DEMOCRAT JOE BIDEN is now leading Donald Trump in the battleground state of Georgia as we draw closer to a result in the US presidential election
Victory in Georgia, which holds 16 electoral college votes, would take Biden over the 270 threshold of votes needed to win the White House.
However, with 99% of votes counted, Biden is currently just over 1,000 votes ahead of Trump in the state so it’s still too close to call.
If Trump loses Georgia, which has long been a Republican stronghold, he cannot win a majority of electoral college seats.
If the result is tight, a recount is likely.
Counting is also continuing in a number of other states.
In Arizona and Nevada, Biden is holding on to slim leads. If the Democrat wins two of those three states he would win the presidency.
The biggest piece of the puzzle is Pennsylvania, where Trump’s early lead is steadily draining away.
With just a few states left to project, the result will be determined by a combination of key battleground states#Election2020https://t.co/Td6U2Lvzz9 pic.twitter.com/SmEb6QUNNL
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) November 6, 2020
Biden currently is projected to have 253 of the 538 electoral college votes.
He has 264 with the inclusion of Arizona, which the Associated Press and, much to the president’s anger, Fox News have called in his favour but other major organisations have not.
As well as preemptively announcing victory in states where the results were not final, Trump said he planned to contest the election before the Supreme Court. It was unclear what legal action he might pursue as he has been unable to back up claims of fraud and voter suppression.
On Wednesday, Trump’s campaign filed lawsuits in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Georgia, and said it would request a recount in Wisconsin.
Judges have denied or dismissed the lawsuits in Georgia and Michigan.
The Trump campaign filed a number of legal motions in Pennsylvania, including attempts to stop the vote count and allow Republican Party members observe the vote count.
Pennsylvania
In Pennsylvania Trump’s lead has dropped to about 18,000 votes. Biden is expected to take a sizeable number of postal votes across the state. An updated count is expected in the next hour or two.
If Biden took Pennsylvania, he would grab 20 more electoral college votes, thereby instantly topping the necessary 270 for overall victory.
The latest results show Trump’s lead in the state had shrunk to around 18,000 votes, with most ballots yet to be counted coming from Democratic stronghold Philadelphia. At least 293,000 ballots have yet to be counted.
We may get results in Pennsylvania late tonight, but it could run into tomorrow.
Mail ballots from across the state overwhelmingly broke in Biden’s direction.
There’s also a possibility the race here won’t be decided for days. If there is less than a half percentage point difference between Biden and Trump’s vote total, state law dictates that a recount must be held.
The count in Philadelphia was temporarily halted as officials rearranged part of the room where tabulation was taking place, resuming after what the city’s bipartisan board of elected officials said was a “brief pause”, as reported by NBC News.
Justin Clark, Trump’s deputy campaign manager and senior counsel, claimed the campaign had been denied access to count rooms in Philadelphia.
“This ruling [on Thursday] by the appellate court in Pennsylvania, it guarantees we’re going to be able to watch the ballots being counted in a corrupt place that is known for its shenanigans on Election Day and after.”
The count is going forward. There was a brief pause in light of the ongoing litigation, but it has resumed in accordance with the law. https://t.co/bcEzsX9AM2
— Philadelphia City Commissioners (@PhillyVotes) November 5, 2020
City officials have petitioned to appeal the ruling to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
There’s no evidence of voter fraud in Philadelphia or elsewhere, and officials said poll watchers were not denied entry.
Nevada
Biden leads by over 11,000 votes, less than one percentage point, in Nevada, with more than 1.2 million ballots counted and about 190,000 left to go.
The next update on the count will be at about 8pm Irish time, but the count in this state could also take days to finish.
Arizona
In Arizona Biden’s lead is about 46,000 votes ahead;at least 293,000 ballots have yet to be counted. An update is expected at 4pm Irish time.
North Carolina
The race is too early to call here.
Trump held a nearly 77,000-vote lead yesterday, but up to 116,000 mail ballots are left to count, as well as about 41,000 provisional ballots statewide.
As long as those ballots are postmarked by 3 November, the state of the election, state officials have until 12 November to count them. And when it comes to mail ballots, Biden is again outperforming Trump.
Alaska
The solidly Republican state of Alaska has also not been called because it is only 50% counted and will not release absentee numbers until 10 November. Results here are not expected to impact the outcome of the election.
Contains reporting from © AFP 2020 and Press Association
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