ETV Bharat / international

US Election updates: Biden urges calm as votes continue to be counted

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Published : Nov 5, 2020, 7:20 AM IST

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Updated : Nov 6, 2020, 7:55 AM IST

2020 US presidential election

2020 US presidential election

05:57 November 06

President Donald Trump at White House

Trump pushes conspiracy theories about Dem gains

President Donald Trump repeated his claim of victory in a press conference at the White House on Thursday evening, despite several states continuing to count the vote. Battleground states, including Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia have not been called for either candidate, but Trump claimed that his opponents were trying to 'steal the election' and made unsubstantiated allegations of widespread voter fraud.

Trump has spent a second day in the White House stewing over election results that suggest his path to victory is slipping away, even as his campaign projects confidence.

05:47 November 06

Trump team decries Pennsylvania vote count process

Trump team decries Pennsylvania vote count process

Pennsylvania had hundreds of thousands of ballots left to count Thursday, but the state's elections chief signaled the number was expected to dwindle rapidly as Democrat Joe Biden and President Donald Trump fought to the end for the White House.

Some of the state's most heavily populated locales, including Montgomery and Chester counties in the Philadelphia suburbs, reported finishing their tallies. The Trump campaign asked a federal judge to stop the count in Philadelphia itself, alleging city officials were depriving their observers of meaningful access. There was no immediate ruling.

05:03 November 06

STOP THE FRAUD!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 5, 2020 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="
STOP THE FRAUD!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 5, 2020
">
STOP THE FRAUD!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 5, 2020

Trump tweets his outrage in all caps as votes are counted

President Donald Trump spent a second day in the White House on Thursday stewing over election results that suggested a path to victory was slipping from his grasp, even as his campaign projected confidence.

Trump has not been seen in public since his premature declaration of victory in the wee hours of Wednesday morning, but the White House said that he would deliver “remarks” Thursday evening, The flurry of pronouncements flowing out of the White House ahead of the election has slowed to a trickle. And in the West Wing, some aides were eyeing returns warily and losing confidence that outstanding states would break Trump’s way.

05:03 November 06

Trump campaign's Nevada legal effort is over

A legal effort in Nevada by President Donald Trump's campaign and state Republicans to try to stop the count of mail ballots in Las Vegas is over.

A document submitted in an appeal pending before the state Supreme Court says the campaign, state GOP, Democrats and attorneys for the state have reached a settlement requiring Clark County election officials to supply “additional observation access” at a ballot processing facility in Las Vegas.

The state high court declined on Election Day to stop the count based on an appeal of a state judge’s decision not to stop processing mail ballots in Las Vegas and surrounding Clark County -- a Democratic stronghold in an otherwise red GOP state.

05:02 November 06

Election officials worried by threats and protesters

Election officials in several states said Thursday they are worried about the safety of their staffs amid a stream of threats and gatherings of angry protesters outside their doors, drawn by President Donald Trump’s baseless claims of widespread fraud in the race for the White House.

“I can tell you that my wife and my mother are very concerned for me,” said Joe Gloria, the registrar in Clark County, Nevada, which includes Las Vegas. He said his staff was bolstering security and tracking vehicles coming and going from the election offices.

But he added that he and others would not be stopped from "doing what our duty is and counting ballots.”

Groups of Trump supporters have gathered at vote tabulation sites in Phoenix, Detroit and Philadelphia, decrying counts that showed Democrat Joe Biden leading or gaining ground.

04:05 November 06

Counties with worst virus surges overwhelmingly voted Trump

U.S. voters went to the polls starkly divided on how they see President Donald Trump's response to the coronavirus pandemic, with a surprising twist: In places where the virus is most rampant now, Trump enjoyed enormous support.

An Associated Press analysis reveals that in 376 counties with the highest number of new cases per capita, the overwhelming majority — 93% of those counties — went for Trump, a rate above other less severely hit areas. Most were rural areas in Montana, the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa and Wisconsin.

03:44 November 06

Vote counting continues in Pennsylvania, Nevada

Vote counting continues in Pennsylvania, Nevada

Election officials in Pennsylvania and Nevada continued presidential vote counting on Thursday as key battleground states Georgia and North Carolina also await results.

Democrat Joe Biden is pushing closer to the 270 Electoral College votes needed to carry him to the White House, securing victories in the key states of Wisconsin and Michigan and narrowing President Donald Trump’s path.

03:38 November 06

Biden urges calm as votes continue to be counted

Biden urges calm as votes continue to be counted

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is urging Americans to remain calm as votes continue to be counted in the 2020 presidential election.

"It is the will of the voters, no one else, that chooses the president of the United States of America, " Biden said.

Biden expressed confidence that his team will be declared winners when the vote is complete.

"I ask all people to stay calm, the process is working, the count is being completed and we'll know very soon," he said.

Biden spoke at the Queen theater in Wilmington after receiving briefings, along with his running mate Kamala Harris, on COVID-19 and the economy.

03:29 November 06

"Count Every Vote" rally held in Philadelphia

"Count Every Vote" rally held in Philadelphia

Supporters of President Donald Trump on Thursday faced off with counter-demonstrators at a protest outside an election counting center in Philadelphia.

The protesters, many carrying signs and placards, were seen shouting and arguing at each other as votes in the poll between Trump and his Democratic challenger Joe Biden were being tallied nearby.

As the U.S. waits for the full results of the presidential election, some protesters have demanded that ballot counting be stopped, while others have taken to the streets to urge that every vote be counted.

Anti-Trump demonstrators demanding that officials “count every vote” took to the streets in Philadelphia but were met with the president supporters waving flags and wanting the count to stop.

03:09 November 06

Biden feels 'very good' about election outcome

Democrat Joe Biden says he feels “very good” about the outcome of the presidential election and is telling his supporters to “stay calm” as votes continue to be counted.

Biden delivered brief remarks Thursday at a theatre in downtown Wilmington, Delaware. He says, "It is the will of the voters — no one, not anyone else — who chooses the president of the United States of America.”

President Donald Trump’s campaign has pursued legal efforts to halt the vote-counting in some states and is seeking a recount in Wisconsin.

Biden says that “the process is working” and “we’ll know very soon” the outcome of the election. Biden and his top campaign officials have expressed confidence about the vote but have been careful to emphasize the need for every ballot to be counted.

02:14 November 06

Biden-Trump counting presses ahead 2 days after Election Day

Election officials in key battlegrounds pressed forward Thursday with presidential vote counting as Democrat Joe Biden urged patience and President Donald Trump pursued legal options, insisting the processing of ballots should be stopped.

The president spent Thursday at the White House, working the phones and escalating efforts to sow doubt about the outcome of the race. In a series of tweets, he pushed baseless allegations of electoral misconduct and said the ongoing vote count of ballots submitted before and on Election Day should cease. Trump followed up with an all-caps official campaign statement.

“IF YOU COUNT THE LEGAL VOTES, I EASILY WIN THE ELECTION! IF YOU COUNT THE ILLEGAL AND LATE VOTES, THEY CAN STEAL THE ELECTION FROM US!” he contended.

Biden, meanwhile, sought to project the appearance of a president, attending a COVID-19 briefing on Thursday. He offered reassurance that the vote counting process could be trusted.

“Be patient, folks. Votes are being counted, and we feel good about where we are,” Biden tweeted.

02:13 November 06

Postal Service told to sweep processing centers

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., has ordered the U.S. Postal Service to perform twice daily sweeps of processing centers in states with extended ballot receipt deadlines to check for mail-in votes and to expedite them for delivery.

Thursday's order will remain in place until the end of states’ windows for accepting ballots.

According to court records, a similar order by the same judge earlier this week found just 13 ballots in a search of 27 processing hubs in several battleground areas.

00:12 November 06

Michigan judge dismisses Trump campaign lawsuit

A Michigan judge has dismissed a lawsuit by President Donald Trump's campaign in a dispute over whether Republican challengers had access to the handling of absentee ballots.

Judge Cynthia Stephens noted that the lawsuit was filed late Wednesday afternoon, just hours before the last ballots were counted. She also said the defendant, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, was the wrong person to sue because she doesn’t control the logistics of local ballot counting, even if she is the state’s chief election officer.

00:00 November 06

More than a dozen arrested as protesters demand vote count

Police arrested dozens of people in Seattle, Minneapolis and Portland, Oregon overnight during protests demanding a tally of all votes in the US election, and smaller groups backing President Donald Trump returned to tabulation sites in closely contested states to insist counting be halted.

In Seattle, seven people were arrested. One person arrested for allegedly damaging property was taken to a hospital after “experiencing a medical episode,” police said in a statement early Thursday.

The protests came as the president insisted, without evidence, that there were major problems with voting and counting of ballots. Republicans filed suit in multiple states, preparing to contest election results.

In Minneapolis, police arrested more than 600 demonstrators who marched onto an interstate in Minneapolis Wednesday night protesting Trump’s threats to challenge the election results, as well as a variety of social injustices.

23:40 November 05

Biden pushes closer to victory as Trump presses legal moves

Democrat Joe Biden pushed closer Thursday to the 270 Electoral College votes he needed to win the White House, securing victories in the “blue wall” battlegrounds of Wisconsin and Michigan and narrowing President Donald Trump's path to reelection.

With just a handful of states still up for grabs, Trump tried to press his case in court in some key swing states. In spite of the aggressive Republican move, the flurry of court action did not seem obviously destined to impact the election’s outcome.

Two days after Election Day, neither candidate had amassed the votes needed to win the White House. But Biden’s victories in the Great Lakes states left him at 264, meaning he was one battleground state away — any would do — from becoming president-elect.

Trump, with 214 electoral votes, faced a much higher hurdle. To reach 270, he needed to claim all four remaining battlegrounds: Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia and Nevada.

23:39 November 05

Trump sues in 3 states, laying ground for contesting outcome

As Democrat Joe Biden inched closer to the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the White House, President Donald Trump’s campaign put into action the legal strategy the president had signalled for weeks: attacking the integrity of the voting process in states where the result could mean his defeat.

Democrats scoffed at the legal challenges the president’s campaign filed Wednesday in Pennsylvania and Michigan. Those largely demand better access for campaign observers to locations where ballots are being processed and counted.

Early Thursday, a separate Trump campaign lawsuit in Georgia over concerns about 53 absentee ballots was dismissed by a judge after county elections officials testified that all of those ballots had been received on time.

22:38 November 05

Georgia judge dismisses Trump campaign lawsuit

Georgia judge dismisses Trump campaign lawsuit

A judge in Georgia has dismissed a lawsuit by the state Republican Party and President Donald Trump's campaign that asked him to ensure a coastal county was following state laws on processing absentee ballots.

Chatham County Superior Court Judge James Bass did not provide an explanation for his decision on Thursday at the close of a roughly one-hour hearing. The county includes the heavily Democratic city of Savannah.

The suit had raised concerns about 53 absentee ballots that poll observers said were not part of an original batch of ballots. County elections officials testified that all 53 ballots had been received on time.

22:08 November 05

'Biden closing gap on Trump's lead in Pennsylvania'

Addressing a live-streamed press conference, Joe Biden's campaign manager Jen O'Malley Dillon said that the Democratic presidential candidate was closing in on the lead of US President Donald Trump in the crucial swing state of Pennsylvania. She also said that while Georgia is a "toss-up" and is a "very very close" race, "the state is leaning towards the former vice president".

22:08 November 05

'Prez asking for voting counts to stop is unprecedented'

David McAllister, a Member of the European Parliament said that the US president asking for some voting counts to stop is unprecedented. He has stressed that it is important that "all votes count and that means that all votes will be counted" in the US election.

He urged "all parties accept the result and that there will be no further turbulences" once the process is complete.

22:08 November 05

Trump supporters protest in Philadelphia

Trump supporters protest in Philadelphia

Supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump gathered outside the Pennsylvania Convention Center in downtown Philadelphia on Thursday, demanding access to vote counting centres.

The gathering comes after statements by President Trump which said he wanted a halt to vote counting.

Trump’s comments come as his campaign has filed legal action in several states to try to stop vote counting, claiming a lack of transparency.

21:38 November 05

Biden & Harris on the brink of history, Trump son-in-law hunts for lawyers

Seventeen electoral votes stand between Joe Biden/Kamala Harris and the White House. Or six electoral votes, depending on which version of the numbers you're following. Either way, the Biden-Harris ticket believes it is on the brink of defeating Donald Trump and smashing through the 270 barrier to win the White House.

As the Trump White House absorbs the grim maths, The New York Times is reporting that Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner spent Wednesday hunting for a "James Baker-like" figure -- the attorney who oversaw former President George W. Bush's successful 2000 presidential election recount in Florida, to lead Trump's "stop the count" lawsuit strategy.

21:37 November 05

Biden campaign to hold a presser

Joe Biden's campaign announced it will be holding a live-streamed press conference. Campaign manager Jen O'Malley Dillon and senior adviser Bob Bauer will provide an update on the state of the race, as votes continue to be counted.

21:15 November 05

Twitter flags another Trump's post

Twitter flags another Trump's post

Twitter flags another Trump's post

Twitter has flagged another tweet of President Donald Trump saying: "ANY VOTE THAT CAME IN AFTER ELECTION DAY WILL NOT BE COUNTED!"

Twitter flagged the post with a message: "Some or all content shared in this Tweet is disputed and might be misleading about an election or other civic process."

21:14 November 05

Demonstrators arrested in Seattle & Portland

Police in Seattle and Portland arrested more than a dozen people as hundreds took to the streets to demand a full count of all presidential election votes. Protesters also demanded a halt to President Donald Trump's court challenges to stop counts in some key battleground states.

20:09 November 05

STOP THE COUNT!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 5, 2020 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="
STOP THE COUNT!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 5, 2020
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STOP THE COUNT!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 5, 2020

Stop the count, tweets Trump

Donald Trump in a tweet said: 'STOP THE COUNT!', without giving any clarity on which state or states he wants to stop the counting.

His tweet came after Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden tweeted: “Every vote must be counted."

20:08 November 05

Trump campaign to make announcement in Las Vegas

US President Donald Trump's campaign has planned to make an announcement in Las Vegas. The news conference will feature former intelligence official Richard Grenell, former Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt, Chairman of the American Conservative Union Matt Schlapp and Nevada GOP Chair Michael McDonald, the statement said.

20:08 November 05

No evidence for Trump's fraud claims: Election observer

The head of an international delegation monitoring the US election says his team has no evidence to support President Donald Trump's claims about alleged fraud involving mail-in absentee ballots.

20:08 November 05

Republicans will sue Nevada claiming 'voter fraud'

The Republican Party of Nevada has confirmed that they are planning to file a lawsuit in Nevada, claiming that around 10,000 votes were cast by people who no longer live in the state. They are also requesting a recount in a fifth state - Wisconsin.

20:08 November 05

Philadelphia to release updated count

Philadelphia City Commissioners is expected to give an update on the ongoing mail-in ballot count soon.

Trump's lead in the swing state of Pennsylvania, which he won in 2016, has been falling as more postal votes are tallied.

19:36 November 05

Trump moves Michigan court to stop vote count

US President Donald Trump has filed a complaint petition in the Court of Claims in Michigan State in the United State seeking a mandate from the court to Secretary Jocelyn Benson to order all counting and processing of absentee votes cease immediately.

The complaint filed by President Trump seeks immediate declaratory and injunctive relief.

The prayer of relief moved by Michigan citizens has asked the Court to order a "speedy hearing" of this action and "advance it on the calendar".

19:36 November 05

Police in NY arrest around 60 people during post-election protests

Peaceful protests in Manhattan in the wake of the US presidential election grew into clashes with law enforcement and scattered acts of arson, resulting in around 60 arrests.

People were arrested over attempts to "hijack a peaceful protest by lighting fires, throwing garbage and eggs in Manhattan." Few weapons were also confiscated during the protest, including knives, a taser and an M-80 explosive device.

19:31 November 05

Dems trying to 'cheat' in PA: Eric Trump

Dems trying to 'cheat' in PA: Eric Trump

Donald Trump's son, Eric Trump claimed the ballot-counting process in Philadelphia was a "fraud" which made a "mockery of the election."

He was speaking at a news conference in Pennsylvania alongside Rudy Giuliani and Lara Trump, who was also protesting against the process.

With only 87 per cent of the vote counted in the state of Pennsylvania, Eric Trump said the process was a "cheat'" and confirmed the family would be filing a lawsuit.

19:30 November 05

19:19 November 05

Every vote must be counted. pic.twitter.com/kWLGRfeePK
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) November 5, 2020 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="
Every vote must be counted. pic.twitter.com/kWLGRfeePK
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) November 5, 2020
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Every vote must be counted. pic.twitter.com/kWLGRfeePK
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) November 5, 2020

Every vote must be counted, tweets Biden

As several battleground states continue to count votes and margins remain at a knife-edge, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden tweeted: “Every vote must be counted." The tweet included a short video showing people who supported Biden and voted in his favour.

18:50 November 05

Fulton County election director says count incomplete

Fulton County election director says count incomplete

There were 10-thousand ballots left to count in Fulton County as of Thursday morning, election director Richard Barron told reporters in Atlanta.

The US state of Georgia is one of a handful of states still yet to be declared following the polling day on Tuesday.

There was a narrow margin between Trump and Biden in Georgia, a close race in a state that has not backed a Democrat for president since 1992.

Unlike in previous years, states were contending with an avalanche of mail ballots driven by the global pandemic.

18:50 November 05

Election officials wary of possible cyber threat

Fearing a repetition of 2016 when the US became a victim of Russian interference, the American election officials are on high alert this year.

According to a report, the election officials are cautiously declaring victory after no reports of major cyber incidents on Election Day.

The election officials at all levels of government have been hyper-focused on the security of the voting process.

17:04 November 05

Vote counting continues in Georgia

Biden narrows gap with Trump in Georgia: Reports

As per reports, Joe Biden steadily gained ground on President Donald Trump in Georgia as he narrowed the gap with Donald Trump to 18,500 votes. The victor will be awarded 16 electoral votes.

Vote counting continued in Atlanta, Georgia, on Thursday, one of a handful of states still yet to be declared following the polling day on Tuesday.

There was a narrow margin between Trump and Biden in Georgia, a close race in a state that has not backed a Democrat for president since 1992. There is no automatic recount, but a candidate can request one if the margin is within 0.5%.

Unlike in previous years, states were contending with an avalanche of mail ballots driven by the global pandemic.

Every election, what’s reported on election night are unofficial results, and the counting of votes extends past Election Day, so in 2020 with so many mail ballots and close races in key states, counting every vote was expected to take more time.

16:40 November 05

Biden narrows lead in Pennsylvania

Biden is also reducing the gap between him and Trump in Pennsylvania, with only about 150,000 behind. Nearly 89 per cent of the votes have been counted and experts say Biden could easily win the state as per latest trends.

This is the result of the counting of the postal ballots in Pennsylvania, which the Trump camp has decried as being not just unreliable, but also "a fraud on the nation".

16:40 November 05

Nevada voting system ‘pretty impenetrable’ to legal challenges: AG

As vote counting in Nevada continues, the result is still on a knife-edge.

The Trump campaign has filed legal action in several states, alleging irregularities but Nevada’s Attorney General Aaron Ford says the state is not concerned about any cases that might come it's way as its voting system is “pretty impenetrable when it comes to a legal challenge."

He claimed that the state had conducted a “free, safe and secure election”.

“We knew the process would take some time but the process is working,” he added.

16:01 November 05

Biden's lead narrows in Arizona

The race for the White House is still too close to call as contests tighten in the battleground states of Georgia, Arizona and Pennsylvania.

Maricopa County, the most populous county in Arizona, has released the second of two sets of new votes promised Wednesday night – shrinking Joe Biden's lead in the county by just over 10,000 votes.

Updated vote totals released by Maricopa County show Biden with 912,585 votes and Trump with 838,071.

Biden currently has 1,469,341 votes statewide, and Trump has 1,400,951.

16:01 November 05

Indian-origin millionaire Thanedar elected to Michigan state legislature

Shri Thanedar, an Indian-origin millionaire businessman who ran for Governor two years ago, has been elected to the House of Representatives in Michigan with 93 per cent votes. Thanedar (65) also a scientist, raised a record-breaking USD 438,620, primarily from his wealth, in the state House primary against six other opponents of the Democratic Party.

15:35 November 05

Oregon deploys National Guard in Portland to control post-election riots

To deal with the riots in wake of the Presidential Elections in downtown Portland, authorities in Oregon decided to send units of the National Guard to the city to assist law enforcement officers, said Multnomah county sheriff's office on Wednesday.

Earlier in the day, Portland police declared mass gatherings in downtown Portland riots. One group of protesters reportedly began smashing shop windows and throwing objects at law enforcement officers. At least 10 people have been detained in the city.

15:27 November 05

US House sees largest group of openly LGBTQ candidates elected

The Democratic-led US House of Representatives witnessed the largest and most diverse group of openly LGBTQ candidates being elected and re-election to Congress in the recently concluded election.

The LGBTQ Victory Fund, a national organization that works to increase the number of openly LGBTQ elected officials in government, confirmed that nine candidates of the community have won, reports The Hill news website.

Of the nine, seven are in the House and two in the Senate, it added.

15:26 November 05

Trump supporters protest outside Arizona election centre

A group of supporters of President Donald Trump gathered at the Arizona Capitol and Maricopa County elections centres in Phoenix demanding election workers to keep counting ballots.

With 86 per cent of the state reporting, Trump trailed Biden by just shy of 80,000 votes, according to the New York Times.

As counting of ballots is underway and the result of the US Presidential election is awaited, protestors took to the streets in the cities across America.

12:27 November 05

Poll count tensions rise

The protests came as the president insisted without evidence that there were major problems with the voting and the ballot counting, especially with mail-in votes, and as Republicans filed suit in various states over the election.

Protesters in Phoenix chanted 'Stop the steal!'

Wearing Trump gear, the Phoenix protesters filled much of the parking lot at the Maricopa County election centre, and members of the crowd chanted, 'Fox News sucks!' in anger over the network declaring Joe Biden the winner in Arizona.

However, observers from both major political parties were inside the election centre as ballots were processed and counted, and the procedure was live-streamed online at all times.

Meanwhile, from New York City to Seattle, thousands of demonstrators turned out to demand that every vote be tallied.

In Portland, Oregon, which has been a scene of regular protests for months, Gov. Kate Brown called out the National Guard as demonstrators engaged in what authorities said was widespread violence downtown, including smashing windows. Protesters in Portland were demonstrating about a range of issues, including police brutality and the counting of the vote.

12:04 November 05

Pennsylvania disregarded Trump's call

Pennsylvania is among a handful of battleground states where Trump and Biden are narrowly contesting as they seek the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency.

Pennsylvania governor defied Trump's campaign call to stop the vote count and said that the count will continue.

Voters turned out in large numbers for an election that produced few of the glitches some had feared.

10:58 November 05

Arizona

Arizona vote count

As states across the US release vote totals for the presidential election, some social media users are falsely claiming that ballots are being invalidated in Arizona. The supposed culprit: Sharpie markers.

In what's come to be known as #Sharpiegate, social media posts suggest that election officials in Maricopa County provided voters with Sharpie pens, which interfered with ballots being recorded, specifically those for President Donald Trump.

Supporters of US President Donald Trump rallied in Phoenix as outstanding votes were counted on Wednesday after Democratic challenger Joe Biden was reported to have flipped the Republican stronghold of Arizona.

The protesters, some carrying US flags, chanted "We love Trump."

Votes were eliminated in Arizona because people were made to use Sharpie pens to mark their ballots. This caused the tabulation machine to cancel the vote. Social media posts circulated falsely suggesting that votes for Trump were cancelled because people were told to use Sharpies to fill out their ballots.

10:18 November 05

Security concerns

Election Day came and went without any overt signs of foreign interference affecting the vote, but that doesn’t mean the risk has faded.

A prolonged vote-tallying period in swing states raises the prospect of multiple security concerns, including foreign or domestic disinformation campaigns that could sow doubt in the process as well as actual digital manipulation of vote tabulation.

A persistent concern from election security officials is that foreign hackers could hack websites and post misleading disinformation on them — or create spoofed websites. Trump's campaign website was briefly hijacked last week by apparent cryptocurrency scammers who claimed to have incriminating evidence against him.

Website intruders could rattle voter confidence by publishing claims that hackers have gained access to secure election infrastructure, especially if they simultaneously were to produce fake results or other disinformation meant to intimidate or cause panic.

Officials have highlighted the threat in public service announcements from the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security's cybersecurity arm. The Justice Department in September charged two men with damaging multiple websites in apparent retaliation for the targeted US killing of Iran's top general months earlier.

Websites that report election results are also a target through “distributed denial of service attacks,” which make servers unreachable by flooding them with several hundred million requests per second. But normal heavy traffic can also make unprepared sites unreachable, adding to concerns of federal and local officials.

09:43 November 05

Joe Biden's Transition Website

Before the official conclusion of the 2020 presidential race, Democratic candidate Joe Biden's campaign has launched a transition website on Wednesday.

Biden's transition website - Build Back Better states: "The crises facing the country are severe - from a pandemic to an economic recession, climate change to racial injustice - and the transition team will continue preparing at full speed so that the Biden‑Harris Administration can hit the ground running on Day One."

Both Trump and Biden are tied up in a tight battle but both candidates say they're expecting to be victorious. Both the candidates are looking forward to scripting American history and want the race to favour them.

08:09 November 05

Joe Biden's tweet

Joe Biden's tweet

Paris Climate Agreement

Democratic candidate Joe Biden promises to rejoin Paris Climate Agreement in 77 days. Biden is leading the 2020 US presidential race with 243 electoral votes.

07:57 November 05

Trump's legal battle in several states, Biden inches closer to victory

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his running mate Senator Kamala Harris of Indian origin inched closer to the magic figure of 270 Electoral College votes, even as incumbent Republican President Donald Trump moved ahead with his plan to mount a massive legal battle.

Biden is falling short of six to 17 Electoral College votes, according to the projections made by various media outlets. Trump's count for the Electoral College votes stood at 214, with his path to victory getting narrower.

By late Wednesday, Trump claimed victory in the battleground states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, North Carolina and Georgia.

"We have claimed, for Electoral Vote purposes, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (which won't allow legal observers), the State of Georgia and the State of North Carolina, each one of which has a BIG Trump lead. Additionally, we hereby claim the State of Michigan if, in fact ... there was a large number of secretly dumped ballots as has been widely reported!" the president said in a series of tweets.

"Our lawyers have asked for 'meaningful access', but what good does that do? The damage has already been done to the integrity of our system, and to the Presidential Election itself. This is what should be discussed!" he said in another tweet.

07:10 November 05

US President Donald Trump sues in 3 states

President Donald Trump’s campaign filed lawsuits on Wednesday in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Georgia, laying the groundwork for contesting battleground states as he slipped behind Democrat Joe Biden in the hunt for the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the White House.

The new filings, joining existing Republican legal challenges in Pennsylvania and Nevada, demand better access for campaign observers to locations where ballots are being processed and counted, and absentee ballot concerns, the campaign said.

The Trump campaign also is seeking to intervene in a Pennsylvania case at the Supreme Court that deals with whether ballots received up to three days after the election can be counted, deputy campaign manager Justin Clark said.

07:02 November 05

Georgia

Georgia in the spotlight

In Georgia, election officials in Fulton County _ home to Atlanta and the largest trove of Democratic voters in the state _ planned to keep counting roughly 36,000 remaining absentee ballots late into Wednesday night or even into Thursday morning.

"We're going to finish tonight. As long as it takes, we're going to be here," Rick Barron, Fulton County's election supervisor, told reporters. He estimated finishing could take until midnight or later.

At least three Georgia counties with ballots still uncounted _ Cobb, Clayton and Gwinnett counties in suburban metro Atlanta _ were stopping for the night and planned to resume Thursday.

06:51 November 05

Philadelphia

Protest in Philadelphia

Demonstrators took the streets of Philadelphia Wednesday night, demanding that all votes be counted for the election. People marched through the city's streets holding signs reading 'Count Every Vote'. The outcome of the hard-fought contest for the presidency remained undecided on Wednesday, stirring worries that prolonged uncertainty could yet spark conflict.

For all election updates from November 03: US Election 2020: Early results give Biden 44, Trump 26 electoral votes

06:28 November 05

US Election updates: Biden urges calm as votes continue to be counted

New York: Donald Trump suffered two back to back blows losing must-win Michigan and Wisconsin to rival Joe Biden who has pulled ahead to the 243 mark in the electoral vote count.

Earlier dozens of supporters of President Donald Trump chanted 'Stop the count!' descended on a ballot-tallying centre in Detroit, while thousands of anti-Trump protesters demanding a complete vote count in the still-undecided presidential contest took to the streets in cities across the US.

The US 2020 election winner needs 270 and Trump is trailing at 214 at 4:30 pm EST (3 am IST).

Both Wisconsin and Michigan went to Trump four years ago with razor-thin margins. Both were flips for Trump that year, stunning even the Republicans.

The latest results mean that Biden has a road to victory without Pennsylvania, long considered a decisive state in a closely fought election.

The Democrats have been singularly focused on a path to the White House through the upper midwest states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

Biden has been advising calm and patience since election night, repeatedly saying "we feel good about where we are".

Inside the White House West Wing, frustration is growing and so is the fatigue with the all in legal strategy.

Amid the dominos falling so quickly, the Donald Trump campaign is going 360 degrees legal in Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Nevada -- all over how mail-in ballots are being processed.

For all election updates from November 03: US Election 2020 LIVE: Biden 'confident' he will win as votes are counted

05:57 November 06

President Donald Trump at White House

Trump pushes conspiracy theories about Dem gains

President Donald Trump repeated his claim of victory in a press conference at the White House on Thursday evening, despite several states continuing to count the vote. Battleground states, including Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia have not been called for either candidate, but Trump claimed that his opponents were trying to 'steal the election' and made unsubstantiated allegations of widespread voter fraud.

Trump has spent a second day in the White House stewing over election results that suggest his path to victory is slipping away, even as his campaign projects confidence.

05:47 November 06

Trump team decries Pennsylvania vote count process

Trump team decries Pennsylvania vote count process

Pennsylvania had hundreds of thousands of ballots left to count Thursday, but the state's elections chief signaled the number was expected to dwindle rapidly as Democrat Joe Biden and President Donald Trump fought to the end for the White House.

Some of the state's most heavily populated locales, including Montgomery and Chester counties in the Philadelphia suburbs, reported finishing their tallies. The Trump campaign asked a federal judge to stop the count in Philadelphia itself, alleging city officials were depriving their observers of meaningful access. There was no immediate ruling.

05:03 November 06

STOP THE FRAUD!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 5, 2020 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="
STOP THE FRAUD!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 5, 2020
">
STOP THE FRAUD!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 5, 2020

Trump tweets his outrage in all caps as votes are counted

President Donald Trump spent a second day in the White House on Thursday stewing over election results that suggested a path to victory was slipping from his grasp, even as his campaign projected confidence.

Trump has not been seen in public since his premature declaration of victory in the wee hours of Wednesday morning, but the White House said that he would deliver “remarks” Thursday evening, The flurry of pronouncements flowing out of the White House ahead of the election has slowed to a trickle. And in the West Wing, some aides were eyeing returns warily and losing confidence that outstanding states would break Trump’s way.

05:03 November 06

Trump campaign's Nevada legal effort is over

A legal effort in Nevada by President Donald Trump's campaign and state Republicans to try to stop the count of mail ballots in Las Vegas is over.

A document submitted in an appeal pending before the state Supreme Court says the campaign, state GOP, Democrats and attorneys for the state have reached a settlement requiring Clark County election officials to supply “additional observation access” at a ballot processing facility in Las Vegas.

The state high court declined on Election Day to stop the count based on an appeal of a state judge’s decision not to stop processing mail ballots in Las Vegas and surrounding Clark County -- a Democratic stronghold in an otherwise red GOP state.

05:02 November 06

Election officials worried by threats and protesters

Election officials in several states said Thursday they are worried about the safety of their staffs amid a stream of threats and gatherings of angry protesters outside their doors, drawn by President Donald Trump’s baseless claims of widespread fraud in the race for the White House.

“I can tell you that my wife and my mother are very concerned for me,” said Joe Gloria, the registrar in Clark County, Nevada, which includes Las Vegas. He said his staff was bolstering security and tracking vehicles coming and going from the election offices.

But he added that he and others would not be stopped from "doing what our duty is and counting ballots.”

Groups of Trump supporters have gathered at vote tabulation sites in Phoenix, Detroit and Philadelphia, decrying counts that showed Democrat Joe Biden leading or gaining ground.

04:05 November 06

Counties with worst virus surges overwhelmingly voted Trump

U.S. voters went to the polls starkly divided on how they see President Donald Trump's response to the coronavirus pandemic, with a surprising twist: In places where the virus is most rampant now, Trump enjoyed enormous support.

An Associated Press analysis reveals that in 376 counties with the highest number of new cases per capita, the overwhelming majority — 93% of those counties — went for Trump, a rate above other less severely hit areas. Most were rural areas in Montana, the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa and Wisconsin.

03:44 November 06

Vote counting continues in Pennsylvania, Nevada

Vote counting continues in Pennsylvania, Nevada

Election officials in Pennsylvania and Nevada continued presidential vote counting on Thursday as key battleground states Georgia and North Carolina also await results.

Democrat Joe Biden is pushing closer to the 270 Electoral College votes needed to carry him to the White House, securing victories in the key states of Wisconsin and Michigan and narrowing President Donald Trump’s path.

03:38 November 06

Biden urges calm as votes continue to be counted

Biden urges calm as votes continue to be counted

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is urging Americans to remain calm as votes continue to be counted in the 2020 presidential election.

"It is the will of the voters, no one else, that chooses the president of the United States of America, " Biden said.

Biden expressed confidence that his team will be declared winners when the vote is complete.

"I ask all people to stay calm, the process is working, the count is being completed and we'll know very soon," he said.

Biden spoke at the Queen theater in Wilmington after receiving briefings, along with his running mate Kamala Harris, on COVID-19 and the economy.

03:29 November 06

"Count Every Vote" rally held in Philadelphia

"Count Every Vote" rally held in Philadelphia

Supporters of President Donald Trump on Thursday faced off with counter-demonstrators at a protest outside an election counting center in Philadelphia.

The protesters, many carrying signs and placards, were seen shouting and arguing at each other as votes in the poll between Trump and his Democratic challenger Joe Biden were being tallied nearby.

As the U.S. waits for the full results of the presidential election, some protesters have demanded that ballot counting be stopped, while others have taken to the streets to urge that every vote be counted.

Anti-Trump demonstrators demanding that officials “count every vote” took to the streets in Philadelphia but were met with the president supporters waving flags and wanting the count to stop.

03:09 November 06

Biden feels 'very good' about election outcome

Democrat Joe Biden says he feels “very good” about the outcome of the presidential election and is telling his supporters to “stay calm” as votes continue to be counted.

Biden delivered brief remarks Thursday at a theatre in downtown Wilmington, Delaware. He says, "It is the will of the voters — no one, not anyone else — who chooses the president of the United States of America.”

President Donald Trump’s campaign has pursued legal efforts to halt the vote-counting in some states and is seeking a recount in Wisconsin.

Biden says that “the process is working” and “we’ll know very soon” the outcome of the election. Biden and his top campaign officials have expressed confidence about the vote but have been careful to emphasize the need for every ballot to be counted.

02:14 November 06

Biden-Trump counting presses ahead 2 days after Election Day

Election officials in key battlegrounds pressed forward Thursday with presidential vote counting as Democrat Joe Biden urged patience and President Donald Trump pursued legal options, insisting the processing of ballots should be stopped.

The president spent Thursday at the White House, working the phones and escalating efforts to sow doubt about the outcome of the race. In a series of tweets, he pushed baseless allegations of electoral misconduct and said the ongoing vote count of ballots submitted before and on Election Day should cease. Trump followed up with an all-caps official campaign statement.

“IF YOU COUNT THE LEGAL VOTES, I EASILY WIN THE ELECTION! IF YOU COUNT THE ILLEGAL AND LATE VOTES, THEY CAN STEAL THE ELECTION FROM US!” he contended.

Biden, meanwhile, sought to project the appearance of a president, attending a COVID-19 briefing on Thursday. He offered reassurance that the vote counting process could be trusted.

“Be patient, folks. Votes are being counted, and we feel good about where we are,” Biden tweeted.

02:13 November 06

Postal Service told to sweep processing centers

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., has ordered the U.S. Postal Service to perform twice daily sweeps of processing centers in states with extended ballot receipt deadlines to check for mail-in votes and to expedite them for delivery.

Thursday's order will remain in place until the end of states’ windows for accepting ballots.

According to court records, a similar order by the same judge earlier this week found just 13 ballots in a search of 27 processing hubs in several battleground areas.

00:12 November 06

Michigan judge dismisses Trump campaign lawsuit

A Michigan judge has dismissed a lawsuit by President Donald Trump's campaign in a dispute over whether Republican challengers had access to the handling of absentee ballots.

Judge Cynthia Stephens noted that the lawsuit was filed late Wednesday afternoon, just hours before the last ballots were counted. She also said the defendant, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, was the wrong person to sue because she doesn’t control the logistics of local ballot counting, even if she is the state’s chief election officer.

00:00 November 06

More than a dozen arrested as protesters demand vote count

Police arrested dozens of people in Seattle, Minneapolis and Portland, Oregon overnight during protests demanding a tally of all votes in the US election, and smaller groups backing President Donald Trump returned to tabulation sites in closely contested states to insist counting be halted.

In Seattle, seven people were arrested. One person arrested for allegedly damaging property was taken to a hospital after “experiencing a medical episode,” police said in a statement early Thursday.

The protests came as the president insisted, without evidence, that there were major problems with voting and counting of ballots. Republicans filed suit in multiple states, preparing to contest election results.

In Minneapolis, police arrested more than 600 demonstrators who marched onto an interstate in Minneapolis Wednesday night protesting Trump’s threats to challenge the election results, as well as a variety of social injustices.

23:40 November 05

Biden pushes closer to victory as Trump presses legal moves

Democrat Joe Biden pushed closer Thursday to the 270 Electoral College votes he needed to win the White House, securing victories in the “blue wall” battlegrounds of Wisconsin and Michigan and narrowing President Donald Trump's path to reelection.

With just a handful of states still up for grabs, Trump tried to press his case in court in some key swing states. In spite of the aggressive Republican move, the flurry of court action did not seem obviously destined to impact the election’s outcome.

Two days after Election Day, neither candidate had amassed the votes needed to win the White House. But Biden’s victories in the Great Lakes states left him at 264, meaning he was one battleground state away — any would do — from becoming president-elect.

Trump, with 214 electoral votes, faced a much higher hurdle. To reach 270, he needed to claim all four remaining battlegrounds: Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia and Nevada.

23:39 November 05

Trump sues in 3 states, laying ground for contesting outcome

As Democrat Joe Biden inched closer to the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the White House, President Donald Trump’s campaign put into action the legal strategy the president had signalled for weeks: attacking the integrity of the voting process in states where the result could mean his defeat.

Democrats scoffed at the legal challenges the president’s campaign filed Wednesday in Pennsylvania and Michigan. Those largely demand better access for campaign observers to locations where ballots are being processed and counted.

Early Thursday, a separate Trump campaign lawsuit in Georgia over concerns about 53 absentee ballots was dismissed by a judge after county elections officials testified that all of those ballots had been received on time.

22:38 November 05

Georgia judge dismisses Trump campaign lawsuit

Georgia judge dismisses Trump campaign lawsuit

A judge in Georgia has dismissed a lawsuit by the state Republican Party and President Donald Trump's campaign that asked him to ensure a coastal county was following state laws on processing absentee ballots.

Chatham County Superior Court Judge James Bass did not provide an explanation for his decision on Thursday at the close of a roughly one-hour hearing. The county includes the heavily Democratic city of Savannah.

The suit had raised concerns about 53 absentee ballots that poll observers said were not part of an original batch of ballots. County elections officials testified that all 53 ballots had been received on time.

22:08 November 05

'Biden closing gap on Trump's lead in Pennsylvania'

Addressing a live-streamed press conference, Joe Biden's campaign manager Jen O'Malley Dillon said that the Democratic presidential candidate was closing in on the lead of US President Donald Trump in the crucial swing state of Pennsylvania. She also said that while Georgia is a "toss-up" and is a "very very close" race, "the state is leaning towards the former vice president".

22:08 November 05

'Prez asking for voting counts to stop is unprecedented'

David McAllister, a Member of the European Parliament said that the US president asking for some voting counts to stop is unprecedented. He has stressed that it is important that "all votes count and that means that all votes will be counted" in the US election.

He urged "all parties accept the result and that there will be no further turbulences" once the process is complete.

22:08 November 05

Trump supporters protest in Philadelphia

Trump supporters protest in Philadelphia

Supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump gathered outside the Pennsylvania Convention Center in downtown Philadelphia on Thursday, demanding access to vote counting centres.

The gathering comes after statements by President Trump which said he wanted a halt to vote counting.

Trump’s comments come as his campaign has filed legal action in several states to try to stop vote counting, claiming a lack of transparency.

21:38 November 05

Biden & Harris on the brink of history, Trump son-in-law hunts for lawyers

Seventeen electoral votes stand between Joe Biden/Kamala Harris and the White House. Or six electoral votes, depending on which version of the numbers you're following. Either way, the Biden-Harris ticket believes it is on the brink of defeating Donald Trump and smashing through the 270 barrier to win the White House.

As the Trump White House absorbs the grim maths, The New York Times is reporting that Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner spent Wednesday hunting for a "James Baker-like" figure -- the attorney who oversaw former President George W. Bush's successful 2000 presidential election recount in Florida, to lead Trump's "stop the count" lawsuit strategy.

21:37 November 05

Biden campaign to hold a presser

Joe Biden's campaign announced it will be holding a live-streamed press conference. Campaign manager Jen O'Malley Dillon and senior adviser Bob Bauer will provide an update on the state of the race, as votes continue to be counted.

21:15 November 05

Twitter flags another Trump's post

Twitter flags another Trump's post

Twitter flags another Trump's post

Twitter has flagged another tweet of President Donald Trump saying: "ANY VOTE THAT CAME IN AFTER ELECTION DAY WILL NOT BE COUNTED!"

Twitter flagged the post with a message: "Some or all content shared in this Tweet is disputed and might be misleading about an election or other civic process."

21:14 November 05

Demonstrators arrested in Seattle & Portland

Police in Seattle and Portland arrested more than a dozen people as hundreds took to the streets to demand a full count of all presidential election votes. Protesters also demanded a halt to President Donald Trump's court challenges to stop counts in some key battleground states.

20:09 November 05

STOP THE COUNT!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 5, 2020 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="
STOP THE COUNT!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 5, 2020
">
STOP THE COUNT!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 5, 2020

Stop the count, tweets Trump

Donald Trump in a tweet said: 'STOP THE COUNT!', without giving any clarity on which state or states he wants to stop the counting.

His tweet came after Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden tweeted: “Every vote must be counted."

20:08 November 05

Trump campaign to make announcement in Las Vegas

US President Donald Trump's campaign has planned to make an announcement in Las Vegas. The news conference will feature former intelligence official Richard Grenell, former Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt, Chairman of the American Conservative Union Matt Schlapp and Nevada GOP Chair Michael McDonald, the statement said.

20:08 November 05

No evidence for Trump's fraud claims: Election observer

The head of an international delegation monitoring the US election says his team has no evidence to support President Donald Trump's claims about alleged fraud involving mail-in absentee ballots.

20:08 November 05

Republicans will sue Nevada claiming 'voter fraud'

The Republican Party of Nevada has confirmed that they are planning to file a lawsuit in Nevada, claiming that around 10,000 votes were cast by people who no longer live in the state. They are also requesting a recount in a fifth state - Wisconsin.

20:08 November 05

Philadelphia to release updated count

Philadelphia City Commissioners is expected to give an update on the ongoing mail-in ballot count soon.

Trump's lead in the swing state of Pennsylvania, which he won in 2016, has been falling as more postal votes are tallied.

19:36 November 05

Trump moves Michigan court to stop vote count

US President Donald Trump has filed a complaint petition in the Court of Claims in Michigan State in the United State seeking a mandate from the court to Secretary Jocelyn Benson to order all counting and processing of absentee votes cease immediately.

The complaint filed by President Trump seeks immediate declaratory and injunctive relief.

The prayer of relief moved by Michigan citizens has asked the Court to order a "speedy hearing" of this action and "advance it on the calendar".

19:36 November 05

Police in NY arrest around 60 people during post-election protests

Peaceful protests in Manhattan in the wake of the US presidential election grew into clashes with law enforcement and scattered acts of arson, resulting in around 60 arrests.

People were arrested over attempts to "hijack a peaceful protest by lighting fires, throwing garbage and eggs in Manhattan." Few weapons were also confiscated during the protest, including knives, a taser and an M-80 explosive device.

19:31 November 05

Dems trying to 'cheat' in PA: Eric Trump

Dems trying to 'cheat' in PA: Eric Trump

Donald Trump's son, Eric Trump claimed the ballot-counting process in Philadelphia was a "fraud" which made a "mockery of the election."

He was speaking at a news conference in Pennsylvania alongside Rudy Giuliani and Lara Trump, who was also protesting against the process.

With only 87 per cent of the vote counted in the state of Pennsylvania, Eric Trump said the process was a "cheat'" and confirmed the family would be filing a lawsuit.

19:30 November 05

19:19 November 05

Every vote must be counted. pic.twitter.com/kWLGRfeePK
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) November 5, 2020 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="
Every vote must be counted. pic.twitter.com/kWLGRfeePK
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) November 5, 2020
">
Every vote must be counted. pic.twitter.com/kWLGRfeePK
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) November 5, 2020

Every vote must be counted, tweets Biden

As several battleground states continue to count votes and margins remain at a knife-edge, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden tweeted: “Every vote must be counted." The tweet included a short video showing people who supported Biden and voted in his favour.

18:50 November 05

Fulton County election director says count incomplete

Fulton County election director says count incomplete

There were 10-thousand ballots left to count in Fulton County as of Thursday morning, election director Richard Barron told reporters in Atlanta.

The US state of Georgia is one of a handful of states still yet to be declared following the polling day on Tuesday.

There was a narrow margin between Trump and Biden in Georgia, a close race in a state that has not backed a Democrat for president since 1992.

Unlike in previous years, states were contending with an avalanche of mail ballots driven by the global pandemic.

18:50 November 05

Election officials wary of possible cyber threat

Fearing a repetition of 2016 when the US became a victim of Russian interference, the American election officials are on high alert this year.

According to a report, the election officials are cautiously declaring victory after no reports of major cyber incidents on Election Day.

The election officials at all levels of government have been hyper-focused on the security of the voting process.

17:04 November 05

Vote counting continues in Georgia

Biden narrows gap with Trump in Georgia: Reports

As per reports, Joe Biden steadily gained ground on President Donald Trump in Georgia as he narrowed the gap with Donald Trump to 18,500 votes. The victor will be awarded 16 electoral votes.

Vote counting continued in Atlanta, Georgia, on Thursday, one of a handful of states still yet to be declared following the polling day on Tuesday.

There was a narrow margin between Trump and Biden in Georgia, a close race in a state that has not backed a Democrat for president since 1992. There is no automatic recount, but a candidate can request one if the margin is within 0.5%.

Unlike in previous years, states were contending with an avalanche of mail ballots driven by the global pandemic.

Every election, what’s reported on election night are unofficial results, and the counting of votes extends past Election Day, so in 2020 with so many mail ballots and close races in key states, counting every vote was expected to take more time.

16:40 November 05

Biden narrows lead in Pennsylvania

Biden is also reducing the gap between him and Trump in Pennsylvania, with only about 150,000 behind. Nearly 89 per cent of the votes have been counted and experts say Biden could easily win the state as per latest trends.

This is the result of the counting of the postal ballots in Pennsylvania, which the Trump camp has decried as being not just unreliable, but also "a fraud on the nation".

16:40 November 05

Nevada voting system ‘pretty impenetrable’ to legal challenges: AG

As vote counting in Nevada continues, the result is still on a knife-edge.

The Trump campaign has filed legal action in several states, alleging irregularities but Nevada’s Attorney General Aaron Ford says the state is not concerned about any cases that might come it's way as its voting system is “pretty impenetrable when it comes to a legal challenge."

He claimed that the state had conducted a “free, safe and secure election”.

“We knew the process would take some time but the process is working,” he added.

16:01 November 05

Biden's lead narrows in Arizona

The race for the White House is still too close to call as contests tighten in the battleground states of Georgia, Arizona and Pennsylvania.

Maricopa County, the most populous county in Arizona, has released the second of two sets of new votes promised Wednesday night – shrinking Joe Biden's lead in the county by just over 10,000 votes.

Updated vote totals released by Maricopa County show Biden with 912,585 votes and Trump with 838,071.

Biden currently has 1,469,341 votes statewide, and Trump has 1,400,951.

16:01 November 05

Indian-origin millionaire Thanedar elected to Michigan state legislature

Shri Thanedar, an Indian-origin millionaire businessman who ran for Governor two years ago, has been elected to the House of Representatives in Michigan with 93 per cent votes. Thanedar (65) also a scientist, raised a record-breaking USD 438,620, primarily from his wealth, in the state House primary against six other opponents of the Democratic Party.

15:35 November 05

Oregon deploys National Guard in Portland to control post-election riots

To deal with the riots in wake of the Presidential Elections in downtown Portland, authorities in Oregon decided to send units of the National Guard to the city to assist law enforcement officers, said Multnomah county sheriff's office on Wednesday.

Earlier in the day, Portland police declared mass gatherings in downtown Portland riots. One group of protesters reportedly began smashing shop windows and throwing objects at law enforcement officers. At least 10 people have been detained in the city.

15:27 November 05

US House sees largest group of openly LGBTQ candidates elected

The Democratic-led US House of Representatives witnessed the largest and most diverse group of openly LGBTQ candidates being elected and re-election to Congress in the recently concluded election.

The LGBTQ Victory Fund, a national organization that works to increase the number of openly LGBTQ elected officials in government, confirmed that nine candidates of the community have won, reports The Hill news website.

Of the nine, seven are in the House and two in the Senate, it added.

15:26 November 05

Trump supporters protest outside Arizona election centre

A group of supporters of President Donald Trump gathered at the Arizona Capitol and Maricopa County elections centres in Phoenix demanding election workers to keep counting ballots.

With 86 per cent of the state reporting, Trump trailed Biden by just shy of 80,000 votes, according to the New York Times.

As counting of ballots is underway and the result of the US Presidential election is awaited, protestors took to the streets in the cities across America.

12:27 November 05

Poll count tensions rise

The protests came as the president insisted without evidence that there were major problems with the voting and the ballot counting, especially with mail-in votes, and as Republicans filed suit in various states over the election.

Protesters in Phoenix chanted 'Stop the steal!'

Wearing Trump gear, the Phoenix protesters filled much of the parking lot at the Maricopa County election centre, and members of the crowd chanted, 'Fox News sucks!' in anger over the network declaring Joe Biden the winner in Arizona.

However, observers from both major political parties were inside the election centre as ballots were processed and counted, and the procedure was live-streamed online at all times.

Meanwhile, from New York City to Seattle, thousands of demonstrators turned out to demand that every vote be tallied.

In Portland, Oregon, which has been a scene of regular protests for months, Gov. Kate Brown called out the National Guard as demonstrators engaged in what authorities said was widespread violence downtown, including smashing windows. Protesters in Portland were demonstrating about a range of issues, including police brutality and the counting of the vote.

12:04 November 05

Pennsylvania disregarded Trump's call

Pennsylvania is among a handful of battleground states where Trump and Biden are narrowly contesting as they seek the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency.

Pennsylvania governor defied Trump's campaign call to stop the vote count and said that the count will continue.

Voters turned out in large numbers for an election that produced few of the glitches some had feared.

10:58 November 05

Arizona

Arizona vote count

As states across the US release vote totals for the presidential election, some social media users are falsely claiming that ballots are being invalidated in Arizona. The supposed culprit: Sharpie markers.

In what's come to be known as #Sharpiegate, social media posts suggest that election officials in Maricopa County provided voters with Sharpie pens, which interfered with ballots being recorded, specifically those for President Donald Trump.

Supporters of US President Donald Trump rallied in Phoenix as outstanding votes were counted on Wednesday after Democratic challenger Joe Biden was reported to have flipped the Republican stronghold of Arizona.

The protesters, some carrying US flags, chanted "We love Trump."

Votes were eliminated in Arizona because people were made to use Sharpie pens to mark their ballots. This caused the tabulation machine to cancel the vote. Social media posts circulated falsely suggesting that votes for Trump were cancelled because people were told to use Sharpies to fill out their ballots.

10:18 November 05

Security concerns

Election Day came and went without any overt signs of foreign interference affecting the vote, but that doesn’t mean the risk has faded.

A prolonged vote-tallying period in swing states raises the prospect of multiple security concerns, including foreign or domestic disinformation campaigns that could sow doubt in the process as well as actual digital manipulation of vote tabulation.

A persistent concern from election security officials is that foreign hackers could hack websites and post misleading disinformation on them — or create spoofed websites. Trump's campaign website was briefly hijacked last week by apparent cryptocurrency scammers who claimed to have incriminating evidence against him.

Website intruders could rattle voter confidence by publishing claims that hackers have gained access to secure election infrastructure, especially if they simultaneously were to produce fake results or other disinformation meant to intimidate or cause panic.

Officials have highlighted the threat in public service announcements from the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security's cybersecurity arm. The Justice Department in September charged two men with damaging multiple websites in apparent retaliation for the targeted US killing of Iran's top general months earlier.

Websites that report election results are also a target through “distributed denial of service attacks,” which make servers unreachable by flooding them with several hundred million requests per second. But normal heavy traffic can also make unprepared sites unreachable, adding to concerns of federal and local officials.

09:43 November 05

Joe Biden's Transition Website

Before the official conclusion of the 2020 presidential race, Democratic candidate Joe Biden's campaign has launched a transition website on Wednesday.

Biden's transition website - Build Back Better states: "The crises facing the country are severe - from a pandemic to an economic recession, climate change to racial injustice - and the transition team will continue preparing at full speed so that the Biden‑Harris Administration can hit the ground running on Day One."

Both Trump and Biden are tied up in a tight battle but both candidates say they're expecting to be victorious. Both the candidates are looking forward to scripting American history and want the race to favour them.

08:09 November 05

Joe Biden's tweet

Joe Biden's tweet

Paris Climate Agreement

Democratic candidate Joe Biden promises to rejoin Paris Climate Agreement in 77 days. Biden is leading the 2020 US presidential race with 243 electoral votes.

07:57 November 05

Trump's legal battle in several states, Biden inches closer to victory

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his running mate Senator Kamala Harris of Indian origin inched closer to the magic figure of 270 Electoral College votes, even as incumbent Republican President Donald Trump moved ahead with his plan to mount a massive legal battle.

Biden is falling short of six to 17 Electoral College votes, according to the projections made by various media outlets. Trump's count for the Electoral College votes stood at 214, with his path to victory getting narrower.

By late Wednesday, Trump claimed victory in the battleground states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, North Carolina and Georgia.

"We have claimed, for Electoral Vote purposes, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (which won't allow legal observers), the State of Georgia and the State of North Carolina, each one of which has a BIG Trump lead. Additionally, we hereby claim the State of Michigan if, in fact ... there was a large number of secretly dumped ballots as has been widely reported!" the president said in a series of tweets.

"Our lawyers have asked for 'meaningful access', but what good does that do? The damage has already been done to the integrity of our system, and to the Presidential Election itself. This is what should be discussed!" he said in another tweet.

07:10 November 05

US President Donald Trump sues in 3 states

President Donald Trump’s campaign filed lawsuits on Wednesday in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Georgia, laying the groundwork for contesting battleground states as he slipped behind Democrat Joe Biden in the hunt for the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the White House.

The new filings, joining existing Republican legal challenges in Pennsylvania and Nevada, demand better access for campaign observers to locations where ballots are being processed and counted, and absentee ballot concerns, the campaign said.

The Trump campaign also is seeking to intervene in a Pennsylvania case at the Supreme Court that deals with whether ballots received up to three days after the election can be counted, deputy campaign manager Justin Clark said.

07:02 November 05

Georgia

Georgia in the spotlight

In Georgia, election officials in Fulton County _ home to Atlanta and the largest trove of Democratic voters in the state _ planned to keep counting roughly 36,000 remaining absentee ballots late into Wednesday night or even into Thursday morning.

"We're going to finish tonight. As long as it takes, we're going to be here," Rick Barron, Fulton County's election supervisor, told reporters. He estimated finishing could take until midnight or later.

At least three Georgia counties with ballots still uncounted _ Cobb, Clayton and Gwinnett counties in suburban metro Atlanta _ were stopping for the night and planned to resume Thursday.

06:51 November 05

Philadelphia

Protest in Philadelphia

Demonstrators took the streets of Philadelphia Wednesday night, demanding that all votes be counted for the election. People marched through the city's streets holding signs reading 'Count Every Vote'. The outcome of the hard-fought contest for the presidency remained undecided on Wednesday, stirring worries that prolonged uncertainty could yet spark conflict.

For all election updates from November 03: US Election 2020: Early results give Biden 44, Trump 26 electoral votes

06:28 November 05

US Election updates: Biden urges calm as votes continue to be counted

New York: Donald Trump suffered two back to back blows losing must-win Michigan and Wisconsin to rival Joe Biden who has pulled ahead to the 243 mark in the electoral vote count.

Earlier dozens of supporters of President Donald Trump chanted 'Stop the count!' descended on a ballot-tallying centre in Detroit, while thousands of anti-Trump protesters demanding a complete vote count in the still-undecided presidential contest took to the streets in cities across the US.

The US 2020 election winner needs 270 and Trump is trailing at 214 at 4:30 pm EST (3 am IST).

Both Wisconsin and Michigan went to Trump four years ago with razor-thin margins. Both were flips for Trump that year, stunning even the Republicans.

The latest results mean that Biden has a road to victory without Pennsylvania, long considered a decisive state in a closely fought election.

The Democrats have been singularly focused on a path to the White House through the upper midwest states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

Biden has been advising calm and patience since election night, repeatedly saying "we feel good about where we are".

Inside the White House West Wing, frustration is growing and so is the fatigue with the all in legal strategy.

Amid the dominos falling so quickly, the Donald Trump campaign is going 360 degrees legal in Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Nevada -- all over how mail-in ballots are being processed.

For all election updates from November 03: US Election 2020 LIVE: Biden 'confident' he will win as votes are counted

Last Updated : Nov 6, 2020, 7:55 AM IST

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