Record-breaking early voting tops 100 million as Joe Biden challenges Donald Trump

United States President Donald Trump held the vital battleground states of Florida, Ohio and Texas after driving up support among a surprise part of the electorate – Latino voters. Joe Biden, however, said he believes he will win the key states of Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Wisconsin.

With more than 100 million Americans casting a ballot before polling day, the stage was set for the highest participation rate in a century. “It ain’t over until every vote is counted,” Joe Biden said a little after half past midnight, stood on a stage in the US state of Delaware in front of a throng of supporters cheering and honking their car horns. But his campaign team, Mr Biden emphasised, is nothing but confident.

Victory is out of sight at the moment, but one way or another it will come into view. It was a pre-emptive strike, packaged in an air of much-needed optimism in a battle-scarred America. For weeks, there has been a general sense among the American political commentariat that this election would drag on.

The incumbent President, Donald Trump, is famous for his refusal to apologise, and his refusal to admit defeat in any aspect of his life. It is difficult to imagine any scenario in which he would cede victory to his opponent today. It was never going to be that easy.

Pennsylvania pauses vote counting for the night
As expected, Pennsylvania has paused its vote-counting efforts for the night and it will resume its tally on Wednesday, when the state hopes to finalise its results. But some have warned vote-counting in the pivotal state could take days.

In Georgia, poll workers are pulling an all-nighter to complete the counting of early votes.
Many of the remaining votes to be counted are from Fulton County, home to capital city Atlanta, in which Democrats believe they will have favourable results.

The state’s in-person votes will be counted later on Wednesday. In Wisconsin, vote-counting continues through the night with the state hoping to release numbers by early Wednesday morning.

With dozens of states already calling, US President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden are running neck and neck in key battlegrounds but the final results may not be announced for days.

The race to the White House is a nail-biter and numbers are too close to call in the deciding states to reach the 270 Electoral College votes. According to Fox News projections, Trump scored a critical win in the battleground state of Florida, while Biden was set to be the first Democrat to win Arizona since 1996.

The results are flowing in, with US media projecting wins for the Republican incumbent so far in 22 states including big prize Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee and Texas – all states Mr Trump won in 2016.

Mr Biden has captured 18 states including his home state, Delaware, and big prizes California and New York, as well as the US capital. As with Mr Trump, so far, in 2016 Democrat Hillary Clinton won all states claimed by Mr Biden.

President Donald Trump has won four of Nebraska’s five electoral votes, while Democrat Joe Biden has won one electoral vote from the state. The 1st Congressional District was called for Mr Trump early on Wednesday. He also won the 3rd Congressional District earlier, as well as the state-wide vote.

Trump has one electoral vote for each congressional district, plus two electoral votes for winning the state-wide vote.

Biden’s win in the 2nd Congressional District, which includes Omaha, is a flip from 2016, when Trump narrowly won it against Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Securing the single electoral vote in Nebraska could be key to Biden’s path to 270 votes.
While Trump easily carried the state itself, Nebraska is one of only two states that divides its electoral votes. In 2016, Trump won all five of Nebraska’s electoral votes.

Trump is expected to deliver a speech from the White House on election night

TO BE UPDATED.

With agencies