(Editor’s Note: Sources attributed in this article were included on Nov. 12)
The Republican party nominee, Donald Trump, has been elected to be the 47th President of the United States.
Donald Trump’s presidential win has charted history on multiple accounts.
Trump is the oldest elected president, now standing at 78 years old, he is the second president to have won a second presidential term non-consecutively, following after former President Grover Cleveland.
He is the first president to have been convicted of felony crimes and is the only candidate that has faced two impeachment proceedings while in office that ultimately lead to him being acquitted by the Senate on all counts.
Following Donald Trump’s election, Vice President Kamala Harris took to a podium at her alma mater, Howard University in Washington, D.C. on Nov. 6 to present her concession speech.
“We must accept the results of this election,” Vice President Harris said during her concession speech on Oct. 6. “Earlier today I spoke with President Trump and congratulated him on his victory and also told him that we will help him and his team with their transition and that we will engage in a peaceful transfer of power.”
Harris continued her speech by noting her commitment to fight for the American people, specifically mentioning her loyalty to the Constitution and to enforcing fairness and opportunity.
“I am so proud of the race we ran and the way we ran it,” Harris said. “Over the 107 days of this campaign, we have been intentional about building community and building coalitions, bringing people together from every walk of life and background, united by love of country with enthusiasm and joy in our fight for America’s future.”
When comparing Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign to his previous presidential campaign in 2020, there weren’t many comments in regards to the voting count being inaccurate.
“Over the past several weeks, citizens across our country came together to participate in our nation’s sacred democratic process by casting their ballots in the 2024 elections,” CISA Director Jan Easterly said in a statement on the security of the 2024 election. “As we have said repeatedly, our election infrastructure has never been more secure and the election community never better prepared to deliver safe, secure, free, and fair elections for the American people. Importantly, we have no evidence of any malicious activity that had a material impact on the security or integrity of our election infrastructure.”
Several states that included ballot questions to amend the state constitution’s eligibility for no-excuse absentee balloting.
In Connecticut, voters must meet strict criteria to be eligible for absentee ballots.
This criteria includes absence from one’s usual polling place, sickness or physical disability or if religious beliefs prevent one from engaging in secular activities on voting day.
In the state of Connecticut, 675,400 out of 1,199,058 votes were placed in favor of amending the state’s constitution to allow any voter to vote via absentee ballot without having to provide an explicit reason, according to unofficial results shared by CT Insider.
This majority vote will now be issued to the Connecticut General Assembly where state legislatures will approach separate legislation to amend the constitution and support a bill to put no-excuse balloting in place.
“This election cycle, we have worked with voting rights advocates and our community partners to pass this referendum, expanding voting rights and voting access for all people in Connecticut,” said Chelsea-Infinity Gonzalez, policy director for the Connecticut chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), in an article by CT Insider. “During the legislative session next year, the ACLU of Connecticut will work with lawmakers and these same partners and advocates to create robust and detailed policies for implementation.”
President-elect Trump was not the only one to make history during this election.
Delaware State Senator Sarah McBride (D), has become the first openly transgender member of Congress.
McBride was not the only Delaware senator to make history during this election, U.S. Senator-elect Lisa Blunt Rochestor (D), has been welcomed as the states first African American woman U.S. senator.
New Jersey Senator-elect Andy Kim (D) became the first Korean American elected to the Senate, and Angela Alsobrooks (D) became the first Black woman elected to the Senate from Maryland.
The GOP gained six seats in the Senate and three seats in the House of Representatives. The Republicans have the majority in the Senate, however, a majority is still to be determined in the House of Representatives, according to the Associated Press on October 7.
According to an article by NPR, President-elect Donald Trump and his allies have already articulated his plans for his upcoming term.
Trump has stated one of his first acts as president will be to close the U.S. border that connects to Mexico and will launch the largest domestic deportation operation in American History.
Trump has also spoken about his plans to end President Biden’s climate subsidies, such as the Biden-Harris Administration’s $4.3 billion in grants for community-driven solutions to cut climate pollution across America that support climate-friendly initiatives.
Instead, Trump plans to resume energy exploration, with tax breaks to oil, gas and coal producers.
