chicagotribune--2020-11-06--Biden makes gains in key states, Trump pushes baseless claims of fraud as vote counting continues

“ Clearly , Biden was not able to capture the imagination of the Florida electorate and create the type of @ @ @ @ @ vote for Biden like Trump did with his base of supporters in the state , @ @ @ @ @ a Miami-based Democratic pollster .
“ It ’ s an unacceptable record of futility .
@ @ @ @ @ is that the problems that need to be fixed are so apparent .
But they @ @ @ @ @ fixed .
”

Election signage in Times Square as ballots are still being counted in multiple states, on Nov. 6, 2020. (Todd Heisler/The New York Times)
President Donald Trump is testing how far he can go in using the trappings of presidential power to undermine confidence in this week’s election against Joe Biden, as the Democrat gained ground in tight contests in some key battleground states.
With his pathway to re-election appearing to shrink, Trump on Thursday advanced unsupported accusations of voter fraud to falsely argue that his rival was trying to seize power. It amounted to an extraordinary effort by a sitting American president to sow doubt about the democratic process.
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“This is a case when they are trying to steal an election, they are trying to rig an election,” Trump said from the podium of the White House briefing room.
The president’s remarks deepened a sense of anxiety in the U.S. as Americans enter their third full day after the election without knowing who would serve as president for the next four years. His statements also prompted a rebuke from some Republicans, particularly those looking to steer the party in a different direction in a post-Trump era.
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Neither candidate has reached the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the White House. But Biden eclipsed Trump in Wisconsin and Michigan, two crucial Midwestern battleground states, and was inching closer to overtaking the president in Pennsylvania and Georgia, where votes were still be counted.
It was unclear when a national winner would be determined after a long, bitter campaign dominated by the coronavirus and its effects on Americans and the national economy. The U.S. on Wednesday set another record for daily confirmed cases as several states posted all-time highs. The pandemic has killed more than 233,000 people in the United States.
Biden spent Thursday trying to ease tensions and project a more traditional image of presidential leadership. After participating in a coronavirus briefing, he declared that “each ballot must be counted.”
“I ask everyone to stay calm. The process is working,” Biden said. “It is the will of the voters. No one, not anyone else who chooses the president of the United States of America.”
Biden’s victories in the upper Midwest put him in a strong position, but Trump showed no sign of giving up. He was back on Twitter around 2:30 a.m. Friday, insisting the “U.S. Supreme Court should decide!”
It could take several more days for the vote count to conclude and a clear winner to emerge. With millions of ballots yet to be tabulated, Biden already had received more than 73 million votes, the most in history.
A Constitution tattoo decorates the arm of Bob Lewis, left, while he argues with counter-protester Ralph Gaines as Trump supporters demonstrate outside the TCF Center in Detroit on Nov. 5, 2020. (David Goldman/AP)
Trump’s erroneous claims about the integrity of the election challenged Republicans now faced with the choice of whether to break with a president who, though his grip on his office grew tenuous, commanded sky-high approval ratings from rank-and-file members of the GOP.
Maryland GOP Gov. Larry Hogan, a potential 2024 presidential hopeful who has often criticized Trump, said unequivocally: “There is no defense for the President’s comments tonight undermining our Democratic process. America is counting the votes, and we must respect the results as we always have before.”
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But others who are rumored to be considering a White House run of their own in four years aligned themselves with the incumbent, including Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., who tweeted support for Trump’s claims, writing that “If last 24 hours have made anything clear, it’s that we need new election integrity laws NOW.”
Trump’s campaign engaged in a flurry of legal activity to try to improve the Republican president’s chances, requesting a recount in Wisconsin and filing lawsuits in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Georgia.
Judges in Georgia and Michigan quickly dismissed Trump campaign lawsuits there on Thursday.
Trump held a small edge in Georgia, though Biden was gaining on him as votes continued to be counted. The same was true in Pennsylvania, where Trump’s lead had slipped to about 22,000 votes — and the race is destined to get tighter.
One reason is because elections officials were not allowed to process mail-in ballots until Election Day under state law. It’s a form of voting that has skewed heavily in Biden’s favor after Trump spent months claiming without proof that voting by mail would lead to widespread voter fraud.
Mail ballots from across the state were overwhelmingly breaking in Biden’s direction. A final vote total may not be clear for days because the use of mail-in ballots, which take more time to process, has surged as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
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The Trump campaign said it was confident the president would ultimately pull out a victory in Arizona, where votes were also still being counted, including in Maricopa County, the state’s most populous area. The AP has declared Biden the winner in Arizona and said Thursday that it was monitoring the vote count as it proceeded. Several networks and news sites, such as The New York Times and CNN, were holding off on projecting Arizona for Biden.
“The Associated Press continues to watch and analyze vote count results from Arizona as they come in,” said Sally Buzbee, AP’s executive editor. “We will follow the facts in all cases.”
Trump’s campaign was lodging legal challenges in several states, though he faced long odds. He would have to win multiple suits in multiple states in order to stop vote counts, since more than one state was undeclared.
Some of the Trump team’s lawsuits only demand better access for campaign observers to locations where ballots are being processed and counted. A judge in Georgia dismissed the campaign’s suit there less than 12 hours after it was filed. And a Michigan judge dismissed a Trump lawsuit over whether enough GOP challengers had access to handling of absentee ballots
Biden attorney Bob Bauer said the suits were legally “meritless.” Their only purpose, he said “is to create an opportunity for them to message falsely about what’s taking place in the electoral process.”
Here are the latest 2020 election updates (all times EST):
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11:26 p.m.: Trump camp files new federal lawsuit over Vegas-area voting
The Donald Trump campaign filed a new federal lawsuit late Thursday in Nevada, alleging that ineligible votes were cast in the Las Vegas area, the biggest Democratic stronghold in an otherwise predominantly GOP state.
A complaint filed after-hours in U.S. District Court resurrected an effort the campaign abandoned just hours earlier in Nevada state court — a court order to stop the Clark County Registrar of Voters from using an optical scanning machine to process ballots and validate voter signatures.
The federal filing cites experiences of a woman who said Thursday she was turned away from voting in person because a mailed ballot had been cast with her signature and a political strategist TV commentator who said he was denied an opportunity to observe ballot counting late on election night.
Trump Nevada campaign co-chairman Adam Laxalt said the new filing “highlights ongoing voter fraud and voter disenfranchisement in Clark County.”
State Attorney General Aaron Ford called it “a Hail Mary” and “another opportunity to undermine the confidence in this election” while ballots are still being counted.
— Associated Press
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10:45 p.m.: Elections chief: Pennsylvania making good headway in count
Pennsylvania had hundreds of thousands of ballots left to count Thursday, a number that state officials expected to dwindle rapidly as Democrat Joe Biden and Republican President Donald Trump fought to the end for the White House.
“It’s very close in Pennsylvania, there’s no question,” said the state’s election’s chief, Kathy Boockvar. “So that means it’s going to take longer to actually see who the winner is.”
Some of the state’s most heavily populated locales, including Montgomery and Chester counties in the Philadelphia suburbs, reported finishing their tallies. The Trump campaign tried to stop the count in Philadelphia itself — alleging city officials were depriving their observers of meaningful access — but a federal judge refused to go along, instead urging the sides to forge an agreement. Speaking from the White House, Trump made unsupported allegations that Democrats in Pennsylvania and elsewhere were trying to steal the election.
Despite a flurry of legal action by Trump and the Republican Party over aspects of the count, counties across Pennsylvania headed toward the finish line of a massive tabulating effort that included millions of mail-in ballots. Pennsylvania remained the largest electoral prize yet to be called.
“We’re in a very good place with the mail-in and absentee ballots, but not quite there yet,” Boockvar, the secretary of state, said at a late-afternoon briefing. “What I’ve said all along is that the overwhelming majority of ballots will be counted by Friday. I still think we’re ahead of schedule.”
— Associated Press
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10:15 p.m.: Fact check: Trump fabricates election corruption
Citing “horror stories,” President Donald Trump unleashed a torrent of fabricated accusations Thursday in an audacious attempt to undermine the legitimacy of the U.S. election.
Standing behind the presidential seal, Trump used a White House setting symbolizing the power of his office to assail an election he portrayed as rife with fraud and corruption. One allegation after another had no basis in fact, such as his accusation that election officials in Pennsylvania and Detroit tried to ban election observers from polling stations.
A look at his remarks, coming as Democrat Joe Biden made progress toward the electoral votes needed to claim the presidency.
More of the story here. — Associated Press
9:44 p.m.: Fox News Meets Trump’s Fraud Claims With Skepticism
Nearly a decade ago, Donald Trump had a regular Monday slot on the Fox News morning show “Fox & Friends,” and it has been a reliably friendly venue for him throughout his presidency. But more recently, the show has been cool to his unsubstantiated claims of widespread vote fraud.
On Thursday’s episode, co-host Steve Doocy challenged Pam Bondi, a former attorney general of Florida and a Trump supporter, over her comment about “fake ballots that are coming in late.”
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“Pam, did you just say fake ballots?” Doocy asked.
“There could be. That’s the problem,” Bondi replied.
“Have you heard stories of ballots that are fake?” Doocy pushed back. “And if so, just tell us what you know.”
Bondi did not cite specific examples, instead saying, “We know that ballots have been dumped.”
The night before on Fox News, star opinion hosts Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity spoke ominously about the vote results — but stopped short of endorsing Trump’s dismissal of the election as “a fraud on the American public.”
Hannity expressed his doubts about the vote in a series of questions: “Do you trust what happened in this election? Do you believe these election results are accurate? Do you believe this was a free and fair election? I have a lot of questions.”
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More of the story here. — The New York Times
9:10 p.m.: Trump lets loose on integrity of election
For 40 hours, President Donald Trump fumed in private and tweeted his grievances in all caps.
When he at last emerged, it was to stand behind the presidential seal in the White House and deliver a diatribe most notable for his litany of false statements about the election and his attempt to cast doubt on the integrity of the Democratic process.
As votes continued to be counted and Democrat Joe Biden edged closer to victory, Trump lashed out Thursday evening in a performance that suggested he knew his prospects for a second term were slipping away.
“If you count the legal votes, I easily win. If you count the illegal votes, they can try to steal the election from us,” Trump claimed. In fact, there is no evidence that any votes cast illegally are being counted or that the process is unfair and corrupt.
The ballot-counting process across the country largely has been running smoothly with no evidence of widespread fraud or problems.
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Trump delivered his statement before reporters in the White House briefing room and left without taking questions. It came after Trump and his allies spent a second day watching and waiting with the rest of the nation as vote totals pushed further in Biden’s direction in some key battlegrounds.
With just a handful of states yet to be decided, Biden had a clear advantage over Trump, but the president still retained a narrow path to the 270 electoral votes needed to win reelection. The Associated Press has not declared a winner, and it could take several more days for the vote count to conclude and a clear winner to emerge.
As expected, many of the votes being counted last are mail-in ballots, which take longer to process and overwhelmingly favor Democrats. Trump’s voters were far more likely to vote in-person after the president spent months casting aspersions on mail-in voting.
— Associated Press
9:05 p.m.: Networks cut away from Trump’s White House address
ABC, CBS and NBC all cut away from President Donald Trump on Thursday as he spoke from the White House to make an unfounded accusation that the presidential election was being stolen from him.
Trump had tried to commandeer the nation’s airwaves at a time when the evening newscasts are shown on the East Coast, after a day when the slow drip of vote counting revealed his leads in Pennsylvania and Georgia dwindling.
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MSNBC’s Brian Williams also interrupted the president. Fox News Channel and CNN aired the president’s full address, after which CNN’s Anderson Cooper said Trump was “like an obese turtle on his back, flailing in the hot sun realizing his time was over.”
Network personalities had sharply criticized Trump after his angry, middle-of-the-night speech following Election Day but aired that talk in full. Trump was more subdued Thursday, yet offered a litany of complaints about “suppression” polls, mail-in voting and fraud that he never specified.
“We have to interrupt here, because the president has made a number of false statements, including the notion that there has been fraudulent voting,” said NBC’s Lester Holt. “There has been no evidence of that.”
— Associated Press
7:55 p.m.: Biden says ‘no one’ will take US democracy away
Democrat Joe Biden says, “No one is going to take our democracy away from us.” His comment came after President Donald Trump’s unfounded claims that Democrats were trying to “steal” the presidential election from him.
In a Thursday evening tweet, Biden says, “America has come too far, fought too many battles, and endured too much to let that happen.”
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The nation is waiting to learn whether Biden or Trump will collect the 270 electoral votes needed to capture the presidency. Biden’s victories in Michigan and Wisconsin have put him in a commanding position, but Trump has showed no sign of giving up.
Speaking earlier Thursday from the White House, Trump did not back up his claim about Democrats with any details or evidence. State and federal officials have not reported any instances of widespread voter fraud.
The ballot-counting process across the country has been running smoothly, and the count is ongoing in several battleground states.
— Associated Press
7:07 p.m.: Trump makes baseless claim on election status
The Associated Press has not declared a winner in the presidential race, with a number of battleground states still too early to call.
But President Donald Trump is renewing his unfounded claims that Democrats are trying to “steal” the election from him. He did not back up his claim with any details or evidence. State and federal officials have not reported any instances of widespread voter fraud.
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Trump spoke from the White House briefing room on Thursday, unleashing harsh criticism of pre-election polling that showed him trailing Democrat Joe Biden and claiming without evidence that the ballot-counting process is unfair and corrupt. He also renewed his criticism of widespread use of mail-in balloting in the pandemic.
The ballot-counting process across the country has been running smoothly, and the count is ongoing in several battleground states.
— Associated Press
6:38 p.m.: Election officials worried by threats and protesters
Election officials in several states said Thursday they are worried about the safety of their staffs amid a stream of threats and gatherings of angry protesters outside their doors, drawn by President Donald Trump’s baseless claims of widespread fraud in the race for the White House.
“I can tell you that my wife and my mother are very concerned for me,” said Joe Gloria, the registrar in Clark County, Nevada, which includes Las Vegas. He said his staff was bolstering security and tracking vehicles coming and going from the election offices.
But he added that he and others would not be stopped from “doing what our duty is and counting ballots.”
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Groups of Trump supporters have gathered at vote tabulation sites in Phoenix, Detroit and Philadelphia, decrying counts that showed Democrat Joe Biden leading or gaining ground.
While the protests have not been violent or very large, local officials were distressed and concerned by the relentless accusations.
More of this story here. — Associated Press
6:19 p.m.: Trump campaign’s Nevada legal effort is over
A legal effort in Nevada by President Donald Trump’s campaign and state Republicans to try to stop the count of mail ballots in Las Vegas is over.
A document submitted in an appeal pending before the state Supreme Court says the campaign, state GOP, Democrats and attorneys for the state have reached a settlement requiring Clark County election officials to supply “additional observation access” at a ballot processing facility in Las Vegas.
The state high court declined on Election Day to stop the count based on an appeal of a state judge’s decision not to stop processing mail ballots in Las Vegas and surrounding Clark County -- a Democratic stronghold in an otherwise red GOP state.
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In an order released Monday, Judge James Wilson Jr. in Carson City said he found neither the state nor Clark County had done anything to give one vote preference over another.
Nevada Democrats accuse Republicans of trying to suppress voting in the state’s most diverse area.
Trump campaign representatives said Thursday that they intended to file another complaint in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas to try to stop the counting of what state campaign co-chair Adam Laxalt called “improper votes.” That lawsuit was not immediately filed.
— Associated Press
6:01 p.m.: Trump campaign asks to join Arizona lawsuit
The Trump campaign and Republican National Committee have asked an Arizona judge to let them join a lawsuit that alleges vote tabulation equipment in metro Phoenix was unable to record a voter’s ballot because she completed it with a county-issued Sharpie pen.
They argued that anecdotal accounts of potential tabulation errors resulting from Sharpies demands further review and that they should be allowed to participate in the lawsuit because it will likely affect their interests in the tabulation of votes.
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The lawsuit seeks a court order for all Maricopa County voters whose ballots were rejected as a result of using a Sharpie to be given a chance to fix their ballots. It also asks for such voters to be able to be present while election officials count their ballots.
The Arizona Democratic Party earlier asked to join the lawsuit, arguing that Democratic voters could be disenfranchised if the woman who filed the lawsuit was able to challenge a voter’s intent in making ballot choices without knowing the applicable standards.
A judge is holding a hearing Thursday in Phoenix in the lawsuit by Phoenix-area voter Laurie Aguilera, who also alleged ink from the marker bled through the back side of her ballot and that poll workers refused her request for a new ballot.
— Associated Press
5:52 p.m.: Poll watchers emerge as a flashpoint in battle over ballots
Election officials in key battleground states pushed back on claims by the Trump campaign that Republican poll watchers were being improperly denied access to observe the counting of ballots, saying Thursday that rules were being followed and they were committed to transparency.
Tasked this year with monitoring a record number of mail ballots, partisan poll watchers are designated by a political party or campaign to report any concerns they may have. With a few reports of overly aggressive poll watchers, election officials said they were carefully balancing access with the need to minimize disruptions.
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“There were certainly a lot of eyes on the process in every absentee counting board all across our state,” said Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat and the state’s top election official. “I’m proud of how transparent and secure our process has been. I know that the truth is on our side here.”
Poll watchers have been a central element of legal battles that have erupted in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Nevada. While counting was largely finished in Michigan, the work continued Thursday in Pennsylvania and Nevada where a narrow margin separated President Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger, Joe Biden.
More of the story here. — Associated Press
5: 35 p.m.: Republicans break with Trump over push to halt vote count
Some Republicans are breaking with President Donald Trump’s attempts to falsely declare victory in the election and halt vote counting in Pennsylvania and other states, leaving him without key voices of support as his reelection hangs in the balance.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Trump ally who won reelection Tuesday in Kentucky, told reporters that “claiming you’ve won the election is different from finishing the counting.” Sen. Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican who spoke at a recent Trump campaign rally, said in a tweet that “taking days to count legally cast votes is NOT fraud.” And Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, urged "everyone to be patient'' as results come in. "It is critical that we give election officials time to complete their jobs, and that we ensure all lawfully cast ballots are allowed and counted,'' she said in a statement.
Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., addressed Trump directly on Twitter: "Stop. Full stop,'' he wrote Wednesday in response to Trump’s claim that Democrats were trying to “steal” the election.
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"The votes will be counted and you will either win or lose,'' Kinzinger told Trump. "And America will accept that. Patience is a virtue.''
The comments by the Republican lawmakers and other GOP leaders were rare, public rebukes of Trump, who has demanded — and generally received — loyalty from fellow Republicans throughout his four-year term. Most in the GOP take pains to avoid directly criticizing Trump, even when they find his conduct unhelpful or offensive to their values and goals.
More of the story here. — Associated Press
4:57 p.m.: Biden feels ‘very good’ about election outcome
Democrat Joe Biden says he feels “very good” about the outcome of the presidential election and is telling his supporters to “stay calm” as votes continue to be counted.
Biden delivered brief remarks Thursday at a theater in downtown Wilmington, Delaware. He says, “It is the will of the voters — no one, not anyone else — who chooses the president of the United States of America.”
President Donald Trump’s campaign has pursued legal efforts to halt the vote counting in some states and is seeking a recount in Wisconsin.
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Biden says that “the process is working” and “we’ll know very soon” the outcome of the election. Biden and his top campaign officials have expressed confidence about the vote but have been careful to emphasize the need for every ballot to be counted.
Biden’s running mate, California Sen. Kamala Harris, stood next to him as he spoke.
The Associated Press has not called the presidential race yet because neither Biden nor Trump has secured the 270 Electoral College votes needed for victory. Several key states remain too early to call — Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina and Nevada.
— Associated Press
4:27 p.m.: Georgia presidential count tightens in scan of last ballots
Vote counting continued in several Georgia counties on Thursday as Americans watched to see whether the state gives Democrat Joe Biden the electoral votes he needs to become president.
The Associated Press has not declared a winner in Georgia, because the race between President Donald Trump and Biden is still too early to call. With thousands of ballots still being tallied in counties that tend to vote blue, Democrats had reason for optimism.
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The secretary of state’s office announced that as of 2:40 p.m. there were about 47,277 votes remaining to be counted. Gabriel Sterling, who has overseen the implementation of Georgia’s new electronic voting system, said the secretary of state’s office has long said counting could take several days.
During an afternoon news conference in the state Capitol, Sterling did not offer an estimate for when he expected counties to finish tabulating their results. He said officials are working diligently and he emphasized his confidence in the legitimacy of the process.
“I think if anybody was going to try to rig a system they might have seen something a little less close than this,” Sterling said. “In this state in particular we take security very seriously. ... We’re going to have a recount for president more than likely and the people will see that the outcome will stay essentially the same.”
— Associated Press
4:12 p.m.: Pennsylvania anticipates quick progress on vote counting
Pennsylvania had hundreds of thousands of ballots left to count Thursday, but the state’s elections chief signaled the number was expected to dwindle rapidly as Democrat Joe Biden and President Donald Trump fought to the end for the White House.
Some of the state’s most heavily populated locales, including Montgomery and Chester counties in the Philadelphia suburbs, reported finishing their tallies. The counting continued in Philadelphia and in other counties throughout Pennsylvania two days after Election Day.
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“It’s looking like we are ahead of schedule,” Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar, an official in the administration of Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf, said on CNN Thursday. She added that “it is looking like we’ll have the overwhelming majority counted by today.”
The Trump campaign and the Republican Party mounted several legal challenges to aspects of the vote count, contending, for example, that GOP election observers were kept too far away from the tabulation in Philadelphia, that some Democratic-leaning counties unfairly allowed people to fix technical problems with their mail-in ballots, and that mail-in ballots arriving after Tuesday should not be counted.
Trump scored one legal victory as intermediate state appeals court on Thursday granted more access to party and candidate observers, allowing them to get closer — 6 feet away — to election workers processing mail-in ballots in Philadelphia.
— Associated Press
3:53 p.m.: Biden’s slim lead in Nevada grows as more results released
With the country turning its attention to Nevada’s vote count, Democrat Joe Biden’s slim lead over President Donald Trump grew slightly, to more than 11,000 votes, as more results were released Thursday.
In Clark County, which includes Las Vegas and three-quarters of the state’s population, election officials said workers are counting tens of thousands of mail-in ballots, and the bulk should be counted by the weekend. On top of that, tens of thousands of provisional ballots need to be counted, many of which were cast by people taking advantage of a new law allowing voters to register or update their registration at the polls.
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“Our goal here in Clark County is not to count fast. We want to make sure that we’re being accurate,” Clark County Registrar Joe Gloria said at a news conference in Las Vegas. “The results in the state of Nevada obviously are going to be very important to the entire country, and that is our number one goal.”
He said the large number of mail-in ballots is new to Nevada, so the counting process has taken longer than normal. The state mailed ballots to all active registered voters this year because of the coronavirus pandemic, a move that the Trump campaign has challenged, claiming it would lead to fraud.
Unlike some counties in the U.S. where election staff are counting ballots round the clock, Clark County employees are working shifts from 5:00 a.m. to 10:00 or 11:00 p.m. and counting and verifying mail-in ballots in planned stages, Gloria said.
“The work that comes through on the mail ballot process is very deliberate,” he said. “We’re not concerned with reading as fast as we can. We’re concerned with making sure that we’re accurate in what we report.”
— Associated Press
2:35 p.m.: No, ballots weren’t burned in Virginia Beach, officials say again after Eric Trump circulates misleading video
At 5 p.m. on Election Day, the city of Virginia Beach had a message for the public: No one has been burning up your vote.
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A concerned citizen had shared a video with the city “that ostensibly shows someone burning ballots,” officials wrote in a news release.
But have no fear. Those were sample ballots, not official ones, the city said.
The video showed someone setting on fire a plastic bag full of what looked like paper ballots, according to CNN. The person didn’t show their face but claimed the 80 ballots were “all for President Trump.” The location was not identified but the papers stated they were from Virginia Beach.
More of this story here. — Katherine Hafner, The Virginian-Pilot
1:33 p.m.: Michigan judge dismisses Trump campaign lawsuit
A Michigan judge has dismissed a lawsuit by President Donald Trump’s campaign in a dispute over whether Republican challengers had access to the handling of absentee ballots.
Judge Cynthia Stephens noted that the lawsuit was filed late Wednesday afternoon, just hours before the last ballots were counted. She also said the defendant, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, was the wrong person to sue because she doesn’t control the logistics of local ballot counting, even if she is the state’s chief election officer.
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The Associated Press called the Michigan presidential election for Democrat Joe Biden on Wednesday evening. Trump won the state in 2016.
The lawsuit claimed Benson, a Democrat, was allowing absentee ballots to be counted without teams of bipartisan observers as well as challengers. She was accused of undermining the “constitutional right of all Michigan voters ... to participate in fair and lawful elections.”
Benson, through state attorneys, denied the allegations. Much of the dispute centered on the TCF Center in Detroit where pro-Trump protesters gathered while absentee ballots were being counted.
— Associated Press
12:12 p.m.: Georgia judge dismisses Trump campaign lawsuit
A judge in Georgia has dismissed a lawsuit by the state Republican Party and President Donald Trump’s campaign that asked him to ensure a coastal county was following state laws on processing absentee ballots.
Chatham County Superior Court Judge James Bass did not provide an explanation for his decision Thursday at the close of a roughly one-hour hearing. The county includes the heavily Democratic city of Savannah.
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The suit had raised concerns about 53 absentee ballots that poll observers said were not part of an original batch of ballots. County elections officials testified that all 53 ballots had been received on time.
For more on the Trump campaign’s legal challenges, click here.
—Associated Press
A tweet from the president of the United States on Nov. 5, 2020, which has been flagged and partially restricted by Twitter for spreading false information about the election. Trump is calling for an end to ballot counting as authorities in states such as Georgia, Pennsylvania, Arizona and Nevada keep counting valid ballots.
10:52 a.m.: Trump demands vote-counting stop on Twitter — a baseless claim outside of his authority
With Joe Biden edging closer to unseating him from the White House, President Donald Trump says he wants to put a halt to vote counting.
The extraordinary statement by an incumbent president to voice support for ceasing the count of legally cast votes came in a Thursday morning tweet, saying only: “STOP THE COUNT!”
He later tweeted, falsely, that ballots that came in after Election Day would not be counted. Different states have different laws in America’s decentralized election system. Some legally allow votes to arrive after Nov. 3, as long as they are postmarked before the end of Election Day.
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False. In Illinois, if your ballot was postmarked by Nov. 3 and is received by Nov. 17, it WILL be counted. pic.twitter.com/5by58XtQZR — Dan Petrella (@PetrellaReports) November 5, 2020
Elections are run by individual state, county and local governments. Trump’s public comments have no impact on the tallying of votes across the country.
So far, the vote count across the country has been conducted efficiently and without evidence of any misconduct, despite Trump’s public complaints.
Trump’s comments come as his campaign has filed legal action in several states to try to stop vote counting, claiming a lack of transparency. Still, Trump’s campaign has held out hope that continued counting in Arizona could overcome a Biden lead in the state.
—Associated Press
10:46 a.m.: Arizona says 450,000 ballots still to be counted
Arizona state officials say there are about 450,000 ballots still to be counted in the Western battleground.
The AP says it is monitoring that vote count as it comes in. The AP has called the presidential race in Arizona for Democrat Joe Biden.
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AP executive editor Sally Buzbee says: “The Associated Press continues to watch and analyze vote count results from Arizona. We will follow the facts in all cases.”
Biden holds a 2.35 percentage point lead over Trump in Arizona, an advantage of about 68,000 votes.
The vast majority of the ballots yet to be counted are from Maricopa County, the most populous area of the state.
This entry has been corrected to show that 450,000 ballots are still to be counted, not 375,000
—Associated Press
10:02 a.m.: Fox News leads Trump-Biden election night coverage with a record audience
Fox News was the top choice among viewers for coverage of the 2020 election as President Donald Trump and his opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden, were in a tight battle for 270 electoral votes.
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But Nielsen data showed a lot fewer viewers turned to TV for presidential election coverage than in 2016, when Trump won the presidency in his race against Hillary Clinton.
Nielsen data showed Fox News, led by anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum, averaged 13.8 million viewers, a record for cable news coverage of a presidential election, from 8-11 p.m. ET.
CNN finished second for the night (with 9.1 million viewers), followed by MSNBC (7.3 million), ABC (6.1 million), NBC (5.6 million), the Fox broadcast network (3.3 million), Fox Business (366,000) and CNBC (117,000).
Coverage also aired on WGN America, PBS, Telemundo, Univision and CNN en Espanol.
Fox News has seen its ratings surge overall in 2020, some nights topping all other networks on cable and broadcast television. For the second presidential cycle in a row, the top-three finish of Fox News, CNN and MSNBC shows how cable news has become the main destination for politically engaged viewers, taking the mantle from broadcast networks, which have long used their presidential election night coverage to showcase their news operations.
While Nielsen has yet to release a total figure on viewers who watched election coverage in prime time, the early numbers indicate it will be down significantly from the 71.4 million viewers in 2016.
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The drop is likely a reflection of the overall decline in the usage of traditional television, especially among viewers under the age of 50. Many news outlets made streaming coverage of election results available on a wide range of platforms.
The live stream of CNN’s coverage had a peak 1.1 million concurrent viewers streaming at its peak on election night over a number of digital platforms. CBSN, the digital stream of CBS News, had 19.5 million unique visitors on Election Day, a new record for the service.
The TV number also may have dropped as it became apparent that no winner was going to be declared on the night.
—Stephen Battaglio, Los Angeles Times
Ramiro Collazo waves a Trump flag outside Versailles Cuban restaurant on Nov. 4, 2020, in Little Havana, Miami. (Wilfredo Lee/AP)
9:15 a.m.: Democrats wonder, ‘What went wrong in Florida?’
In Florida, a state famous for razor-thin margins, the size of former Vice President Joe Biden’s loss to President Donald Trump was humiliating for Democrats and sent many searching for answers to how they failed to close the deal with voters — again.
Democrats zeroed in on two clear explanations: Biden didn’t connect with the state’s Latino voters, performing particularly poorly with Cuban voters in South Florida. They also second-guessed the party’s decision to freeze in-person organizing during the worst of the pandemic, a decision that set them back in reaching voters.
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“Clearly, Biden was not able to capture the imagination of the Florida electorate and create the type of enthusiasm to go out and vote for Biden like Trump did with his base of supporters in the state,” said Fernand Amandi, a Miami-based Democratic pollster. “It’s an unacceptable record of futility. What makes it so vexing is that the problems that need to be fixed are so apparent. But they just don’t get fixed.”
Amandi focused on the Biden campaign’s struggles to connect with Hispanic voters in the state.
Trump and Republicans pummeled Biden for months with misleading claims suggesting he was a “socialist” and would cater to the left wing of the Democratic Party. The attacks carried added power with Cuban and Venezuelan Americans, who associate the labels with authoritarian and corrupt Latin American leaders.
Biden’s weakness was most evident in his underperformance in Miami-Dade County, which has the state’s deepest concentration of Hispanic voters, particularly Cuban Americans. Biden won the county, the state’s most populous, by just 7 percentage points — compared with Democrat Hillary Clinton’s 30-point victory margin four years ago against Trump.
AP VoteCast, a survey of the Florida electorate, found Trump won 58% of Cuban American voters statewide, while voters with South American heritage split evenly between Biden and Trump. The survey said Puerto Rican voters backed Biden by about 2 to 1.
The relatively poor showing in South Florida hurt other Democrats, as Republicans swept out two Miami-area congressional incumbents — Reps. Donna Shalala and Debbie Mucarsel-Powell.
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“When you look at Miami-Dade in particular, there was a lot of advertising on the other side of the aisle dealing with socialism and in some cases even the word communism,” said Democratic Rep. Charlie Crist, a former Republican governor who has held three statewide offices.
“I think that obviously had an impact,” Crist said. “When you’re attacked you need to fight back. I’m not sure how much of the fighting back occurred on our side.”
—Associated Press
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi talks to reporters about election results at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington on Nov. 3, 2020. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)
8:15 a.m.: No ‘blue wave’ appears for Democrats in Congress
The election scrambled seats in the House and Senate but ultimately left Congress much like it began, deeply split as voters resisted big changes despite the heated race at the top of the ticket for the White House.
It’s an outcome that dampens Democratic demands for a bold new agenda, emboldens Republicans and almost ensures partisan gridlock regardless of who wins the presidency. Or perhaps, as some say, it provides a rare opening for modest across-the-aisle cooperation.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi was on track to keep control of the Democratic House, but saw her majority shrinking and her leadership called into question. Control of the Senate tilted Republicans' way as they fended off an onslaught of energized challengers, though a few races remained undecided Wednesday.
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House Republicans picked up five seats, so far, deflating Pelosi’s plans to reach deep into Trump country by making rare gains with women and minority candidates. Republicans defeated several Democratic freshmen who delivered the House majority in 2018 in a backlash against Trump.
By evening, Pelosi had all but declared Democrat Joe Biden the winner, saying House Democrats “will now have the opportunity to deliver extraordinary progress” on party priorities — lowering health care costs, providing jobs through new infrastructure and others.
Most immediately, a COVID relief bill remains within reach, as the pandemic blazes through the states. GOP Leader Mitch McConnell said he would also like to negotiate a big spending bill to keep the government running past a mid-December deadline.
A handful of new progressives will be coming to Washington to join House Democrats, while Republicans will see new right-flank members, including Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has espoused unfounded QAnon conspiracy theories and won a vacant seat in northwest Georgia. Trump has called Greene a “future Republican star.”
One certainty is the upended projections will force a rethinking of polling, fundraising and the very messages the parties use to reach voters in the Trump era and beyond.
—Associated Press
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Poll challengers watch absentee ballots being processed at the TCF center in Detroit on Nov. 4, 2020. (Kimberly P. Mitchell/Detroit Free Press)
12:05 a.m.: Trump supporters converge on vote centers in Michigan and Arizona
Dozens of angry supporters of President Donald Trump converged on vote-counting centers in Detroit and Phoenix as the returns went against him Wednesday in the two key states, while thousands of anti-Trump protesters demanding a complete tally of the ballots in the still-undecided election took to the streets in cities across the U.S.
“Stop the count!” the Trump supporters chanted in Detroit. “Stop the Steal,” they chanted in Phoenix.
The protests came as the president insisted without evidence that there were major problems with the voting and the ballot counting, and as Republicans filed suit in multiple states over the election.
The Phoenix protesters filled much of the parking lot at the Maricopa County election center, where sheriff’s deputies were guarding both the outside of the building and the counting inside.
More on this story here. —Associated Press
Wednesday:
10:42 p.m.: Riot declared in Portland as protesters smash windows
A riot was declared in Portland, Oregon, and protesters took to the streets in Seattle on Wednesday as people demanded that every vote in Tuesday’s election be counted. Hundreds were protesting in both cities against President Donald Trump’s court challenges to stop the vote count in battleground states.
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The Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office at about 7 p.m. declared a riot after protesters were seen smashing windows at businesses. In the interest of public safety, Gov. Kate Brown activated the use of the state National Guard to help local law enforcement manage the unrest, according to the sheriff’s office.
Brown said previously she would keep state troopers, sheriff’s deputies and police officers under a unified command into Friday in Portland to handle protests amid uncertainty over the winner of the U.S. presidential election.
The Oregon National Guard had been on standby. Brown’s order places law enforcement agencies under the joint command of the Oregon State Police and Multnomah County Sheriff’s Department, which allows those agencies to use tear gas if necessary to quell unrest. Mayor Ted Wheeler, who is also police commissioner, banned the use of tear gas by Portland police earlier this fall after concerns about an overly aggressive response to the unrest.
More of the story here. —Associated Press
10:38 p.m.: Police: At least 20 arrests at post-election protest in NYC
At least 20 people were arrested Wednesday night at a post-Election Day protest in New York City after police say piles of trash were set on fire and bottles were hurled at officers.
The arrests happened after hundreds of marchers demanding the counting of every presidential election vote converged on Manhattan’s Washington Square Park, where a smaller group started rallying against police misconduct.
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Some of the people arrested were fighting with officers while others were blocking traffic, police said. The police department tweeted photos of several trash fires. Bystander video showed officers in helmets and tactical gear swarming protesters.
“We support everyone’s right to self-expression, but setting fires puts others at risk and will not be tolerated,” the NYPD’s tweet said. “We are working to de-escalate the situation... to prevent further damage from occurring.”
—Associated Press
10:30 p.m.: Protesters in Portland, Seattle: ‘Count Every Vote’
Protesters took to the streets in Portland, Oregon and in Seattle on Wednesday demanding that every vote in Tuesday’s election be counted. Hundreds of people were protesting in both cities against President Donald Trump’s court challenges to stop the vote count in battleground states.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown said Wednesday she will keep state troopers, sheriff’s deputies and police officers under a unified command for an additional 48 hours in Portland to handle protests amid uncertainty over the winner of the U.S. presidential election.
More of the story here. —Associated Press
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10:24 p.m.: Fox’s Arizona call for Joe Biden flipped the mood at Trump campaign headquarters
With Florida looking red early on Tuesday night, President Donald Trump and his advisers thought they were witnessing a repeat of election night 2016, when a victory in Florida foreshadowed a victory overall.
Inside the East Room, the mood was upbeat as hundreds of people, including Cabinet secretaries, ambassadors and former officials who have remained loyal to Trump, mingled and dined on sliders and french fries. Officials who had been pessimistic about the president’s reelection chances suddenly started to picture four more years in power.
That mirage of victory was pierced when Fox News called Arizona for former Vice President Joe Biden at 11:20 p.m., with just 73% of the state’s vote counted.
More of the story here. —The New York Times
9:45 p.m.: Armed agents are allowed in ballot-counting locations around the country, Justice Dept. tells prosecutors
The Justice Department told federal prosecutors in an email early on Wednesday that the law allowed them to send armed federal officers to ballot-counting locations around the country to investigate potential voter fraud, according to three people who described the message.
The email created the specter of the federal government intimidating local election officials or otherwise intervening in vote tallying amid calls by President Donald Trump to end the tabulating in states where he was trailing in the presidential race, former officials said.
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More of the story here. —The New York Times
[ For earlier updates, click here. ]


chicagotribune--2020-11-07--Column: Let’s give thanks for poll workers, Stacey Abrams, fact-checkers — and the weather

Thanks to Joe Biden ’ s former rivals who put aside their hurt feelings to fight for him .
Among @ @ @ @ @ who has always erred on the side of intelligent optimism , as he did when @ @ @ @ @ : “ If we get it right , this decade could go down in history @ @ @ @ @ finally lives up to our founding promise .
That is why we are doing this @ @ @

Stacey Abrams speaks to supporters of Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden on Nov. 2, 2020, at Turner Field in Atlanta. (Brynn Anderson/AP)
Hey, fellow Joe Biden supporters. Let’s pause for a moment to be glad.
It’s true that this election wasn’t what some Biden voters dreamed of. It wasn’t a landslide. It wasn’t a full-throated repudiation of a corrupt and cruel president. It wasn’t an election that transported us from hell to paradise in the time it takes to say, “Joe.”
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But there has been a lot in the past few days to be glad and grateful for. So before there’s a collective return to Eeyore mode — an attitude that has flourished all week among some Biden supporters, even when the count tilted in his favor — let’s give thanks where it’s due. (Note: I’m writing this on Friday, with Biden in the lead but the count not done.)
Thanks to the Americans who voted in record-breaking numbers, the majority of them for Biden. They voted by mail. They walked their ballot to a drop-off box. Many stood in long lines, in searing sun and steady rain, to exercise their right and duty.
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Thanks especially to the ones who wore their pandemic masks without resistance or complaint.
Thanks to the poll workers who made the polling places run more smoothly. They dealt with voters who didn’t want to wear masks, who couldn’t figure out their pens. They were people like the woman I saw outside Lincoln Park High School in Chicago the evening before Election Day, when the line was two hours long. Wearing a Chicago flag mask, a poll-worker badge and a Chicago Bears jersey (Hillenmeyer, No. 92), she walked up and down the line with a raised fist, calling over and over in her best Bears' fan voice, “Hang in there!” and “We’re so happy that you’re here!”
Thanks to all the volunteers who wrote postcards, made phone calls, sent texts and, in many cases, traveled to distant places to get out the vote.
A special shoutout to Stacey Abrams of Georgia, who helped lead a multiracial coalition that fought voter suppression in her traditionally conservative state.
Thank you to the Republicans who voted across the party line because they knew that a vote for this Republican was not in the best interest of the country. Their choice took vision, humility and guts.
Thanks to Mitt Romney and a few other Republicans lawmakers who, as the votes were being counted publicly, pushed back against the president’s lies about voter fraud.
Thanks to the fact-checkers, who could hardly keep up with the lies and distortions that raced around social media and came out of the president’s mouth. Daniel Dale at CNN gets a special commendation.
As for the pollsters? Well. It will be easier to thank them when they’re closer to right.
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Thanks to Joe Biden’s former rivals who put aside their hurt feelings to fight for him. Among them was Pete Buttigieg, who has always erred on the side of intelligent optimism, as he did when he said on Election Day: “If we get it right, this decade could go down in history as the era when America finally lives up to our founding promise. That is why we are doing this work.”
Thanks to the journalists who worked long days and nights to help us understand what the heck was going on.
Chicago Tribune Opinion Weekdays Read the latest editorials and commentary curated by the Tribune Opinion team. By submitting your email to receive this newsletter, you agree to our Subscriber Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy >
Thanks to my friends — and yours — the people who helped keep us sane by sharing Netflix recommendations, book recommendations, good conversation or good jokes as we waited for the count to be done. Friendships help us remember that while politics shapes the world, the world is more than politics.
And Stephen Colbert. Thank him for crying on the air as he talked about how the president faced the nation and lied about the election being stolen. We needed a good cry.
Thank you to anyone who tried to explain the Electoral College and why we’re still reliant on such an outdated institution.
Thanks to Joe Biden for staying classy through the long vote-counting wait, for behaving the way a president should. Thanks to his smart, energetic running mate Kamala Harris, who has helped expand the vision of what a vice president looks like, and for doing it in sensible shoes.
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Let’s give thanks, too, for what the election revealed about the state of the country. We may not like everything we’ve seen, but you can’t fix what you don’t see. We emerge from this week a little wiser, if not much calmer.
And thanks to the Chicago weather gods, who all week gave us blue skies and warm air and autumn leaves, proving, once again, that no matter what else is going on, it’s always better with trees.
mschmich@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-11-07--Election 2020 live updates: Biden’s lead narrow but widening in Georgia, Nevada and Pennsylvania as

Election 2020 live updates: Biden’s lead narrow but widening in Georgia, Nevada and Pennsylvania as the vote count continues

Biden passed Trump by about 5,500 votes in Pennsylvania just before 9 a.m. in Philadelphia and now leads by about @ @ @ @ @ still coming in .
In Pennsylvania , if there is less than a half percentage @ @ @ @ @ s and Trump ’ s vote totals then state law dictates that a recount must @ @ @ @ @ 6.6 million ballots have so far been counted in the Keystone State .

Election signage in Times Square as ballots are still being counted in multiple states, on Nov. 6, 2020. (Todd Heisler/The New York Times)
For the latest updates, click here for the weekend’s live blog.
Democrat Joe Biden stood on the cusp of winning the presidency Friday night, three days after Election Day, as the long, exacting work of counting votes widened his lead over President Donald Trump in critical battleground states.
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High turnout, a massive number of mail-in ballots and slim margins between the two candidates all contributed to the delay in naming a winner. But Biden held leads in Pennsylvania, Nevada and Georgia, putting him in an ever-stronger position to capture the 270 Electoral College votes needed to take the White House.
There was intense focus on Pennsylvania, where Biden led Trump by more than 27,000 votes, and Nevada, where the Democrat led by about 22,000. The prolonged wait added to the anxiety of a nation facing historic challenges, including the surging pandemic and deep political polarization.
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Trump stayed in the White House and out of sight, as more results trickled in and expanded Biden’s lead in must-win Pennsylvania. In the West Wing during the day, televisions remained tuned to the news amid trappings of normalcy, as reporters lined up for coronavirus tests and outdoor crews worked on the North Lawn on a mild, muggy fall day.
Biden, for his part, addressed the nation Friday night near his home in Wilmington, Delaware, and acknowledged the sluggish pace of the count “can be numbing.” But he added, “Never forget the tallies aren’t just numbers: They represent votes and voters.”
He expressed confidence that victory ultimately would be his, saying, “The numbers tell us a clear and convincing story: We’re going to win this race.”
Standing alongside his running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris, and against a backdrop of flags, Biden wasn’t able to give the acceptance speech his aides had hoped. But he hit notes of unity, seemingly aimed at cooling the temperature of a heated, divided nation.
“We have to remember the purpose of our politics isn’t total unrelenting, unending warfare,” he said. “No, the purpose of our politics, the work of our nation, isn’t to fan the flames of conflict, but to solve problems, to guarantee justice, to give everybody a fair shot.”
Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks Friday, Nov. 6, 2020, in Wilmington, Del. (Carolyn Kaster/AP)
Trump’s campaign on Friday was mostly quiet -- a dramatic difference from the day before, when officials held a morning call projecting confidence and then a flurry of press conferences announcing litigation in key states. But it was touched once again by the coronavirus pandemic.
Chief of staff Mark Meadows contracted the virus, according to two senior White House officials not authorized to publicly discuss private matters. A campaign aide, Nick Trainer, also tested positive.
Trump’s handling of the pandemic has been the defining issue of the campaign. The president, first lady Melania Trump and several other members of the White House staff and Trump’s campaign team have fallen ill.
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A handful of states remained in play Friday evening — Georgia, North Carolina too early to call along with Pennsylvania and Nevada. In all four states the margins between Trump and Biden were too narrow and the number of ballots left to be counted too great for the AP to declare a victor.
The latest 2020 election updates (all times EST):
11:30 p.m.: Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows diagnosed with COVID-19
President Donald Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows has been diagnosed with the coronavirus as the nation sets daily records for confirmed cases for the pandemic.
Two senior administration officials confirmed Friday that Meadows had tested positive for the virus, which has killed more than 236,000 Americans so far this year.
Meadows traveled with Trump in the run-up to Election Day and last appeared in public early Wednesday morning without a mask as Trump falsely declared victory in the vote count. He had been one of the close aides around Trump when the president came down with the virus more than a month ago, but was tested daily and maintained his regular work schedule.
More on this story here. — Associated Press
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11:26 p.m.: Why ballot-counting in Nevada is dragging on
The pace of vote-counting in Nevada is being criticized for taking too long and it’s even become fodder for online jokes. But government officials say they are emphasizing accuracy over speed in a year when processing an unprecedented flood of mail-in ballots under extended deadlines is taking more time.
“We told everyone early on that results would take at least 10 days,” Secretary of State spokeswoman Jennifer A. Russell said in an email.
More on this story here. — Associated Press
11:14 p.m.: Biden says he’s preparing for White House
Joe Biden says he is already preparing to assume the presidency even though he has not been declared the winner in his race against President Donald Trump.
“I want people to know we’re not waiting to get the work done,” he said late Friday in remarks to the nation.
Biden said he and his running mate, Kamala Harris, have held briefings on the coronavirus and the economy this week as the U.S. records record daily cases.
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He noted nearly 240,000 people have died from the pandemic and said he wants those families to know they aren’t alone.
He also addressed the millions of Americans who remain out of work and are struggling to pay rent or buy food.
“We don’t have any more time to waste on partisan warfare,” he said.
The Associated Press has not yet declared a winner in the race between Biden and Trump because neither candidate has reached the 270 Electoral College votes needed to carry the White House.
—Associated Press
11:05 p.m.: Biden projects confidence he’ll win White House
Joe Biden projected confidence Friday that he would win the presidential election, citing his lead in votes in key states like Pennsylvania.
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The Associated Press has not yet declared a winner in the race between Biden and President Donald Trump because neither candidate has reached the 270 Electoral College votes needed to carry the White House.
Biden noted he has already won the most votes in history for any presidential candidate.
He said a record number of Americans “chose change over more of the same.”
He told the nation that the political parties may be opponents, but they are not enemies.
“Let’s put the anger and the demonization behind us,” he said.
— Associated Press
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10:13 p.m.: Perdue, Ossoff head to Georgia US Senate runoff
Republican U.S. Sen. David Perdue and Democrat Jon Ossoff will face off in a Jan. 5 runoff in Georgia for Perdue’s Senate seat.
Libertarian candidate Shane Hazel was able to get enough votes so that neither Perdue or Ossoff was able to clear the 50% threshold needed for an outright win.
Thousands of absentee ballots and in-person votes cast early needed to be counted after Election Night passed, forcing a long and tense wait before the race could be called.
The contest has already seen huge spending from outside groups on both sides and millions of dollars more are expected to pour into the state ahead of the runoff.
The race between Ossoff and Perdue, a close ally of President Donald Trump, has been characterized by sharp attack ads but relatively moderate political positions.
Both candidates pivoted to the middle vying for a state Trump won handily four years ago, but where swaths of suburbia have shown signs of disillusionment with the president.
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Perdue sought to cast Ossoff as backing a “radical socialist agenda,” while Ossoff portrayed Perdue as a “corrupt” Washington insider who has been part of a botched pandemic response.
More on this story here. — Associated Press
9:46 p.m.: Incendiary election texts traced to outfit run by top Trump aide
A texting company run by one of President Donald Trump’s top campaign officials sent out thousands of targeted, anonymous text messages urging supporters to rally where votes were being counted in Philadelphia on Thursday, falsely claiming Democrats were trying to steal the presidential election.
The messages directed Trump fans to converge at a downtown intersection where hundreds of protesters from the opposing candidates' camps faced off Thursday afternoon. Pennsylvania is a crucial battleground state where former Vice President Joe Biden’s supporters believe the outstanding ballots will put him over the top in the presidential election.
More of the story here. — Associated Press
9:10 p.m.: Pro-Trump protesters decry the vote-counting
Pro-Trump protesters — some of them openly carrying rifles and handguns — rallied outside vote-tabulation centers in a few cities around the country Friday, responding to groundless accusations from President Donald Trump that the Democrats were trying to steal the White House.
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Elections officials in several states where Democrat Joe Biden was ahead said the anger outside their doors made them fear for the safety of their employees.
Roughly 100 Trump supporters gathered for a third straight day in front of the elections center in Phoenix, where hundreds of workers were processing and counting ballots.
“Arrest the poll workers!” the crowd chanted, demanding four more years in office for Trump. Sheriff’s deputies kept protesters in a “free speech” zone away from the entrance to the building.
“When we start auditing some of these voter rolls, their fraud may actually be exposed,” conservative activist Charlie Kirk told the crowd, eliciting cheers.
In Detroit, dozens of Trump supporters returned to the streets outside the city’s convention center, where election workers counted ballots.
“Stop the steal!” the protesters chanted. Some carried signs that read, “Make Elections Fair Again” and “We Love Trump.” Police cordoned off streets leading to the building and maintained a close watch on the protest.
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The county treasurer in Detroit, Eric Sabree, said he had closed his office because of threats. In a statement, Sabree said the decision was made “in the interest of the safety of taxpayers and our staff” and because of “credible information” from the sheriff’s office.
In Philadelphia, two men with handguns were arrested Thursday night near the convention center where the vote-counting that could decide the White House race was going on.
The men, ages 42 and 61, had driven up in a Hummer from Virginia and did not have permits to carry the weapons in Pennsylvania, police said. A military-style rifle and ammunition were found inside their vehicle, Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said. The car had a window sticker for the right-wing conspiracy theory QAnon.
District Attorney Larry Krasner did not say why the men had come to Philadelphia but said there were no indications they were part of an extremist group.
In Rhode Island, about 100 protesters rallied outside the state board of elections headquarters, demanding a recount in an overwhelmingly Democratic state where Biden won with more than 59% of the vote.
Protesters said ballots were illegally dumped in Rhode Island, but offered no evidence. State elections officials have said they have no evidence of fraud.
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“We demand a recount in Jesus' name!” protest leader Kathleen Forant shouted, as state police stood nearby.
— Associated Press
8:47 p.m.: Stacey Abrams draws credit and praise as Joe Biden inches ahead in Georgia
Stacey Abrams, who earlier this year was on a shortlist of potential vice presidential candidates, was ultimately not chosen by Joe Biden. But Friday, as Biden took a narrow lead in Georgia, it was Abrams who was celebrated, a sign of her remarkable ascent as a power broker since her failed bid for governor of that state two years ago.
Celebrities, activists and voters across Georgia credited Abrams with moving past her loss — she came within 55,000 votes of the governor’s mansion — and building a well-funded network of organizations that highlighted voter suppression in the state and inspired an estimated 800,000 residents to register to vote.
More on this story here. — The New York Times
8:13 p.m.: Biden’s lead grows in battleground Pennsylvania
Democrat Joe Biden’s lead over President Donald Trump is growing in battleground Pennsylvania.
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By Friday evening, the Democrat held a lead of over 19,500 votes out of more than 6.5 million ballots cast. That’s an edge of about 0.29%. State law dictates that a recount must be held if the margin between the two candidates is less than 0.5%.
The Associated Press has not declared a winner in the state.
The Pennsylvania secretary of state’s website said Friday that there were 102,541 more mail ballots that needed to be counted, including many from Allegheny County, a Democratic area that is home to Pittsburgh, and the Democratic stronghold of Philadelphia County.
Additionally, there are potentially tens of thousands of provisional ballots that remain to be tabulated, though an exact number remained unclear. Those ballots will be counted after officials verify their eligibility to be included.
Pennsylvania is among a handful of battleground states that Trump and Biden are narrowly contesting as they seek the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency.
— Associated Press
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7:35 p.m.: Pennsylvanians feel the gravity of their vote as the world watches
Recognizing the magnitude of the moment, Pennsylvanians didn’t need relatives calling to say CNN was talking about Allentown or Facebook friends reminding them that the fate of the nation was in their hands. They felt the weight of their votes Wednesday, when day broke without a winner in the presidential election.
In Allentown, Millie Canales bounced from TV news to social media feeds, wondering if she would once again have to tell her children that Donald Trump emerged victorious.
“At first I was nervous again,” she said, “and then when Gov. Wolf said just wait until all the votes are counted, I felt better.”
More of the story here. — Kayla Dwyer and Jacqueline Palochko, The Morning Call
7:01 p.m.: Biden’s lead grows in Nevada as more results are released
Joe Biden’s lead over President Donald Trump in Nevada grew Friday, putting the former vice president ahead by 22,657 votes in the battleground state.
The results were mail-in ballots from Democrat-heavy Clark County, which includes Las Vegas and three-quarters of Nevada’s population. Biden had 632,558 votes, and Trump had 609,901.
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Biden’s lead has doubled from Thursday, when he was ahead of Trump by about 11,000 votes.
Nevada has six Electoral College votes and could be decisive as Biden closes in on the 270 needed to win the White House. It’s too early to call the contest, with votes still being counted.
— Associated Press
6:22 p.m.: Evangelicals stick with Trump, see upside even if he loses
The conservative evangelical Christians who helped send Donald Trump to the White House four years ago stuck by him in 2020. But even if Trump doesn’t get a second term, some conservative Christians see reasons to celebrate in this year’s election results.
White evangelical voters made up 23% of the vote nationwide and overwhelmingly favored Trump this fall, with about 8 in 10 backing him, according to AP VoteCast. Their support may not have been enough to re-elect the president — with Democratic nominee Joe Biden in the lead as states continued to count votes Friday — yet evangelicals still took heart in their strong presence at the polls and the GOP’s success in down-ballot races.
More of the story here. — Associated Press
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6:11 p.m.: Biden adds to lead over Trump in Georgia
As of early Friday evening, Biden had overtaken Trump by 4,235 votes in the battleground state, which Trump must win to have a shot at reelection.
The Democrat first surpassed Trump in the state vote count on Friday morning as votes continue to be counted.
The contest is still too early for The Associated Press to call.
Trump’s lead dwindled after Election Day when state officials began processing mail-in ballots, a form of voting that has skewed heavily in Biden’s favor after Trump spent months claiming — without proof — that voting by mail would lead to widespread voter fraud.
If there is less than a 0.5 percentage point difference between Biden’s and Trump’s vote totals, state law dictates that a recount must be held. Biden currently holds a lead of about 0.08 percentage points.
A Democratic presidential candidate hasn’t won Georgia since Bill Clinton in 1992.
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— Associated Press
6:02 p.m.: Trump’s attacks on mail-in ballots rankle some military vets
President Donald Trump has held himself up as a champion of U.S. troops without rival. Now, with his presidency on the line, he’s casting suspicion on a tool of participatory democracy — the mail-in ballot — that has allowed U.S. military personnel to vote while serving far from home since the War of 1812.
The president has shouted from Twitter to “STOP THE COUNT” and leveled unsubstantiated charges that “surprise ballot dumps” after election night are helping rival Democrat Joe Biden “steal” the election.
All the while, Trump insists that military voters' mail-in ballots must be counted. He even suggested on Friday — without presenting evidence — that some troops' mail-in ballots have gone “missing.”
In his dizzying effort to sow doubt about the integrity of the vote, Trump has been all over the map on mail-in voting. The broadsides have unsettled many veterans and former military brass who saw voting by mail as a tether to their civic duty when serving abroad.
“Officials at all levels including in the Congress need to say to the president ‘Sir, you need to exercise the same patience that the rest of the nation does,’” said retired Navy Adm. Steve Abbot, who later served as deputy homeland security adviser in the George W. Bush administration.
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More of the story here. — Associated Press
5:41 p.m.: Harris set to speak before Biden in TV address
Democratic vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris is expected to deliver remarks Friday alongside Joe Biden.
Biden has scheduled a prime-time address on the presidential contest as votes continue to be counted in several battleground states. Biden is on the cusp of victory as he opened narrow leads over President Donald Trump in Georgia and Pennsylvania.
Harris has appeared alongside Biden during his remarks in recent days but has not made any public comments herself on the state of the race. A campaign official confirmed she will speak Friday night before Biden does.
The California senator has been at a hotel in Wilmington, Delaware, with her family since Tuesday night.
The Associated Press has not yet declared a winner in Nevada, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Alaska.
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— Associated Press
5:37 p.m.: Sen. Johnson says half of country won’t accept a Biden win
Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, of Wisconsin, said Friday that half the country will not accept the outcome of the presidential election if Democrat Joe Biden wins.
Johnson, a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump, also refused to say if he thought the election was legitimate, while admitting he had no proof of any illegal activity.
“It’s very unfortunate that no matter who wins, the other half of America is not going to view this as a particularly legitimate election,” Johnson said on WTMJ-AM. “That’s a real problem. I’m not saying it’s legitimate or not. I’m saying this process has been set up where people are not going to view it as legitimate. And that’s a real problem.”
Johnson said there has “always been some voter fraud that the mainstream media and unfortunately, many officials just simply ignore.” He offered no examples and his spokesman did not immediately respond when asked to provide some.
“I’m not alleging anything because I have no proof,” Johnson said. “All I’m saying is there are enough irregularities” to raise concerns.
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— Associated Press
5:22 p.m.: Armed men arrested near Philadelphia vote counting location
Two men armed with loaded handguns were arrested Thursday near the Philadelphia convention center where an ongoing vote count could decide the presidential election, police said.
Joshua Macias, 42, and Antonio LaMotta, 61, traveled from the Virginia Beach, Virginia, area in a Hummer and did not have permits to carry the weapons in Pennsylvania, police said.
They were arrested after the FBI in Virginia relayed a tip about their plans to Philadelphia police. Officers stopped the men on the street about a block away from the vehicle, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said.
Macias had a .40-caliber Beretta handgun inside his jacket, LaMotta had a 9mm Beretta in a holster and an AR-style rifle and ammunition were found inside the vehicle, Outlaw said. Authorities initially said that the rifle did not have a serial number but later said that it did.
A silver Hummer with Virginia license plates was parked Friday at the location where police say they found the men. It was adorned with an American flag and a window sticker for the right-wing conspiracy theory QAnon.
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— Associated Press
4:25 p.m.: How claims of dead Michigan voters spread faster than the facts
The tweets began to arrive Wednesday night, carrying explosive claims that people in Michigan were voting under the names of dead people.
Austen Fletcher, a former Ivy League football player turned right-wing internet journalist, said in videos posted to Twitter that he had discovered registration documents on a state of Michigan website that showed that four people with reported birth dates from 1900 to 1902 had submitted absentee ballots before Tuesday’s election. “How long has this been going on?” he asked.
By Thursday morning, Fletcher’s videos were the talk of the Republican internet. “Why is it taking regular Americans to expose this level of obvious corruption?” said Candace Owens, a conservative commentator, sharing one of the videos to her 2.7 million Twitter followers.
Yet a few phone calls by Fletcher would have revealed evidence that indicates that what appeared to be fraud were run-of-the-mill clerical errors.
More on this story here. — The New York Times
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3:33 p.m.: Pennsylvania vote counters' toil to extend into next week
Tens of thousands of remaining mail-in ballots — as well as the provisional ballots and those cast by military and overseas voters — will decide whether Biden’s slim lead holds up or if Republican President Donald Trump can find the votes he needs to repeat his 2016 victory in the state.
Starting to count provisional ballots on Monday, some counties decided, will help ensure that they can include all valid mail-in votes arriving by Friday that were sent on or before Election Day. Philadelphia officials said Friday that process may take several days.
In Allegheny County, which includes Pittsburgh, the crew worked through lunch on Friday, counting and sorting ballots. Officials were unsure when their count would be complete.
More on this story here. — Associated Press
3:26 p.m.: US agency pushes back on voter fraud claims
The federal agency that oversees U.S. election security is pushing back at unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud without mentioning that President Donald Trump is making unfounded allegations about the vote count.
A new statement from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency notes that local election offices have detection measures that “make it highly difficult to commit fraud through counterfeit ballots.”
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CISA, a component of the Department of Homeland Security, published the statement Friday on a section of its website devoted to dispelling rumors. It said it was countering a rumor about the role of DHS and CISA in the printing of ballots and auditing of results. Neither agency has a role in printing or auditing ballots. CISA principally helps local and state election departments protect themselves against cyberattacks.
CISA also put out a statement noting that the systems and processes used to tabulate votes and certify results “are protected by various safeguards that help ensure the accuracy of election results.”
The agency has been urging the public for weeks to be patient during the counting of results, which was slower this year in large part because of COVID-19 and the large number of mail-in ballots. It has made no comment on Trump saying without evidence that the ballot-counting process is unfair and corrupt.
— Associated Press
3:24 p.m.: Romney: Trump’s election fraud claim wrong, ‘reckless’
Key Republican lawmakers, including 2012 presidential nominee Mitt Romney, on Friday slammed President Donald Trump’s unsubstantiated claim that Democrats are trying to “steal” the election. But some GOP leaders struck a more neutral tone — and others urged the White House to fight.
Romney, now a senator from Utah, said Trump was within his rights to request recounts and call for investigations where evidence of irregularities exists.
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But Trump "is wrong to say the election was rigged, corrupt and stolen,″ Romney said on Twitter. Trump’s claim "damages the cause of freedom here and around the world ... and recklessly inflames destructive and dangerous passions,″ he said.
Romney is Trump’s most vocal critic within the Republican Party and voted to convict Trump in the president’s impeachment trial earlier this year.
His comments came as GOP Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania — whose state is a key battleground in the presidential election, where votes are still being tallied — called Trump’s claim of fraud “very disturbing.”
“There’s simply no evidence anyone has shown me of any widespread corruption or fraud,” Toomey told “CBS This Morning.”
— Associated Press
3:13 p.m.: Pennsylvania GOP turns to US Supreme Court
Pennsylvania Republicans are turning to the U.S. Supreme Court to ask for an order that mail ballots arriving after Election Day in the battleground state be segregated. The state’s top elections official already had ordered those ballots be kept apart.
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The emergency request Friday came as Democrat Joe Biden inched ahead of President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania.
The plea is part of an ongoing Republican appeal to the Supreme Court to try to keep ballots received in the mail after Election Day from being counted. The state’s top court granted a three-day extension, and the Supreme Court refused to block it.
But Democratic Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar told local officials to keep the ballots separate because the high court hasn’t ultimately decided whether to step in.
Republicans presented no evidence that counties are not adhering to Boockvar’s orders, but said, “It is unclear whether all county boards are following them in the post-election chaos.”
— Associated Press
2:46 p.m.: Trump faces tough road in getting Supreme Court to intervene
Facing the potential for narrow losses in multiple battlegrounds, President Donald Trump might have a tough time persuading the Supreme Court to take up his call to intervene and prevent Joe Biden from becoming president.
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Trump could need the court’s help in two or more states, an unlikely scenario that is far different from what took place in 2000, the only time the court has effectively settled a presidential election. Twenty years ago, the entire fight was over Florida’s electoral votes and involved a recount as opposed to trying to halt the initial counting of ballots.
More on this story here. — Associated Press
2:23 p.m.: Biden nearly doubles lead in Nevada as more results released
Joe Biden has increased his lead over President Donald Trump in Nevada, leading by 20,137 votes in the battleground state.
Results released Friday from Democrat-heavy Clark County, which includes Las Vegas and three-quarters of Nevada’s population, along with two rural counties, put Biden at 627,104 votes. Trump had 606,967.
Biden’s lead nearly doubled from Thursday, when he was leading Trump by about 11,000 votes.
Clark County has an additional 63,000 mail ballots to be processed over the next few days and 60,000 provisional ballots to be processed later, Registrar Joe Gloria said. He said the county would release more results Friday afternoon but did not know how many ballots could be included.
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The state has said it will provide an update later in the day on how many ballots are yet to be counted statewide. On Thursday, it reported that number at 190,150.
— Associated Press
1:54 p.m.: Biden plans prime-time televised address
Joe Biden’s campaign says he will give a speech during prime time Friday.
The Democratic presidential candidate’s campaign announced that he would be making an address but did not say where or what he plans to say.
Biden is on the cusp of winning the presidency as he opens up narrow leads over President Donald Trump in several critical backgrounds.
The Associated Press has not called the presidential race. Votes are still being counted in states including Pennsylvania and Georgia.
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He has urged the public to be patient as vote counting continues. He was spending Friday at home in Wilmington, Delaware.
A stage set up since election night for a victory party outside the city’s convention center remained intact and has been secured for days by security personnel using high fencing and car barriers.
Biden campaign staffers who arrived in Wilmington for a victory party earlier in the week have been told to hold onto their hotel rooms until early next week.
— Associated Press
12:31 p.m.: Georgia will recount votes, secretary of state says
Early Friday morning, while it was still dark in Atlanta, Joe Biden overtook President Donald Trump in the number of ballots counted in Georgia — a must-win state for Trump that has long been a Republican stronghold. Biden now has a roughly 1,500 vote advantage in a state with about 5 million ballots cast.
“With a margin that small, there will be a recount,” Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said Friday.
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The Secretary of State’s office said several thousand absentee ballots were still being counted Friday. Also, 8,900 unreturned ballots sent to military and overseas voters could be counted if received by 5 p.m. Friday. Counties also have provisional ballots to review and possibly add to their totals, along with absentee ballots that need to be “cured” by voters by day’s end.
There are still “an unknowable amount of ballots” that could be counted, said Gabriel Sterling, who has overseen the implementation of Georgia’s new electronic voting system. He said counties have been working diligently to finish tabulating their results, and he emphasized his confidence in the legitimacy of the process. Any evidence-backed complaint will be investigated, he added.
“When you have a narrow margin, little, small things can make a difference. So everything’s going to have to be investigated to protect the integrity of the vote,” he said.
—Associated Press
11:55 a.m.: House minority leader, Sen. Lindsey Graham throw support behind Trump’s unfounded corruption claims
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is insisting, inaccurately, that President Donald Trump “won” the election — even though officials in several states are still counting Americans' ballots.
“So everyone who’s listening, do not be quiet, do not be silent about this. We cannot allow this to happen before our very eyes,” McCarthy said Thursday on Fox News. “Join together and let’s stop this.”
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One top Trump ally Sen. Lindsey Graham said on a call with reporters Friday that he supports Trump’s efforts to challenge ballot counts in several states yet to be called in the presidential race.
Graham said he’s “not conceding” that Biden is going to win the presidency but will try to work with a Democratic administration if one is installed. He said on Fox News Thursday night he would donate $500,000 to the president’s “legal defense fund” and urged people to pitch in.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell struck a more neutral tone, and other top Republicans more defiantly urged Trump to fight to defeat Democrat Joe Biden.
“Every legal vote should be counted,” McConnell tweeted early Friday. “All sides must get to observe the process.”
McConnell grew testy during a press conference later in Kentucky when was repeatedly asked to say more. “Beyond that, I don’t have anything to say,” McConnell said. “It won’t make any difference how many times you ask I’ve already given my answer.”
More on this story here. —Associated Press
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Sen. Pat Toomey, standing with his family, during a news conference on Oct. 5, 2020. (Rick Kintzel/The Morning Call)
9:42 a.m.: Pennsylvania Republican senator calls Trump’s comments ‘very disturbing’
A key Republican senator said Friday he saw no evidence to support President Donald Trump’s baseless claim that Democrats are trying to “steal” the election and called the president’s words “very disturbing.”
Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, whose state is a key battleground in the presidential election, said “There’s simply no evidence anyone has shown me of any widespread corruption or fraud” to supported Trump’s claim Thursday of fraud in balloting.
“The president’s speech last night was very disturbing to me because he made very, very serious allegations without any evidence to support it,” Toomey told “CBS This Morning.”
He added: “I voted for President Trump. I endorsed President Trump. I want the next president to be the person who legitimately wins the Electoral College and I will accept whoever that is.”
Trump, who has complained for weeks about mail-in ballots, escalated his allegations late Thursday, saying at the White House that the ballot-counting process is unfair and corrupt. Trump did not back up his claims with any details or evidence, and state and federal officials have not reported any instances of widespread voter fraud.
Toomey has announced he is not seeking reelection in 2022, but several other Republican lawmakers have also criticized Trump’s comments.
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Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a Republican from Illinois, tweeted Thursday that the president’s claims of fraud are “getting insane.” If Trump has “legit” concerns about fraud, they need to be based on evidence and taken to court, Kinzinger said, adding, “STOP Spreading debunked misinformation.”
We want every vote counted, yes every legal vote (of course). But, if you have legit concerns about fraud present EVIDENCE and take it to court. STOP Spreading debunked misinformation... This is getting insane. — Adam Kinzinger (@RepKinzinger) November 6, 2020
More on this story here. —Associated Press
9:05 a.m.: Biden now leads in Pennsylvania as mail ballots keep being counted
Democrat Joe Biden is now leading President Donald Trump in the battleground state of Pennsylvania.
By Friday morning, Biden overtook Trump in the number of ballots counted in the state, which Trump must win to have a shot at reelection. Biden now holds a nearly 6,000-vote advantage.
The contest is still too early for The Associated Press to call. Votes in the state are still being counted.
Trump’s lead dwindled after Election Day when state officials began processing mail-in ballots, a form of voting that has skewed heavily in Biden’s favor after Trump spent months claiming — without proof — that voting by mail would lead to widespread voter fraud.
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If there is less than a half percentage point difference between Biden’s and Trump’s vote totals, state law dictates that a recount must be held.
—Associated Press
A voter drops a mail ballot at a drop box in Lauderhill, Fla., on Monday, Nov. 2, 2020. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
6:21 a.m.: No longer a ‘Flori-duh’ laughingstock: How Florida’s vote came in so fast
Floridians are watching this year’s election drama from the sidelines, repeatedly hitting the refresh button and waiting for votes to trickle in from battleground states.
The Sunshine State bucked its reputation for voting mishaps and slow results.
Florida reported its vote tally quickly after the polls closed at 7 p.m. on Election Day. Fox News was the first major news outlet to call the race for Trump at 11:05 p.m. Tuesday, and some political observers wondered why the state wasn’t called even earlier.
The Associated Press called the race at 12:34 a.m. Wednesday.
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Here are some reasons why Florida was able to deliver speedier results and avoid chaos.
Pre-Election Day processing: Florida election officials could start processing mail ballots 22 days before the election. That meant much of the work had already been done when polls closed. Other states have different laws on this. Pennsylvania couldn’t start processing mail ballots until 7 a.m. on Election Day. The Trump campaign and its allies blocked efforts to allow mail ballots to be processed earlier in Pennsylvania.
Florida election officials could start processing mail ballots 22 days before the election. That meant much of the work had already been done when polls closed. Other states have different laws on this. Pennsylvania couldn’t start processing mail ballots until 7 a.m. on Election Day. The Trump campaign and its allies blocked efforts to allow mail ballots to be processed earlier in Pennsylvania. Experience : Florida has more experience handling mail ballots, which surged in popularity this year because of the pandemic. In the 2016 election, nearly 2.7 million Floridians cast mail ballots, compared with about 262,800 in Pennsylvania. Florida is often the butt of jokes, but its election officials are used to high-stakes, close elections that require the processing of large numbers of votes.
: Florida has more experience handling mail ballots, which surged in popularity this year because of the pandemic. In the 2016 election, nearly 2.7 million Floridians cast mail ballots, compared with about 262,800 in Pennsylvania. Florida is often the butt of jokes, but its election officials are used to high-stakes, close elections that require the processing of large numbers of votes. Deadlines : Domestic mail ballots in Florida must be received by 7 p.m. on Election Day to be counted. That means ballots that arrive after that deadline won’t be counted. That’s not the case in other states, which means it will take longer to tally the results. Nevada mail ballots are counted if they are postmarked by Election Day and received no later than seven days after the election. Mail ballots in Pennsylvania are accepted if they are postmarked on Election Day and received no later than three days after the election.
: Domestic mail ballots in Florida must be received by 7 p.m. on Election Day to be counted. That means ballots that arrive after that deadline won’t be counted. That’s not the case in other states, which means it will take longer to tally the results. Nevada mail ballots are counted if they are postmarked by Election Day and received no later than seven days after the election. Mail ballots in Pennsylvania are accepted if they are postmarked on Election Day and received no later than three days after the election. Trump’s win: Trump won in a blowout by Florida standards, beating Biden by more than 370,000 votes. That was well outside the margin that would trigger a recount.
For more on this story, click here. —Skyler Swisher, Sun Sentinel
Republican supporters watch returns for Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Raphael Warnock and Republican incumbent Sen. Kelly Loeffler on Nov. 3, 2020, in Atlanta. (Curtis Compton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
6:00 a.m.: Georgia Senate runoffs could decide balance of power if Biden wins
The outcome in several contested states will determine whether Joe Biden defeats President Donald Trump. But if the Democratic challenger wins, the ambitions of a Biden presidency could well come down to Georgia.
Georgia, long a Republican stronghold — but one with rapidly changing demographics — could be the site of two runoffs on Jan. 5 to settle which party would control the Senate.
Should Democrats win them, Biden would be dealing with a majority in the Senate, increasing his chances for passing legislation and securing major appointment confirmations. Otherwise, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, could wield the power to block Biden.
Other races in North Carolina and Alaska also hold the potential to reshape the balance of power, but Georgia offers the more likely prospect.
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In Georgia, two runoff elections would mean a campaign on an almost national scale, with tens of millions of dollars spent by both sides.
Biden has been mum on the Senate balance as he awaits the results in his own election, but he offered a preview days before Tuesday’s election.
“I can’t tell you how important it is that we flip the United States Senate. There’s no state more consequential than Georgia in that fight,” Biden declared at an Atlanta rally on Oct. 27, when he campaigned alongside Democratic Senate hopefuls Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock.
Votes were still being counted to determine whether Ossoff will meet Georgia Sen. David Perdue in a second round. Georgia law requires an outright majority to win a statewide office.
Separately, a Georgia special election to fill the unexpired term of former Sen. Johnny Isakson will require a runoff between Warnock and Sen. Kelly Loeffler, the Republican appointed to the post last year after Isakson retired.
Nationally, the Senate stands at 48-48. But Republicans lead uncalled races in Alaska and North Carolina.
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For more on this story, click here. —Associated Press
[ Here's what happened on Thursday ]
[ Here’s what happened on Nov. 3 and 4 ]