Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


As Americans Await Winner, Biden Overtakes Trump in Several Key Battleground
States

VOA News

   Democratic candidate Joe Biden has moved closer to claiming victory in
   the U.S. presidential election as updated vote counts erode President
   Donald Trump's leads in Georgia and Pennsylvania.

   Biden currently leads in the popular vote as well as the Electoral
   College count, 253-214, with a majority of 270 needed to claim the
   presidency for a four-year term.

   Vote counting is still under way in four states that will decide the
   election: Arizona and Nevada, where Biden is ahead; Pennsylvania, where
   Trump's early lead has, as of early Friday, decreased to 18,000 votes,
   and Georgia, where Biden has pulled ahead by 917 votes.

   IFRAME:
   [1]https://projects.voanews.com/us-election-map-2020/?lang=en&voa

   In the U.S. Electoral College system, the popular vote winner in each
   state -- with two exceptions, Maine and Nebraska -- receives all of
   that state's electoral votes, which are allocated on the basis of
   population.

   Meanwhile Trump, without evidence, Thursday accused Democrats of
   engineering massive fraud and irregularities to prevent him from
   winning reelection as president.

   "This is a case where they are trying to steal an election, they're
   trying to rig an election, and we can't let that happen," said Trump
   during a news conference.

   In contrast, Biden earlier in the day urged patience while states
   tabulate the record number of votes, more than 150 million, cast in
   this year's election.

   "Each ballot must be counted. And that's what we're going to see going
   through now. And that's how it should be. Democracy sometimes is
   messy," Biden said during a briefing.

   Counting under way

   If Biden holds his vote leads in Arizona, with its 11 electors, and
   Nevada with six, he will reach the 270 Electoral College majority and
   become the country's 46th president at his inauguration in January, no
   matter the outcome in Georgia and Pennsylvania.

   Trump needs to hold all the states he has been leading in and pick up
   either Nevada or Arizona, in each of which Biden is currently leading.

   In Pennsylvania and Georgia, Trump's lead shrank as the vote count
   continued. Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar said Thursday
   the remaining votes being counted are almost entirely mail-in ballots.
   So far those have significantly favored Biden.

References

   1. https://projects.voanews.com/us-election-map-2020/?lang=en&voa

.