Biden on brink of victory with wins in Michigan, Wisconsin
Michigan turns blue, securing huge win for Biden
Joe Biden has officially taken over Michigan, winning 16 electoral colleges.
With this, Biden takes oven another "blue wall" state from Donald Trump, reports The Guardian.
With this, Biden is just 6 votes away to touch the mark of 270 electoral colleges that he needs to win the election of 2020.
Biden calls for unity: It is time "to come together as a nation"
As Joe Biden gets closer to the 270 electoral votes to win the presidential election, he talked about how he would be a leader for everyone – not just the people who voted for him – in an address calling for unity and bipartisanship on Wednesday, reports CNN.
"We are campaigning as Democrats, but I will govern as an American president," Biden said. "The presidency, itself, is not a partisan institution. It's the one office in this nation that represents everyone and it demands a duty of care for all Americans and that is precisely what I will do."
He talked about the anxiety and division that many Americans feel, saying that although there are opposing views across the country "we have to stop treating our opponents as enemies."
"We are not enemies. What brings us together as Americans is so much stronger than anything that can tear us apart," Biden said.
"It's time for us to do what we have always done as Americans – to put the harsh rhetoric of the campaign behind us, to lower the temperature, to see each other again, to listen to one another, to hear each other again and respect and care for one another. To unite, to heal, to come together as a nation," he added.
Michigan to turn blue, CNN projects
CNN projects Joe Biden is just an announcement away to take over Michigan, another state flipping towards the Democrats.
There are 16 electoral votes at stake in Michigan.
In 2016, the state was won by Donald Trump.
Trump's going to Supreme Court for intervention in Pennsylvania poll
The Trump campaign is going to the Supreme Court asking to intervene in a pending case challenging a Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision that allowed ballots to be counted after election day.
The justices refused to expedite the appeal before the election, but they are still considering whether to take up the case, reports CNN.
“The time has come. Given last night’s results, the vote in Pennsylvania may well determine the next President of the United States,” Jay Sekulow, a lawyer for the President, said in the new filing.
“And this Court, not the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, should have the final say on the relevant and dispositive legal questions," he said.
Trump campaign sues to stop ballot count in Michigan
The campaign of President Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit in Michigan to stop the counting of ballots in the presidential election.
“We have filed suit today in the Michigan Court of Claims to halt counting until meaningful access has been granted. We also demand to review those ballots which were opened and counted while we did not have meaningful access,” the campaign said in a statement.
There is no clear presidential winner in the swing state, which has 16 electoral votes, according to Edison Research. Republican Trump’s opponent, Democrat Joe Biden, has a razor-thin margin in Michigan, where 92% of the expected vote is in.
Trump’s campaign is also demanding a recount in Wisconsin, another state where he is neck and neck with Biden.
Biden takes Wisconsin
CNN has called Wisconsin and its 10 electoral college votes go to Joe Biden.
It is the second state to be flipped from Republican to Democrats, a state Hilary Clinton lost in 2016, reports The Guardian.
Trump's campaign has already announced to ask for a recount in Wisconsin.
Judge wants US postmaster to answer questions on delay in ballot sweep
A US judge on Wednesday said Postmaster General Louis DeJoy must answer questions about why the US Postal Service failed to complete a court-ordered sweep for undelivered ballots in about a dozen states before a Tuesday afternoon deadline.
US District Judge Emmet Sullivan said at a hearing Wednesday that DeJoy “is either going to have to be deposed or appear before me and testify under oath about why some measures were not taken.”
The Postal Service, or USPS, disclosed on Wednesday it had completed the sweeps late on Tuesday and turned up just 13 ballots in Pennsylvania.
Sullivan had ordered the sweeps in response to lawsuits by groups including Vote Forward, the NAACP, and Latino community advocates.
The USPS told Sullivan it could not meet his 3 p.m. EST (2000 GMT) Tuesday deadline for completing the checks, saying it was not logistically possible.
“The court has been very clear that it expects total compliance,” Sullivan said on Wednesday. “I was just as shocked to hear that nothing else was done after the injunction was issued.”
Postal Service data showed that as of Sunday about 300,000 ballots that were received for mail processing did not receive scans confirming their delivery to election authorities.
In a court filing Wednesday, the Postal Service said “the lack of a destination or finalization scan does not mean that the ballots were not delivered.”
Sullivan was to hear testimony on the issue from another postal official at 1:30 p.m. EST (1830 GMT) Wednesday on the 300,000 ballot scan issue.
Sullivan’s order covered processing centers in central Pennsylvania, northern New England, greater South Carolina, south Florida, Colorado, Wisconsin and parts of Illinois, Arizona, Alabama and Wyoming, as well as the cities of Atlanta, Houston, Philadelphia, Detroit.
A senior postal inspection official said Wednesday officials in Pennsylvania had found 10 ballots in Lancaster and three delayed ballots in Johnstown during the sweeps and they were referred to management for delivery.
Trump campaign to request Wisconsin recount
The Trump campaign says it will “immediately” request a recount in the battleground of Wisconsin. But under Wisconsin law, a campaign can’t petition for said recount until the Wisconsin Election Commission completes the canvass from county election boards, reports CNN.
“Despite ridiculous public polling used as a voter suppression tactic, Wisconsin has been a razor thin race as we always knew that it would be. There have been reports of irregularities in several Wisconsin counties which raise serious doubts about the validity of the results. The President is well within the threshold to request a recount and we will immediately do so,” Bill Stepien, Trump campaign manager, said in a statement.
200,000 ballots left to be counted in Georgia, secretary of state says
About 200,000 ballots are left to be counted in Georgia, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said.
Speaking at a press conference at the Georgia Capitol on Wednesday, Raffensperger said “every legal ballot will be counted," reports the CNN.
Of the approximately 200,000 votes yet to be counted in Georgia, Raffensperger said between 52,000 and 54,000 of them are from Dekalb County. About 74,000 of those are from Fulton County, with 43,000 more early votes that need to be counted. About 7,000 votes have yet to be counted in Forsyth County.
Raffensperger said officials will immediately begin their work today to certify this election.
"My team has sent a reminder to counties to get all, let me repeat, all results counted today,” Raffensberger said.
"No, we don't agree with what's coming out of the White House," top GOP official says
Several top Republicans, including those close to Senate Republican leaders, are privately dismissive of President Trump’s suggestion that ballots shouldn’t be counted after Election Day.
They point to several states, including Alaska, where ballots will be counted for up to 10 days. Sen. Dan Sullivan is among those on the ballot who wants those ballots to be fully counted, reports the CNN.
“No we don’t agree with what’s coming out of the White House,” a senior GOP official said. “We see no credible reports of fraud or anything improper.”
The question, of course, is whether Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell or other Republican senators will say this themselves.
Joe Biden's lead widens in Michigan
Joe Biden has widened his lead in Michigan, one of the key remaining states in the race for the White House.
With a new batch of votes coming in, Biden now holds a wider edge over Trump, with more than 30,000 more votes, though only 92% of the votes are estimated to have been tabulated at this point, reports the CNN.
At least 2,700 absentee ballots were not counted in one Pennsylvania county, election official says
Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Elections Board Chief Clerk Lee Soltysiak testified in court today that 2,700 absentee ballots in the county as of Sunday were considered to have issues and were likely to not be counted.
Some were truly defective ballots, with missing secrecy envelopes or other issues, while the vast majority were ballots that never actually reached a voter and had been returned to the elections board, reports the CNN.
This number came up during a hearing this morning that is still ongoing about whether county officials should have given voters an opportunity to cure defective absentee ballots.
The election is far from over and all eyes are on the battleground states right now. There are millions of votes outstanding in key states like Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan — ballots that were cast before Election Day that have yet to be counted.
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf said on Wednesday that "we may not know the results today."
Trump camp briefs the press
Trump campaign held held a press call to say the team is "confident on our pathway" to 270 electoral college points.
They said the vote in Wisconsin could go to a recount, and they believe that Trump will "continue to overperform" among minority voters in Pennsylvania, reports the BBC.
"We want to make sure all legally cast ballots are counted," said top campaign advisor Jason Miller.
"We also want to make sure that illegally cast ballots are not counted."
Tense wait as US election winner remains unclear
The outcome of the US presidential election is on a knife edge, with Donald Trump and his rival Joe Biden neck and neck in key swing states, reports the BBc.
Biden's campaign said the race was "moving to a conclusion in our favour".
But Trump, a Republican, claimed to have won and vowed to launch a Supreme Court challenge, baselessly alleging fraud.
Millions of votes remain uncounted and no candidate can credibly claim victory as yet. There is no evidence of fraud.
The US is on course for the highest electoral turnout in a century. More than 100 million people cast their ballots in early voting before election day, and tens of millions more added their vote on Tuesday.
With the nation on edge, the final result may not be known for days.
Pennsylvania governor: "We may not know the result even today"
Vote counting is still underway in Pennsylvania, and Gov. Tom Wolf says there are about 3 million mail-in ballots to be counted. This may delay the result so much so that “we may not know the results even today," he said.
The state is crucial for either presidential candidate’s path to 270 electoral votes to win the US presidency. Pennsylvania is one of nine states where CNN has not yet projected a winner, reports the CNN.
“The most important thing is that we have accurate results. Again, even if that takes a little longer than we're used to,” Wolf said at a press conference Wednesday. “For over 200 years, we've upheld and strengthened our commitment to basic fairness and due process. I have full faith that we will similarly meet this moment, and I will do everything within my power to ensure the results are fair and that every vote is counted.”
He also assured that Pennsylvanians can “have confidence in the outcome of this election.”
Michigan sets new voter turnout record with more than 5.1 million votes
The state of Michigan has set a new voter turnout record with at least 5,107,896 votes, according to a CNN tally. This total includes all presidential candidates on the ballot in Michigan, not just former Vice President Joe Biden and President Donald Trump.
The record was previously set in 2008 with 5,039,080 votes when former President Barack Obama won the state, according to official results from the Michigan secretary of state website, reports the CNN.
In the lead up to Election Day, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson had been predicting the state would reach a record-breaking turnout.
“We are on track to see record breaking turnout,” Benson told reporters Tuesday.
Biden takes lead over Trump in Michigan
Democratic Party presidential candidate Joe Biden has pulled ahead in Michigan for the first time to overtake President Donald Trump’s earlier lead.
Biden had secured a narrow lead over Trump, according to the Associated Press, taking 49.41% of the vote, reports the Michighan Live.
US President Donald Trump falsely claimed victory during the early morning hours on Wednesday.
He threatened court action and called for “all voting to stop” while states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin still have thousands of ballots to count.
Twitter flags Slovenian PM comments over 'Trump win'
Twitter has flagged a post by Slovenia's Prime Minister, Janez Jansa, in which he congratulates Donald Trump and accuses the "mainstream media" of "facts denying".
His post has been labelled by Twitter with a line saying: "Official sources may not have called the race when this was Tweeted," reports the BBC.
Jansa has consistently tweeted his support for Trump and his policies since becoming Slovenia's prime minister in March.
As we've mentioned, many votes in key states remain uncounted and neither Trump nor Biden can credibly claim victory yet.
Pennsylvania attorney general says voters can be confident in the counting process, but urges patience
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro urged voters to be patient as the state counts all its ballots, saying that the state will get a “clearer picture” by the end of the day, but cautioned all results will be known “by the end of the week.”
Shapiro said that volunteers and clerks from Pennsylvania communities have been awake around the clock to tabulate votes, reports the CNN.
“We said all along that we were going to secure and protect and count the vote. We accomplished the first two — the vote was secured and protected — and now we're going through this laborious process of counting,” he said.
Shapiro said he expects numbers to fluctuate, but voters can have “confidence” in the counting process.
“These votes are going to be tabulated, they're going to be counted, and at the end of the day, the will of the people of Pennsylvania is going to be respected,” Shapiro said.
Pennsylvania "is definitely in play," senior state official says
With a lot of the nation's attention on Pennsylvania, a senior state official said while President Trump has a sizable lead, the outcome is far from certain.
"Pennsylvania is definitely in play," a senior official in Gov. Tom Wolf's administration said, reports the CNN.
"We hope to push counties, this morning, to work, non-stop, until every last ballot is tabulated, beginning this morning."
According to publicly available information from various countries, as of this morning there were 1.4 million absentee ballots still to be counted. The margin of difference between Trump and Joe Biden currently stands at just over 618,000 with 75% of the state's votes counted.
A majority of mail-in ballots — 65%— sent in in Pennsylvania were from registered Democrats, although that doesn't mean all would have voted for Biden.
Philadelphia and state officials are scheduled to brief the press within the hour on the progress of the counting.
Biden campaign confident it's on the right track
It's the morning after Election Day in the US, and it's still too early to project a winner in the presidential race. Votes are still being counted in Alaska, Arizona, North Carolina, Nevada, Wisconsin, Michigan, Maine, Georgia and Pennsylvania.
As the sun comes up on a long night of tracking votes, a Biden campaign aide said the campaign is confident it’s on the right track based on the states they’ve won and what’s yet to be counted, reports the CNN.
According to a source close to the campaign, the campaign always thought this would be a close race, pointing to campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon’s tweet a few weeks ago warning of a tight race.
“We have the burden of relying on the vote that takes the longest to count,” the source said. Even so, this person and the campaign remain optimistic when all votes are counted, Biden will be declared the winner.
Biden retains path to a Pennsylvania win with mail vote
Jie Biden has won Pennsylvania absentee ballots by an overwhelming margin so far. If he carried the remaining absentee ballots by a similar margin, he would win the state, reports the New York Times.
EU's chief diplomat: 'No-one can claim to be winner yet'
European leaders have remained largely tight-lipped this morning, waiting for the result.
But even that "too soon to say" approach is an implicit rejection of President Trump’s claim of victory and call to stop the counting, reports the BBC.
The EU's chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, offered what he described as a personal view. Every vote needed to be counted in such a tight race, he said: “No one can claim to be the winner yet because there is no data to support that.”
A European Commission spokesperson echoed that it was an ongoing process: “We will abide by whatever announcement is forthcoming officially from the relevant US authorities and we feel that everyone should do likewise.”
But beyond this city of diplomats, one EU leader was firmly backing President Trump. Twitter added a warning message to a tweet by Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša, in which he alleged it was “pretty clear” that the president had been re-elected and criticised “more delays and facts denying from mainstream media”.
Democrats are a whisper away from turning Georgia blue
For the second time in two years, Democrats are a whisper away from turning Georgia blue.
In 2018, Republican Brian Kemp narrowly defeated Democrat Stacey Abrams to become governor. Now, the presidential race remains too close to call hours after the polls closed. The outstanding votes almost entirely come from parts of Biden-friendly Atlanta and its suburbs, reports the CNN.
With more than 90% of the estimated vote in, Trump leads the former vice president by a little more than 118,000 votes. But with Fulton, DeKalb and Gwinnett Counties, among others, still yet to complete their counts, the race remains in the balance – contrary to Trump’s claim early Wednesday morning that he’s already won it.
No Democratic presidential nominee has won in Georgia since 1992, when Bill Clinton defeated incumbent George H.W. Bush. Barack Obama came close. Hillary Clinton, in 2016, got closer. Abrams, in the gubernatorial campaign, came within 1.4 percentage points of victory in a race marred by evidence of voter suppression.
Russian TV deems US election as 'madness'
For Russian TV, the main question is not who is the better candidate – either for the US or Russia.
The Kremlin media machine’s main message to the people of Russia is that America is in chaos, that its democracy is failing and - most importantly - that it is in no position to teach others what is right and what is wrong, reports the BBC.
This morning, the state-owned, rolling-news TV channel Rossiya 24 has been airing lengthy no-comment videos of people shouting and fighting in the street.
The US election is “madness”, it said. NTV, one of Russia’s most-watched television stations, also spoke of “expectations of unrest”.
But pro-Kremlin TV has also made its preferences clear: Donald Trump is usually given uncritical coverage and portrayed as a David fighting the Goliath of a hostile establishment and media bias.
Accusations of corruption and sexual misconduct against Joe Biden’s son Hunter are reported unquestioningly, and are said to have everything to do with his father.
The Democrats’ response? According to state TV’s Channel One, it was the new Borat film, which – it said - was released to smear Donald Trump’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani.
Biden takes lead in battleground state of Wisconsin
With 99% of votes counted, Democratic challenger Joe Biden has taken a slim lead (about 20,000 votes right now) over President Donald Trump in the Midwestern industrial state of Wisconsin.
Trump beat Hillary Clinton in Wisconsin by less than 30,000 votes back in 2016 in a major upset, reports the BBC.
Despite Biden's slim lead, the race remains too close to be projected.
Wisconsin could be pivotal in determining who wins the White House.
Trump ally says he "undercut his own credibility" when he prematurely declared victory
Former New Jersey governor and top Trump ally Chris Christie voiced disagreement overnight with President Trump’s election night remarks prematurely declaring victory and attacking legitimate vote counting efforts.
Christie said Trump “undercut his own credibility,” reports the CNN.
“There’s just no basis to make that argument tonight. There just isn’t. All these votes have to be counted that are in now,” Christie said during a panel on ABC News moments after Trump’s remarks, noting that the vote count in Pennsylvania will continue for days and “that argument’s for later.”
He continued, “I disagree with what he did tonight. And I think Sarah is right that, you know, there comes a point where you have to let the process play itself out before you judge it to have been flawed. And I think by prematurely doing this, if there is a flaw in it later, he has undercut his own credibility in calling attention to that flaw.”
Christie, who said he was speaking from his experience as a former US attorney, argued that Trump had made a “bad strategic decision” and a “bad political decision.”
“And it's not the kind of decision you would expect someone to make tonight who holds the position he holds,” he added.
A narrowing of the vote in Michigan
The tightening of the vote between President Trump and Joe Biden in Michigan comes down to Wayne County, where Detroit and the surrounding suburbs are located, reports the CNN.
Wayne County — the largest county in the state — is about 18% of the voting population.
Some Pennsylvania counties are counting mail-in ballots last
Pennsylvania is one of nine states across the US where a clear winner is yet not projected.
Pennsylvania's counties have starkly different plans for when they will begin processing their mail-in ballots, with Democratic strongholds moving to get them counted as quickly as possible while other areas plan to tally in-person Election Day votes first, reports the CNN.
Unlike most states, Pennsylvania law does not allow officials to start processing early ballots until 7am on Election Day.
While Philadelphia and other areas started work on their mail-in votes at 7am sharp yesterday, swing counties like Erie and red ones like Cumberland were waiting until after the polls close or even until this morning to begin.
Latinos for Trump celebrate in Florida
In Miami, many of the president's Cuban supporters were elated over his projected win in the sunshine state.
Florida has 29 coveted electoral votes, and much of Trump’s Latin base in the state cited their fears of socialism when asked about their support for the president, reports the BBC.
Facebook warns users about Trump victory claim
Facebook has responded to President Trump’s unsubstantiated statement of victory in the election.
“Once President Trump began making premature claims of victory, we started running top-of-feed notifications on Facebook and Instagram so that everyone knows votes are still being counted and the winner has not been projected,” a Facebook spokesperson said, reports the BBC.
Millions of legitimate votes are still being counted in the crucial swing states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin and others which could still determine the outcome of the election. Election officials say it could be days before the winner in these states is confirmed.
Earlier, Twitter took similar steps to counter misleading information surrounding the election result. It placed a warning on a tweet from Trump in which he said, without evidence, that "they are trying to STEAL the Election".
In Nevada, "the big question right now is composition"
With Joe Biden and President Trump in a tight race in Nevada, “the big question right now is composition,” rpeorts the CNN.
While populous Clark County — where Las Vegas is located — is currently reporting more than three-quarters of the vote, it’s unknown right now if the remaining vote to be counted is via mail-in ballots or in-person voting.
Joe Biden has an edge in Washoe County, where Reno is located, which is traditionally a tossup county, Mattingly explained.
Hillary Clinton won the county, but narrowly, back in 2016.
Meanwhile, Trump takes a big lead in the rural counties of the state.
German defence minister sees 'explosive situation'
Trump has plunged the US into a “battle for the legitimacy” of the presidential election after his unfounded declaration of victory, Germany’s defence minister has said.
“This is a very explosive situation,” Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer told German broadcaster ZDF on Wednesday, reports the BBC.
She said election experts had rightly warned of a "constitutional crisis” in the US should Trump dispute a potentially unfavourable result.
Earlier, Trump threatened to mount a legal challenge in the Supreme Court to stop legitimate ballots from being tallied in key swing states after election day.
But Kramp-Karrenbauer told ZDF that "this election has not been decided” because “votes are still being counted”.
Diplomatic relations between Germany and the US have been shaky during Trump's presidency. But Germany, a long-time ally of the US, has expressed hopes that the relationship will improve again after the election, whoever wins.
Biden projected to win Hawaii
Joe Biden is projected to win the state of Hawaii.
Since becoming a state in 1959, it has only voted twice for Republican presidential candidates, reports the BBC.
All of the votes from Milwaukee County are now in and counted, says elections director
All of the ballots from Milwaukee County have now been counted, Milwaukee County elections director Julietta Henry reported early this morning, just minutes after the lead in the state had flipped from President Trump to Joe Biden.
The only exception are provisional ballots, which are due on Friday, reports the CNN.
"In Milwaukee county, we are now at 100% ballots cast," she said.
She said there have been no reports of irregularities in the county.
"There weren't any irregularities in Milwaukee County," she said.
"We were anticipating finishing up tonight between 3:00am and 6:00am. And I think we're right on target, with the 4:00 completion time."
Biden takes the lead in Wisconsin
Results from Milwaukee have flipped Wisconsin to Joe Biden, who has a lead in the state right now.
Earlier, the city of Milwaukee's absentee ballot information was delivered with a police escort, reports the CNN.
The election is far from over with millions of votes still outstanding in key states, including in battleground Wisconsin.
Trump misspelling tickles Polish tweeters
One of the president's overnight tweets was tagged by Twitter as "disputed" and potentially "misleading" because he made an unfounded claim that the Democrats were trying to "steal" the election.
But apart from that, it also included a misspelling of polls - prompting jokes on Polish social media, reports the BBC.
Poland's conservative government has enjoyed close relations with the Trump administration - and the US is redeploying troops there from Germany
This is where the balance of power in Congress stands at 4 am ET
Based on CNN's current projections, this is how the balance of power in Congress is shaping up.
Biden camp calls Trump speech "outrageous, unprecedented, and incorrect"
Joe Biden's campaign for the presidency tore into President Trump early Tuesday morning for his claims to have won the election as votes were still being counted. Biden campaign manager Jen O'Malley Dillon, in a statement released just before 4 am Eastern, accused Trump of a "naked effort to take away the democratic rights of American citizens" for appearing to call on states to stop counting legally-cast ballots, CBS News reported.
"The president's statement tonight about trying to shut down the counting of duly cast ballots was outrageous, unprecedented, and incorrect," Dillon said, adding: "Never before in our history has a president of the United States sought to strip Americans of their voice in a national election. Having encouraged Republican efforts in multiple states to prevent the legal counting of these ballots before Election Day, now Donald Trump is saying these ballots can't be counted after Election Day either."
"It was incorrect because it will not happen. The counting will not stop. It will continue until every duly cast vote is counted. Because that is what our laws — the laws that protect every Americans' constitutional right to vote — require," she said, vowing that the campaign had "legal teams standing by ready to deploy to resist" any effort by the president "to go to court to try to prevent the proper tabulation of votes."
Protest clashes, arrests spread to more cities
Protesters were arrested in Minneapolis after marching down city streets, spray painting local buildings, and shooting off fireworks, including some allegedly directed at police. The group also appears to have set nearby fires, said police spokesman John Elder. Thirteen women and one man were arrested for “probable cause riot,” and one of the women was also charged with fourth degree assault, Bloomberg reports.
The group was carrying a sign saying “America is Over” as part of a protest against police brutality before the arrests, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
More than 300 protesters marched through Portland, some of them brandishing what appeared to be rifles and pistols, according to law enforcement authorities. While some chanted anti-Trump slogans, the march appeared to be a continuation of the daily demonstrations that Portland has had since the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police in May.
In downtown Los Angeles, the LAPD declared an unlawful assembly as demonstrators tried to march onto the 10 Freeway. Authorities responding to a report of shots fired and a possible stabbing found a man with a head wound. He was transferred to a hospital, according to LAPD spokesman Tony Im.
Seattle police had made about eight arrests for pedestrian interference, obstruction, assault on an officer, reckless driving and criminal mischief. Police gave an order to disperse in the city’s Capitol Hill neighborhood.
Pennsylvania governor hits back at Trump: "We will count every vote"
In response to a series of false claims made by Mr. Trump about the state of the presidential races in several key states, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf, a Democrat, vowed that every vote legally cast in the state will be counted, CBS News reported.
"I promised Pennsylvanians that we would count every vote and that's what we're going to do, Wolf said in a pair of tweets following the president's error-filled remarks from the White House. "Let's be clear: This is a partisan attack on Pennsylvania's elections, our votes, and democracy."
Wolf said more than 1 million mail-in ballots have yet to be counted, but county officials are "working tirelessly to process votes as quickly AND as accurately as possible."
"Pennsylvania will have a fair election and we will count every vote," he added.
Mr. Trump claimed without evidence he is leading in Pennsylvania, though CBS News has characterized the race as a toss-up. In several counties in the state, vote counting has been halted until the morning.
Biden takes Arizona
Joe Biden became the first Democratic presidential candidate to win Arizona since 1996, denying President Donald Trump 11 pivotal electoral votes that were once reliably Republican, Politico reports.
While Trump ran up the score in rural Arizona, Biden carved a path through fast-changing Maricopa County, where Phoenix and its suburbs supply some 60 percent of the state’s electorate. It was the largest county in America to go to Trump in 2016, but it is also at the center of twin trends reshaping Arizona politics: disaffected suburbanites migrating away from the Republican Party and Democratic-leaning Latinos turning out in greater force with every election.
Arguably no state in the country shined a brighter spotlight on Trump’s shaky hold on the old Republican Party this year, with Cindy McCain, the widow of the late Sen. John McCain, and former GOP Sen. Jeff Flake among a number of current and former high-profile Arizona Republicans who endorsed Biden. The former vice president’s final ads in the state touted Biden’s humanity, empathy and desire to find unity with the opposing party.
Biden spent big in the newly minted battleground state, with the Phoenix media market often soaking up more money from his campaign than any other in the country in the final months of the election. Trump’s strategy appeared more geared to revving up his base than wooing on-the-fence swing voters, taking a turnout approach to defending Arizona once it became clear it was one of the most vulnerable targets for Biden to flip this year.
Protesters take to the streets on tense election night
As night fell on election day, with polls closing and votes being tallied, protests against President Trump were held on the streets of Washington DC, leading to tense scenes.
Hundreds marched through parts of the Capitol, sometimes blocking traffic and setting off fireworks. Some chanted: “If we don’t get no justice, they don’t get no peace!”
The demonstrations were largely peaceful, but there were reports of skirmishes and confrontations outside the White House. Three people were arrested after scuffles, NBC Washington reported.
CBS News reporter Christina Ruffini tweeted that "some sort of smoke bomb" appeared to have been used.
Elsewhere, there were reports of scattered protests in Los Angeles, California; Raleigh, North Carolina; Portland, Oregon and New York City.
Ahead of the election, hundreds of businesses in cities across the US boarded up their doors and windows, fearing unrest over the result.
Republicans 'distressed' by Trump speech
Donald Trump has declared an unsupported victory in a speech from the ceremonial East Room of the White House - with millions of ballots yet to be counted.
Several top Republicans and conservative commentators are expressing alarm at Trump's unsubstantiated comments.
Speaking on ABC News, former New Jersey Governor and Trump adviser Chris Christie called the president's speech the wrong move - both strategically, and as president.
"It's a bad strategic decision," he said. "It's a bad political decision."
Rick Santorum, former Republican Senator from Pennsylvania, said he was "very distressed" by Trump's comments. "Using the word fraud... I think is wrong," he said on CNN.
And Ben Shapiro, a conservative commentator and critic of Trump, tweeted calling the comments "deeply irresponsible".
Trump declares 'phenomenal' results
Trump has taken the podium in the White House's East Room and alleged "fraud", saying "We did win this election, will go to Supreme Court."
However he did not make it clear about why he will go to the court.
He started his national address by thanking his family, and the millions of supporters who turned out for him tonight.
"We were getting ready for a big celebration," he says. "We were winning everything."
Taking a triumphant tone, Trump celebrates his big win of the night in Florida.
"We didn't win it, we won it by a lot," he says.
He also claims a lead in Pennsylvania - just like rival Joe Biden did earlier on election night. It is still too early to determine a winner in the state.
But election results from some battleground states, including Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan and Georgia, were still not clear and projections from major networks and Edison Research showed Trump still short of the 270 electoral votes need to win re-election.
All polls closed in the US, with Alaska the last to end Election Day
Polling stations are now closed across the entire United States, with the last ones now shut in Alaska, in the far north-west, Reuters reported.
Ballots are still being counted and the results may not be known until some time on Wednesday, or even later, with court challenges likely.
Trump to speak soon from the White House
President Donald Trump is expected to speak soon from the East Room in the White House, CNN reports.
He tweeted earlier that he would be speaking.
Here's where things stand in the race at 2 am ET
Trump projected to win Nebraska while Biden picks up one electoral vote
Trump is projected to win the majority of the electoral votes in Nebraska, but in a surprise, Biden is also projected to pick up one of its five votes, BBC reported.
Nebraska is one of two states that splits its electoral college count, and the Democrat is projected to have seized the vote in Nebraska's 2nd congressional district.
It's the first flip from 2016 on the map. Last election, all five of Nebraska's electoral votes went to Trump.
Biden projected to win Minnesota
Minnesota is projected to vote for Joe Biden, BBC reported.
The Midwestern state is historically a blue stronghold. Democrats have secured it in every presidential election in the last 60 years, except in 1972, when Minnesotans backed incumbent President Richard Nixon.
Trump projected to win Texas, Montana
President Donald Trump has won Texas, seeing off Joe Biden in the toughest test Republicans have faced in the state in decades, Politico reported.
Trump defeated Hillary Clinton by 9 points in Texas in 2016, but the state moved further toward Democrats over the last few years, especially in the massive, fast-growing suburbs surrounding Texas’ major cities.
Yet, while Democrats poured organizing power and money into an effort to flip the state House and several suburban congressional districts, the state as a whole was still too conservative for Biden to push past Trump.
Biden ran just behind Trump in public polls of Texas through the fall, and when early voting started in October, a combination of fast population growth and the competitiveness of the race sent voter turnout soaring.
Republicans have held on to this state for the last 10 elections.Trump won the state comfortably in 2016.
Meanwhile, Montana has also projected to vote for Donald Trump.
The Treasure State has been a stronghold of the Grand Old Party since 1968, except for a single victory for Bill Clinton in 1992.
Biden projected to win Rhode Island
Rhode Island is projected to vote for Joe Biden. The geographically smallest state in the US is safely Democratic – it’s voted for the blue party at every election since 1988, BBC reported.
Twitter places warning on Trump election night tweet
Twitter has labelled a tweet from President Trump as possibly "misleading about an election or other civic process" and urged users to find accurate information about the election, BBC reported.
Trump had tweeted shortly after his rival Joe Biden took the stage in Delaware to urge patience as the vote counting process is completed.
"We are up big, but they are trying to steal the election," Trump wrote. "We will never let them do it. Votes cannot be cast after the Polls are closed."
The president has often made unsubstantiated claims about vote "stealing" during the campaign.
He also said he will be making a statement soon.
Trump projected to win Iowa
Iowa is projected to vote for Donald Trump, BBC reported.
The battleground state was held largely by the Democrats from 1988, until Trump secured it for the Republicans four years ago.
Here's where things stand in the race at 1 am ET
President Trump picked up the battleground state of Florida, and Joe Biden carried Minnesota, CNN projects.
Based on CNN's current projections, Trump now has 171 electoral votes while Biden has 215 electoral votes.
Biden: 'We're on track to win this election'
Joe Biden urged patience tonight in Delaware as votes continue to be counted, CNN reported.
"We knew this was going to go long, but who knew we would go into maybe tomorrow morning, maybe even longer," he told a crowd moments ago.
"But we feel good about where we are. I'm here to tell you tonight we believe we're on track to win this election."
He adds: "It ain't over until every vote, every ballot is counted."
Trump projected to win Florida
Florida is projected to vote for Donald Trump. It's a race we've been watching all night, BBC reported.
As a large battleground state, its 29 electoral votes have been decisive in previous presidential elections.
Florida has let Democrats down once again. Despite a massive effort in the state, including hundreds of millions of dollars from businessman Mike Bloomberg, Donald Trump has again won what has become his adopted home state.
He did so by once more running up good numbers in traditionally Republican areas and eating into Joe Biden’s support among Hispanic and African-American voters in the Democratic strongholds of south Florida.
With the win, Trump clears the first big hurdle standing between him and re-election – and has shown, at least in this state, that polls giving Biden an advantage are not altogether reliable.
In 2000, just 537 votes in Florida delivered the White House to Republican George W Bush. The state chose Donald Trump four years ago, but voted twice for Obama.
Biden expected to deliver statement at 12:30 ET
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden is expected to deliver a statement at 12:30 a.m. ET (0530 GMT), according to campaign officials.
No details were provided on what Biden will say as he is locked in a tight race against Republican President Donald Trump, Reuters reported.
Trump showing new strength with Latinos
In an emerging story on election night, Republican President Donald Trump was showing some surprising strength with Latino voters in key states such as Florida and Texas, Reuters reported.
In Florida, according to exit polls, Trump and Democratic rival Joe Biden were splitting the Latino vote. In 2016, Trump only won four out of 10 Latino voters in his race against Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Overall, he was winning three of 10 nonwhite voters versus winning just two of 10 four years ago.
Trump maintained his advantage among white voters. According to Edison Research exit polls, six in 10 white voters said they cast ballots for Trump, unchanged from 2016.
The Trump campaign made winning over Cuban-American voters in populous South Florida a top priority by emphasizing the administration’s hardline policy toward Cuba and Venezuela.
In Texas, four in 10 Hispanics voted for Trump, up from three in 10 in 2016, according to exit polls in that state.
Edison’s national exit poll showed that while Biden led Trump among nonwhite voters, Trump had received a slightly higher proportion of the nonwhite vote than he did in 2016. The poll showed that about 11% of African Americans, 31% of Hispanics and 30% of Asian Americans voted for Trump, up 3 percentage points from 2016 among all three groups.
Trump keeps Ohio
President Donald Trump defeated Joe Biden in Ohio Tuesday, holding onto 18 electoral votes in a state that was critical to his 2016 victory, Politico reported.
Ohio was a central battleground state for a century, but some Democrats wrote it off citing challenging demographics and Trump’s easy win there in 2016. But polls this year showed Ohio to be one of the nation’s closest states.
No Republican has won the White House without picking up Ohio’s electoral votes, and Trump made sure to visit the state leading up to Election Day. He held a rally in Circleville, just south of Columbus, on Oct. 24, and his campaign worked to hang on to support from white working-class voters who were critical to his 2016 victory.
Trump reprised his 2016 campaign themes on trade to attack Biden, arguing that his support for deals like NAFTA had hurt manufacturing workers.
Biden projected to win Virginia and Trump Idaho
Virginia is projected to vote for Joe Biden while Idaho did for Donald Trump, BBC reported.
The state Virginia used to vote Republican at presidential elections, but voters have swung to the Democrats during the last three elections.
There was no surprise with Idaho, with its four electoral college votes - the state has backed Republican candidates in the last 13 presidential races.
Trump’s strong showing in south erases Biden hopes for early win
President Donald Trump has once again defied polls and predictions, with a strong showing across the Sun Belt in early results appearing to significantly shrink Democratic nominee Joe Biden's path to victory, Bloomberg reported.
Trump's leads in North Carolina, Georgia, and – most significantly – Florida appeared to foreclose the chances of a wave election that Biden could ride easily to the White House. The president's ability to chip away at support among Latino and Black voters – while encouraging more of his White, rural base to come out to the polls – denied Democrats hope that the coronavirus pandemic and president's sagging approval ratings could make for an early night.
There are still ways for Biden to win – principally by reclaiming the Rust Belt states of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania that have been the centerpiece of his campaign. And a victory in Arizona – where Biden held a substantial advantage in early vote totals reported Tuesday night – could provide the former vice president with crucial breathing room and tilt the contest back in his favor.
Still, Trump's allies appeared increasingly bullish as results came in Tuesday night. The president's strategy of aggressive campaigning and outreach to minority communities paid early dividends, particularly in Florida. One Trump campaign official speaking on the condition of anonymity said that so far, the model came out right for how the races would break and they were feeling good about the night.
"It's happening," tweeted Trump campaign adviser Jason Miller.
Trump's campaign grew confident that he would prevail in Florida, Georgia and Ohio, potentially paving the way to an Electoral College victory, according to people familiar with the matter.
Here's where the presidential race stands at 11:30pm ET
It's just past 11:30 p.m. ET and Joe Biden leads the electoral count, with 192 votes.
President Trump has 114 electoral votes.
A look at the exit poll findings
Exit poll data from across the United States is giving a glimpse into voters' priorities and an indication of how different demographic groups have cast their ballots.
According to BBC, the figures are updated throughout election night but current estimates suggest the proportion of total voters who are white has fallen by six percentage points on 2016, while remaining the largest group by ethnicity.
The proportion of white voters backing Mr Biden has risen by five points on Hillary Clinton's figure at the last election but Mr Trump still takes the largest share of this group, the preliminary polling suggests.
Meanwhile, Mr Biden appears to have gained support among under 30s and the middle-aged.
This is where the balance of power in Congress stands.
Based on CNN's current projections, this is how the balance of power in Congress is shaping up.
Biden at 131 electoral votes, Trump at 95: US media
President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden are battling it out for the White House, with polls gradually closing across the United States Tuesday — and then a long night of waiting for results ahead.
The first results are trickling in, with US media projecting wins for the Republican incumbent so far in 14 states including Indiana, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Tennessee and West Virginia — all states he won in 2016.
Biden has captured 12 states including his home state Delaware and big prize New York, plus the US capital Washington. As with Trump, so far, all states claimed by Biden were won by Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016.
So far, that gives Biden 131 electoral votes and Trump 95, AFP reported.
The magic number is 270. Observers expect the hotly contested race for the White House to come down to a handful of key battleground states that have yet to be called.
West Coast projections are in
The projections for California with its huge 55 electoral college votes are in. As expected, Joe Biden is predicted to win the state. It was once a solid Republican state but has voted Democrat since 1992, BBC reported.
Oregon and Washington are both projected to vote for Biden too.
Oregon, in America's Pacific Northwest, has voted Democrat since 1988. It's been a focal point of anti-police protests this year, an issue that's become a major dividing line during the election.
And Washington, which is America's most north-western state, has voted Democrat by a fairly large margin in every election since 1988 (though in 2016 four of its electors were "faithless" and didn't vote for Hillary Clinton as pledged).
Democrats win Colorado, Republicans pick up Alabama
Democrats picked up one seat in Colorado on Tuesday, while Republicans picked up a seat in Alabama and turned back challenges in Texas and South Carolina in the election battle for control of the US Senate, Reuters reported.
Republicans currently hold a majority of 53 seats in the 100-seat chamber. The battle spans 14 competitive races, though the final outcome may not be clear for some time. Ten remain to be called.
Democrats need to win four seats to take a majority, or three if Joe Biden wins the White House, giving a Vice President Kamala Harris the tie-breaking vote.
A Democratic victory could lead to a new era in US politics, if the party also captures the White House and holds onto the US House of Representatives.
Biden projected to win Illinois
Illinois is projected to vote for Joe Biden, BBC reported.
The Midwestern state, which includes Chicago, is Barack Obama’s political stomping ground, and has voted Democrat in every presidential race since 1992.
Trump projected to win Missouri
Missouri is projected to vote for Donald Trump, BBC reported.
Home to the city of St Louis, the state has voted Republican in the last five presidential elections. Trump beat Hillary Clinton by nearly 19 percentage points in 2016.
First lawmaker born in the 1990s elected
Madison Cawthorn, the 25-year old inspirational speaker who addressed the Republican convention this summer, is projected to win the North Carolina seat vacated by top Trump aide Mark Meadows, according to the AP.
Cawthorn tweeted moments after the projection was announced.
Cawthorn, who is seen as a rising star within the party, found himself in hot water earlier this summer after pictures emerged of his 2017 trip to a home used by Adolf Hitler. He referred to the Nazi leader on Instagram as "the Fuhrer" (he also described him as "supreme evil") and said the vacation was on his "bucket list".
Cawthorn will be the youngest member of Congress, and the first born in the 1990s. Another star young lawmaker, Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was born in 1989 and is 31, in case you were wondering.
Biden projected to win New Hampshire
Another state projected now for Joe Biden. New Hampshire is predicted to vote for the Democrat, BBC reported.
The New England state voted for George W Bush in 2000 but has otherwise delivered wins for the Democrats in every race since 1992.
Trump projected to win Louisiana, Nebraska, Utah
Three more states have been projected to vote for Donald Trump. They are Louisiana, Nebraska and Utah, BBC reported.
None are big surprises, as he won all of them in 2016.
The southern state of Louisiana has voted Republican in the last five presidential elections, after backing Bill Clinton twice in the 1990s.
Trump won Utah with 46% of the vote in 2016.
And Nebraska is one of just two states that has the option to split its electoral college votes - in 2016 all five went to Donald Trump.
Biden projected to win New Mexico
New Mexico is projected to go to Joe Biden, BBC reported.
Once a swing state, it has leaned heavily towards the Democrats in recent races. Hillary Clinton won the border state in 2016, aided by increasing support from Latino voters.
Trump to address the nation tonight
Donald Trump wants to "project strength" and "set his own narrative" tonight, a senior Trump campaign official who spoke to the president has told CBS, our partner network in the US, BBC reported.
"Yes, the president will speak tonight. Even if it's not to declare victory, he needs to set the narrative," the official said.
Trump will deliver remarks from the White House East Room, the official added.
A number of senior advisers say there is frustration over Democratic talk of the "red mirage" - referring to the idea that the early projections of Trump winning in some states are misleading because they don't yet include postal ballots, which tend to lean towards Democrats. (Red is the colour of the Republicans).
There's a sense that the president cannot lose hold of tonight's story, the official says.
Trump leads Biden in must-win Florida, race close in other battlegrounds
President Donald Trump was leading Democratic rival Joe Biden in the vital battleground state of Florida on Tuesday, while other competitive swing states that will help decide the election, including North Carolina, remained up in the air, Reuters reported.
The two contenders split the early US states to be projected in the White House race as expected, with conservative states like Alabama, Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee going to Trump and Democratic-leaning Massachusetts, Vermont, New York and Connecticut going to Biden, according to projections by television networks and Edison Research.
But none of the approximately dozen battleground states that will decide the race had been settled as polls closed in a majority of US states, with close races developing in many of them.
In Florida, widely seen as a must-win state for Trump in his quest for the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the presidency, Trump was leading Biden 51.2% to 47.8% with 93% of the expected votes counted. Electoral College votes are assigned to each state, in part based on their population.
Part of Trump’s strength in Florida came from an improved performance relative to 2016 in the state’s counties with large Latino populations. Trump’s share of the vote in those counties was larger than it was in the 2016 election.