Democrat Joe Biden is now leading President Donald Trump in the battleground state of Pennsylvania and Georgia.
By Friday morning, Biden overtook Trump in the number of ballots counted in the state, which Trump must win to have a shot at reelection. Biden now holds a nearly 6,000-vote advantage in Pennsylvania and a 917-vote advantage in Georgia.
The contest is still too early for The Associated Press to call. Votes in the state are still being counted.
Trump’s lead dwindled after Election Day when state officials began processing mail-in ballots, a form of voting that has skewed heavily in Biden’s favor after Trump spent months claiming — without proof — that voting by mail would lead to widespread voter fraud.
There is a potential that the race could go to a recount. Under Georgia law, if the margin between Biden and Trump is under half a percentage point of difference, a recount can be requested.
Democrat Joe Biden is pushing closer to the 270 Electoral College votes needed to carry the White House, securing victories in the battlegrounds of Wisconsin and Michigan and narrowing President Donald Trump’s path.
Assuming that he holds his lead in Pennsyvlania and Georgia, Biden will comfortably secure his seat at the White House for the next four years.
Counting is continuing in Nevada – where Biden holds an 11,500 vote lead with votes from Democrat leaning Las Vegas still to be counted, North Carolina – which will continue allowing votes to come in for another week but where Trump is expected to maintain a decent lead on the state, Arizona – which some media houses have called the state in favour of Biden but in which Trump seems to be staging something of a comeback through mail-in votes, and Alaska – which is expected to go to Trump.
The news comes as the Trump campaign continues opening lawsuits in various states – including Georgia – as part of its strategy to attack the integrity of the voting process. Judges in Georgia and in Michigan – a rust belt state which has already been declared for Biden – have already dismissed such lawsuits.
Speaking in the White House briefing room Thursday, the president launched into a litany of claims, without proof, about how Democrats were trying to unfairly deprive him of a second term. “But we think there’ll be a lot of litigation because we can't have an election stolen like this,” Trump said.
Earlier Thursday, a Biden campaign lawyer called the lawsuits meritless, more political strategy than legal. “I want to emphasize that for their purposes these lawsuits don’t have to have merit. That’s not the purpose. ... It is to create an opportunity for them to message falsely about what’s taking place in the electoral process,” lawyer Bob Bauer said, accusing the Trump campaign of “continually alleging irregularities, failures of the system and fraud without any basis.”