Kate Halim, with agency report
United States Democratic presidential nominee, Joe Biden on Friday steadily gained more ground and upturned President Donald Trump’s earlier lead in two key states of Pennsylvania and Georgia as more mail votes were counted on inching the former vice president closer to the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency.
In Georgia and Pennsylvania specifically, Biden now leads. Though with a razor-thin margin there, the Georgia secretary of state Friday said he expects a recount.
Biden sits at 264 electoral votes in states where races have been called while Trump has 214 in called races.
Biden needs just one win in any of the swing states; Nevada, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia while Trump would need to win all four of those plus Alaska, which he is expected to win but is too early to call. Meanwhile, President Trump has accused Democrats of trying to “steal” the election in remarks he made from the White House.
The Trump campaign also complained that it is not being given good enough access to observe votes being tallied in Michigan and Pennsylvania. It says it will demand a recount in Wisconsin, though it appears unlikely a recount could close the margin of about 20,000 votes between Trump and Biden there.
Joe Biden’s lead expanded in Nevada, which has six electoral votes, with the latest ballot count report. That came hours after he overtook President Trump in the count in Georgia and Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral votes would put Biden over the 270 threshold needed.
The US state of Georgia said on Friday that it will recount votes from the election in which Biden has eked out a razor-thin lead over President Trump. “With a margin that small, there will be a recount in Georgia,” Georgia Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger told reporters in Atlanta.
Raffensperger, the top elected official overseeing elections, said that the presidential contest in the state “remains too close to call.”
Almost complete results as of Friday morning showed Biden leading by just over 1,500 votes in Georgia, where changing demographics and strong turnout from African-Americans have put in play a Southern state once seen as reliably backing Trump’s Republicans.
Georgia is equally critical as it is the only state holding elections for both its Senate seats this year, meaning it will determine which party is in control.
Under Georgia’s system, Senate races go to a runoff if no candidate receives 50 percent in the first round. “The final tally in Georgia at this point has huge implications for the entire country,” Raffensperger said.
“The stakes are high and emotions are high on all sides. We will not let those debates distract us from our work. We’ll get it right and we’ll defend the integrity of our elections.” He said that Georgia was letting observers from both campaigns watch the counting after Trump, with no evidence, alleged widespread fraud nationwide.