Democratic candidate Joe Biden‘s margins over Republican President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania and Georgia continued to grow Friday night into Saturday, as the vote counts in five battleground states trickled in.
To capture the White House, a candidate must amass at least 270 votes in the Electoral College. The Associated Press currently gives Biden 264 electoral votes compared to 214 for Trump.
Here is the state of play in the five states.
Pennsylvania (20 electoral votes)
Biden has a lead of 28,877 votes, or a 0.4 percentage point margin, as of 12.30 a.m. ET Saturday, with 99% of the estimated vote counted. Under Pennsylvania law, a recount is automatic if the margin of victory is less than or equal to 0.5 percentage point of the total vote.
There are still ballots to be counted in Philadelphia, the state’s largest city, and Allegheny county, home to Pittsburgh, which started to report votes on Friday evening.
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The majority of ballots left in Philadelphia are provisional and military ballots, Pennsylvania’s election commissioner said, adding the final count could take several days.
Friday is the last day that Pennsylvania can accept mail-in ballots postmarked on or before Election Day.
Georgia (16 electoral votes)
Biden leads Trump by 4,022 votes as of 12.30 a.m. ET, with 99% of the estimated vote counted. Trump needs both Pennsylvania and Georgia to win a second term.
Brad Raffensperger, Georgia’s secretary of state, said he expects the margin to be just a few thousand votes, which will likely trigger a recount. A recount must wait until Georgia’s results are certified, expected on or before Nov. 20.
About 9,000 military and overseas ballots are still outstanding and could be accepted if they arrive on Friday as long as they were postmarked Tuesday or earlier.
Arizona (11 electoral votes)
Biden has 49.8% versus Trump at 48.8%, a lead of 29,861 votes, with 90% of the expected vote tallied as of 12:30 a.m.
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The state has about 250,000 to 270,000 ballots left to count, Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs told CNN earlier on Friday.
The Associated Press has called this race for Biden.
Nevada (6 electoral votes)
Biden leads Trump by 22,657 votes, or 1.8 percentage points, with about 87% of the vote counted.
More votes are expected out of Clark county, which includes Las Vegas. The majority of mail-in ballots are expected to be counted by Sunday, according to local officials.
North Carolina (15 electoral votes)
Trump leads by 76,479 votes, or 1.4 percentage points, with about 99% of the estimated vote counted.
State officials have said a full result will not be known until next week. The state allows mail-in ballots postmarked by Tuesday to be counted if they are received by Nov. 12.
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