US Election 2020: Biden on cusp of making history; Trump has a narrow path

Washington, Nov 5: Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden appeared to be on the cusp of making history along with his running mate Senator Kamala Harris, while President Donald Trump continued to have a bumpy and narrow path to victory as counting of votes in some key battleground States entered its last stretch.

As per projections made by major media outlets, Biden has 264 electoral college votes, just six votes short of the magical number of 270 out of 538 required to win the presidency. However, for news outlets like CNN, Biden has 253 electoral college votes as it has still not called Arizona, which has 11 votes and counting of votes continued.

Trump is projected to get 214 electoral college votes, which is 56 votes less than the magical figure of 270. Races in some of the key battleground States have not been called yet. These States are Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona and Nevada.

In Pennsylvania, which has 20 electoral college votes, Trump is leading by 135,671 votes with 91 per cent of the votes being counted. Over the past one day, his lead has reduced considerably. In North Carolina, which has 15 electoral college votes, the president has a lead of 77,337 votes with 95 per cent of the votes being counted so far. Trump’s lead has reduced considerably in Georgia over the last 24 hours. The state has 16 electoral college votes.

After an overnight round of counting, Trump’s lead over Biden has come down to just 18,586 votes. Officials have said that they have completed counting of 96 per cent of the votes. In Arizona, which has 11 electoral college votes, Biden continues to lead by over 68,000 votes with 86 per cent of the total votes being counted.

A traditional Republican State, Trump has been fast catching up with Biden in the last few rounds of counting, but he has a long way to go. In Nevada, that has six electoral college votes, Biden is leading by nearly 8,000 votes with 86 per cent of the counting reportedly over. Nevada is a traditional Democratic State, but the race has entered a tight finish. To reach the magical figure of 270, Trump needs to win Pennsylvania (20), North Carolina (15) and Georgia (16) and either of Arizona (11) or Nevada (six), which appears to be a tall order. For Biden, the path seems to be much easier. He needs to win any of these States, with Arizona.

A win in Pennsylvania would seal the deal for him, even if Trump manages to win rest of the States including Arizona. On Wednesday night, Trump declared victory in Pennsylvania (20), North Carolina (15), Georgia (16) and Michigan (16). His campaign has filed lawsuits in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Georgia. It has also demanded recounting of votes in Wisconsin, a state that has 10 electoral college votes and Biden has won by 20,534 votes.

Meanwhile Trump in a tweet has demanded that counting of votes be stopped. "STOP THE COUNT,” said the president. “ANY VOTE THAT CAME IN AFTER ELECTION DAY WILL NOT BE COUNTED!” Trump said in another tweet. The second tweet of his was flagged by Twitter.

"Some or all of the content shared in this Tweet is disputed and might be misleading about an election or other civic process,” it said. Biden in his tweet insisted that every vote must be counted.

“Every vote must be counted,” he said. "Donald Trump does not decide the outcome of this election and nor do I. The American people decide. That’s why we’ve launched the Biden Fight Fund — to ensure every vote is counted,” Biden said in a tweet.

Harris also demanded that every vote be counted. “Every single vote must be counted,” she said in a tweet. "Americans should have faith in the voting process and have the constitutional right to have their lawfully cast ballots counted. That simple proposition is a cornerstone of American democracy,” Harris tweeted.