US election results 2020 LIVE: Biden closes in on White House victory, Trump turns to courts

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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 was closing in on the magical 271-mark to win the election. 

Read full Story: TV channels take down Donald Trump's live coverage as he continues to make false claims

US election could be settled Thursday as key states tally results 

The US presidential election could be settled Thursday as a handful of battleground states complete their vote counts.

Democrat Joe 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 on Thursday 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.

Trump needs all four

Trump, with 214 electoral votes, faced a much higher hurdle. To reach 270, he needed to claim all four remaining battlegrounds: Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia and Nevada.

With millions of votes yet to be tabulated, Biden already had received more than 71 million votes, the most in history. At an afternoon news conference Wednesday, the former vice president said he expected to win the presidency but stopped short of outright declaring victory.

US election 2020: Trump campaign wins court ruling to gain access to Philadelphia vote counting

With only a few hours for the much-anticipated result of the US election 2020 to be declared, US President Donald Trump's campaign has won a court ruling to gain access to Philadelphia vote counting.

As the counting of votes is still underway in the US Presidential Election 2020, President Donald Trump on Thursday said that his campaign will legally challenge all the States recently claimed by Biden for voter fraud and State Election Fraud.

 

Biden at 253/264 electoral votes, Trump at 214: US media 

Democratic presidential challenger Joe Biden on Thursday edged toward the magic number of 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House, but several battleground states were still in play, as incumbent President Donald Trump cried foul over the ongoing vote count.

As it stands, there are five states still left uncalled, including major prizes such as Pennsylvania, and key small state Nevada -- meaning both Trump and Biden still have a path to victory.

US media outlets have projected wins for the Republican incumbent in 23 states including big prizes Florida and Texas, as well as Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri and Ohio -- all states he won in 2016.

Biden has captured 22 states including his home state Delaware and big prizes California and New York, as well as the US capital. 

The former vice president has flipped three states won by Trump in 2016 -- Michigan, Wisconsin and, according to two sources, Arizona.

In the case of Arizona, Fox News and the Associated Press have already called the race in Biden's favor, putting him at 264 electoral votes. Politico and The Wall Street Journal are also using this figure.

But other networks including CNN and NBC News have held back thus far from calling Arizona, giving him a total of 253.

Nebraska split its electoral votes between the two candidates -- four for Trump and one for Biden. Maine was won by Biden, but he seized only three of the four electoral votes on offer, with the last allocated to Trump.

So far, that gives Biden 264 electoral votes (or 253 without Arizona) and Trump 214.

If Biden holds on in Arizona, and wins Nevada, he would reach 270.

The following is a list of the states won by each candidate and the corresponding number of electoral votes, based on the projections of US media including CNN, Fox News, MSNBC/NBC News, ABC, CBS and The New York Times. 

TRUMP (214)

Alabama (9)

Arkansas (6)

Florida (29)

Idaho (4)

Indiana (11)

Iowa (6)

Kansas (6)

Kentucky (8)

Louisiana (8)

Maine (1)***

Mississippi (6)

Missouri (10)

Montana (3)

Nebraska (4)**

North Dakota (3)

Ohio (18)

Oklahoma (7)

South Carolina (9)

South Dakota (3)

Tennessee (11)

Texas (38)

Utah (6)

West Virginia (5)

Wyoming (3)

BIDEN (253/264)

Arizona (11)*

California (55)

Colorado (9)

Connecticut (7)

Delaware (3)

District of Columbia (3)

Hawaii (4)

Illinois (20)

Maine (3)***

Maryland (10)

Massachusetts (11)

Michigan (16)

Minnesota (10)

Nebraska (1)**

New Hampshire (4)

New Jersey (14)

New Mexico (5)

New York (29)

Oregon (7)

Rhode Island (4)

Vermont (3)

Virginia (13)

Washington (12)

Wisconsin (10)

STATES NOT YET CALLED

Alaska

Arizona (*)

Georgia

Nevada

North Carolina

Pennsylvania

* Arizona has been placed in the Biden column by the Associated Press and Fox News, but other networks including CNN and NBC News have said the race is still too close to call.

** Nebraska splits its five electoral votes -- two electors are assigned based on the plurality of votes in the state, and the other three are awarded based on congressional district. Biden took one vote, in the 2nd congressional district.

*** Maine has a similar method to Nebraska. Of its four electoral votes, three have been projected for Biden, while the fourth went to Trump.

Arizona says 375 thousand ballots still to be counted

Arizona state officials say there are 375,000 ballots still to be counted in the Western battleground.Biden holds a 2.35 percentage point lead over Trump in Arizona, an advantage of about 68,000 votes.The vast majority of the ballots yet to be counted are from Maricopa County, the most populous area of the state.

Is Donald Trump being a sore loser?

US Election 2020 trends are not in Donald Trump's favour. Even US President's favourite news channel is talking about 'Narrow paths to victory'. How is Trump taking all of this? True to his word, Trump is not proving to be a great loser. He is being a sore loser.

Two days after the presidential election, Biden is nearing the magical figure of 270 electoral votes to win the race to the White House, with the former US vice president bagging 253 votes compared to 213 won by Trump, according to latest US media projections.

The results in four states - Georgia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Nevada - are yet to be declared as officials counted millions of votes, some that were cast on Tuesday and many more during weeks of early voting amidst the surging pandemic.

Portland protesters burn flags on tense US election night 

Demonstrators burned US flags and marched through Portland armed with protest songs and assault rifles as a confusing election night unfolded to high tension but without violence in the northwestern city.

The liberal enclave in the state of Oregon had braced for possible armed clashes after months of divisive rallies involving left-wing activists, right-wing militias and federal officers deployed by the Trump administration.

As President Donald Trump claimed he won the US election early Wednesday, despite key states still counting ballots, activists gathered outside the Portland federal courthouse -- the epicenter of the summer's fraught anti-racism protests. 

"We don't like either candidate -- I shamefully voted for Biden -- but if Trump gets another four years people will be mad," said one 20-year-old protester, who asked to be called "L," as two American flags were ignited in front of the building.

Many at the courthouse shouted slogans against Trump as well as Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, a bogeyman for anti-police protesters who won re-election Tuesday, while others danced and twerked to loud hip-hop music.

The FBI has warned of the potential for armed clashes in Portland linked to the polls, but there were no signs of election night activity from right-wing groups such as the Proud Boys.

And by the early hours of Wednesday police had not engaged with the protesters, some of whom earlier participated in a peaceful 400-strong Black Lives Matter march around east Portland.

Biden, flipping Michigan and Wisconsin, says it’s ‘clear’ he will reach 270

The undecided presidential election entered a new phase on Wednesday as former Vice President Joe Biden was declared the winner of the key swing states of Michigan and Wisconsin, two states that President Donald Trump won four years ago.

The Trump campaign, whose path to victory was narrowing, said that it would seek a recount in Wisconsin and that it had filed a lawsuit seeking to halt the vote count in Michigan, moves that could further delay the moment when a victor can be declared.

Over 140,000 mail-in ballots still to be counted in Philadelphia

The CNN has reported that are over 140,000 outstanding mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania's Philadelphia County. Citing sources, US media said that there over 20 extra votes that had to be counted in contrast to the Secretary of State's website that claimed 120,128 votes were to be counted.

Confident Biden edges ahead in US election, Trump claims fraud 

The knife-edge US presidential race tilted toward Democrat Joe Biden early Thursday, with wins in Michigan and Wisconsin bringing him close to a majority, but President Donald Trump claimed he was being cheated and went to court to try and stop vote counting.

Tallying of votes continued through a second night in the remaining battleground states where huge turnout and a mountain of mail-in ballots sent by voters trying to avoid exposure to the coronavirus made the job all the harder.

Both men still had paths to winning the White House by hitting the magic majority threshold of 270 of the electoral votes awarded to whichever candidate wins the popular vote in a given state.

Trump or Biden, new US president faces troubled economy

It's still not clear yet if the next U.S. president will be incumbent Donald Trump or Democratic challenger Joe Biden, but whoever triumphs will face monumental challenges on the economic front. The recession has been ugly. It has wiped away more than a year of economic output and more than five years of jobs growth. The workforce is now smaller than it was a year before Trump first took office. 

 

Iran's supreme leader mocks US democracy

Iran's supreme leader has mocked the rancorous aftermath of election day in the United States, saying that the vote has exposed the reality of US democracy.

Well over 24 hours after the last polling stations closed in the US state of Alaska, the battle for the White House remains undecided.

US President Donald Trump has caused disquiet among even leaders of his own Republican Party by flatly alleging fraud, while his Democratic challenger Joe Biden's campaign team has accused the incumbent of seeking to deny the electoral rights of tens of thousands of postal voters.

"What a spectacle!" supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei tweeted late Wednesday.

"One says this is the most fraudulent election in US history. Who says that? The president who is currently in office.

"His rival says Trump intends to rig the election! This is how #USElections & US democracy are."

The deepening polarisation of US politics since Trump's surprise election victory four years ago has drawn expressions of concern even from Western allies, with Germany warning of a "very explosive situation" in the aftermath of the poll.

Despite US allegations that Tehran sought to use social media to influence voters in the run-up to polling day, Iran's leadership has publicly insisted it favours neither candidate, despite their sharply divergent policies towards Tehran.

Trump has led a campaign of "maximum pressure" against the Islamic republic, pulling Washington out of a multilateral deal on Iran's nuclear programme and reimposing crippling unilateral sanctions.

Biden has signalled he is ready to rejoin the landmark nuclear agreement struck in 2015 when he served as vice president under Trump's predecessor Barack Obama.

But on Tuesday, Khamenei insisted the outcome of the election would have no impact on Iranian policy.

Portland Police declared riots, arrested 11 people and seized fireworks, hammers and a rifle, as Oregon Governor Kate Brown activated the National Guard in response to protests on the night after voting in the US presidential election.

Path to presidency in sight for Biden

 
There are several ways in which Joe Biden could reach the White House.

US media has called states with 264 electors in Biden's favour, compared to 214 for Trump. Biden now needs to win only state in the five, which have not yet been called. Of the five, Biden is ahead in Nevada, only slightly behind in Georgia and faces a toss-up in Pennsylvania. 

Chinese Yuan closes at over two-year high as Biden's White House chances raise trade truce hopes

The yuan ended the domestic trading session at a 28-month high on Thursday as growing prospects of a Joe Biden presidency in the United States raised investor expectations of a less problematic trade relationship between the world's two largest economies.

Victories in Michigan and Wisconsin gave Biden a critical boost in the race against President Donald Trump to obtain 270 votes in the state-by-state Electoral College needed to win the White House.

The onshore spot yuan finished domestic trading session at 6.64 per dollar, its strongest such close since July 10, 2018.

Protests over counting continue in several parts of US

Protests have broken out in several places in the US, with pro-Biden groups urging for every vote to be counted while Trump supports insisting on counting to be stopped. Republicans, though, do want counting to continue in Arizona where Trump has a chance of victory despite that race being already called -- a bit prematurely, it would seem -- in favour of Biden.

Joe Biden's vote tally at all-time high

Joe Biden now has more votes than any presidential candidate in US history at a little over 72 million. This has surpassed Barack Obama's 2008 record who polled 69 million votes.

In a sign that of how hotly-contested this election was, Trump, too, could go past Obama's record, with his current tally standing at 68.5 million.

In 2016, Trump had polled 62.9 million votes to Hillary Clinton's 65.8 million votes. Trump was elected basis higher Electoral College seats.

In Detroit, a Democratic stronghold that is majority Black, a crowd of mostly-white Trump supporters chanted "Stop the count!" and tried to barge into an election office before being blocked by security.

Also Read: Police arrest 10 in Portland, 50 in New York on night after US election results 2020

The outcome of the US presidential election hung in the balance on Wednesday as several states continued to count their ballots, including some of the most competitive battlegrounds where the tally could take days to complete.

Read full story: Which US states are still counting votes and when will they be done?

A video of Democrat Senator Bernie Sanders has gone viral in which he revealed how President Trump is likely to react if the US election results were delayed due to mail-in ballots. 

Read full story: Did Democrat Bernie Sanders predict Trump's election fraud claim? Video goes viral 

US President Trump had called the counting of votes to stop while earlier claiming that the results should be declared on the same day as the election - November 3.

Read full Story: As Trump demands vote count to stop in battleground states, #CountEveryVote trends

 

Oregon police and National Guard troops pursued protesters around Portland late Wednesday arresting at least 10 people.

The protesters involved in Wednesday's clashes had earlier attended a 300-strong peaceful rally in a downtown park hosted by a coalition of anti-capitalist groups featuring lectures, music and slogans including "The Vote is Over. The Fight Goes On."

Another group of protesters who had gathered by Portland's river Wednesday vowed to "protect the results" of Tuesday's election vote count and held banners proclaiming "Count Every Vote." 

"We want Trump out of office, that's the main focus," one rally leader told the crowd, to loud cheers.

Several of the demonstrators were openly carrying firearms, including rifles, and one anti-racism and anti-imperialism banner showed an image of an assault rifle, with the slogan "We Don't Want Biden. We Want Revenge."
 

The lawsuit has been filed against the Chatham County Board of Election, and as per this lawsuit, the Trump campaign wants the judge to ask the county to secure and account ballots received after 7 pm on the election day, i.e. November 03.

"President Trump and his team are fighting for the good of the nation to uphold the rule of law, and Georgia’s law is very clear: to legally count, mail ballots must be received by 7:00 p.m. on Election Day," deputy campaign manager Justin Clark said in a statement.

Read full story: Trump's campaign files lawsuit in Georgia asking to pause vote count

US news networks - CNN and NBC News had projected a win for Biden taking his total electoral college votes to 264 which is now six short of the magic number of 270 needed to declare victory. 

Read full story |. Biden set to win Michigan battleground state: Exit poll

The Washington DC police department received a call for help around 2:26 am about a stabbing incident in the 1400 block of New York Avenue, Northwest that left two men and one woman injured with non-life threatening injuries.

Read Full Story: At least three injured in stabbing incident in Washington on election results night