2020 US Elections: As of early Thursday, Biden had 3.6 million more votes than Trump nationwide (Archive)
Washington:
Democrat Joe Biden edged closer to victory in the US presidential race Thursday when election officials counted votes in the handful of states that will determine the outcome and protesters took to the streets.
President Donald Trump alleged fraud without providing evidence, filed lawsuits and requested recount in a race that has yet to be decided two days after the polls closed. He tweeted tonight: “STOP THE COUNT!”
STOP COUNTING!
– Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 5, 2020
The race was reduced to closing contests in five states. Biden had a limited lead in Nevada and Arizona as Trump watched his small lead fade in the must-have states of Pennsylvania and Georgia as mail and absentee votes were counted. The Republican president also clung to a narrow lead in North Carolina, another must-win for him.
Trump had to win the states he was still ahead of, in addition to Arizona or Nevada, to succeed and avoid becoming the first sitting US president to lose a re-election bid since his Republican colleague George HW Bush in 1992.
Edison Research gave Biden a 243-213 lead in electoral college votes, which are largely based on the population of a state. Other networks said that Biden had won Wisconsin, which would give him another 10 votes. To win, a candidate needs 270 votes.
The recounts and court challenges set the stage for days, if not weeks, of uncertainty before the Electoral College meets on December 14 and the next president is sworn in on January 20.
THIN MARGINS
With tensions rising, about 200 of Trump’s supporters, some armed with rifles and pistols, gathered outside an election office in Phoenix, Ariz., Wednesday after unsubstantiated rumors that votes were not being counted.
In Detroit, officials blocked about 30 people, mostly Republicans, from entering a vote counting center amid unsubstantiated claims that the vote count in Michigan was fraudulent.
Anti-Trump protesters in other cities demanded that vote counting continue. Police arrested 11 people and seized weapons in Portland, Oregon, following reports of riots, while arrests were also made in New York, Denver and Minneapolis. More than 100 events are planned across the country between Wednesday and Saturday.
As of early Thursday, Biden had 3.6 million more votes than Trump nationwide, but the margins were very narrow in several states. In Wisconsin, Biden led Trump by roughly 21,000 votes out of 3.3 million cast. In Georgia, Trump led with 19,000 votes out of nearly 5 million cast.
Biden, 77, predicted victory on Wednesday and launched a website to begin the transition to a Democratic-controlled White House.
Trump, 74, has long sought to undermine the credibility of the voting process if he lost. Since Election Day Tuesday, he has falsely declared victory, accused Democrats of trying to steal the election without evidence, and vowed to fight the states in court.
American election experts say fraud is rare.
The Trump campaign called for a recount of Wisconsin, to which it would be entitled given the slim margin there, as well as the filing of lawsuits in Michigan and Pennsylvania to stop the vote counting. Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, in charge of the election, called the Trump team’s lawsuit “frivolous.”
The Trump 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 great effort to contest the results before the count was over.
“They’re finding Biden votes everywhere – in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan. Too bad for our country!” Trump 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 Wednesday.
POTENTIAL LOCK
If victorious, Biden will face an uphill battle to govern, and Republicans appear poised to maintain control of the United States Senate, which they could use to block much of his legislative agenda, including the expansion of healthcare and fight against climate change.
US stock index futures rose on Thursday as investors bet a possible stagnation in Washington could reduce the possibility of major policy changes, although concerns about the risk of a contested election persisted.
The controversial aftermath of the elections capped a virulent campaign that unfolded amid the coronavirus pandemic, which 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 related to 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, 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 defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016 after winning crucial states on the battlefield even though she garnered about 3 million more votes across the country.
Republican candidates have won the popular vote only once since the 1980s, although they have won three of seven presidential elections during that period due to the electoral college system.
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