UPDATE: Joe Biden was projected as winner of Wisconsin and Michigan on Wednesday.
After a long election night, the United States presidency was still undecided Wednesday morning as President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden were left waiting for U.S. election results in key battleground states.
Many states made it easier to vote by mail amid the coronavirus pandemic that has killed over 230,000 Americans. In response, voters returned nearly 64 million mail-in ballots, according to the US Elections Project, a record that could delay results well into Wednesday or even days to come.
At of 10 a.m. Wednesday, Biden leads in Nevada, Arizona and Wisconsin and has moved ahead in Michigan. If he holds these four states it would give him exactly 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House. Adding Georgia and Pennsylvania would give him 306 votes.
Trump, meanwhile, leads in Georgia, North Carolina and Pennsylvania and has a path to victory that requires him to turn Wisconsin or Michigan while also winning in Nevada. The Associated Press has declared Biden the winner in Arizona where he was ahead by roughly four points with 86 per cent of the vote counted.
Here is a look at six states — Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina, Michigan, Wisconsin and Nevada — that will decide who wins the White House.
Pennsylvania
As of 10 a.m. Wednesday, Trump leads by just under 600,000 votes with 75 per cent of the polls reporting. Biden’s chances in the Keystone State will hinge on whether he can win a large percentage of the more than 1.4 million absentee ballots that are still to be counted. Ballots received in the mail by Friday will still be accepted.
Republicans are gearing up for a legal fight to challenge absentee ballots with two federal lawsuits aimed at preventing the votes from being counted. Pennsylvania has received more than 2.5 million mail-in and absentee ballots so far, according to new data from election officials.
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, was defiant on Twitter early Wednesday.
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“Let’s be clear: This is a partisan attack on Pennsylvania’s elections, our votes, and democracy. Our counties are working tirelessly to process votes as quickly AND as accurately as possible. Pennsylvania will have a fair election and we will count every vote,” he wrote.
Georgia
In Georgia, Trump leads by over 100,000 votes with 94 per cent of the polls reporting, according to The Associated Press.
Vote counting was temporarily delayed due to a burst water pipe in Fulton County at Atlanta’s State Farm Arena. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, no ballots were damaged but the burst pipe will delay the counting of tens of thousands of ballots until sometime on Wednesday.
Results from the Peach State are expected by the end of Wednesday.
North Carolina
President Trump holds a lead of just over 76,000 votes in North Carolina with 94 per cent of the polls reporting, according to The Associated Press.
The state, which carries 15 electoral votes, has been one of the hardest fought of the election.
There are still around 115,000 absentee ballots left to be counted in North Carolina and the state is hoping to have 97 per cent of all ballots counted by the end of Wednesday.
While North Carolina has still been too close to call, Trump prematurely claimed victory.
“North Carolina, big victory with North Carolina,” Trump said.
Michigan and Wisconsin
Biden held small leads in Michigan and Wisconsin as of Wednesday morning, where the Democratic challenger led by roughly 10,000 votes and 20,000 votes, respectively.
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, who previously said the state’s final count might not be available until Friday, said a result will be available sometime Wednesday. Meagan Wolfe, Wisconsin’s chief election official, told reporters Wednesday that the counting process is going as planned and that all but one jurisdiction, a township of less than 300 voters, has submitted their results.
“Wisconsin’s counting and reporting of unofficial results has gone according to law,” Wolfe said. “Our municipal and county clerks have worked tirelessly throughout the night to make sure every valid ballot is counted and reported accurately. Those unofficial results are available on the county clerks’ websites.”
The Associated Press declared Biden the winner Wednesday afternoon but Trump’s presidential campaign said it will ask for a recount in the Badger state.
“Wisconsin has been a razor thin race as we always knew that it would be,” said Bill Stepien, Trump 2020 campaign manager in a statement. “The President is well within the threshold to request a recount and we will immediately do so.”
According to the state’s recount procedure, if the election margin is under 1 per cent the defeated candidate has the option to request a recount.
Nevada
Returns have been tight in Nevada, with Biden leading by less than 10,000 votes with over 86 per of polls reporting, according to The Associated Press.
Nevada election officials said Wednesday that they won’t announce additional voting results until Thursday morning.
The Secretary of State’s Elections Division announced that as of early Wednesday, the state had counted all the votes cast in person before and on election day, and all mail-in ballots received until Tuesday, CBS News reported.
“That’s it for election results updates until 9:00 am on Nov. 5. Here’s what has been counted so far: –All in-person early votes –All in-person Election Day votes –All mail ballots through Nov. 2,” it said in a tweet.
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