Wikipedia:Top 25 Report/November 1 to 7, 2020

Most Popular Wikipedia Articles of the Week (November 1 to 7, 2020)
Prepared with commentary by, , , and 

This week's top 25 is almost entirely populated by articles about an election (which reminds me, I've been meaning to watch that Reese Witherspoon movie) in some country called the United States. Never heard of it myself, but I heard through the grapevine that a lot of people are pretty pleased about the results. Also heard that they just got their first female vice president ever...but you didn't hear that from me. You might also notice that the election pushed down the one article that usually never leaves, Deaths in (CURRENT YEAR) (the last time it happened it was also due to an election, but in India). This week also features all Top 25 articles achieving over 1 million views!


 * {| class="wikitable"

! Rank ! Article ! Class ! Views ! Image ! Notes/about
 * 1
 * 2016 United States presidential election
 * 9,142,304
 * 2016 Presidential Election ballot.jpg
 * The fear of having what put Trump (#6) in the White House repeat itself brought more views to that election that stunned everyone (just see our numbers back in the day!) than whatever was happening in the current one (#4). Pictured: an official ballot from the election. Not all states allow photographs of ballots (for the record, that one's from Wisconsin).
 * 2
 * Joe Biden
 * 8,426,305
 * Joe Biden official portrait 2013.jpg
 * After 3 presidential campaigns, 8 years as VP, and 4 days of vote counting, you have President-Elect Joe Biden. The day he's inaugurated, he'll be the oldest president in history. It's probably appropriate he also landed at #2 here. In contrast to his opponent, #6, and running mate, #5, Biden hasn't yet topped this list since it began to be tabulated in 2013.
 * 3
 * United States Electoral College
 * 8,336,683
 * Electoral map 2020.svg
 * The only college from which you can never graduate. For those not from the United States, and those from the United States, it's an archaic system that means you vote and then other people also vote based on how you voted. The party it advantages has varied from election to election, but right now, it's solidly favoring the Republican Party. Apparently it was designed to empower slave-owners, so it's kind of ironic how it should be installing a Black woman in the coming months.
 * 4
 * 2020 United States presidential election
 * 7,181,141
 * Immigrant group celebrating Biden victory.jpg
 * Because of an excess of mail-in ballots due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and a certain soon-to-be-ex-president not wanting them to start counting until after polls closed, this year's election took longer than usual to be called (and to think one of the writers lives in a country where 100% of the vote is electronic, and the counting is over in just one day!). Pictured: The public responds in the streets after Biden was announced President-Elect.
 * 5
 * Kamala Harris
 * 5,636,406
 * Kamala Harris official photo (cropped2).jpg
 * While she may be the first, she will not be the last. Woman, woman of color, Black woman, woman of Asian descent, to occupy the White House. Also, much less relevant, she's the first Democratic president or vice president from the entire West. Who knew!
 * 6
 * Donald Trump
 * 3,253,619
 * Donald Trump official portrait.jpg
 * Receiving about 5 million less views than #2... Did I say views? I meant votes. No, make that both. You're Fired!
 * 7
 * 2012 United States presidential election
 * 3,074,994
 * Obama takes Romney concession call.jpg
 * The second time #2 got elected to the White House, as VP. Pictured: President Obama receiving a concession phone call from Mitt Romney hours after polling closed. All of these elections were probably boosted by the prominent links from presidential election page to presidential election page.
 * 8
 * 2008 United States presidential election
 * 2,954,352
 * John McCain 2009 Official.jpg
 * Until this week, the 2008 election saw the highest number of votes for a Presidential ticket in U.S. history, with #16 taking the top spot and #2 as VP. The election was lost by the late John McCain (pictured), a diplomatic moderate Republican from Arizona beloved by his home state, #6's policies and insults towards McCain in recent years may have (along with massive minority turn-out) swung the traditionally red state to turn blue. Not that we're certain; Arizona and neighbor Nevada are still counting.
 * 9
 * Sean Connery
 * 2,339,531
 * SeanConnery88.jpg
 * This recently-deceased legendary Scottish actor is still being remembered.
 * 10
 * 2000 United States presidential election
 * 2,201,274
 * Pbc-fl-2000-recount-1.jpg
 * This election also notably took a while to decide, based on voting irregularities that have since been long fixed. Pictured: The languishing recount in southern Florida.
 * 11
 * Beau Biden
 * 1,807,250
 * BeauBiden-DOJ2013 (cropped).jpg
 * The son of #2 and once-colleague of #5, Beau (Joe Jr.) died in 2015.
 * 12
 * The Queen's Gambit (miniseries)
 * 1,804,738
 * Anya Taylor-Joy by Gage Skidmore.jpg
 * It seems as though even one of the most polarizing presidential elections of all time couldn't stop Netflix from making its way onto the list this week, with star Anya Taylor-Joy (pictured) narrowly missing out on the list.
 * 13
 * List of presidents of the United States
 * 1,722,440
 * Gilbert Stuart Williamstown Portrait of George Washington.jpg
 * It goes up to 46!
 * 14
 * Jill Biden
 * 1,631,270
 * Jill Biden official portrait 2.jpg
 * Doctor Professor Biden (whose husband is #2) will become the first professionally employed First Lady as she keeps her teaching position.
 * 15
 * 2004 United States presidential election
 * 1,616,603
 * Bush Kerry 2004.jpg
 * I don't think I remember this election, so I can't imagine it was that controversial. Either that or it was really controversial. Bush, despite starting a war, was given a second term and won the popular vote (an achievement his party has not since replicated). The defeated candidate John Kerry at least was given a job as United States Secretary of State in the second term of...
 * 16
 * Barack Obama
 * 1,523,371
 * President Barack Obama.jpg
 * Former President Obama endorsed his VP (#2) for the top job this time.
 * 17
 * Jo Jorgensen
 * 1,312,997
 * Jo Jorgensen by Gage Skidmore 3 (50448627641).jpg
 * The Libertarian presidential candidate who got enough of the vote for us to ask why; like it or not, the U.S. is really a two-party system. She still got more votes than non-appearing candidate Kanye West.
 * 18
 * United States presidential election
 * 1,255,485
 * Larsz - US election 08 (by-sa).jpg
 * These happen every four years. One did this week. Other countries are available.
 * 19
 * 1992 United States presidential election
 * 1,191,024
 * 1992prescountymap2.PNG
 * Yes, every four years. 1992 is notable for being a 3-candidate race, not that Ross Perot really stood a chance.
 * 20
 * King Von
 * 1,183,413
 * The 26-year-old rapper died this week, leading to outpourings of grief, especially from the Black community.
 * 21
 * 1996 United States presidential election
 * 1,141,994
 * 1996 1st Presidential Debate H.png
 * Every. Four. Years.
 * 22
 * Hunter Biden
 * 1,128,887
 * R. Hunter Biden at Center for Strategic & International Studies (Speaking).png
 * The surviving son of #2 was used as tabloid fodder by the opposition (#6), and was given a touching hug on-stage after his father's acceptance speech.
 * 23
 * 1984 United States presidential election
 * 1,068,532
 * Reagan Bush 1984.jpg
 * Thankfully there's only enough room on this list for the last 36 years' worth of these.
 * 24
 * Voter turnout in the United States presidential elections
 * 1,035,506
 * U.S. Vote for President as Population Share.png
 * This year's election saw record voter turnout, though most of that wasn't actually turning out so much as turning in mail-in ballots.
 * 25
 * Neilia Hunter
 * 1,021,211
 * The deceased first wife of #2. The President-Elect has said that his grief over losing his first wife, daughter, and son over the last 50 years has been his political motivation.
 * }
 * Larsz - US election 08 (by-sa).jpg
 * These happen every four years. One did this week. Other countries are available.
 * 19
 * 1992 United States presidential election
 * 1,191,024
 * 1992prescountymap2.PNG
 * Yes, every four years. 1992 is notable for being a 3-candidate race, not that Ross Perot really stood a chance.
 * 20
 * King Von
 * 1,183,413
 * The 26-year-old rapper died this week, leading to outpourings of grief, especially from the Black community.
 * 21
 * 1996 United States presidential election
 * 1,141,994
 * 1996 1st Presidential Debate H.png
 * Every. Four. Years.
 * 22
 * Hunter Biden
 * 1,128,887
 * R. Hunter Biden at Center for Strategic & International Studies (Speaking).png
 * The surviving son of #2 was used as tabloid fodder by the opposition (#6), and was given a touching hug on-stage after his father's acceptance speech.
 * 23
 * 1984 United States presidential election
 * 1,068,532
 * Reagan Bush 1984.jpg
 * Thankfully there's only enough room on this list for the last 36 years' worth of these.
 * 24
 * Voter turnout in the United States presidential elections
 * 1,035,506
 * U.S. Vote for President as Population Share.png
 * This year's election saw record voter turnout, though most of that wasn't actually turning out so much as turning in mail-in ballots.
 * 25
 * Neilia Hunter
 * 1,021,211
 * The deceased first wife of #2. The President-Elect has said that his grief over losing his first wife, daughter, and son over the last 50 years has been his political motivation.
 * }
 * Thankfully there's only enough room on this list for the last 36 years' worth of these.
 * 24
 * Voter turnout in the United States presidential elections
 * 1,035,506
 * U.S. Vote for President as Population Share.png
 * This year's election saw record voter turnout, though most of that wasn't actually turning out so much as turning in mail-in ballots.
 * 25
 * Neilia Hunter
 * 1,021,211
 * The deceased first wife of #2. The President-Elect has said that his grief over losing his first wife, daughter, and son over the last 50 years has been his political motivation.
 * }
 * 1,021,211
 * The deceased first wife of #2. The President-Elect has said that his grief over losing his first wife, daughter, and son over the last 50 years has been his political motivation.
 * }
 * The deceased first wife of #2. The President-Elect has said that his grief over losing his first wife, daughter, and son over the last 50 years has been his political motivation.
 * }
 * }

Exclusions

 * This list excludes the Wikipedia main page, non-article pages (such as redlinks), and anomalous entries (such as DDoS attacks or likely automated views). Since mobile view data became available to the Report in October 2014, we exclude articles that have almost no mobile views (5–6% or less) or almost all mobile views (94–95% or more) because they are very likely to be automated views based on our experience and research of the issue. Please feel free to discuss any removal on the talk page if you wish.