Biden closes in on Trump’s lead in battleground states
- Americans continue to watch and wait to see who will be declared the winner of Tuesday’s presidential elections.
- Currently, Biden is projected to have won 264 electoral votes and Trump 214. The race goes to the contender with 270 votes.
- President Trump on Thursday repeated voting fraud claims without evidence in his first address since Tuesday’s elections.
- Alaska, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina and Pennsylvania are still counting ballots and winners have not been projected in those states.
- Biden, who has urged for patience, has closed the gap in Georgia and Pennsylvania.
- Arizona has been projected for Biden, but officials say mail-in ballots are still being counted.
ECB’s De Guindos says seems very likely Biden will win US election
European Central Bank Vice-President Luis de Guindos told Spain’s Antena 3 TV it was very likely that Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden would win the US election.
Biden gained more ground on President Donald Trump in the battleground states of Georgia and Pennsylvania, edging closer to the White House hours after Trump falsely claimed the election was being “stolen” from him
Election officials worried by threats and protesters
Election officials in several states said Thursday they are worried about the safety of their staffs amid a stream of threats and gatherings of angry protesters outside their doors, drawn by President Donald Trump’s baseless claims of widespread fraud in the race for the White House.
“I can tell you that my wife and my mother are very concerned for me,” said Joe Gloria, the registrar in Clark County, Nevada, which includes Las Vegas. He said his staff was bolstering security and tracking vehicles coming and going from the election offices.
But he added that he and others would not be stopped from “doing what our duty is and counting ballots.”
Trump tweets he wins presidency with ‘legal votes cast’
Donald Trump has fired off several tweets in the early morning hours on Friday, reiterating the complaints he aired earlier at the White House.
“I easily WIN the Presidency of the United States with LEGAL VOTES CAST,” he said on Twitter, without offering any evidence that any illegal votes have been cast.
Trump has made repeated unsubstantiated claims of “fraud,” with Twitter slapping warning signs on post after post, saying the president is apparently spreading misinformation. No election officials have reported fraud.
The president blamed a conspiracy of “big media, big money, and big tech” for the whittling away of his lead as votes were counted, casting doubt about the integrity of the election.
Biden gains ground on Trump in Georgia and Pennsylvania
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden gained more ground on President Donald Trump in the battleground states of Georgia and 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 650.
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.
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.
According to The Spectator Index, Trump’s lead in Georgia is down at 665 votes.
Poll watchers emerge as a flashpoint in battle over ballots
Election officials in key battleground states pushed back on claims by the Trump campaign that Republican poll watchers were being improperly denied access to observe the counting of ballots, saying rules were being followed and they were committed to transparency.
Tasked this year with monitoring a record number of mail ballots, partisan poll watchers are designated by a political party or campaign to report any concerns they may have. With a few reports of overly aggressive poll watchers, election officials said they were carefully balancing access with the need to minimize disruptions.
“There were certainly a lot of eyes on the process in every absentee counting board all across our state,” said Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat and the state’s top election official. “I’m proud of how transparent and secure our process has been. I know that the truth is on our side here.”
Poll watchers emerge as a flashpoint in battle over ballots
Election officials in key battleground states pushed back on claims by the Trump campaign that Republican poll watchers were being improperly denied access to observe the counting of ballots, saying rules were being followed and they were committed to transparency.
Tasked this year with monitoring a record number of mail ballots, partisan poll watchers are designated by a political party or campaign to report any concerns they may have. With a few reports of overly aggressive poll watchers, election officials said they were carefully balancing access with the need to minimize disruptions.
“There were certainly a lot of eyes on the process in every absentee counting board all across our state,” said Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat and the state’s top election official. “I’m proud of how transparent and secure our process has been. I know that the truth is on our side here.”
Two detained outside Pennsylvania vote centre: US media
US police have detained two men outside a Philadelphia polling station in Pennsylvania, local media reported on 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 centre.
US networks pull the plug on Trump’s live address due to ‘lies’
Several US TV networks late on Thursday halted live coverage of Donald Trump’s first public appearance since election night after concluding the president was spreading disinformation.
“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 broadcaster MSNBC anchor Brian Williams, as the network quickly ended its live coverage.
