We are a people with different concepts of where we are now and where we would like to be in the future. The election process in 2016 was, in my opinion, extremely divisive and in 2020 become even more so. After the dust has settled on this election, I thought that it would help me to understand a little better about where we are and perhaps a little about where we are going. Given that I live in Levittown, Bucks County PA, that is where I have focused.

Election Results

At the state level, the democratic candidate won the popular vote by 80,555 votes out of 6,915,283 that were cast.[1] This margin represents 1.16 % of the total. Pennsylvania is a winner-take-all state when it comes to electoral college votes and all 20 votes were won by the democratic candidate. Figure 1 indicates that voting was quite close between the two major candidates, but not as close as 2016 where the separation was 0.78%.

Figure 1:2020 Presidential Election Results for Pennsylvania

Across Pennsylvania, popular vote results by county are shown in Figure 2. Shades of purple indicate close races in those counties.

Figure 2: Pennsylvania Statewide Composite Election Results by County

At our county (Bucks) level, the democratic candidate won the popular vote by 17,345 votes out of 396,234 that were cast.[2] This margin equates to 4.4 % of the total. Figure 3 also indicates that voting was close between the two major candidates.

Figure 3: 2020 Presidential Election Results for Bucks County, Pennsylvania

Bucks County includes 54 municipalities. Voting results at the municipality level are illustrated in Figure 4. These results indicate that the lower part of the county with the highest population density (Lower Bucks) and a portion of Central Bucks were carried by democratic voters while Upper Bucks and the remainder of Central Bucks were carried by republican voters. However, to view our election results on the basis of a simple political majority, fails to recognize how enmeshed we are – in short how “purple” we are. Figure 5 presents election results for the county based on the percentage of voters for each party. As indicated, our hue is purple.

Figure 4: 2020 Presidential Election Majority Results for Municipalities in Bucks County, Pennsylvania

Figure 5: 2020 Bucks County Election Results As Percentages of Party Voters.

Levittown is located in Lower Bucks County and although it is a sizable area and a designated Census Data Place (CDP), it is not a municipality in its own right. Levittown spans portions of four (4) municipalities; Bristol Township, Falls Township, Middletown Township, and Tullytown Borough. All of these municipalities voted with democratic majorities. These results are shown in Figure 6.

Figure 6: 2016 Presidential Election Results for Levittown PA Municipalities.

One issue of particular interest in this 2020 election cycle related to voting accessibility given the ongoing pandemic and differing positions for or against the use of mail-in voting. Figure 7 below indicates that 41.5% of the votes cast in Bucks County during the 2020 election were mail-in/absentee ballots with the remainder cast on election day. If you dig one level further down, you discover that 75.4% of the mail-in ballots were cast by democrats (Figure 8) compared to 23.4% for republicans. The near opposite relationship is shown for votes cast on election day.

Figure 7: Bucks County Voting Methods
Figure 8: Bucks County Mail-In and Election Day Vote Percentages

The striking differences in voting methods between republican and democratic voters are the result of rhetoric and advice presented to respective political constituencies. The influence of the pandemic conditions, including public health advice to limit social gathering, is also believed to have been a significant factor.

[1] Pennsylvania Department of State Election Results

[2] Bucks County Board of Elections

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Kevin Deeny