US election 2020 result LIVE updates: Biden to address the nation on Friday evening
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The US presidency hinges on a dwindling set of uncounted votes in a handful of battleground states, as Democrat Joe Biden inches closer to winning the White House while President Donald Trump has escalated his unprecedented efforts to cast doubt on the election's integrity. As this drama unfolds in the United States, WION brings you the latest and the fastest updates on the US election 2020.
Stay tuned to this space for LIVE updates on this unprecedented US presidential election.
Watch: Several battleground states yet to declare results
Trump supporters have taken a cue from the president, who has repeatedly and falsely claimed that mail-in votes are especially prone to fraud.
The president and his supporters have taken to social media to try to turn the narrative around, floating conspiratorial theories using the hashtag #StopTheSteal.
Read full story: How are voters feeling amid delayed result and rising uncertainty
Trump says he is being cheated out of a victory. He held a press conference to complain about his losses as major American networks cut out of his speech the moment Trump claimed voter fraud.
Judges in Georgia and Michigan found no merit in Trump's claims. They tossed out the cases filed by him. Election officials, courts and the media - all of them say Trump has no evidence of fraud b
Read full story: As Biden continues to win, Trump refuses to accept results
Biden to address nation Friday evening
"It is a happy day for our country. Joe Biden is a unifier because he is determined to bring people together," Pelosi said.
Pennsylvania would be enough to put Biden past the magic number of 270 votes in the state-by-state Electoral College, which determines the presidency.
Biden has also taken a razor-thin lead in votes counted from Georgia, which Trump until late in the campaign did not consider to be in play.
Pelosi played down the losses but said that the next House election in 2022 "will be a steeper climb" without Trump on the ballot.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Joe Biden the "president-elect" of the United States after he pulled ahead in key election results.
"This morning it is clear that the Biden-Harris ticket will win the White House," Pelosi said, adding,"President-elect Biden has a strong mandate to lead."
Under Georgia's system, Senate races go to a runoff if no candidate receives 50 per cent in the first round.
Georgia's Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said the state was letting observers from both campaigns watch the counting after Trump, with no evidence, alleged widespread fraud nationwide.
Almost complete results as of Friday morning showed Biden leading by just over 1,500 votes in Georgia, where changing demographics and strong turnout from African-Americans have put in play a Southern state once seen as reliably backing Trump's Republicans.
According to Georgia's secretary of state Brad Raffensperger, the state will recount votes in the US elections.
"With a margin that small, there will be a recount in Georgia," Raffensperger said.
Read full Story: US state of Georgia to recount vote, says official
Donald Trump has amassed 214 electoral votes so far, and while the Republican incumbent was still in contention in several states that could afford him a path to reelection, that path was narrowing.
In addition to Pennsylvania, Biden has pulled ahead in the southeastern state of Georgia, which has 16 electoral votes, but it remains too close to call.
Trump's campaign team said: "The false projection of Joe Biden as the winner is based on results in four states that are far from final."
With tens of thousands of votes remaining to be counted, many of them from heavily Democratic areas, Biden opened up a 5,500-vote lead over the Republican incumbent, real-time state election results showed.
With his reelection hopes fading, Trump is making it clear, however, that he is not ready to accept defeat, launching unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud and claiming that he won.
"This election is not over," his campaign said, after news of Biden's lead in Pennsylvania broke.
With a Biden victory looking increasingly likely, the US Secret Service increased its protective bubble around the former vice president, The Washington Post reported Friday.
The Secret Service sent an extra squad of agents to Biden's campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, the newspaper said.
Biden is also currently leading in key battleground states of Georgia and Nevada.
Biden's current electoral college votes stand at 253, if he wins in Pennsylvania he will pass the threshold of 270 needed to seal victory.
More ballots are yet to be counted, but shortly before 1400 GMT, CNN and The New York Times reported that Biden had moved ahead of incumbent President Donald Trump.
According to reports, Biden is leading in Pennsylvania by 5,594 votes.
In North Carolina, which has 15 electoral votes, Trump had a lead of around 77,000 votes with 95 percent of the ballots tabulated. He had around 50 percent of the total compared to Biden's 48.6.
Trump is favored to win the southeastern state, but mail-in ballots sent on or before election day in North Carolina can be counted until November 12.
Biden had been favored to win Nevada, and its six electoral votes could put him precisely at the number needed to win if he keeps Arizona.
With more than 89 percent of the vote counted, Biden was leading by less than 11,500 votes in the Western state that is home to gambling mecca Las Vegas.
Key states where the results still hangs:
Nevada, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Arizona
Pennsylvania officials say they will continue counting votes until they have accounted for all ballots.
The state's Republican-led legislature had refused to allow the counting of votes before Election Day despite mail-in ballots due to safety concerns amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
In Pennsylvania, where Trump's early lead continues to steadily drain away.
Biden is currently projected to have 253 of the 538 electoral college votes divided up between the country's 50 states.
Biden has 264 with the inclusion of Arizona, which Fox News and the Associated Press have called in his favor but other major organizations have not.
If Biden takes Pennsylvania, he would grab 20 more electoral college votes, thereby instantly topping the necessary 270 for overall victory.
In Georgia, a Republican state, Biden has pulled ahead with a lead of 917 votes, CNN, Fox News and the New York Times reported.
If Trump loses Georgia, he cannot win a majority of electoral college seats.
In Arizona and Nevada, Biden was holding on to slim leads.
According to reports, Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden is now leading President Donald Trump in the battleground state of Georgia.
Biden had earlier overtaken Trump in a number number of ballots counted in the battleground state.
Trump made several unverified statements in his 17-minute address, highlighting that Democrats were using "illegal votes" to "steal the election from us."
His statements came at a time when Democratic contender Joe Biden closing in on the magical 271-mark to win the election.
Trump backers in Las Vegas wearing "Make America Great Again" hats have demanded to see ballots being processed.
Americans share hilarious posts as election counting saga continues
Over the last several months, the US has seen it all: from becoming the world's worst-hit coronavirus country, widespread protests, riots and violence related to racism and President Donald Trump's erratic presidency and unverified claims.
Now, while the nation is still waiting for the announcement who the next President will be However, social media has kept Americans busy as the medium is helping them crack some jokes and lessen the intensity of a tightly-fought election.
Take a look at some of the funniest memes related to the US elections
Greta Thunberg slams Donald Trump for US Election results 2020
The Swedish teen activist Greta Thunberg has slammed the US President Donald Trump for claiming that the US election results are rigged and his opponent Joe Biden is 'manipulating' the mail-in votes.
Historical firsts in the presidential election
From four consecutive two-term presidencies to a historic quartet due to age gaps, the US election 2020 has seen a lot of firsts with moments to go for the final winner of the battle between President Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Joe Biden to be announced.
Hollywood stars slam Trump for 'false' speech on US elections 2020
The US President Donald Trump took the world by surprise as he gave an address that people called “false” as he spoke of Democrats using "illegal votes" to "steal the election from us". In a strong reaction to his 17-minute address, many US TV channels halted the live coverage of the president which was his first public appearance since the election night.
Biden gains ground: What we know so far
Biden gained more ground on Trump in the battleground states of Georgia and Pennsylvania on Friday, edging closer to the White House hours after Trump falsely claimed the election was being "stolen" from him.
Biden had a 253 to 214 lead in the state-by-state Electoral College vote that determines the winner, according to most major television networks, and was inching toward securing the 270 votes needed to win the state-by-state Electoral College in four undecided swing states.
Biden would become the next president by winning Pennsylvania, or by winning two out of the trio of Georgia, Nevada and Arizona. Trump`s likeliest path appeared narrower - he needed to hang onto both Pennsylvania and Georgia and also to overtake Biden in either Nevada or Arizona.
PENNSYLVANIA
In Pennsylvania, which has 20 electoral votes, Biden cut Trump`s lead to just over 18,000 by the early hours of Friday, while his deficit in Georgia, which has 16 electoral votes, shrunk to about 450.
Those numbers were expected to continue to move in Biden`s favor, with many of the outstanding ballots from areas that typically vote Democratic, including the cities of Philadelphia and Atlanta.
ARIZONA
Biden, meanwhile, saw his lead in Arizona shrink to around 47,000 by early on Friday; he was still ahead in Nevada by only 12,000 votes.
How the US is reacting to #TrumpMeltdown
Since the November 3 vote, the incumbent president, Donald Trump, at his post-election rallies, has called for ballot counting to be stopped, and contended without proof there has been voter fraud -- so much so that several US TV networks late Thursday halted live coverage of his first public appearance since election night.
The incumbent president has even cried foul on Twitter. But his tweets have often been masked with notices telling people the claims are misleading.
Trump's meltdown on Twitter has also met with some interesting responses.
Two detained outside Pennsylvania vote count center: US media
US police have detained two men outside a Philadelphia polling station in Pennsylvania, a battleground state yet to declare a winner in the presidential election, local media reported Friday.
Ballot counting continues in four crucial states days after Tuesday's vote, with Democrat Joe Biden still confident of capturing the presidency from incumbent Donald Trump.
Trump, narrowly ahead in Pennsylvania, has made unsubstantiated claims about vote rigging in these key states.
Shortly after 10 pm (0300 GMT) two men were detained outside the Philadelphia Convention Centre where vote counting is ongoing, according to the Philadephia Inquirer.
The local newspaper said the men were detained following a tip-off, first reported by 6ABC Action News Thursday night, that an armed group were heading to the center.
No injuries have been reported.
Trump supporters turn rowdy in protests of still-undecided election
Trump's supporters ramped up demonstrations on Thursday night against an election they believe was rigged or being stolen, in some cases bringing guns or clashing with counter-protesters as they rallied in battleground states.
In Arizona, one of five U.S. battleground states where votes were still being counted in the too-close-to-call race between Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden, Trump supporters massed outside the Maricopa County Elections Department in Phoenix.
Police intervened and broke up the altercation after the man and his small group of counter-demonstrators were surrounded by Trump activists, according to a Reuters witness. There were no reports of injuries.
In Milwaukee, some 50 Trump supporters gathered in front of a city building where votes were being counted, blasting country music, waving flags and carrying signs reading "Recount" and "Rigged".
Roughly a dozen counter-protesters arrived after an hour, shouting "Black lives matter" and "say their names," referring to the victims of police brutality. Others threw eggs at the Trump supporters from a passing car.
Trump's campaign has called for a recount in Wisconsin, where news organisations have pronounced Biden the winner by a razor-thin margin.
At least 400 protesters gathered outside the Clark County Election Department in Las Vegas. Loud patriotic anthems blared over speakers as scores waved giant Trump and American flags. Biden has a lead of just over 11,000 votes in Nevada as counting continued.
In Washington, D.C., a procession of cars and bicycles sponsored by activists from a group called Shutdown DC paraded slowly through the streets of the capital to protest what they called "an attack on the democratic process" by Trump and his "enablers," according to its website.
Trump Senate allies attack legitimacy of vote count
Two Senate allies of Donald Trump on Thursday warned that Republicans may reject the legitimacy of vote results if they turn against the embattled president.
As a few Republicans distanced themselves from Trump's unsubstantiated allegations of fraud in Tuesday's election, Senators Lindsey Graham and Ted Cruz enthusiastically backed him in back-to-back appearances on Fox News.
"I'll tell you the president is angry and I'm angry and the voters ought to be angry," Cruz told the network's host Sean Hannity, whose evening show is a favorite of Trump.
Cruz alleged falsely that Pennsylvania's Democratic attorney general had ordered vote-counting in the state's largest city of Philadelphia "until Joe Biden wins."
"We need to get in there now," Cruz said of voting centers.
Pennsylvania officials say they will continue counting votes from Tuesday's election until they have accounted for all ballots.
The state's Republican-led legislature had refused to allow the counting of votes before Election Day despite a deluge of mail-in ballots due to safety concerns in the Covid-19 pandemic.
The final ballots being counted are largely from Philadelphia and are expected to favor Biden, who would capture the White House with a victory in the state.
Asked by Hannity if the Pennsylvania legislature could refuse to recognise the results and instead give the state's electoral votes to Trump, Graham replied, "I think everything should be on the table."
"Philadelphia elections are crooked as a snake. Why are they shutting people out? Because they don't want people to see what they're doing," said Graham, who easily won reelection Tuesday in South Carolina despite a major push by Democrats.
US networks break from live Trump address
Several US TV networks late Thursday halted live coverage of Donald Trump's first public appearance since election night after concluding that the president was spreading disinformation.
The president spoke as late vote counting in battleground states showed Democrat Joe Biden steadily closing in on victory.
"OK, here we are again in the unusual position of not only interrupting the president of the United States but correcting the president of the United States," said MSNBC anchor Brian Williams, as the network quickly ended its live coverage.
NBC and ABC News also pulled the plug on their live coverage of Trump.
"What a sad night for the United states of America to hear their president say that, to falsely accuse people of trying to steal the election," said CNN's Jake Tapper.
He described it as "lie after lie after lie about the election being stolen," with no evidence, "just smears."
Here is a look at the situation in the key states that are still up for grabs, and paths to victory for each candidate:
- Nevada -
Nevada, where Biden is favored, could put him precisely at the number needed to win, if he keeps Arizona. With more than 89 percent of the vote counted, Biden was leading by less than 11,500 votes.
- North Carolina -
In North Carolina, Trump had a comfortable lead of around 77,000 votes with 95 percent of the ballots, about 5.38 million, tabulated.
- Georgia -
In Georgia, Trump's razor thin lead over Biden has been steadily slipping away to less than 2,500 votes, with about 98 percent counted.
Biden could pull in the lion's share of the final votes being counted -- less than 19,000 remained as of Thursday evening -- which include thousands in Democratic-leaning areas.
Georgia has not chosen a Democrat for president since Bill Clinton in 1992.
- Pennsylvania -
Pennsylvania is the biggest prize remaining, with 20 electoral votes. As in Georgia, Trump is currently leading, but the majority of votes left to be counted are in Democratic-leaning areas like greater Philadelphia.
As of Thursday evening, Trump's lead had dwindled to about 50,000 votes, with 92 percent of the ballots counted.
- Arizona -
One wild card that could upset these calculations: Arizona. Fox News and The Associated Press have already called the state's race in Biden's favor, but other networks including CNN and NBC have said it's still too close to call.
Arizona's Secretary of State Katie Hobbs told ABC News that she did not expect a final count on Thursday -- but also that she doesn't expect a recount.
"It's not looking like today, probably closer to tomorrow that we'll be closer to getting through all those ballots," Hobbs said.
On Thursday evening, Biden had a lead of about 46,000 votes with about 90 percent of the ballots counted.
- Paths to victory -
Much of the delay has resulted from a flood of mail-in ballots due to the coronavirus pandemic -- and those votes have tended to favor Democrats.
If Biden's lead in Arizona holds, and he wins Nevada or Georgia, he would pass the threshold of 270 electoral votes.
Should Trump hold North Carolina and Georgia but lose Arizona, he must take Nevada as well as Pennsylvania to win.
Simply winning Pennsylvania -- where Trump leads but faces a possible onslaught of pro-Biden mailed ballots -- will not be enough for the president, even if he takes Alaska's three electoral votes as expected.
Much to Trump's chagrin, Pennsylvania has decided to allow mailed ballots sent by Election Day but received up to three days afterwards to be counted. Authorities expect to complete the count by Friday.
Another factor that could keep the battle alive: the Trump campaign has unleashed a legal blitz in key states vital to the incumbent's reelection.
It has sued to disqualify late-arriving ballots in Pennsylvania, sued in Nevada and Georgia over alleged irregularities, and has demanded a recount in Wisconsin.
What we know so far: US election hanging on results of key states
The outcome of the US presidential election remained in the balance late Thursday (ET time) as a handful of battleground states complete their vote counts.
Biden has racked up at least 253 of the 270 electoral votes that he needs, according to US network projections -- and 264 if Arizona is included, which Fox News and The Associated Press have called in his favor.
Donald Trump has amassed 214 electoral votes so far, and is still in contention in several states that would afford the Republican incumbent a path to reelection.
Expected to report final vote counts Thursday night or Friday are Georgia (16 electoral votes), North Carolina (15), and Nevada (6).
However, mail-in ballots sent on or before Election Day in North Carolina can be counted until November 12.
Biden could reach the magic number to gain the White House with a win in any of the three, if he keeps Arizona. Trump needs to capture all three to stay competitive.
Trump campaign attacks Fox News polling expert who called Arizona for Biden
Trump’s campaign on Thursday attacked the person at Fox News responsible for the network's projection calling Arizona for Biden as a "Clinton-voting, Biden-donating Democrat."
Trump's campaign website said, "decision desk" director Arnon Mishkin "prematurely called Arizona for Joe Biden before hundreds of thousands of ballots had been counted. Even left-leaning election analysts like (FiveThirtyEight’s) Nate Silver have criticized the decision, but Mishkin is standing by his terrible decision despite and refusing to retract his unjustified call."
Facebook removes rapidly growing pro-Trump group
Facebook Inc on Thursday said it had taken down a rapidly growing group where some supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump posted violent rhetoric and baseless claims that Democrats were stealing the election.
On Thursday afternoon, the "Stop the Steal" group, which called for "boots on the ground to protect the integrity of the vote," was adding 1,000 new members every 10 seconds and had grown to 365,000 members in a single day.
Judge orders US postal service to do twice daily sweeps for states still receiving ballots
A judge has ordered twice daily sweeps at US Postal Service (USPS) facilities serving states with extended ballot receipt deadlines and set a conference for Friday, as votes were still being counted in election battleground states.
Some states, including still undecided Nevada and North Carolina, are counting ballots that are received after Election Day Tuesday. Plaintiffs lawyers in a lawsuit said the Postal Service delivered roughly 150,000 ballots nationwide on Wednesday despite the extraordinary measures taken to get ballots delivered by Tuesday.
Of those, roughly 8,000 or 9,000, were delivered after Tuesday even though they had been mailed by Sunday.
Trump campaign loses legal fights in Georgia and Michigan, vows Nevada lawsuit
Trump's campaign lost court rulings in the closely-contested states of Georgia and Michigan, even as it vowed to bring a new lawsuit challenging what it called voting irregularities in Nevada.
In the Georgia case, the campaign alleged 53 late-arriving ballots were mixed with on-time ballots. In Michigan, it had sought to stop votes from being counted and obtain greater access to the tabulation process.
State judges tossed out both the suits on Thursday.
Judge James Bass, a superior court judge in Georgia, said there was "no evidence" that the ballots in question were invalid.
In the Michigan case, Judge Cynthia Stephens said: "I have no basis to find that there is a substantial likelihood of success on the merits."
Donald Trump Jr questions the electoral process
He says, "I wonder why I wonder why.
"Just like we've seen throughout the country where the Democrat big push for absentee ballots was to make sure. That the signature on that ballot does not have to match the signature on the record of that motor.
"Obviously obviously and so when we see that We assume what we've all known for so many years, but I think the number one thing that Donald Trump can do in this election is fight each and every one of these battles to the death.
"And every one of them unless they're actually cheating
"You know, those ballots are going to magically show up just like they did right you saw that line on the curve up north in a 100 percent of votes. We went to sleep. I woke up two hours later after not sleeping for 3 days with this amazing a hundred thirty thousand about that one of them for Donald Trump. No one no one believes that this is real and for us to have faith in the Republic. We need transparency in the process. And so what I can promise you this is Everyone knows it. Donald Trump is a fighter each and every one of these Georgia.
"And not just in Georgia, but it all over the place. But primarily a Democrat cities with Democrat control Democrat judges. This cannot be a one-sided system this cannot be democracy only when we win that doesn't work that way. We've been seeing it for far too long and I think like many things Donald Trump is going to be the guy to open the door to get the transparency that America want and then America. So thank you very much for being here. I look forward to being in the battle. It's going to be a long and fun one. Thank you guys."
'No one is going to take our democracy away from us'
Biden, in reaction, takes to Twitter and expresses hope in the democracy.
Biden has tweeted, "No one is going to take our democracy away from us. Not now, not ever. America has come too far, fought too many battles, and endured too much to let that happen."
An hour back, he tweeted, "The people will not be silenced, be bullied, or surrender. Every vote must be counted."
Earlier, in comments to reporters in his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, Biden said "we continue to feel very good. We have no doubt that when the count is finished, Senator (Kamala) Harris and I will be declared the winners."
'They are trying to steal the election'
Trump -- in an extraordinary statement at the White House two days after polls closed -- said, "They are trying to steal the election."
Providing no evidence and taking no questions afterward from reporters in the room, Trump used the remarks of nearly 17 minutes to make the kind of incendiary statements about the country's democratic process that have never been heard before from a US president.
According to Trump, Democrats were using "illegal votes" to "steal the election from us."
"If you count the legal votes, I easily win," he claimed. "They're trying to rig an election. And we can't let that happen."