Americans Brave Covid to Vote
Scenes from the 2020 election.
An unprecedented election.
That’s what many said of 2016 when a New York real estate developer surprised the world by winning the White House. What followed was a first term that saw Donald Trump upend established norms while trying to reverse much of what his predecessor had sought to accomplish.
Now, four years later, the word unprecedented has taken on a whole new meaning, one wrapped in the excruciating pain of a nation that’s seen more than 231,000 lost to a deadly pathogen. The coronavirus has also changed how America votes, with millions using drop-off boxes or drive-through stations and early polling venues. Millions of others mailed in their ballots, hoping their vote will indeed be counted.
But on Nov. 3, amid an intensifying public health catastrophe, millions more will leave the safety of their homes, braving the risk of infection that comes with being among groups of people, to exercise their franchise. Our photographers are all over the country, reporting on America’s decision on this Election Day.
▲ Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks as First Lady Melania Trump, from right, Vice President Mike Pence and Second Lady Karen Pence listen during an election night party in the East Room of the White House. Trump falsely declared victory early Wednesday, saying he had won re-election and that he would ask the Supreme Court to intervene -- even as several battleground states continued to count votes.
Read More: Trump Falsely Claims Victory With Election Too Close to Call
▲ Photographer: Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg
Biden and his wife, Jill, arrive at an election night party in Wilmington, Delaware. Biden addressed the nation as the race tightened, saying "we’re on track to win this election."
Read More: Biden, Trump Each Voice Confidence With Race Too Close to Call
▲ Photographer: Elaine Cromie/Getty Images
A worker with the Detroit Department of Elections helped process an absentee ballot at the Central Counting Board at the TCF Center in Detroit early Wednesday. Michigan, a key state for both candidates, remained in play hours after polls closed.
Read More: How Long It May Take: Where the Election Stands in Key States
▲ Photographer: Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg
An attendee crosses her fingers while watching poll results during an election night party for Biden at the Chase Center in Wilmington. Key battleground states including Pennsylvania and Michigan remained in play into the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Read More: Trump’s Strong Showing in South Erases Biden Hopes for Early Win
▲ Photographer: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg
Los Angeles police officers arrested demonstrators who protested as votes were counted Tuesday. Biden swept a number of Western states, including flipping battleground Arizona, which went for Trump in 2016.
▲ Photographer: Alyssa Schukar/The New York Times/Bloomerg
U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, briefed reporters at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee headquarters in Washington as results came in. Democrats retained control of the House of Representatives in Tuesday's vote.
▲ Photographer: Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg
Pedestrians watch results in New York City's Times Square area. The state was called for Biden on Tuesday, as had been expected.
Read More: Biden Wins Minnesota While Trump Retains 2016 Grip on Ohio, Iowa
▲ Photographer: Emily Elconin/Bloomberg
An attendee wears a T-shirt that reads "Deplorable 2016" during an election night "Trump Re-Election" watch party at Huron Valley Guns in New Hudson, Michigan, on Tuesday. In 2016, the president's campaign seized on dismissal of his supporters -- with Hillary Clinton’s branding of them as “a basket of deplorables” becoming a rallying cry.
▲ Photographer: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg
Demonstrators wave Trump campaign flags at a rally on Tuesday in Beverly Hills, California. The state is a traditional Democratic stronghold.
Read More: Nasdaq Futures Surge With Trump Odds Rising in Election Outcome
▲ Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg
Members of the media report outside of the White House in Washington on Tuesday. Businesses in some areas of the city boarded up their windows in the days leading up to the election as concerns grew about the potential for violence.
Read More: Biden-Trump Battle Shifts to Swing States After Early, Easy Wins
▲ Photographer: Eric Lee/Bloomberg
Demonstrators hold a "Remove Trump" banner in Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington as the election was underway on Tuesday. The movement has been a key issue in the weeks leading up to the vote.
Read More: Trump Campaign Loses Nevada Suit to Halt Mail-In Ballot Counting
▲ Photographer: Hannah Yoon/Bloomberg
An official poll watcher uses binoculars as workers count ballots on Tuesday at the Philadelphia Convention Center. Pennsylvania -- the birth state of Democratic nominee Joe Biden -- is one of the election's most closely watched battlegrounds.
Read More: Biden-Trump Battle Shifts to Swing States After Early, Easy Wins
▲ Photographer: Chet Strange/AFP/Getty Images
Election judges count ballots at the Denver Elections Division building on Nov. 3. As polls begin to close across the country, many observers are expecting absentee and mail-in ballots to play an outsized role in deciding who the next president will be. President Donald Trump and fellow Republicans have already begun litigation in an attempt to disqualify votes.
Read More: Trump Readies Lawyers for Election Battle, Led by Ex-Pence Aide
▲ Photographer: Jason Connolly/AFP/Getty Images
Steph Smith drops off her ballot for Tuesday in Rollinsville, Colorado. The campaigns of Joe Biden and Donald Trump have already been sparring over how to handle an election night where no clear winner is a distinct possibility.
Read More: Trump, Biden Camps Jockey Over How to Parse Photo-Finish Results
▲ Photographer: David Dee Delgado/Getty Images
A voter fills out his ballot at the Kings Theater in Brooklyn, New York, on Tuesday. After a record-breaking early voting turnout, Americans headed to the polls on Nov. 3. A lawyers watchdog group says it has seen no large-scale problems with in-person voting so far.
▲ Photographer: David McNew/Getty Images
Workers board up businesses along the Hollywood Walk of Fame amid concern over election-related demonstrations. Both Joe Biden and Donald Trump expressed optimism as polls entered their final hours of operation.
Read More: Trump, Biden Project Confidence as Election Day Winds Down
▲ Photographer: Hannah Yoon/Bloomberg
A member of the Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club rides a horse in Philadelphia on Tuesday urging people to vote. Pennsylvania may be the swing state upon which the presidential election turns.
Read More: ‘I Wanted My Vote to Be Counted’: Pennsylvanians Go to the Polls
▲ Photographer: Yasin Ozturk/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
The Trump administration has placed high iron fences around the White House in time for Election Day. President Donald Trump has reportedly told associates he may declare victory even before all the results are in. Former Vice President Joe Biden has warned the Republican against such an unprecedented move.
Read More: Biden Warns Trump Against Declaring Early White House Win
▲ Photographer: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images
President Donald Trump visits his campaign headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, on Nov. 3. If the Republican loses the election, he may face significant civil and criminal jeopardy upon leaving office.
Read More: The Big Legal Threats Trump Will Face If He Loses the Election
▲ Photographer: Gary Hershorn/Getty Images
Plywood boarding covers the windows of the Empire State Building in New York City on Election Day. Some retailers and building owners were taking measures to protect storefronts from any election-related demonstrations.
Read More: NYC, Washington Storefronts Boarded Up Ahead of Possible Unrest
▲ Photographer: Micah Green/Bloomberg
Senator Lindsey Graham speaks with reporters before leaving a polling location in Seneca, South Carolina. Under fire for pledging not to push through a last-minute Supreme Court nominee only to lead the effort to confirm Amy Coney Barrett last month, the Republican is in a tight race to retain his seat.
Read More: Tracking the Battle Over the Senate: Will the Chamber Flip or Stay With the GOP?
▲ Photographer: Scotty Perry/Bloomberg
Election officials assists a voter at a polling location in Louisville, Kentucky, on Tuesday. While Democrats are trying to flip the U.S. Senate, they face an uphill battle when it comes to unseating one of Kentucky's senators, Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Read More: Democrats’ Bid to Retake Senate Hinges on Strong Biden Showing
▲ Photographer: Stephen Maturen/Getty Images
A highway billboard in Bloomington, Minnesota, warns voters about a recent court ruling regarding absentee ballots. The U.S. Postal Service, run by Trump megadonor Louis DeJoy, has been ordered by multiple federal courts to undo changes that have significantly slowed first-class mail nationwide, particularly in districts of battleground states that tend to lean Democratic.
Read More: USPS Ordered to Sweep Swing-State Facilities for Ballots
▲ Photographer: Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg
A worker prepares social distancing circles ahead of an election night party for former Vice President Joe Biden at the Chase Center in Wilmington, Delaware.
Read More: Biden Returns Home to Scranton, While Trump to Stop in Virginia
▲ Photographer: Jeff Kowalsky/AFP/Getty Images
On Tuesday morning, Alison Glowinski removes pro-Trump messages spray-painted on grave stones at a Jewish cemetery in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The graffiti was discovered the night before the election, as President Donald Trump appeared in Grand Rapids for his final campaign rally.
Read More: Trump Ends Rally Blitz With Wistful Look Back at Unlikely Ascent
▲ Photographer: Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden speaks to supporters at a canvass kickoff event on Tuesday morning at Local Carpenters Union 445 in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Earlier, Biden attended mass at St. Joseph on the Brandywine near his Delaware home and visited the grave of his son Beau, who died in 2015 after battling brain cancer. The former vice president has often said he decided to launch his presidential bid as a way to carry on his late son’s legacy.
Read More: Americans Face Stark Choice as Election 2020 Dawns
▲ Photographer: Andy Manis/Getty Images
Voters cast their ballots at The Orpheum Theater in Madison, Wisconsin, on Tuesday morning, the first time the theater was opened for the election. President Donald Trump’s campaign team has said he is likely to lose in Wisconsin, a state he won in 2016.
Read More: Trump, Biden Make Final Push in States Seen as Key to Victory
▲ Photographer: Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg
A voter on a bicycle deposits a ballot into an official drop box in Washington D.C. on Oct. 30. Early voting has reached nearly 100 million ballots, more than two-thirds of the total turnout in 2016, according to the U.S. Elections Project.
Read More: What Nearly 100 Million Early Votes Say About 2020 Turnout
▲ Photographer: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg
Voters cast ballots using electronic devices at an early voting location at The Forum arena in Inglewood, California, on Oct. 29.
Read More: America Won’t Give Up Its Hackable Wireless Voting Machines
▲ Photographer: Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and his wife Jill emerge from the Delaware State Building in Wilmington after casting their ballots on Oct. 28.
Read More: Trump, Biden Camps Jockey Over How to Parse Photo-Finish Results
▲ Photographer: Mark Makela/Getty Images
A woman cycles away after casting her ballot at the Philadelphia City Hall satellite polling station on Oct. 27.
Read More: Understanding the Split Supreme Court Decisions on Mail Ballots
▲ Photographer: Stephanie Keith/Getty Images
People wait to vote at Madison Square Garden during early voting in New York City on Oct. 24.
Read More: NYC Saw 200,000 Residents Vote Over Weekend, De Blasio Says
▲ Photographer: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images
President Donald Trump leaves a polling station after voting in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Oct. 24.
Read More: Trump’s Dismissal of Covid Risk Paved Way to White House Outbreak
▲ Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg
An election judge seeks to have an issue resolved while preparing mail-in ballots to be scanned at the Montgomery County Board of Elections in Germantown, Maryland, on Oct. 20.
▲ Photographer: Marco Bello/Bloomberg
Nuns wait to cast ballots in Miami on Oct. 19.
Read More: Florida’s Botched-Election History Spurs Bid to Make It a Model
▲ Photographer: Roger Kisby/Bloomberg
A voter displays proof of having voted after casting a ballot at an early polling location in Las Vegas on Oct. 17.
Read More: Trump Loses Nevada Suit to Halt Ballot Count in Observer Suit
▲ Photographer: Nuccio DiNuzzo/Getty Images
Cook County jail detainees check in prior to casting their votes on Oct. 17 in Chicago.
Read More: Where the Criminal Justice System Blocks Americans’ Right to Vote
▲ Photographer: Rachel Jessen/Bloomberg
Election officials sanitize privacy booths at a polling place in Durham, North Carolina, on Oct. 15.
Read More: Covid Races Through Swing States on Eve of Tense Election Day
▲ Photographer: Callaghan O'Hare/Bloomberg
A voter stands on a social distancing marker while waiting to cast a ballot at a polling location in Houston on Oct. 13.
Read More: Texas Beats Total 2016 Vote Count Four Days Before Election
▲ Photographer: Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg
Residents wait outside an early voting venue in Atlanta on Oct. 12.
Read More: Biden Makes Closing Argument in Georgia, Invoking Roosevelt
▲ Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg
A polling station worker sprays disinfectant on voting booths in San Francisco on Oct. 6.
▲ Photographer: Matthew Hatcher/Bloomberg
Voters line up to cast their ballots between plastic barriers at the Lucas County Board of Elections in Toledo, Ohio, on Oct. 6.
Read More: Covid’s Midwest Surge Hits Populous Illinois, Ohio and Michigan
▲ Photographer: Sergio Flores/Bloomberg
Workers wearing protective masks help voters with ballots at a drive-through hand delivery center in Austin, Texas, on Oct. 2.
Read More: Texas Drive-Through Votes Survive GOP Lawsuit to Toss Them
▲ Photographer: Rachel Wisniewski/Bloomberg
Sample voting ballots are fed through a 40-foot sorting machine at the Board of Elections in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, on Sept. 22. Pennsylvania counties have invested millions of dollars on new sorters, high-speed scanners and other equipment and staff to handle a projected 3 million mail-in ballots.
Read More: Philadelphia Expects to Need Several Days to Count Ballots
▲ Photographer: Sarah Silbiger/Bloomberg
Voters at an early voting location in Fairfax, Virginia, on Sept. 18.
Read More: America in Crisis: A Closer Look at a Deeply Polarized Nation