With electoral votes putting him ahead of US President Donald Trump, Democratic candidate Joe Biden Wednesday said he was optimistic of a win and thanked his supporters for their patience. At 11 am IST, Biden had 223 votes against Trump’s 145.
“Your patience is commendable. We knew this would go long, but who knew it would go till tomorrow morning, or even longer. We feel good about where we are, we really do… We are on track to win this election,” he said.
However, counting was still underway in key battleground states, results of which are crucial for both contenders. All eyes are on the swing states of Arizona, Iowa, Georgia, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and Wisconsin. A candidate needs 270 votes to win the presidency.
So far, Trump has won Alaska, Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, West Virginia, Wyoming, Indiana, South Carolina and Utah. Biden, meanwhile, has taken Democratic-leaning states like California, Colorado, Columbia, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Washington.
The US is heading for a historic election with the voter turnout indicating the largest participation in a century. According to the United States Election Project, in at least six states — Colorado, Hawaii, Montana, Oregon, Texas and Washington State — the turnout has been more than what we saw in the 2016 polls.
The latest tally of early voting in the US shows that almost 102 million Americans cast their votes before Election Day, an eyepopping total that represents 73 of the total turnout of the 2016 presidential election. Early voting — whether in person or by mail-in or absentee ballot — has swelled during the Covid-19 pandemic as voters have sought the safety and convenience it offers. The greatest gains have been witnessed in Kentucky where almost 13 times as many voters cast their ballots early as in 2016.
Earlier in the day, Americans were seen voting in large numbers in one of the most divisive bitter elections in decades in which incumbent Republican Donald Trump is challenged by Democrat Joe Biden. Some 239 million people are eligible to vote this year. The mail-in ballots could take days or weeks to be counted in some states, meaning a winner might not be declared in the hours after polls close on Tuesday local time. (Indian Express)