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By Reuters 
1 hour ago
By Trevor Hunnicutt, Steve Holland and Jeff Mason
Wilmington, Delaware / Washington – Democrat Joe Biden predicted victory over President Donald Trump on Wednesday after winning two critical US states, while the Republican president alleged fraud, filed lawsuits and demanded recounts in a race that still remains. It has not been decided a day after the polls close.
Although he failed to declare victory, Biden launched a website for a transition to a Democrat-controlled White House. His team called it buildbackbetter.com and stated that “the Biden-Harris Administration can go to work from day one.”
As Trump spent part of the day broadcasting complaints on Twitter, Biden vowed to rule as a unifier if he succeeded.
“What unites us as Americans is much stronger than anything that can separate us,” said Biden, who appeared with his running mate Kamala Harris in his home state of Delaware on Wednesday.
At the moment, not including Wisconsin, where Republican Trump has demanded a recount, Edison Research gives Biden a 243-213 lead over Trump in electoral college votes, which are largely based on a state’s population. .
A former vice president with five decades in public life, Biden, 77, was screened by television networks to win the Midwestern states of Michigan and Wisconsin, a boost to his hopes of entering the White House on January 20. .
Trump, 74, who won both states in 2016, now has fewer options to secure a second four-year term. He hopes to avoid becoming the first sitting US president to lose a re-election bid since George HW Bush in 1992.
Trump has long sought to undermine the credibility of the voting process if he lost. Since Tuesday, he has falsely declared victory, accused the Democrats of trying to steal the elections without evidence, and promised to fight the states in court.
American election experts say that fraud is very rare.
The Trump campaign fought to keep its chances alive with the demand for a recount in Wisconsin, as well as the demands in Michigan and Pennsylvania to stop the vote counting. Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson called her team’s lawsuit “frivolous.”
His campaign filed a lawsuit in Georgia to demand that Chatham County, which includes the city of Savannah, segregate and secure late-arriving ballots to ensure they are not counted.
He also asked the U.S. Supreme Court to allow Trump to join a pending lawsuit filed by Pennsylvania Republicans over whether the state on the battlefield should be allowed to accept late ballots.
The maneuvers amounted to a sweeping effort to challenge the results of a still-indecisive election a day after millions of Americans went to the polls during the coronavirus pandemic that has disrupted everyday life.
As he struggled to stop the count in states where he feared losing, Trump criticized news organizations that were projecting losses in Arizona and Nevada, two states he thought he should be winning. He tweeted his dismay at the vote by mail.
“They’re finding Biden votes everywhere – in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan. Too bad for our country!” posted on Twitter.
Biden said that all votes must be counted. “No one is going to take away our democracy, not now, not ever,” he said.
Voting concluded Tuesday night, but many states typically take days to finish counting ballots, bolstered by an increase in mail-in ballots nationwide due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Other hotly contested states, including Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, and North Carolina, were still counting votes, leaving the outcome of the national elections uncertain.
THE PANDEMIC EFFECT
The controversial fallout culminated a virulent campaign that unfolded amid a pandemic that has killed more than 233,000 people in the United States and left millions more out of work. The country has also faced months of unrest involving protests over racism and police brutality.
The United States set a one-day record for new coronavirus cases on Wednesday with at least 102,591 new infections, and hospitals in several states reported a rising tide of patients, according to a Reuters tally.
Supporters of both candidates expressed anger, frustration and fear with little clarity about when the election would be resolved.
Trump held a narrow lead in North Carolina, while his lead narrowed in Georgia and Biden led in Arizona. If Arizona won, Biden would be only the second Democratic presidential candidate to win the state in 72 years. Trump won it in 2016.
Trump supporters in Arizona gathered at the state Capitol to demonstrate for the president. Protesters draped in American flags chanted, “Count the votes!” and “stop the robbery!”
In Pennsylvania, Trump’s lead narrowed to about 164,000 votes as officials gradually worked their way through millions of mail-in ballots, seen as likely to benefit Biden. Trump’s campaign manager, Bill Stepien, called the president the winner in Pennsylvania. Biden said he felt “very good” about his chances in the state.
In the national popular vote, Biden on Wednesday was comfortably ahead of Trump, with 3.5 million more votes. Trump won the 2016 election over Democrat Hillary Clinton after winning crucial states on the battlefield despite garnering about 3 million more votes across the country.
Legal experts had warned that the election could get bogged down in state-by-state litigation over a number of issues, including whether states can include late-arriving ballots that are mailed before Election Day. Both campaigns brought together teams of attorneys to prepare for any disputes.
If victorious, Biden will face an uphill battle to govern, and Republicans appear poised to maintain control of the United States Senate and likely block much of his legislative agenda, including expanding health care and fighting. against climate change.
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