US Presidential Elections: Biden leads with 264 electoral votes

Votes are being counted to elect America’s next president.

The Republican President Donald Trump is being challenged by Democratic Party nominee Joe Biden who is inches closer to victory. The later is popularly known as Barack Obama’s vice-president and has been in politics since 1970.

Here we will be updating the polling results as they keep coming in.

Trump demands recount in Wisconsin

President Donald Trump’s campaign said Wednesday it was demanding a recount in Wisconsin, where returns show Democrat Joe Biden with a major lead.

“There have been reports of irregularities in several Wisconsin counties which raise serious doubts about the validity of the results,” campaign manager Bill Stepien said in a statement. “The president is well within the threshold to request a recount and we will immediately do so.”

Wisconsin is one of a handful of states where the fate of the US election hung in balance before Biden’s clean sweep.

Four states still left uncalled

As it stands, there are four states still left uncalled, including major prizes such as Pennsylvania — 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 20 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 one state won by Trump in 2016 — Arizona, in the southwest.

Nebraska split its electoral votes between the two — four for Trump and one for Biden. Maine was won by Biden, but so far, he has only three of the four electoral votes on offer, with the last still to be decided.

Biden also won in Michigan and Wisconsin, grabbing another 26 electroal votes to be within touching distance of taking presidency.

So far, that gives Biden 264 electoral votes and Trump 214.

The magic number of electoral votes is 270.

Trump says will go to Supreme Court to dispute election count

President Donald Trump on Wednesday claimed he had won the US election, despite the final results not yet being given, and said he would go the Supreme Court to dispute the counting of votes.

“We did win this election,” Trump said in an extraordinary speech from the ceremonial East Room of the White House. “This is a fraud on the American public.”

The Republican, who according to initial results is in a neck-and-neck race with Democrat Joe Biden, said he would go to court and “we want all voting to stop.”

He appeared to mean stopping the counting of mail-in ballots which can be legally accepted by state election boards after Tuesday’s election, provided they were sent in time.

Biden, Trump both predict victory as president alleges theft

President Donald Trump early Wednesday said he expected a “big win” and accused Democrats of trying to steal the election after rival Joe Biden also predicted victory.

“We are up BIG, but they are trying to STEAL the Election,” Trump wrote on Twitter moments after Biden told supporters he expected to win.

“We will never let them do it. Votes cannot be cast after the Polls are closed,” said Trump, who promised to speak more later.

Twitter, which has vowed to act against false information, quickly flagged Trump’s tweet accusing theft.

The president has long charged, with no evidence, that mail-in ballots are a way to cheat in the election.

Mail-in ballots, sent due to health concerns during the Covid-19 health crisis, are expected to favor Biden and in some states were being counted later.

Trump appeared to be responding to Biden, who moments earlier told his supporters to be patient.

“We believe we are on track to win this election,” Biden said to honks of approval in his home state of Delaware.

“It ain’t over till every vote is counted,” he said.

“It’s not my place or Donald Trump’s place to say who won this election.”

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

President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden are battling it out for the White House, with polls closed across the United States Tuesday — and a long night of waiting for results in key battlegrounds on the cards.

The results are flowing in, with US media projecting wins for the Republican incumbent so far in 22 states including big prize Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio and Tennessee — all states he won in 2016.

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)
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 (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)
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)
Michigan (16)
Wisconsin (10)

STATES NOT YET CALLED

Alaska
Nevada
North Carolina
Pennsylvania

Muslim-American Congresswomen Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar win re-election

Muslim-American congresswomen Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar won the re-election of the US House of Representatives with an overwhelming majority of votes in their respective districts Michigan and Minnesota.

Tlaib and Omar were the first Muslim women to be elected in the Congress in 2018.

The women have been criticised by President Trump and even from people of their own party for their outspoken stance against the treatment of Palestinians at the hands of the Israeli government.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wins second term in US House

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has been re-elected to a second term in the US House of Representatives after defeating her Republican challenger John Cummings in the heavily Democratic New York 14th congressional district, which includes parts of New York City, The Bronx and Queens.

Ocasio-Cortez, a progressive Democrat, had created history after becoming the youngest woman ever elected to Congress.

“Thank you to the Bronx & Queens for re-electing me to the House despite the millions spent against us, and trusting me to represent you once more,” she said in a tweet Wednesday morning.

“Serving NY-14 and fighting for working-class families in Congress has been the greatest honor, privilege, and responsibility of my life.”

Polls Open In New York, New Jersey, Virginia

Polling stations opened in New York, New Jersey and Virginia early Tuesday, marking the start of US Election Day as President Donald Trump seeks to beat forecasts and defeat challenger Joe Biden.

The vote is widely seen as a referendum on Trump and his uniquely brash, bruising presidency that Biden urged Americans to end to restore “our democracy.”

New Hampshire hamlet casts first US Election Day votes

Voters in Dixville Notch, a village of 12 residents in the state of New Hampshire, kicked off Election Day at the stroke of midnight on Tuesday by voting unanimously for Biden.

The vote and count only took a few minutes, with five votes for Biden and none for President Donald Trump, who is seeking a second term.

The tiny northeastern town in the middle of the forest, near the Canadian border, has traditionally voted “first in the nation” since 1960. 

Neighboring village Millsfield also begins voting at midnight but a third village in the area, which typically follows the same tradition, canceled overnight voting due to the coronavirus pandemic.

US elects first transgender State Senator

Sarah McBride, a democrat candidate in Delaware, has become the first transgender person to be elected to the US Senate. This makes her the highest-ranking transgender lawmaker in the country.

The democrat candidate and LGBTQ activist standing in Joe Biden’s home state of Delaware will become the first openly transgender senator in the US.

She shared her victory on Twitter, stating “I hope tonight shows an LGBTQ kid that our democracy is big enough for them, too” adding “the real work begins tomorrow.”

The real work begins tomorrow. https://t.co/p9AQB0zKHE

— Sarah McBride (@SarahEMcBride) November 4, 2020

The 30-year-old will join a handful of openly transgender people in Congress but will be the first to join the upper house. When sworn in she will be the most senior transgender public official on Capitol Hill.

With reporting by AFP