US Elections 2020: Joe Biden close to victory as his lead grows in Pennsylvania
Nov 07, 2020
Washington [US], November 7 : Democratic Presidential nominee Joe Biden closes in on victory in the high staked US Presidential elections as his lead over President Donald Trump is growing in the battleground state of Pennsylvania.
A new batch of votes from Allegheny County was counted and released tonight, widening Biden's lead over President Trump by 27,130 votes, according to a CNN tally. There are 20 electoral votes at play in the state.
Of the 9,288 votes counted, 7,300 were for Biden, and 1,875 were for Trump, Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald said.
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito's order for Pennsylvania election officials to put aside late-arriving ballots and count them separately is in line with previous guidance from the secretary of state.
"I think what Justice Alito's order does is ... preserve the status quo, the way things are now," said Republican elections lawyer Benjamin moments after the ruling tonight.
The ruling comes in a wake of a filing today from Pennsylvania Republicans who argued in court that not every county in the state was abiding by the secretary of state's guidance, which may not be legally binding.
As slow-moving counting of ballot proceeds, the chances of Trump to win the race falters. He needs 56 electoral college votes to reach the magic 270.
Seeing defeat at his doorstep, Donald Trump has cried foul of elections fraud and vowed to take the legal route.
Meanwhile, there are an estimated 124,500 outstanding ballots in Nevada, according to the secretary of state's office.
This number includes 58,000 mail ballots and 66,500 voter registration ballots to be counted -- 90 per cent of the ballots to be counted are in Clark County.
Voting took place on November 3 for the elections. While counting has been completed in many states, Alaska, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania are still counting ballots and winners have not been projected in those states.
Currently, Joe Biden is projected to have won 253 electoral votes and President Donald Trump 214. The race goes to the contender with 270 votes.
