For Quick Alerts
ALLOW NOTIFICATIONS  
For Daily Alerts
Oneindia App Download

US elections 2020: Can Donald Trump still win

|
Google Oneindia News

Washington, Nov 06: Democratic leader Joe Biden appeared to be a step away from winning the US presidential election as the latest count of votes from a handful of battleground states indicated that the re-election chances of incumbent Republican President Donald Trump are getting slim by the hour.

Recommended Video

Coronavirus: US records more than 1,20,000 Covid-19 cases in 24 hours | Oneindia News

By late Thursday night, Biden -- who bagged 253 seats as against Trump's 213 -- appeared to be nearing the magical figure of 270 out of the 538 electoral college votes.

US elections 2020: Can Donald Trump still win

In Georgia, which has 16 electoral college votes, Trump's lead has reduced to 1,902 votes. In Pennsylvania, having 20 electoral college votes, Trump's lead dropped down to 42,142 votes.

US Election 2020: Donald Trump campaign looses lawsuits in Michigan, GeorgiaUS Election 2020: Donald Trump campaign looses lawsuits in Michigan, Georgia

With 213 electoral college votes, Trump is far away from the magical figure of 270.

"We continue to feel very good about where things stand. And we have no doubt that when the count is finished, Senator (Kamala) Harris and I will be the winners, Biden, told reporters in Delaware. While the counting process was going on, he urged fellow Americans to stay calm.

"I ask people to stay calm. The process is working. The count is being completed, the 77-year-old former US vice president said.

At a White House news conference, Trump said he will go to court against electoral malpractice. The Trump Campaign has already filed lawsuits in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Georgia and Nevada. He has demanded recounting of votes in Wisconsin.

Donald Trump is going to court to stop votes from being counted. We have assembled the largest election protection effort in history to fight back and need your help, Biden tweeted after Trump's news conference at the White House.

Trump alleged that the Democrats are stealing democracy.

Our goal is to defend the integrity of the election. We will not allow the corruption to steal such an important election or in the election for that matter and we can't allow anybody to silence our voters and manufacture results, Trump told reporters at the White House.

There is tremendous litigation going on and this is a case where they are trying to steal an election, the 74-year-old president said.

Biden dismissed the charges.

No one is going to take our democracy away from us. Not now, not ever. America has come too far, fought too many battles, and endured too much to let that happen, he said in another tweet.

According to The New York Times, major news channels ABC, CBS and NBC all cut away as Trump's "false" statements mounted.

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

Biden's path becomes clearer as vote count continues in decisive states, The Washington Post said.

In an editorial, the daily said, There is zero zero evidence of fraud or corruption.

What Mr Trump sees as nefarious is something more mundane though undoubtedly painful for him: He is losing. On election night in some states, he held a lead in partial counts. Then, as mail-in ballots were counted, his lead was 'whittled away', as he said. The explanation is obvious to everyone except, apparently, the president, it said.

The editorial further noted that Trump railed so much against mail-in voting before the election that few Republicans voted that way.

"Most of the mailed ballots, therefore, favour Democrat Joe Biden. Now officials are counting the votes with observers watching, contrary to another Trump lie; with both Republican and Democratic election officials participating, contrary to another Trump lie; and in accordance with the rules, contrary to yet another Trump lie," it said.

What happens if there is no clear winner:

US President Donald Trump's premature move earlier this week to claim a victory and also approach the Supreme Court have confirmed the fears of the Democrats that were voiced weeks back.

The Democrats said that Trump would look to dispute the election results. This would now end up in a number of political and legal battles and finally the presidency would be determined by combinations of courts, state politicians and the Congress.

A close election would result in litigation over voting and ballot counting procedures in battleground states. Cases that are filed in individual states could reach the Supreme Court eventually. In the 2000, Republican George Bush prevailed over Democrat, Al Gore by just 537 votes after the High Court had halted a recount.

Under the Constitution, the candidate who wins the majority of 538 electors known as the Electoral College becomes the President. In 2016, Trump had lost the national popular vote to Hillary Clinton, but secured the electoral votes-304-227.

A candidate who wins each state's popular vote earns the state's electors. This year the electors would meet on December 14 to cast their votes. On January 6, both chambers of Congress would meet on January 6 to count the votes and declare the winner.

Governors normally certify the results in their respective states and share the information with the Congress. However it is unclear whether the Congress should accept the governor's electoral slate or not count the state's electoral votes at all.

In 1876, three states appointed duelling electors which promoted the Congress to pass the Electoral Count Act in 1887. Under the act, each chamber of Congress separately decides which slate of the duelling electors should be accepted. The electoral count is conducted by the new Congress, which will be sworn in on January 3. Currently the Republicans hold the Senate, while Democrats control the House of Representatives. The Act says that the electors approved by each state's executive should prevail.

If the two chambers do not agree then Vice President Mike Pence as senate president can throw out the state's disputed electoral votes entirely. When neither candidate has secured a majority of votes would trigger a contingent election under the 12 Amendment of the Constitution. This would mean that the House of Representatives will select the President while the Senate would select the Vice President.

Each state delegation in the House gets a single vote and as of now Republicans control 26 of the 50 state delegation, while the Democrats have 22. In the event of a 269-269 tie after the election, a contingent election would take place.

The Constitution mandates the terms of the President should end on January 20. Under the Presidential Succession, if the Congress is unable to declare a President or Vice President, then the Speaker would serve as the acting president. The current Speaker is Nancy Pelosi.

For Daily Alerts
Get Instant News Updates
Enable
x
Notification Settings X
Time Settings
Done
Clear Notification X
Do you want to clear all the notifications from your inbox?
Settings X
X