Washington: After an acrimonious night during which Donald Trump threatened to go court against the results of the presidential polls, Lady Luck seems to be smiling on the US president. Republican Donald Trump is leading in Pennsylvania, a state which has 20 Electoral College votes against his Democrat rival Joe Biden. If he manages to win Pennsylvania it will certainly be a huge boost for Trump.
As per various media houses after 64% of vote counting in Pennsylvania, Trump has 54.5% electoral vote count as opposed to Biden who is at 44.4%. Unless he can make the deficit up, it will be a huge setback for Biden in his plans to become the US President.
Earlier the closely-fought US presidential election appeared to be headed into an uncertain phase with Trump and Biden fighting it out in the key battleground states. When reports last came in, Joe Biden had earned 220 Electoral College votes, with Trump following closely with 213 votes.
As per ‘Fox News’, Biden has 238 of the 538 Electoral College seats, while Trump has 213. On the other hand, CNN has projected 220 Electoral College votes to Biden and 213 to Trump. The New York Times reported that Biden has earned 224 Electoral College votes and Trump 213. The winner needs at least 270 Electoral College votes.
Officials in Pennsylvania, which many say now holds the key to the White House for both the campaigns, announced in the wee hours of Wednesday that their next update would be only after 9.00 (local time). They indicated that the suspense over the election results would continue for at least one more day. Pennsylvania has 20 crucial Electoral College votes.
Major American media outlets are yet to declare their projections for some other key battleground states like Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Georgia and Nevada.
“Race Tightens Between Trump and Biden, Key States Still Counting,” ‘The Wall Street Journal’ reported. “It has become clear that most Americans will go to bed without knowing who won the presidency. Vote counting in crucial states including Pennsylvania and Michigan may take days to complete. The results that are in show a nation still divided,” the daily said.
“All eyes on swing states as counting continues in key battlegrounds,” ‘The Washington Post’ said. “Election turns into nail-biter that may extend for days,” The New York Times reported.
President Trump held several states he won in 2016 that Biden had hoped to flip, but other battlegrounds were too close to call. Democrats gained a Senate seat in Colorado but lost one in Alabama, NYT reported.
“In a briefing for donors Tuesday night, Biden campaign officials acknowledged underperforming among Cuban-Americans in the Miami area. However, they saw positive signs with their strength in some suburbs in Ohio that they said could be predictive across the Midwest, according to two people familiar with the matter,” ‘ The NYT’ reported.
“Campaign officials signalled that Biden’s team was preparing to wait for votes to be counted in three Northern battlegrounds that Mr Trump carried in 2016 — Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin — where it still feels bullish,” ‘The NYT’ added.
The Biden campaign tried to downplay its electoral performance in Florida, which has 29 Electoral College votes.
“We said Florida was going to be close and… it is! We also said we didn’t have to win it, and that remains true,” the campaign said in a statement, reiterating that it has multiple paths to victory.
Biden won New Jersey and New York in a tight race with President Trump also registering early wins in key states. The former vice- president got 2.2 million votes in New York while Trump got 1.2 million.
Biden won in Democratic-leaning states of Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Vermont and Virginia. Trump posted expected victories in Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, West Virginia, Wyoming, Indiana and South Carolina.
People across America were closely watching the 2020 presidential election. It saw a record number of over 100 million early voting due to the coronavirus pandemic. Now it seems those 100 million votes hold the key to the presidential chair.
The magic number to become the US President is 270. This is how the numbers stack up so far
Donald Trump (213 Electoral College votes)
Alabama (9); Arkansas (6); Florida (29); Idaho (4); Indiana (11); Iowa (6); Kansas (6); Kentucky (8); Louisiana (8); 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).
Joe Biden (238 Electoral College votes)
Arizona (11); California (55); Colorado (9); Connecticut (7); Delaware (3); District of Columbia (3); Hawaii (4); Illinois (20); Maine (3)**; Maryland (10); Massachusetts (11); 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).
States where results are yet to be announced
Alaska (3); Georgia (16); Michigan (16); Nevada (6); North Carolina (15); Pennsylvania (20) and Wisconsin (10).