.
Key states, such as Pennsylvania and Georgia, have not been called.
Trump won Florida and earned the state’s 29 Electoral College votes.
Channel 9 will continue in-depth coverage of the election starting at 4:30 a.m.
>>> Click here to tune in to Eyewitness News This Morning for live updates <<<
2:20 a.m. update
President Donald Trump speaks to supporters
President Donald Trump is addressing the nation as election results continue to pour in overnight.
WATCH LIVE: President Trump speaks with supportersWATCH LIVE: President Donald Trump is speaking from the White House after Election Day. Read more: at.wftv.com/3oRLz1D
Posted by WFTV Channel 9 on Tuesday, November 3, 2020
1:30 a.m. update
Former Vice President Joe Biden speaks to supporters
Presidential candidate Joe Biden spoke with his supporters early Wednesday morning as more state results poured in.
Watch his speech below:
WATCH LIVE: Presidential candidate Joe Biden speaks with supportersWATCH LIVE: Presidential candidate Joe Biden speaks with his supporters as more state results pour in. Read more: at.wftv.com/3oRLz1D
Posted by WFTV Channel 9 on Tuesday, November 3, 2020
>>> Click here to read previous coverage of election night <<<
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