US elections: Donald Trump has a large lead in Alaska. (Photo file)
The outcome of the US presidential election was at stake on Wednesday as nine states continued to count the ballots, including some of the more competitive battlefield states where the tally could take days. Democratic candidate Joe Biden has a slight advantage over Republican President Donald Trump with 227 to 213 electoral votes.
This leaves 98 electoral votes to be awarded and possible paths to victory for both candidates.
The winner must get 270 votes. Here is the state of play in the nine states.
The vote count is provided by Edison Research.
Alaska
Trump has a large lead and is expected to carry the state by a large margin.
Yet only 47% of the expected votes were counted, with Trump ahead from 62.9% to 33%.
Arizona
Biden has a significant lead, and the Associated Press and Fox News have previously called the state for the Democrat.
With 86% of the expected vote counted, Biden leads with 51.0% versus 47.6% for Trump, according to Edison Research. Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs told ABC News that Maricopa County , which includes heavily populated Phoenix, had around 400,000 ballots outstanding will be counted and would release more results Wednesday at 7 p.m.
MST (0200 GMT Thursday), and again at 9:30 p.m.
MST (Thursday 04:30 GMT).
Georgia
Trump is holding a narrow lead, but several of Atlanta’s large counties that are lean Democrats still have a substantial number of ballots to count.
With 94% of the expected vote counted, Trump leads with 50.0% against 48.8% for Biden. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said he hoped to get a result by the end of Wednesday. Under Georgian law, if the margin between candidates is 0.5 percentage point or less, a candidate can request a recount within two working days of certification of results.
Maine
Maine is one of two states that divide their Electoral College votes between the winner of the statewide popular vote and the winner in each of its congressional districts.
Edison Research gave Biden two votes for the statewide result, which he leads from 53.8% to 43.2% with 87% of the expected state votes counted.
He also called the state’s first congressional district for Biden, giving him a third state electoral vote. Trump has a 51.4% to 45.1% lead in the state’s Second Congressional District.
The Associated Press projected that Trump would be the winner of the state’s fourth vote on Wednesday, with just 53.7% of the expected vote.
Michigan
Biden has a thin but growing margin, with CNN and NBC projecting Biden the winner just before 4:30 p.m.
EST (9:30 p.m. GMT) Wednesday
Biden leads Trump 49.8% to 48.6% with 97% of the state’s expected votes counted. Wayne County – the state’s largest and the seat of Detroit – had 95% of the expected votes , with Biden leading Trump from 67.6% to 31%. The vote count in Wayne and a handful of other key counties are expected to continue to update on Wednesday.
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said the state aims to have an unofficial first tab within 24 hours.
Nevada
Long seen as a solid state leaning over Biden, Nevada now appears in the game.
Data from Edison Research shows that 86% of the expected votes take place and that Biden’s lead is only 49.3% to 48.7% for Trump. State officials expect this to happen. that the remaining votes – largely postal ballots – be counted before 9 a.m.
PST (5:00 p.m. GMT) Thursday
Clark County, the state’s largest and the seat of Las Vegas, has garnered 84 percent of the expected votes so far and Biden leads there by 52.9 percent to Trump’s 45.4 percent.
North Carolina
The margin between Trump and Biden is less than 2 percentage points as the president clings to a 50.1% to 48.7% lead for the Democrat, with 95% of the expected votes counted. postal bulletins canceled by Tuesday. counted if received before November 12.
On Wednesday morning, Biden’s campaign said it expected a final result to take several days, and state officials said later Wednesday that a full result would not be known until next week. .
Pennsylvania
Of the battlefield states, Pennsylvania is the furthest away for counting votes, and Trump is keeping a lead so far.
With 85% of the expected vote counted, Trump is up 51.7% to 47.1% for Biden. Officials can accept ballots in the mail for up to three days after the election if they are postmarked before Tuesday.
There are around 1 million votes left, Democrat Governor Tom Wolf said on Wednesday. If the margin of victory is less than half of 1%, state law requires a recount.
Wisconsin
The Trump campaign announced on Wednesday that it will be calling for a recount of the votes in Wisconsin, where the margin between candidates is less than 1 percentage point.
Biden is up 49.4% to 48.8% for Trump with 99% of the expected vote counted, according to Edison Research.
Edison said he would not call a race in Wisconsin or any state where the margin is narrow enough to allow a candidate to demand a recount under state law.
Some media outlets, including NBC and the Associated Press, screened Biden as the winner.Note: The vote tally provided by Edison Research, which provides exit polls and voting data to the National Election Pool media consortium.
Reuters did not independently compile the ballots.
