We’re two days previous Election Day and USA TODAY’S protection of the 2020 election continues as states work to complete counting the ballots.

All eyes on are the battleground states that can in the end determine the election. Be sure you refresh this web page usually to get the newest info on how issues are going.  

USA TODAY will have live election results from throughout the nation.

Trump decries election as fraudulent with zero proof 

In his first handle since his post-election speech within the early hours of Wednesday morning, President Donald Trump appeared to shrug off his Democratic challenger Joe Biden’s rising lead within the presidential election and made baseless claims that the election was pushed by fraud and corruption..

‘In case you rely the authorized votes I simply win. In case you rely the unlawful votes they’ll attempt to steal the election from us,” Trump advised reporters within the White Home briefing room, repeating an announcement his marketing campaign despatched out earlier Thursday on his behalf.

Trump additionally dismissed polls exhibiting that the U.S. was bracing for a “blue wave,” pointing to GOP successes in each the Senate and the Home.

“The pollsters bought it knowingly mistaken, they bought it mistaken,” he stated. ” They thought there was going to be a giant blue wave. That was false. It was completed for suppression causes however as an alternative, there was a giant pink wave.”

The president’s feedback got here as his lead in a number of states together with Georgia and Pennsylvania continued to shrink as extra ballots had been counted, narrowing his path to victory as Biden inched towards the bulk threshold of 270 electoral votes wanted to win the election.

He acknowledged that just a few states had but to be determined within the presidential race however stated they the elections had been run “by Democrats.” Georgia and Arizona, two states that also have excellent votes, are run by Republican governors.

“We had been profitable in all the important thing places by lots, really. After which our numbers began miraculously getting whittled away in secret,” Trump stated.

There was no proof of voter fraud. A number of states have skilled delays in counting a surge of mail-in ballots – legally forged – this yr because of the pandemic.

The president’s marketing campaign has mounted a number of authorized challenges in states that would tip the election in favor of Biden, undercutting the validity of the election system. Two lawsuits in Michigan and Georgia had been dismissed earlier on Thursday.

“Our objective is to defend the integrity of the election,” he stated. “We is not going to enable the corruption to steal such an necessary election.”

Trump has been out of the general public eye since early Wednesday morning, when he prematurely declared victory at the same time as tons of of 1000’s of ballots had but to be counted. . He additionally threatened to ask the U.S. Supreme Courtroom to halt the counting of legally forged absentee ballots.

Trump, with out offering any proof, additionally accused Democrats of attempting to “steal” and “rig the election. He refused to take questions on his claims after the 17-minute speech.

Earlier on Thursday, Biden urged People to be affected person as votes had been counted however stated he had “little question” that he and his operating mate Sen. Kamala Harris would win the White Home.

“It’s the will of the voters, nobody, not the rest, that chooses the president of america of America,” he stated. “Democracy is usually messy. It typically requires slightly endurance as effectively. However that endurance has been rewarded now for greater than 240 years with a system of governance that’s been the envy of the world.”

Trump’s remarks drew swift criticism. Republican strategist Doug Heye known as it “harmful rhetoric.”

But once more, harmful rhetoric from the President. Appalling. Proactive and self-serving irresponsibility,” he stated. “These harmful lies usually are not improv, these are ready remarks. A staff effort. Shameful.”

— David Jackson and Courtney Subramanian

Trump’s lead over Biden narrows in Georgia

The hole between President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden continues to shrink as fewer than 20,000 excellent ballots stay.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger stated as of seven:15 p.m., there are roughly 18,936 ballots nonetheless excellent within the state.

Chatham County, the place Savannah is positioned, prior to now a number of hours had reported the majority of their excellent ballots. Most of the remaining ballots are in counties surrounding Atlanta.

There at the moment are three,486 votes, or about zero.1%, that separate Trump and Biden.

– Rebecca Morin

Pennsylvania races to complete counting ‘overwhelming majority’ of ballots

Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Boochvar stated election officers hope to have the “overwhelming majority” of the state’s excellent absentee ballots counted by Friday.

“We’re coming into the homestretch,” Boochvar stated at a information briefing Thursday night, including that the plan is to rely into the night time. 

Pennsylvania, with 20 electoral votes in play within the race for president, had 326,248 excellent absentee ballots nonetheless to rely as of 6 p.m. EST.

President Donald Trump holds a 78,314-vote lead over Democratic challenger Joe Biden. However Biden has made up important floor – and is anticipated to proceed to so – as mail-in ballots that skew Democratic are tallied throughout the state, together with from two Democratic strongholds, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. 

State legislation prevented election officers from starting to course of mail-in ballots till Election Day, making it’s going to take days to get a ultimate tally. 

Mail-in ballots could be acquired in Pennsylvania by Nov. 6 if they’re postmarked by Election Day. Officers are segregating these ballots from others, nevertheless. Boockhar stated the absentee ballots now being counted solely embrace those who arrived by Election Day.

“I don’t anticipate it to be a major quantity,” she stated of the ballots acquired post-Election Day.

Late-arriving absentee ballots have been the topic of litigation from Republicans. The U.S. Supreme Courtroom for the second time final month refused to alter Pennsylvania’s election guidelines on the 11th hour, handing Republicans a defeat of their effort to reimpose an Election Day deadline for absentee ballots.

Nonetheless, justices stated that if the state seems to be pivotal, the excessive court docket might rethink the problem after the election.

– Joey Garrison

White Home is hopeful, but additionally bracing for a loss – and is mad at different Republicans

Some aides to President Donald Trump stated they are not giving up on the election, however they’re additionally bracing for the worst.

They’re additionally upset with different Republicans who haven’t spoken out towards the continued election rely as forcefully as Trump has.

Ongoing vote counts might protect Trump’s leads in Pennsylvania and Georgia and gas comebacks in Arizona and Nevada, aides stated – however some additionally acknowledged that lots of the remaining votes seem like from pro-Biden areas.

Some advisers are additionally skeptical that the marketing campaign’s lawsuits will do something to alter the vote rely. They’re additionally involved that Pennsylvania will end its rely quickly, and that networks will undertaking a Biden victory within the state, basically making him president-elect.

“We’re simply watching,” one aide stated.

On election night time, as Tuesday turned to Wednesday, Trump marketing campaign and White Home officers expressed rising confidence because the president gained the vote in Florida and constructed huge leads in Georgia, North Carolina and different states.

That confidence started to dissipate after Fox Information, after which the Related Press, known as Arizona for Biden (a name the marketing campaign nonetheless protests). The Trump staff’s temper continued to bitter as late counting gave Biden wins in Wisconsin and Michigan.

Aides, talking on situation of anonymity to debate delicate issues, additionally expressed frustration that extra Republican officers haven’t spoken out towards the counting, particularly within the states nonetheless being contested.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf has held information conferences about occasions in his state, however not people like Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey – each Republicans, one other aides stated.

“The place are Kemp and Ducey at?” the aide stated.

Donald Trump Jr., and his brother, Eric, have additionally protested the relative silence from outstanding Republicans.

“The place is the GOP?!” tweeted Eric Trump. “Our voters will always remember…”

Trump himself has spoken to quite a lot of Republicans officers in regards to the state of affairs, together with state governors, however few have spoken out towards the election the best way he has.

The president spent Thursday as he spent Wednesday, tweeting out complaints – “STOP THE COUNT!” – and staying out of the general public eye.

He has not been seen in public since his indignant speech that ended at round 2:30 a.m. on Wednesday.

– David Jackson

Biden urges endurance, stays assured of victory

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden urged endurance Thursday in ready for ballots to be counted within the election towards President Donald Trump.

“I ask everybody to remain calm – all of the individuals to remain calm,” Biden stated. “We’ll know very quickly.”

The assertion got here after Biden and his operating mate, Sen. Kamala Harris of California, acquired a briefing at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Delaware, in regards to the financial system and the coronavirus pandemic.

“We proceed to really feel excellent about the place issues stand,” Biden stated. “We have now little question that when the rely is completed, Sen. Harris and I will probably be declared the winners.”

– Bart Jansen

Pennsylvania expects majority of ballots to be counted in the present day

The vast majority of votes in Pennsylvania are anticipated to be counted Thursday, Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar said.

Earlier, she had indicated she anticipated nearly all of the counting to be completed by Friday.

“It is trying like we’re forward of schedule,” she advised CNN.

Mail ballots that arrive in election workplaces as much as three days after the election usually are not anticipated to “make or break” the outcomes of the election, Boockvar stated.

Some smaller counties reported receiving zero ballots, and a few bigger ones have acquired about 500 the day after Election Day. That is not many, she stated.

Beneath the three-day extension, which is being challenged in court docket, mail ballots with the Nov. three postmarked can arrive in native election workplaces till 5 p.m. Friday. President Donald Trump’s marketing campaign has requested the U.S. Supreme Courtroom to intervene. These ballots are being segregated.

“Until it is tremendous shut, I do not see them making or breaking this a method or one other,” Boockvar advised CNN.

About 550,000 ballots had been nonetheless within the strategy of being counted, she stated.

– York Every day File

About 47,300 ballots are left to rely in Georgia, state says

A prime Georgia election official stated Thursday afternoon the state had about 47,300 votes left to rely because the hole slowly closed between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden.

The 2 had been separated by a distinction of about 13,000 votes, or about zero.2%, with 99% of the estimated vote counted. 

Gabriel Sterling, Georgia’s voting system implementation supervisor, rejected claims of fraud introduced by Trump and his allies, saying, “We’ve taken the steps at each stage to safe that vote and ensure the integrity of the poll is protected.”

Most of the remaining votes are coming from Democratic-leaning counties anticipated to yield extra votes for Biden.

Sterling acknowledged there could also be a recount given the slim margin, however “individuals will see these outcomes keep principally the identical.”

– Nicholas Wu

Votes are nonetheless being counted in communities of colour

Because the nation awaits ends in the 2020 presidential election, 1000’s of the excellent votes are in counties with excessive proportions of Black and Hispanic People. 

USA TODAY checked out U.S. Census information in giant counties that had excellent ballots — some with sufficient to tip the election in a given state. The evaluation checked out two counties every in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. 

The knowledge means that voters of colour will play a key position in deciding the nail-biter election in all the 5 states the place votes are being counted and the result of the election remains to be in query. 

Washoe and Clark counties in Nevada are 25% and 32% Hispanic, respectively. An area official in Clark County advised the Reno Gazette-Journal rely of excellent ballots wouldn’t be launched till Thursday. 

Pima and Maricopa counties in Arizona are 38% and 31% Hispanic, respectively. The Arizona Republic reported there have been about 48,000 excellent ballots in Pima as of Wednesday and at the least 426,000 excellent ballots in Maricopa as of Wednesday.  

Chatham and Fulton counties in Georgia are 41% and 45% Black, respectively. There have been about 17,157 excellent ballots in Chatham as of Wednesday, in response to the Savannah Morning News and about 20,000 excellent ballots in Fulton as of Wednesday, in response to CNN. 

Cumberland and Wake counties in North Carolina are 39% and 21% Black, respectively. The Secretary of State stated Wednesday there have been about four,100 ballots excellent in Cumberland as of Wednesday and 15,000 excellent in Wake. 

Philadelphia County is 44% Black. There have been 104,607 excellent ballots as of Thursday, in response to the York Every day File. 

Allegheny County, which incorporates Pittsburgh, has Black and Hispanic populations beneath nationwide averages. There have been 35,806 ballots excellent as of Thursday, in response to the York Every day File. 

– Erin Mansfield and Matt Wynn

Biden trails Trump by 2 factors in Pennsylvania as state continues poll rely

As of 12:30 p.m. EST Thursday, 22% of the mail-in ballots still need to be counted throughout Pennsylvania, or greater than 570,000 votes statewide. 

Republican President Donald J. Trump nonetheless holds a slim lead of 115,069, or 1.eight% of the vote. His lead has steadily dwindled from 11 factors and about 618,000 votes on election night time as mail-in votes have been tallied.

Democratic challenger Joe Biden and his supporters anticipate that hole to shut additional when the remaining tons of of 1000’s of mail-in ballots are counted, significantly within the Democratic stronghold of Philadelphia. 

“He will win the state,” stated Sen. Bob Casey, a Democrat from Scranton. “No query about it.” 

– Sweet Woodall

Biden expands lead barely in Nevada

With a nation anxiously watching the Nevada’s probably pivotal six Electoral School votes, the general outcome remained in limbo Thursday. Former Vice President Joe Biden barely increased his lead over President Donald Trump in Nevada, in response to the newest vote totals launched by the Nevada Secretary of State on Thursday morning.

Biden now has 597,353 votes to Trump’s 585,311 votes — a lead of 12,zero42, up from fewer than eight,000 by way of Wednesday.

– Reno Gazette Journal

Biden marketing campaign sees votes tightening in battlegrounds

Biden marketing campaign supervisor Jennifer O’Malley Dillon continued to voice confidence in former Vice President Joe Biden profitable the election as votes continued to be counted in a handful of battleground states.

Bob Bauer, a authorized adviser to the marketing campaign, known as quite a lot of President Donald Trump’s marketing campaign lawsuits within the states “meritless” and “comedian.”

“We’re completely assured that Joe Biden would be the subsequent president of america,” O’Malley Dillon stated.

She stated outcomes would bounce up and down in Nevada and Arizona on Thursday as ballots had been counted, and outcomes won’t be accomplished in Arizona till Friday. However the Biden marketing campaign is assured that Arizona, which The Related Press known as in favor of Biden, would go in his favor.

“We anticipate the margin to be closing,” O’Malley Dillon stated. “We are going to win by tens of 1000’s of votes, however that margin will shut.”

The marketing campaign continued to watch Georgia and North Carolina, however was not as assured in these states.

“The race is a real tossup,” O’Malley Dillon stated of Georgia, with Trump main by about 18,000 votes. However she stated the excellent ballots are in counties that lean towards Biden.

North Carolina is leaning towards Trump, however is tightening, she stated.

“This race continues to be very tight,” O’Malley Dillon stated.

– Bart Jansen

Georgia Secretary of State official: about 60,000 votes excellent 

An official from the Georgia Secretary of State stated there have been about 60,000 votes nonetheless excellent within the state as of Thursday mid-morning, a lot of which had been set to come back from Democratic-leaning jurisdictions.

Gabriel Sterling, Georgia’s voting system implementation supervisor, stated the state anticipated it could end counting the rest of the ballots in the present day however was ready to rely into the night if crucial. 

Roughly 1 / 4 of the remaining ballots had been from Democrat-leaning Chatham County, which incorporates Savannah. And lots of the different ballots had been set to come back in from Fulton, Cobb, Gwinnett and Clayton Counties, all Atlanta-area counties that would yield extra Democratic votes.

He additionally acknowledged there have been nonetheless excellent absentee ballots from abroad army personnel and provisional ballots that wanted to be accepted or verified by Friday.

He stated the state was working with county governments to get their outcomes processed, although a few of them had forgotten to “press the add button” when submitting outcomes, so the state had despatched out reminders Thursday morning.

The state’s 16 electoral votes cling within the steadiness as each presidential candidates jockey for almost all 270 required to win. Biden has secured 264, and Trump has 214.

Counting the state’s excellent ballots was a “lengthy course of,” Sterling stated, however whereas “quick is nice, we respect quick. We extra respect accuracy.”

– Nicholas Wu

Pennsylvania governor vows to ‘defend our election employees and our votes’

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf vowed to proceed counting votes in his state after President Donald Trump demanded to finish the rely.

“The deliberate assaults on our elections this morning are undemocratic and all elected officers should denounce them,” Wolf stated in an announcement Thursday morning. “Pennsylvania will probably be ready to guard our election employees and our votes.”

Pennsylvania elections officers haven’t but tabulated all the mail-in ballots forged within the state, many from counties which have favored Joe Biden. Trump’s lead in Pennsylvania has narrowed to roughly two percentage points.

The Trump marketing campaign introduced Wednesday it’s pursuing court docket actions to cease poll counting in Michigan and Pennsylvania, and to forestall the counting of absentee ballots in Georgia that it claims arrived after an Election Day deadline.

– Tom Vanden Brook

Pennsylvania: Greater than 700ok ballots but to be counted

Pennsylvanians are waking up to a tighter presidential race. 

The Division of State web site reveals little change in a single day. About 29% of mail-in votes nonetheless must be counted, or about 763,000 ballots. 

Total, 89 % of the Pennsylvania vote has been tallied, together with mail-in ballots and in-person voting. 

As of seven:35 a.m. Thursday, Trump had three,215,969 votes, or 50.7% of the vote, and Biden had three,051,555 votes, or 48.1% of the vote. Trump’s lead is at 164,414 votes, down about 22,000 votes since 10:30 p.m. final night time. 

– Sweet Woodall

Georgia presidential race continues to tighten, Perdue near a runoff

The presidential race in Georgia continued to tighten Thursday because the state counted its remaining votes. Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden had slowly closed the hole with President Donald Trump, trailing by about 18,000 votes with 98% of the vote counted.

And a second Senate race was near a runoff election in Georgia, with incumbent Republican Sen. David Perdue main Democratic nominee Jon Ossoff with about 50.zero% of the vote share. Perdue must safe at the least 50% of the vote to keep away from a runoff, and Ossoff and Libertarian candidate Shane Hazel have chipped away at his numbers.

The state’s different Senate election is ready for a January runoff between incumbent Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler and Democrat Raphael Warnock, the senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger advised Atlanta radio station there have been about 50,000 ballots left to rely.  The state could be completed with its rely by midday EST Thursday, he advised WSB-TV.

– Nicholas Wu

Who’s profitable? 

Former Vice President Joe Biden is simply six electoral votes to reaching 270 within the presidential race after he was named the winner in Wisconsin and Michigan. 

The race is now right down to Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada, and North Carolina, whereas fascinating numbers additionally emerge from Arizona.

President Donald Trump has 214 electoral votes, and his staff has filed lawsuits in Pennsylvania and Georgia to forestall the counting of ballots. 

With votes nonetheless being counted, Biden has damaged the document for many votes acquired by a candidate, amassing practically 72 million. As of Wednesday night, he was main Trump by greater than four million.

Extra: Joe Biden makes history with total votes received, beating Barack Obama’s record

The place do the ultimate states stand as of three a.m. EST? 

Arizona

Biden maintained a lead in Arizona over Trump, however his margin shrunk in a brand new batch of outcomes posted Wednesday night and early Thursday morning consisting primarily of early ballots from Maricopa County, which the president carried in 2016. 

A brand new tally shouldn’t be anticipated till later this morning after officers up to date the numbers at 2:40 am EST. 

Extra: Arizona election updates: Joe Biden’s lead tightens in updated results

The Related Press has defended their early name that Biden is projected to win Arizona regardless of calls from the Trump marketing campaign to retract. Arizona’s 11 electoral votes are factored into USA TODAY’s electoral faculty rely.

Trump and his supporters have alleged voting irregularities and different points. There isn’t any proof of any vote counting points in Arizona. 

Fact check: Arizona election departments confirm Sharpies can be used on ballots

Georgia

Georgia was on the thoughts of People Wednesday night time as Biden gained considerably on Trump within the historically pink state. 

With an estimated 96% of the state reporting their votes, Biden is trailing the president by roughly 23,000 votes. Trump’s lead over Biden has shrunk as extra votes get counted. Earlier Wednesday, he had a lead of over 100,000 votes. 

Extra: Results are trickling in for battleground Georgia. Here’s what we know.

Most of the excellent ballots that wanted to be counted had been in counties surrounding Atlanta, like Fulton. A Fulton County official stated on CNN final night time they anticipated full outcomes there between midnight and three a.m. EST.

Nevada

Biden wants six electoral faculty votes. Nevada, the place Biden is main, has six electoral faculty votes. However updates to the state outcomes weren’t introduced Wednesday night time. 

State officers in Nevada are sticking to their authentic plan of updating outcomes mid-day EST Thursday.

All eyes on Nevada: Election officials are ‘working feverishly’ but won’t rush vote count in presidential race

North Carolina

North Carolina, a state that is is essential to Trump’s reelection, was shut as of Wednesday night time, with the president main 50.1% to 48.7%.

Full ends in North Carolina are not expected until next week, in response to native media retailers, to permit excellent mail-in and provisional ballots to be counted.   

Pennsylvania

The president’s lead in Pennsylvania shrunk as mail-in ballots have damaged for Biden by a big margin. 

If Biden stays on the present observe, and Democratic turnout stays excessive in cities like Philadelphia, the previous Vice President might take the lead in that state Thursday.

The president’s marketing campaign staff prematurely and incorrectly said they’d gained the state Wednesday, regardless of tons of of 1000’s of ballots being unaccounted for. Social media posts claiming victory had been flagged as disinformation. 

Pennsylvania nonetheless has tons of of 1000’s of absentee ballots to rely, however the Secretary of State stated they anticipated to be counted by the top of the day Thursday.

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