What we know so far about the 2020 US election
Biden has clearest path to victory amid tight races in
remaining states, as Trump threatens to sue his way to re-election
Helen
Sullivan
@helenrsullivan
Thu 5 Nov
2020 07.03 GMTFirst published on Thu 5 Nov 2020 04.04 GMT
Biden has
the clearest path to victory
Democratic
presidential candidate Joe Biden has won 264 of the 270 electoral college votes
needed to declare victory, strengthening his lead with wins in Michigan and
Wisconsin on Wednesday. Donald Trump has 214 electoral college votes after
gaining one vote in Maine.
As of 2 am
ET on Thursday, Biden holds a lead in Nevada, which has six electoral college
votes – just enough to get him over the line.
Trump’s
lead in Georgia began to narrow late on Wednesday, and as more postal votes are
counted Biden could flip the state and win its 16 electoral college votes. More
Georgians voted by mail than voted in total in 2016 and these mail-in ballots
could skew blue. As of 2 am ET on Thursday, Trump led by 22,000 votes in the
state, with an estimated 100,000 votes left to be counted.
Biden could
also net Pennsylvania, which would gain him 20 votes, although counting in the
state is expected to continue for quite a while.
Addressing
supporters at the Chase Center in Wilmington, Delaware, Biden said it was
“clear” he would hit the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency. “I’m
not here to declare that we won, but I am here to report that when the count is
finished, we will be the winner,” Biden said.
It is still
possible for Trump to win
Alaska has
not yet been called for Trump, but the result is not in doubt: he is expected
to win its three electoral college votes, taking him to 217.
In order to
secure the other 53 votes he requires for victory, he would need to win all
four remaining states and their 57 votes: Nevada (six votes), North Carolina
(15), Georgia (16), and Pennsylvania (20).
What is
happening in Arizona?
The
Associated Press and several other news organisations have called Arizona (with
its 11 electoral college votes) for Biden on Wednesday, although other outlets,
including NBC, have refrained from doing so. The Guardian relies on the AP to
call states.
While
Biden’s lead in Arizona narrowed slightly on Wednesday night , at 2 am ET on
Thursday, with 86% of the estimated votes counted, he held 50.7% of the votes.
The Trump
campaign has falsely claimed that it has won Arizona and on Wednesday night,
Trump supporters descended on the Phoenix state capitol and chanted “Shame on
Fox” after the TV news channel also declared Biden the winner in the state.
When will
we have a winner?
Nevada is
expecting to update its results on Thursday at midday ET. Pennsylvania won’t be
finished counting before Friday.
Georgia
could be called on Wednesday night.
As of 2 am
ET on Thursday, Georgia had 2% of its votes left to count (around 100,000
votes) and Trump was ahead by more than 31,000 votes. Results were partly
delayed by a burst pipe at a count centre in Fulton county, which meant the
counting process stopped briefly. It has since resumed.
Trump is
threatening to sue his way to re-election
Trump and
his campaign have sued to halt vote-counting in the battleground states of
Pennsylvania and Georgia, which have not yet been called by Associated Press,
and Michigan, which AP called for Biden.
Trump’s
campaign has also requested a recount in Wisconsin, which AP called for Biden.
There is no
evidence the campaign’s legal challenges will have a bearing on the election
result under the law.
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