Trump calls for recount in Wisconsin and files lawsuit to halt Michigan vote, while Pennsylvania results lagging: What’s happening in these crucial states
The future president of the United States is hinging on the decisions of three key swing states.
Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania are experiencing neck-in-neck races between incumbent President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden. With a combined 46 electoral college votes, the outcome of the 2020 U.S. presidential election is likely in the hands of voters in these states.
The delayed results are largely the result of a greater than average number of mail-in ballots due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Unlike other states that changed election rules to accommodate for the crush of mail-in votes, Republican lawmakers in these states opposed new laws to accelerate mail-in voting. As a result, officials in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin could not legally process absentee ballots until on or just before election day.
Michigan
For a while, the race was nearly tied in this state, with Biden and Trump locked in a battle for Michigan's 16 electoral college votes. While Trump led overnight, on Wednesday morning Biden surpassed him.
As of 2 p.m. ET Wednesday, Biden's lead over Trump had widened in Michigan by nearly 50,000 votes, ABC News reported. If Biden wins by such a margin, it would be nearly five times more than how many votes Trump won the state in 2016.
Trump's campaign said at around 2:09 p.m. ET that it has filed a lawsuit to try to halt the vote count in battleground Michigan.
Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien said in a statement that the campaign has not been provided with meaningful access to numerous counting locations to observe the opening of ballots and the counting process, as guaranteed by Michigan law."
He said a suit was filed Wednesday in the Michigan Court of Claims to halt counting until meaningful access has been granted."
Michigan is a critical battleground state that helped deliver Trump the presidency four years ago, along with Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson earlier told CNN the results could be known by the end of Wednesday. We'll know much more in the hours to come, and we'll have a much more complete picture of Michigan by the end of today," she said.
Many ballots remain to be counted in Michigan, with many of those originating in Detroit, a traditionally Democratic stronghold. Three million people requested absentee ballots as a result of the pandemic, and Michigan law states that counting these ballots cannot begin until the morning of election day.
In 2016, Trump won Michigan with just 10,704 votes.
Wisconsin
As of 2:20 p.m. ET, Joe Biden wins Wisconsin, according to the Associated Press.
More than one million voters here submitted their ballots by mail, according to the Associated Press. This state swung to Trump by a margin of just 23,000 votes in the 2016 election, marking the first time a Republican has captured Wisconsin since 1984, when Ronald Reagan swept to victory.
The slim margin of victory that helped land Trump his presidency was in play for 2020, too. Biden won Wisconsin within one percentage point with 99 per cent of ballots tallied.
Trump's campaign said in a statement Wednesday that it plans to request a recount.
Pennsylvania
The prevalence of mail-in votes in this state means that days could pass before a winner is projected. As of 1 p.m. ET Wednesday, Trump leads by eight points, but only 80 per cent of ballots have been tallied so far.
As a result, the tables could still turn towards Biden, who hails from Pennsylvania. With 20 electoral college votes, winning here is crucial. Three million mail-in ballots were cast in Pennsylvania, with state data showing that these votes seem to lean Democrat.
Officials in some regions of the state opted to not count mail-in votes until Wednesday morning, leaving the decision of Pennsylvania in the lurch.
More than a million votes remain uncounted. Most mail-in ballots should be tallied by Friday in Pennsylvania. Since the counting and checking is labour-intensive, election workers are actually going through the ballots quite quickly, ABC News reported.
With files from the Associated Press
Jenna Moon is a breaking news reporter for the Star and is based in Toronto. Follow her on Twitter: @_jennamoon
Joanna Chiu is a Vancouver-based reporter covering both Canada-China relations and current affairs on the West Coast for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @joannachiu