Democratic candidate Joe Biden edged closer to victory, expanding his narrow leads over US President Donald Trump in the battleground states of Pennsylvania and Georgia.
Biden’s lead over Trump in Pennsylvania is now over 28,877 and in Georgia, Biden leads by a margin of 7,248 votes, according to The Associated Press. Georgia will be headed to a recount, its secretary of state said Friday.
The prospect of winning Georgia also holds a symbolic significance for the Democrats, as The New York Times noted. No Democratic presidential candidate has won Georgia since Bill Clinton in 1992.
As Biden widened his lead over Trump in crucial states, he said, “The numbers tell us a clear and convincing story: We’re going to win this race.”
Biden noted, during an address in Delaware, that he and his running mate Senator Kamala Harris had, thus far, amassed more than 74 million votes ― which, as he noted, is “more than any presidential ticket” in US history.
Biden said Trump’s demands to stop the count would not work. “Your vote will be counted. I don’t care how hard people try to stop it. I will not let it happen,” he said.
The Nevada secretary of state’s office reported that there are about 125,000 ballots left to be counted. Winner in Nevada gets 6 electoral votes. Biden is presently leading by 22,657 votes.
Ellen Weintraub, with the Federal Election Commission, said that there has been no evidence of fraud in this year’s US elections. “Very few substantiated complaints, let me put it that way. There is no evidence of any kind of voter fraud. There is no evidence of illegal votes being cast. In fact, and you don’t have to take my word for it, because people throughout the country, nonpartisan election experts, have come out and handled this election and how it was run,” Weintraub told CNN.
Even as votes are counted, Trump warned that legal proceedings are just beginning. He tweeted, “Joe Biden should not wrongfully claim the office of the President. I could make that claim also. Legal proceedings are just now beginning!
Trump claimed, “I had such a big lead in all of these states late into election night, only to see the leads miraculously disappear as the days went by. Perhaps these leads will return as our legal proceedings move forward!”
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The Trump campaign, as it warned it would, has filed multiple last-ditch legal challenges in swing states. In Michigan and Pennsylvania, the campaign wants election officials to stop counting ballots until it receives “meaningful” access to ballot-counting sites and a review of ballots already counted, according to The Associated Press. And in Georgia, the campaign is demanding that state law regarding absentee ballots be followed.
But judges in at least three states — Georgia, Michigan and Pennsylvania — have already rejected the campaign lawsuits.
Everything you need to know:
— Trump Lies About Winning Election, Baselessly Accuses Democrats Of Cheating
— No Evidence For Trump’s Fraud Claims, Says International Delegation Monitoring US Election
— How Does The US’s Electoral College Work? A Really Simple Guide
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