Washington: After three days, America is still waiting for the results of the US presidential election, as is the rest of the world. The fight between Republican President Donald Trump and his Democratic rival Joe Biden is so close the media is holding back on making projections until the last votes are tallied.
Biden has collected 264 electoral votes, making him the favourite to become the next President. President Donald Trump, trailing in the results, has filed lawsuits in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Georgia.
Trump’s unfounded allegation of the election being stolen found no takers on cable news networks and social media with ABC, CBS and NBC all cutting away from President Donald Trump’s White House address.
At present, Biden has won 264 electoral college seats against Trumpās 214. He has garnered 50.5 per cent of the vote (7,31,47,934) while Trump has won 47.9 per cent, according to a tally by The Associated Press (AP.) The AP had earlier called Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin and New Hampshire for Biden, and Florida, Iowa, Ohio and Texas for Trump.
US courts have dismissed Trump campaign’s lawsuits in Michigan and Georgia related to alleged electoral malpractice. In Michigan, the campaign had sought to stop counting of absentee ballots, while in Georgia it had alleged that even improper ballots were being counted.
Michigan Court of Claims Judge Cynthia Stephens Thursday rejected the lawsuit, arguing that the Michigan Secretary of State is not involved with the local counting process. A formal order will be issued today.
Democracy is sometimes messy and requires a little patience, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has said as the counting of votes for the US election is taking longer than usual. Biden also urged Americans to stay calm and wait patiently while every vote is being counted. Biden needs just six electoral college votes to reach the magic figure of 270 and win the race to the White House, while President Donald Trump has 214 electoral college votes.