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DEMOCRAT JOE BIDEN is now leading Donald Trump in the battleground state of Georgia as we draw closer to a result in the US presidential election
Victory in Georgia, which holds 16 electoral college votes, would take Biden over the 270 threshold of votes needed to win the White House.
However, with 99% of votes counted, Biden is currently just over 1,000 votes ahead of Trump in the state so it’s still too close to call.
If Trump loses Georgia, which has long been a Republican stronghold, he cannot win a majority of electoral college seats.
If the result is tight, a recount is likely.
Counting is also continuing in a number of other states.
In Arizona and Nevada, Biden is holding on to slim leads. If the Democrat wins two of those three states he would win the presidency.
The biggest piece of the puzzle is Pennsylvania, where Trump’s early lead is steadily draining away.
With just a few states left to project, the result will be determined by a combination of key battleground states#Election2020https://t.co/Td6U2Lvzz9 pic.twitter.com/SmEb6QUNNL
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) November 6, 2020
Biden currently is projected to have 253 of the 538 electoral college votes.
He has 264 with the inclusion of Arizona, which the Associated Press and, much to the president’s anger, Fox News have called in his favour but other major organisations have not.
As well as preemptively announcing victory in states where the results were not final, Trump said he planned to contest the election before the Supreme Court. It was unclear what legal action he might pursue as he has been unable to back up claims of fraud and voter suppression.
On Wednesday, Trump’s campaign filed lawsuits in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Georgia, and said it would request a recount in Wisconsin.
Judges have denied or dismissed the lawsuits in Georgia and Michigan.
The Trump campaign filed a number of legal motions in Pennsylvania, including attempts to stop the vote count and allow Republican Party members observe the vote count.
Pennsylvania
In Pennsylvania Trump’s lead has dropped to about 18,000 votes. Biden is expected to take a sizeable number of postal votes across the state. An updated count is expected in the next hour or two.
If Biden took Pennsylvania, he would grab 20 more electoral college votes, thereby instantly topping the necessary 270 for overall victory.
The latest results show Trump’s lead in the state had shrunk to around 18,000 votes, with most ballots yet to be counted coming from Democratic stronghold Philadelphia. At least 293,000 ballots have yet to be counted.
We may get results in Pennsylvania late tonight, but it could run into tomorrow.
Mail ballots from across the state overwhelmingly broke in Biden’s direction.
There’s also a possibility the race here won’t be decided for days. If there is less than a half percentage point difference between Biden and Trump’s vote total, state law dictates that a recount must be held.
The count in Philadelphia was temporarily halted as officials rearranged part of the room where tabulation was taking place, resuming after what the city’s bipartisan board of elected officials said was a “brief pause”, as reported by NBC News.
Justin Clark, Trump’s deputy campaign manager and senior counsel, claimed the campaign had been denied access to count rooms in Philadelphia.
“This ruling [on Thursday] by the appellate court in Pennsylvania, it guarantees we’re going to be able to watch the ballots being counted in a corrupt place that is known for its shenanigans on Election Day and after.”
The count is going forward. There was a brief pause in light of the ongoing litigation, but it has resumed in accordance with the law. https://t.co/bcEzsX9AM2
— Philadelphia City Commissioners (@PhillyVotes) November 5, 2020
City officials have petitioned to appeal the ruling to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
There’s no evidence of voter fraud in Philadelphia or elsewhere, and officials said poll watchers were not denied entry.
Nevada
Biden leads by over 11,000 votes, less than one percentage point, in Nevada, with more than 1.2 million ballots counted and about 190,000 left to go.
The next update on the count will be at about 8pm Irish time, but the count in this state could also take days to finish.
Arizona
In Arizona Biden’s lead is about 46,000 votes ahead;at least 293,000 ballots have yet to be counted. An update is expected at 4pm Irish time.
North Carolina
The race is too early to call here.
Trump held a nearly 77,000-vote lead yesterday, but up to 116,000 mail ballots are left to count, as well as about 41,000 provisional ballots statewide.
As long as those ballots are postmarked by 3 November, the state of the election, state officials have until 12 November to count them. And when it comes to mail ballots, Biden is again outperforming Trump.
Alaska
The solidly Republican state of Alaska has also not been called because it is only 50% counted and will not release absentee numbers until 10 November. Results here are not expected to impact the outcome of the election.
Contains reporting from © AFP 2020 and Press Association
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How do they get away with selling rotten fruit n veg?
Biggest eyesore of a street in the country.
@Fergus Fring: What ,what Fergus. One would want to pull one’s neck out.
@The Viking: It’s hideous. Cheap tat, cash for gold, second hand electronics shops and the street itself is constantly littered from street traders…
Next time you walk down it, take a look at these buildings with ‘historical significance’. Most of them have visible concrete blocks behind the windows on the second floor. Obviously no one living there because they’re so derelict and decrepit.
The street should be leveled and regenerated.
@Fergus Fring: Stay in Dundrum Town Centre if you don’t like character.
Quite a few negative comments on here. A bustling lively market is an asset to a city, an facility for shoppers and an attraction to tourists and in fact Dublin Tourism promotes the market but the reality must be disappointing to visitors. The market is being deliberately run down in order to facilitate the huge shopping centre plan — what some of the “level it and redevelop it” brigade no doubt would like — which is what most people do NOT want (and the Save Moore Street From Demolition campaign have the signatures to prove it).
Most of the street traders on Moore Street are fourth generation — one or two are fifth. The Council does not supply water, heating or light, only the meagre shelter of the stands. As Mary Kelly noted, no toilets either. They have a hard life and as Marie Cullen said, their children would not want it. But others might. However Dublin City Council will not issue any new licenses.
The small business shopkeepers also struggle, particularly those from the junction with Henry Place going north.
The Council provided large bins along the street and also street cleaning teams go up and down regularly (their depot is in Nos. 24/25). Recently they removed most of the bins and of course, cardboard boxes and paper do pile up and also blow along.
The buildings are deteriorating because the property speculator is waiting to demolish them (all except Nos.14-17, which are owned by the State).
An upgraded market and a walk-through historical experience in the upper floors would boost the area enormously. Kilmainham Jail, which the State was going to demolish until a community group began to renovate it, now attracts so many paying visitors that one needs to book or to check on line for a free space to chance turning up. That site requires a bus journey whereas Moore Street is right in the City Centre. There is a lot to attract visitors from other parts of Ireland and from abroad (who rate culture and history much higher than shopping in all surveys): a site where an actual battle took place, where the HQ of the Rising was relocated for two days, where 150 men and women fought the last days of a rising against the largest empire the world has seen and against the butchery of World War and where at last they surrendered. A street and lane-ways where civilians and Volunteers were shot down and where no less than five of the seven signatories of the Proclamation spent their last days of freedom.
Conserving and regenerating the Moore Street Quarter could also contribute to the regeneration of the north city centre as a whole, especially at night. Shopping centres might look busy in the day but at night they are wastelands.
I fully agree that the street should be leveled and regenerated.
Alas the State would have to pay compensation to the large number of illegal cigarette/tobacco vendors. Judging by the amount of sellers and the brisk trade they do, the compensation would run into the €millions.
The law is an ass:
It is hard to believe you can bury your head in the sand regarding the cigarette and tobacco sales that are costing the state and me the taxpayer billions over the years.
have your say