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WASHINGTON: The US presidential election could be resolved on Thursday when a handful of states on the battlefield complete their vote count.
Democrat Joe Biden has amassed 264 of the 270 electoral votes he needs, including Arizona, which Donald Trump’s team says could still turn in his direction.
Without Arizona, you have 253.
Republican President Trump only has 214 electoral votes.
Georgia (16 electoral votes), North Carolina (15) and Nevada (6) are expected to report Thursday.
However, ballots mailed in on or before Election Day in North Carolina can be counted through November 12.
Biden could hit the magic number to win the White House with a victory in any of the three, while Trump needs to capture all three to stay competitive.
Nevada
Nevada, where Biden is the favorite, could put him at precisely the number needed to win.
Early Thursday morning, he was leading Trump by fewer than 8,000 votes out of the 1.17 million cast so far, with 14% of the votes to be counted.
North Carolina
In North Carolina, Trump had a comfortable 77,000 vote lead after 95% of the ballots were tabulated, about 5.38 million.
Georgia
In Georgia on Thursday morning, Biden lagged Trump by 18,590 votes, counting about 99% (4.85 million).
But he could get most of the final votes, making the race head-to-head.
Georgia, which has not voted for a Democrat for president since Bill Clinton in 1992, was expected to finish its count by noon Thursday.
Pennsylvania
Two other states also stand out: Pennsylvania, with a prize of 20 electoral votes, and Alaska, with three.
None are expected to finish their count before Friday, although Pennsylvania was expected to announce more results Thursday.
Trump was expected to win Alaska.
Arizona
A wild card that could upset these calculations: Arizona.
According to projections, some US media declared Biden the winner of the Southwest state’s 11 electoral votes early Wednesday.
But other outlets remain cautious as a significant portion of the votes have yet to be counted.
On Wednesday night, Trump remained about 68,000 votes behind Biden with 88% of the vote, about 2.87 million ballots counted.
Paths to victory
Much of the delay is due to a flood of mail-in ballots due to the coronavirus, and those votes have tended to favor Democrats.
If Biden’s advantage in Arizona holds and Nevada or Georgia wins, he can claim victory.
If Trump keeps North Carolina and Georgia but loses Arizona, he must take Nevada and Biden’s home state of Pennsylvania to win.
Simply winning Pennsylvania, where Trump is leading but facing a possible flood of ballots mailed in favor of Biden, will not be enough for the president.
To Trump’s chagrin, Pennsylvania has decided to allow mail-in ballots to be mailed before Election Day but received up to three days later to be counted due to complications from the coronavirus.
Authorities expect to complete the count on Friday.
Another factor that could keep the battle alive: The Trump campaign has sued to disqualify late ballots in Pennsylvania, demanded a recount in Wisconsin, and could file lawsuits or recount demands in other states, including Nevada and Georgia.
