On March 5, the largest primary voting date of the 2024 election cycle was cast across 15 states, finalizing President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump as America’s final and presumptive presidential candidates. “Super Tuesday,” as the day has been nicknamed, tallied results in the presidential race consistent with polls taken since Trump announced his reelection bid.

However, Super Tuesday came with a slew of controversy that will shape America for the next presidential term. Here is a breakdown of not only the presidential results, but the Supreme Court’s decision that will secure Trump’s spot on the ballot.

Biden was running relatively unopposed for the democratic nomination, with only a few smaller candidates staying in contention even though they received zero delegates. Biden was a lock for victory which remained true, but a telling result showed a different side. In Minnesota, a consistently blue state, 11 of the 75 delegates up for vote were declared “uncommitted.” This doesn’t change Biden’s numbers enough to raise any eyebrows. However, this is indicative of the Democratic attitude entering the next election. Declaring uncommitted on a ballot is the same as checking “no preference.”

The people of Minnesota did not feel strongly enough about the only democratic candidate to give him any electoral votes at the Democratic National Convention. Many news outlets have cited the upcoming vote in November as one of the most contentious in history and this attitude of not even wanting to choose from the candidates presented may allude to the larger problem of neither candidate truly representing the American people.

On the other side of the ballot, more controversy was making headlines as Trump finally pushed his last competitor, Nikki Haley, out of the race. Even with Trump’s candidacy facing questions over the past few months due to numerous civil and criminal court cases, he won 14 out of the 15 states with GOP delegates up for grabs.

Haley showed virtually no contest against Trump, who won every state by at least 10 points and 8 states by at least 50 points. The only state Haley secured was Vermont, fitting into her niche area of appeal, and even this victory was overshadowed by the strong show of support for Trump early.

Before Super Tuesday voting began, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that Trump cannot be removed from the ballot by states. The decision came after Colorado, followed by numerous other states, took him off of the ballot, citing the events of Jan. 6 and linking them to a clause of the 14th Amendment.

Besides the presidential races, smaller state races occurred that will shape each state individually.

Texas has an entirely different state legislature because of a last-ditch effort by Governor Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton to prove the validity of their power and that Texas is a united front. Following an attempted impeachment of Paxton by the Texas state legislature, he joined forces with Abbott and together they rallied for new candidates and were able to replace a significant number of the seats they targeted.

Voters in Alabama may create a blue district within one of the most deeply republican states in America. The Alabama second congressional district was redrawn last year to isolate Black voters, minimizing their power in other districts. However, this could lead to a highly contested race with a democratic candidate currently in the lead and the runoff election coming later in 2024.

Californians are closely watching a contentious race for the House become a battle of the elites with two candidates for a seemingly unimportant seat sinking millions into their campaigns. This seat became symbolic in California as it was held by the late Senator Dianne Feinstein and is proving to be an important race in California.

WHS History Teacher Daniel Farabaugh understands that voters have a choice to make. “You have a fundamental need to be involved in a democracy. Decisions are made by those who show up,” he said. “Any version of ‘I’m not voting’ is a complete and utter cop-out. If you don’t vote you don’t get to complain… Democracy is not a spectator sport.”

This concept is not only true on Super Tuesday but in every election from local to national. Nothing is guaranteed.