November 06, 2020, 09:55 PM
Democrat candidate Joe Biden has taken a razor-thin lead over Trump in Pennsylvania, a pivotal swing state, putting him on course to gaining the state's 20 electoral votes.
At around 10pm (Singapore time), CNN reported that Biden had taken the lead with about 5,587 votes.
If he is confirmed to win the state, he would attain more than the 270 electoral votes needed for the U.S. presidency.
With the announcement, and projections by CNN and Decision Desk HQ, Biden is poised to be officially named the winner of the 2020 U.S. presidential election, and the President-elect of the U.S.
With Pennsylvania under his belt, Biden is set to win the presidency even without Arizona -- the state has yet to finish confirming its vote count.
Decision Desk HQ projects that @JoeBiden has won Pennsylvania and its 20 electoral college votes for a total of 273.
— Decision Desk HQ (@DecisionDeskHQ) November 6, 2020
Joe Biden has been elected the 46th President of the United States of America.
Race called at 11-06 08:50 AM EST
All Results: https://t.co/BgcQsEyt3j
Trump out of options
With Biden's projected win in Pennsylvania, Trump's chances of winning reelection have been cut off.
This is because in addition to Pennsylvania, Trump needed to win North Carolina, Georgia, as well as either Nevada or Arizona to get the 270 electoral votes he needs to win the White House.
Losing Pennsylvania has closed off any path he had to get reelected.
Protracted race
But with the lawsuits Trump has filed, the election is turning out to be a drawn-out one.
Trump's campaign has launched multiple lawsuits to challenge the legitimacy of the vote-counting process in crucial swing states.
They have attempted to stop vote-counting in Pennsylvania and Michigan, tried to seek a recount in Wisconsin, and challenged the handling of ballots in Georgia, according to The Washington Post.
But legal experts said Trump's lawsuits are not likely to impact the outcome of the U.S. election, according to Reuters.
They would, however, drag out the vote count and delay major news outlets from declaring Biden the victor.
Experts added that contrary to Trump's claims that there has been voter fraud which shrunk his lead over Biden, they have not seen "any indication of systematic irregularities in the vote count".
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