Students have concerns about the state of the United States as the country anxiously await the official results of the 2020 presidential election.

In the close election, neither President Donald Trump nor former Vice President Joe Biden have been able to be named president for the next term.

Mario Smith, a sophomore education major, said he is not quite sure how he feels waiting for the results of the election.

He said neither major party candidate is ideal in his eyes.

“I have mixed emotions,” Smith said. “Both candidates are less than ideal but it’s the reality we live.”

He added he’s worried about the country as a whole.

“We are so divided as a nation, Smith. “People are literally just showing the worst of themselves and I’m scared.”

Sihile Mwalongo, a junior economics major, said the election has been nervous about the elections.

“At the moment I’ve been feeling a bit anxious about the elections because on the news they constantly kept comparing it to the last election and the trend that year was Hillary had the popular vote just like Joe has the popular vote but she didn’t win,” Mwalongo said. “So I’ve been waiting really just to see how everything has played out especially when it comes to the electoral vote.”

She added she is concerned about issues like voter suppression impacting the results.

Nolan Webb, a graduate student studying sports administration, said he has felt relieved as the results have appeared to be more clear.

“The emotion I’m feeling the most right now is relieved. Just based on how the polls are looking with Biden favored to win,” Webb said. “It feels amazing not having to have Trump for another four years.”

Mwalongo said she is concerned for the safety of minorities in the country but knows there is a sense of protecting each other right now.

“We are all trying to be there for each other because this is such an uneasy election and at the end of the day you don’t know everyone’s true intentions. I do believe minorities need to be a lot more cautious in rural and predominantly white areas,” Mwalongo said. “Even when we look at the votes throughout Illinois we can see it was red throughout the state and that already is so telling of how a lot of people in this state feel.”

Corryn Brock and Ryan Meyer can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].