  At Wednesday early morning, Biden in the Electoral College vote count 224, Trump electoral votes count 213. - VOA photo - |
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 Published Wednesday, November 4, 2020 The
U.S. Presidential Election:
vote counting continues By Ken Bredemeier Voice of America Journal The winner of the U.S. presidential election remained in doubt Wednesday, with the outcome hinging on a handful of states where a flood of mail-in ballots sparked by the coronavirus pandemic remained to be counted. President Donald Trump enjoyed substantial leads in most of those states, but the uncounted ballots were expected to favor challenger Joe Biden, whose supporters voted by mail in much larger numbers. Despite the uncertainty, Trump appeared before cameras at the White House early Wednesday to declare he believed he had won and said he would go to the Supreme Court to try to have the counting halted. “This is a major fraud on our nation,” Trump contended, adding, “As far as I’m concerned, I already have” won. Earlier, Biden addressed his own supporters in his home city of Wilmington, Delaware, to thank them and express confidence he would prevail. “Keep the faith guys, we’re going to win this,” Biden told cheering supporters near his home in Wilmington, Delaware, as they honked car horns. But as vote counting continued in several key states where he trailed Trump, Biden warned, “We’re going to have to be patient.” Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks to supporters, Nov. 4, 2020, in Wilmington, Del. From the White House, Trump tweeted, “We are up BIG, but they are trying to STEAL the Election.” Twitter flagged the post as containing information that is “disputed and might be misleading.” Later, in a speech to supporters, the president said Republican lawyers would seek a Supreme Court order to end vote counting in Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, states where Trump holds sizeable leads, even though Biden could conceivably overtake him when the remaining votes from Democratic strongholds are counted. Those are often ballots cast in large cities where Trump’s electoral support is weakest. Democrats were on track, as expected, to retain their majority control of the House of Representatives. But continued Republican control of the Senate was uncertain with the outcome of several Senate elections throughout the country undecided. By Tuesday night, Trump and Biden had both won states they were expected to win in their bid for a majority in the Electoral College that determines who wins the presidency in the country’s indirect form of democracy, not the national popular vote. But the outcome of contests in several states – North Carolina, Georgia and Pennsylvania in the eastern part of the country, Michigan and Wisconsin in the Midwest and Arizona in the Southwest -- were unsettled as officials counted millions of votes, some that were cast on Tuesday and many more during weeks of early voting. The national winner is determined by the outcome in each of the 50 states and the national capital city of Washington, with each state winner collecting all the state’s electoral votes except in two lightly populated states where the winners in individual congressional districts come into play. The most populous states have the most electoral votes and the most sway in the Electoral College. Editor's note: Wednesday early morning, Biden in the Electoral College vote count 224, Trump electoral votes count 213. A majority of 270 in the 538-member Electoral College needed to claim a new presidential term starting January 2021. ------------------------------ Who will be the next U.S. president? We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to news@amcostarica.com |
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