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Supporters of US President Donald Trump hold up placards and chant slogans during a protest outside the Philadelphia Convention Center as votes continue to be counted.
Chris McGrath / Getty Images
- The American elections are at stake.
- Democratic candidate Joe Biden is projected to lead.
- Incumbent Donald Trump has tried unsuccessfully to stop the count in some states over concerns that the count would be compromised.
The outcome of the US presidential election was in the balance on Thursday, as five undecided states continued to count their votes.
To conquer the White House, a candidate must accumulate at least 270 votes in the Electoral College.
Edison Research gave Democratic challenger Biden a 243 to 213 lead over Republican President Donald Trump in Electoral College votes. Other networks said that Biden had won Wisconsin, which would give him another 10 votes.
Results in Pennsylvania (20 electoral votes), Georgia (16), North Carolina (15), Arizona (11) and Nevada (6) remained uncertain as of Thursday afternoon, according to Edison Research.
ARIZONA
Biden led by 2.4 percentage points as of Thursday afternoon, or more than 68,000 votes, with about 14% of the votes to be counted.
No further results were expected from the densely populated Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix, until 4 a.m., the county elections department said.
There are at least 275,000 ballots left in the county to count, the elections department said. Biden was leading 4 percentage points in votes counted so far, indicating he was in a strong position to maintain his lead.
GEORGIA
Trump held a 0.3 percentage point lead, or 13,540 votes, with 2% of the vote remaining.
The count continued Thursday afternoon, with just over 50,000 outstanding ballots, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger told WGXA News.
NEVADA
Biden led Trump by 11,438 votes, or 0.9 percentage points, with about 12% of the votes remaining.
The state’s largest county, Clark, expected to count most of its mail-in ballots by Saturday or Sunday, but would continue to count certain ballots after the weekend, according to its registrar, Joe Gloria.
All correctly received ballots will be counted for up to nine days after the election, but the exact number that remains to be counted is unknown, said Nevada Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske.
Pending votes are votes sent by mail and those cast by voters who registered to vote at the polling place on Election Day, he said.
NORTH CAROLINA
Trump led with more than 76,000 votes, or 1.4 points, with about 5% of the votes not counting.
State officials have said the full result will not be known until next week. The state allows mail-in ballots postmarked Tuesday to be counted if received by November 12.
PENNSYLVANIA
Trump led by 1.7 percentage points, or more than 114,000 votes, with 8% of the votes pending.
About 550,000 ballots were still in the process of being counted Thursday, giving Biden a chance to catch Trump if enough of them came from democratically friendly areas like Philadelphia. Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar said she expected the “overwhelming majority” to be counted by the end of Thursday.
Philadelphia County reported more than 252,000 mail ballots were issued, but said how many remained to be counted.
A final count may not be available until at least Friday, as Pennsylvania can accept mailed ballots up to three days after the election if they are postmarked Tuesday.
