Hundreds of demonstrators gathered with bated but anticipatory excitement in downtown D.C. on Friday afternoon, as votes continued to push Joe Biden closer to victory in the presidential election.

Both D.C. locals and out-of-state travellers marched near Black Lives Matter Plaza and McPherson Square — the hubs of activity over the past three days of the election — demanding that every vote be counted. There was go-go music (a staple of protests over the past several months in the city), chanting, dancing, and a massive Trump-as-rat inflatable float. 

Thais Carrero, head of Pennsylvania’s CASA chapter, an advocacy organization for Latino and immigrant residents, brought a group of around 50 people to D.C. for the demonstrations on Friday. She said they were there both to celebrate the record voter turnout amongst Latinos this election and demand that all their votes be counted.

“We want change. We want our voices to be heard,” Carrero says. “Latinos came out in record numbers and that shows that we’re willing to step up and that we showed up. And now it’s time for Washington to show up for us.”

Early Friday morning, Biden pulled ahead of Trump in Pennsylvania — a key state that could secure Biden’s victory. He now holds a lead in Georgia, Nevada, and Pennsylvania with thousands of votes still to be counted (although Trump’s supporters have led “stop the vote” protests in jurisdictions where votes that came in after Election Day favored Biden.)

For Carrero, who moved to Pennsylvania from Puerto Rico five years ago, it’s important to highlight the work of Latino voters in the state, she says — and to recognize that after the election, the fight still won’t be over.

“What I see, and what came out to the polls — in terms of people who look like me, people of color, immigrants, boricuas— what we see is the very foundation of the many changes that we need,” Carrero says. “We know that this is not a complete celebration because our struggle continues…we envision a future where we can start reversing all that damage that has been done for the past four years.”

Even without official results, many demonstrators brought optimistic energy to the march. Friday marked the fourth day of protests in D.C. after days of uncertainty about the outcome of the presidential election. While the city had prepared for possible civil unrest, demonstrations throughout the week remained peaceful. And on Friday, the crowd in BLM Plaza held out hope for a peaceful end to “election week.”

Dan, a Bethesda resident who declined to give his last name due to employment concerns, biked to BLM Plaza in a jersey printed with the U.S. Constitution. While he says the election’s “not over til’ it’s over,” he has faith in democracy and that the voting process will result in a fair election by the American people.

“I’m very proud of our country, and that the people can take back the country from where it’s been, and we can show the world what a democracy really is about and that not one person will control it,” Dan says. “So, today is a celebration to me of the Constitution.”

Aniyah Vines, a Howard University student and president of the schools’ NAACP organization, led the “Count Every Vote” march through BLM Plaza on Friday. While she’s hoping for an end to Trump’s presidency, she says a Biden victory won’t bring an end to frequent protests in her community.

“Regardless of who takes on the presidency, we have to continue to make sure that that person stays accountable,” says Vines, who regularly attends protests in D.C. “Making sure that we understand that there’s not going to be immediate change in the Black and Brown community, we have to continue to apply pressure.”

Vines echoed a point made by local demonstrators earlier in the week, when an election night demonstration ended in a protest against police brutality at the 4D police station: protests will continue to be a mainstay.

“I always like to tell people that they thought that after the first weekend of June, it was going to be done, they thought that the murder of George Floyd and the uproar was going to just be a trend,” Vines says. “That’s definitely not the case. We’re going to continue to take the streets of D.C. and the streets all over the country.”