Welcome to the Nov. 4, 2020 edition of Just 3 Things, as we wait as a nation for several states' election results and maybe court battles to tell us who our next president will be. We've included a section with links to California and county election results pages as a quick guide to the most up-to-date information. Most of our news items are on the election, but we also highlight the beatification of the founder of the Knights of Columbus, Father Michael McGivney. And, in the news right now--keep an eye on today's U.S. Supreme Court arguments as Philadelphia's Catholic Charities fights for the right to offer faith-based foster care. Watch oral arguments here.

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The election is over but the counting of ballots is not.  The U.S. remains in uncertainty about the presidential race, where 270 votes are needed in the electoral college to win. The U.S. House of Representatives retains what appears to be a narrowed Democratic majority, and the U.S. Senate apparently continues with a Republican majority, according to projections by news organizations. 

Across the nation, election results are certified at the local and then the state level, creating a patchwork of election laws. In California, for instance, mail-in ballots postmarked by election day can be received up to 17 days after the election. Each of California's 58 counties must report their final results to the Secretary of State for the presidential contest by Dec. 1 and all other state and federal contests by Dec. 4. The California Secretary of State will certify the results on Dec. 11, 2020. The Electoral College will convene on Dec. 14, 2020. It is that vote that determines our next president.

California: https://electionresults.sos.ca.gov/  

San Francisco County: https://sfelections.sfgov.org/november-3-2020-election-results-summary

San Mateo County:https://www.smcacre.org/post/november-3-2020-election-results

An important milestone for American Catholics: Knights of Columbus founder and holy parish priest Father Michael McGivney was beatified on Oct. 31 in Hartford, Conn.  "Father McGivney’s life is an illustration of how a holy priest can provide the necessary and intimate connection, so crucial in the life and mission of a parish,” said Newark Cardinal Joseph Tobin, who read the letter from Pope Francis beatifying Father McGivney. Blessed McGivney was someone who “worked to keep families united in dignity, and security,” and took special care for members of his flock who were immigrants to the United States. He cared for victims of an influenza epidemic before dying of the disease himself. “We acknowledge gratefully the providence of God by confirming in the holiness of this witness by the miraculous cure of an unborn child, healed in utero of a fatal, multi-organ failure, after prayer by his family to Father McGivney.” (Shown above is Michael “Mikey” McGivney Schachle, whose live birth after prenatal diagnosis of a typically fatal condition was the miracle attributed to the intercession of Blessed McGivney/CNS photo)