Donald Trump and Joe Biden each claim to be ahead in the US presidential election, even as the final outcome hangs on a razor’s edge and both sides gear up for legal action.
The country saw a range of protests from both pro-Trump and anti-Trump groups, with nearly 60 people arrested in Manhattan. Former vice-president Joe Biden has collected 264 electoral votes. President Donald Trump, trailing in the results, has filed lawsuits in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Georgia.
Donald Trump has threatened to draw out the final results of Presidential elections by attempting to halt vote-counting in Pennsylvania and Michigan. He would seek a recount in Wisconsin, he said, even as several other battlegrounds remained too close to call.
Yesterday, Trump prematurely declared victory and said he would petition the Supreme Court to demand a halt to the counting. Biden urged his supporters — and by implication, Trump — to show patience and allow the process to play out.
So far, Trump is ahead in Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia, Georgia, Iowa, North Carolina, Ohio. Biden has taken leads in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, California, Maine, Washington, Illinois, Connecticut, Michigan, Minnesota, Vermont, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, Nevada, New Hamshire and Virginia
From the states that have been called by the US media so far, Biden has secured 264 electoral votes, while Trump has won 214. A candidate needs to win 270 electoral votes to capture the US presidency.
However, the mail-in ballots could take days or weeks to be counted in some states – meaning a final winner might not be declared yet, unless a candidate bags a landslide victory.
Overall turnout in Tuesday’s election was projected to be the highest in 120 years at 66.9%, according to the US Election Project. Mr Biden had the support of 70.5 million voters, the most won by any presidential candidate ever. Mr Trump has pulled in 67.2 million votes, four million more than he gained in 2016.
The bitter election race was dominated by the coronavirus pandemic, which hit a new record high of 103,000 daily cases in the US on Wednesday, according to the Covid Tracking Project.
(Image courtesy: Reuters)
