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WASHINGTON (AFP) – Three days after the polls closed, the United States and the world still do not have the final results of the presidential elections, although Democrat Joe Biden was on the verge of overthrowing Donald Trump.
The wait has fueled tension in the polarized nation, with Trump alleging without evidence that Democrats are engineering fraud.
But the delay was widely expected, often for reasons specific to individual states, which under the US system each conduct their own polls.
Competitive states take longer
California, the nation’s most populous state, was quickly recalled by Biden after the polls closed on Tuesday. But such calls are, in fact, media projections rather than official results, which means it takes more time to get an accurate picture in tightly divided states.
“The closer the races are, the longer they take,” Kathy Boockvar, Pennsylvania’s vital secretary of state, told reporters.
States also have various deadlines for receiving absentee ballots, especially those from the military or other citizens living abroad.
North Carolina has refrained from counting at least 171,000 ballots, which could make a difference, since by law it accepts votes that arrive by mail until November 12, as long as they are postmarked for Election Day.
Similarly, Nevada, which is also on a tight race, will count Election Day postmarked ballots as long as they arrive before November 10.
Provisional ballots, which are sent to voters if there is confusion about their registration and they need verification, also cause delays.
Deluge of mail ballots
With concerns about the Covid-19 pandemic, states accustomed to a limited number of absentee votes have been inundated with ballots mailed by citizens who do not want to risk voting in person.
Some 65.2 million of the record 160 million Americans who voted this year did so by mail, according to an estimate by the US Election Project.
In Pennsylvania, the Republican-led legislature rejected an effort to allow authorities to count before Election Day, contributing to the scenario in which its largest city, Philadelphia, a Democratic stronghold, reported returns last.
Some places have unique factors that delay vote counting, such as Chatham County in Georgia, where an electoral division and a registration board examine the ballots separately.
Legal challenges
The Trump campaign took advantage of the delay to demand that the count stop in states where it is behind, particularly in Pennsylvania, whose Republican Party reached out to the US Supreme Court.
Republicans had been fighting for months against allowing Pennsylvania to count ballots postmarked for Election Day if they arrived before Friday (Nov. 6).
In Wisconsin, where Biden scored a narrow victory in the results released early Wednesday, the Supreme Court ruled that only votes cast before Election Day would be counted.
Most states allow rival parties to observe the count, but challenges to the rules have taken time, and Trump supporters have a particular problem with the Philadelphia rule that observers stay at least 4.5. m away due to Covid risks.
For live results and updates, follow our live coverage of the US elections.
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