Trump and Biden in a close race as some rocking states remain undecided | Politics

US President Donald Trump and Democratic rival Joe Biden remain locked in a tight race as Americans – and much of the world – await election results from a handful of key states.

Both candidates seek at least 270 of the 538 Electoral College votes cast by the states, with Biden holding a narrow 238-vote lead over Trump’s 213, according to Fox News, as Biden dominated the Liberal strongholds along the coasts. East and West.

Hopes among Democrats that election night would see a swift and landslide victory for Biden have quickly evaporated. Despite a pandemic that has killed more than 230,000 Americans, a struggling American economy, and chaotic foreign policy, Trump’s pugilist style of government and “Make America Great Again” slogan has won favor with large swaths of the country. .

Speaking shortly after midnight (0500 GMT), Biden said he is confident he will win the election but says the results may take some time, urging people to be “patient” and “keep the faith.”
“We believe that we are on the way to winning this election. We feel good about where we are,” he added. He has said that he does not expect further comment before Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Trump took to Twitter to claim that his opponents are trying to “steal the election,” though he offered no evidence and says he will make a speech soon. Twitter restricted access to the post, saying parts or all of the message are in dispute.

“We are in a BIG time, but they are trying to STEAL the election. We will never let them do that. No votes can be cast after the polls close!” Trump writes on Twitter, after a period of several hours of silence on social media.

“I’m going to make a statement tonight. Big WIN!” he said in a second tweet.

While the results remain unclear across much of the country, Trump is performing strongly in every battlefield state and appears to be outperforming public opinion polls that labeled him the loser.

Much of the election, and the future of America for the next four years, remains in the hands of undecided states, primarily the northern states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

All three of those states, part of the once reliably Democratic US “Rust Belt,” became Republicans in the 2016 presidential election, fueled by Trump’s popularity with sympathetic blue-collar workers. his protectionist trade policies and his nationalist rhetoric.

The states remain too close to call, with about 60 to 70 percent of the expected votes counted in each state.

The results in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin are being especially watched as local laws prevented a flood of mail-in ballots from counting until Election Day, meaning a projected winner could take days.

Meanwhile, Trump is projected to win Florida, Ohio and Texas – all states that Democrats sought to change. He is also the favorite to win in Georgia and North Carolina. Iowa and has also been called by Trump.

Arizona, a state inherited from Republicans, leans toward Biden, with 75 percent of the expected votes counted, giving the former vice president his only clear advantage among swing states.

In some cases, like Trump’s victory in 2016, a candidate can win the Electoral College without winning the popular vote. Biden has a popular vote advantage of about 1 percent, with more than 54.4 million votes in his favor.

Concerns have grown that Trump may declare victory even as states struggle to count a flood of mail-in ballots, which are expected to favor Biden. There is no law that requires a winner to be declared on Election Day. Some states allow ballots to be received even after the polls close.

With Biden consistently leading the polls, even in crucial watershed states, Trump, a Republican, entered the race struggling to stay in the White House after four turbulent years in office.

Voters in all states are also casting votes on a variety of other issues, including 35 Senate seats, the entire House of Representatives, numerous state and local offices, and a host of referenda on topics from tax policy to taxation. drug laws.

Democrats are expected to retain control of the House of Representatives, as they seek to wrest control of the Senate after six years of Republican control.

Democrats need a net gain of three seats to win the upper house.

There is an expectation that some states or counties will see their elections end in court.
The United States Postal Service no longer met a federal judge’s deadline for conducting physical sweeps of mail processing facilities in various battle states to ensure no ballots were left unmailed.

Both Trump and Biden have prepared squads of lawyers to fight for the side.

For many voters, the key issues in the elections are the pandemic, the economy and health care, along with more specific areas such as gun rights and control, the environment, and abortion.
Trump comes across as a conservative, while Biden has embraced some progressive ideas, but mostly raised a wide tent, trying to build a broad coalition.