U.S. Election: Biden’s lead in Nevada tops 20,000; Mitt Romney slams Trump’s election claims; Election officials worried about worker safety
The 2020 U.S. election is still too early to call, with thousands of ballots needing to be counted - many in counties where Joe Biden was in the lead.
By Friday morning, Biden overtook Donald Trump in the number of ballots counted in the battleground state of Georgia, a must-win state for Trump that has long been a Republican stronghold.
Meanwhile, the Trump campaign put into action the legal strategy the president had signalled for weeks: attacking the integrity of the voting process in states where the result could mean his defeat. On Thursday, ABC, CBS and NBC all had to cut away from Trump as he spoke from the White House to make unfounded accusations that the presidential election was being stolen from him.
Here are the latest updates:
3:03 p.m. | The Associated Press 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.
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."
The Associated Press has not declared a winner in the state.
2:48 p.m. | The Associated Press A statewide appellate court judge in Pennsylvania has dismissed a request from Republicans to stop the state or counties from counting provisional ballots that were cast by voters whose mail-in ballots were disqualified by a technicality.
Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf's state elections bureau last month gave guidance to counties that a voter could use a provisional ballot if they did not successfully vote" with the mail-in or absentee ballot they were issued, or if their ballot was rejected and they believe they are eligible to vote.
The Democratic National Committee, which had sought to oppose the case in court, said Republicans wanted to throw out lawfully cast provisional ballots."
Wolf's top elections official, Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar, a Democrat, has insisted that the practice is legal and not prohibited by law.
Regardless, she said there aren't overwhelming" numbers of voters who cast a provisional ballot after their mail-in ballot was disqualified, but she has not given an exact figure.
2:42 p.m. | The Associated Press Advocates for both presidential candidates raced Friday to find every person in Georgia who submitted a flawed ballot before time ran out to fix the paperwork in a race that could be decided by only a few thousand votes.
Hours before a deadline, Christin Clatterbuck and Sarah Meng joined about 20 other volunteers who planned to visit addresses in suburban Atlanta's Gwinnett County in search of voters whose ballots were initially rejected but could be fixed with a signature or an ID.
They walked past rose bushes to knock on the door of a home in Lilburn where they were looking for a 19-year-old voter. Her dad answered and promised to call her at college.
Other problem ballots were cast by people not listed on the voter rolls who will need to explain why. They must correct, or cure," their ballots by 5 p.m. Friday for the votes to count.
At a second home, Clatterbuck and Meng did not find the voter, but a friend put her on the phone. She had failed to sign her ballot.
As you know, it's so, so, so important. Today by no seconds later than 5 o'clock," Meng said, giving details on exactly what needed to be done.
2:33 p.m. | Star reporter Gilbert Ngabo A smooth, peaceful transition of power.
These simple yet powerful words have for years formed the backbone of American democracy from one presidency to the next, an unbroken streak of handing over power since the federation was formed.
That streak is right now at risk of ending as incumbent president Donald Trump seems determined on rejecting voting outcomes if he loses. With the final tally still unknown and the race still tight in a handful of key states, Trump has been ever adamant that the system is rigged against him and has launched a bunch of lawsuits claiming voter fraud and demanding a recount.
In an election period that has already been marred with violence and instability, the fact that Trump and his administration continue to threaten holding onto power is scary, says Shira Lurie, an expert in early American history.
This unbroken streak is critically important for the country's stability, but that isn't to say that peaceful transfers of power are a given in America," Lurie, a post-doctoral fellow in the department of history at the University of Toronto, said.
Read the full story: If Donald Trump loses, will he break one of America's longest traditions of democracy?
2:07 p.m. | The Associated Press Democrat Joe Biden has increased his lead over President Donald Trump in Nevada to 20,137 votes.
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 and Trump at 606,967.
Biden's lead nearly doubled from Thursday, when he was leading Trump by about 11,000 votes.
The Associated Press has not called the presidential race. Votes are still being counted in several battleground states.
Clark County Registrar Joe Gloria says his 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.
Gloria said Clark County would release more results Friday afternoon but he said he did not know exactly how many ballots could be included in that release.
The state has said it will provide an update later Friday on how many ballots are yet to be counted statewide. On Thursday, they reported that number at 190,150.
2:06 p.m. | The Associated Press Protesters crying foul over closely watched vote counts rallied outside tabulation centres in Phoenix and Detroit Friday, responding to President Donald Trump's baseless claims of widespread fraud in the race for the White House.
The protests came as elections officials in several states where counts show Democrat Joe Biden ahead said the anger vented outside their doors had left them worried about the safety of their workers.
Roughly 200 Trump supporters gathered for a third straight day Friday in front of the elections centre in downtown Phoenix, where hundreds of workers are still processing and counting ballots.
Arrest the poll workers," the crowd chanted, demanding that Trump's presidency be renewed for four more years." Sheriffs' 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 Friday to the streets outside Detroit's convention centre, where election workers have 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 tabulation centre and maintained a close watch on the protest.
Election officials in several closely contested states expressed concern about threats and rhetoric directed at workers counting votes.
1:54 p.m. | The Associated Press President Donald Trump says he will never give up fighting for you and our nation" as he is on the cusp of losing his bid for reelection.
Trump is spending Friday at the White House tweeting, watching results come in and continuing to cast unfounded doubt over the integrity of the election.
He says in a statement released by his campaign: We believe the American people deserve to have full transparency into all vote counting and election certification." And he adds that, "This is no longer about any single election. This is about the integrity of our entire election process."
There is no evidence that any votes cast illegally are being counted or that the process is unfair and corrupt. Indeed, the ballot-counting process across the country largely has been running smoothly, if slowly, because of the increase in mail-in ballots because of the coronavirus pandemic.
But Trump is nonetheless threatening continued legal action, saying: We will pursue this process through every aspect of the law to guarantee that the American people have confidence in our government."
Trump's Democratic rival, Joe Biden, has opened up narrow leads over Trump in the critical battlegrounds of Georgia and Pennsylvania.
1:51 p.m. | The New York Times The Carter Center is urging the presidential candidates, as well as Democrat and Republican party leaders, to call for calm and patience as election results are tabulated.
It is especially important that our political leaders model peaceful participation and avoid using polarizing rhetoric or spreading unsubstantiated claims," a statement released Friday says.
President Donald Trump has made claims that the process is rigged and the election being stolen from him. He described Georgia's election as being controlled by Democrats, even though the state has a Republican secretary of state and governor.
The Carter Center urged citizens to be patient through recounts and multiple lawsuits that are contesting results across the country.
In this tense atmosphere, the risk of violence is high. It is important that everyone involved remain calm and civil," the statement reads. ... We have learned that violence only aggravates political disputes. And once unleashed, it can spread like a virus."
The Carter Center has observed more than 110 elections in other countries. This is the first time it has taken a role in a U.S election, dispersing information about voting and how the system works.
1:35 p.m | The Canadian Press State officials say there are about 250,000 votes still to be counted in Arizona, a Western presidential battleground state, where Democrat Joe Biden has a 1.4 percentage point lead over Republican Donald Trump, an advantage of about 43,779 votes.
The Associated Press has called the race in Arizona for Democrat Joe Biden. The AP said Thursday it is monitoring the vote count in the state as ballots continued to be tallied.
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."
The vast majority of the ballots still being counted are from Maricopa County, the most populous area of the state. The next update from elections officials there is expected around 9 p.m. EST on Friday.
The Trump campaign says it is confident the president will overtake Biden when all votes in the state are tallied.
1:49 p.m. | The Associated Press Police formed a barrier of bicycles down the middle of a busy Philadelphia street Friday, a physical manifestation of the political fault line separating euphoric Joe Biden supporters from Donald Trump's defiant and frustrated devotees.
One side of Arch Street was alive with celebration, protesters dancing with abandon to the beats of a local DJ as the Democratic nominee slowly closed in on his goal of capturing enough electoral votes to become the next president of the United States.
Across the way, a small but determined rogue's gallery of the president's true believers did their best to shout down the other side, brandishing Trump flags and placards as they parroted his unfounded claims of electoral fraud.
They're trying to steal an election," said Dave Dohrmann, a Philadelphia native who was among the Trump supporters pacing back and forth behind the barriers.
Helicopters pulsed in the sky overhead and police sirens howled in the distance as Trump supporters bellowed vitrol into bullhorns, ignored by the priests and local activists offering affirmations and prayers across the street.
In the neutral territory in between, locals occasionally wandered over to the Trump barriers to taunt and antagonize, encounters that typically dissolved into shouting matches but little else.
1:32 p.m. | The Associated Press 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, even as GOP leaders struck a more neutral tone - and others urged the White House to fight.
Romney, now a Utah senator, said Trump was within his rights to request recounts and call for investigations where evidence of irregularities exists.
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," Romney said.
1:02 p.m. | The Associated Press Joe Biden's campaign says he will give a speech during prime time Friday. There was no word on what the Democratic presidential candidate planned to say, or where he would speak.
12:59 p.m. | The Associated Press A close margin and a large number of outstanding votes are what's making the Pennsylvania contest between President Donald Trump and Joe Biden too early to call.
The Democrat opened a lead of more than 9,853 votes Friday morning over Trump, of more than 6.5 million votes cast - a lead of about 0.15%. State law dictates that a recount must be held if the margin between the two candidates is less than 0.5%. There are tens of thousands of votes left to count.
Additionally, about 85,000 provisional ballots from 56 counties were outstanding. Those ballots will be counted after officials verify their eligibility to be included.
Pennsylvania is among a handful of battleground states Trump and Biden are narrowly contesting as they seek the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency.
Trump, who held a 675,000-vote lead early Wednesday, prematurely declared victory in the state.
(Updated) 12:45 p.m. | The Canadian Press Prime Minister Justin Trudeau affirmed his faith in the American people and their democratic institutions on Friday as the U.S. election results continued to trend in Democrat Joe Biden's favour.
Trudeau refused to be directly drawn in to responding to President Donald Trump's complaints - without evidence - that the counting of ballots in the U.S. election is corrupt.
Trudeau said foreign countries should not pronounce on the American electoral process, and that his job is to stand up for Canada's interests with its top trading partner and closest neighbour.
We are watching, as everyone is, the processes in the United States unfold as their electoral process is underway," Trudeau said Friday in Ottawa in response to questions at a COVID-19 briefing.
We will continue to have confidence in the American institutions that have managed their electoral processes over many decades and indeed, centuries."
Trudeau said everyone is eager" to see a result and the he would be closely watching.
I think it is extremely important in electoral processes around the world that they be able to unfold in an appropriate way without foreign interventions, or interference with the elections," he said.
12:42 p.m. | The Associated Press Democrat Joe Biden was on the cusp of winning the presidency on Friday as he opened up narrow leads over President Donald Trump in the critical battlegrounds of Georgia and Pennsylvania.
Those put Biden in a stronger position to capture the 270 Electoral College votes needed to take the White House. The winner will lead a country facing a historic set of challenges, including a surging pandemic and deep political polarization.
The focus on Pennsylvania, where Biden led Trump by more than 9,000 votes, and Georgia, where Biden led by more than 1,500, came as Americans entered a third full day after the election without knowing who will lead them for the next four years. The prolonged process added to the anxiety of a nation whose racial and cultural divides were inflamed during the heated campaign.
Biden was at his home in Wilmington, Delaware, as the vote count continued and aides said he would address the nation in primetime. Trump remained in the White House residence as more results trickled in, expanding Biden's lead in must-win Pennsylvania. In the West Wing, 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.
12:20 p.m. | The Associated Press President Donald Trump won support from about 8 in 10 white evangelical Christian voters in his race for reelection, but Catholic voters split almost evenly between him and Democratic opponent Joe Biden, according to AP VoteCast.
Trump's strong hold on white evangelical voters illustrates the GOP's enduring success with a bloc of religious conservatives who have been a linchpin of the president's political base since his 2016 victory. The president's path to a second term has grown narrower, however, amid a divide among Catholics between Trump and Biden, a lifelong member of the faith.
AP VoteCast showed 50% of Catholics backing Trump and 49% favouring Biden, reflecting the faith's longstanding role as a closely contested vote in presidential elections - particularly in Rust Belt battleground states such as Michigan and Wisconsin. Trump won both of those states by less than 1 percentage point in 2016, but Biden prevailed in both this year. The survey of more than 110,000 voters nationwide was conducted for The Associated Press by NORC at the University of Chicago.
12:15 p.m. | The Associated Press Republican Jeff Van Drew wins reelection to U.S. House in New Jersey's 2nd Congressional District.
View the Star's U.S. Election Graphics: See where Trump and Biden are leading, search by state and view the breakdown in the House and Senate
11:50 a.m. | The Associated Press Democrat Joe Biden is 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 leads by about 9,000 votes. 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 favour. Trump spent months claiming - without proof - that voting by mail would lead to widespread voter fraud.
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.
11:24 a.m. | The Associated Press Election officials in several closely contested states said they are worried about the safety of their workers amid threats and gatherings of angry protesters outside vote tabulation centres, drawn by President Donald Trump's baseless claim 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."
Groups of Trump supporters gathered at vote tabulation sites in Detroit and Philadelphia again Friday, decrying counts that showed Democrat Joe Biden leading in those and other key states.
While the protests have not been violent or very large, local officials were distressed by the gatherings and concerned about the relentless accusations.
11:18 a.m. | The Associated Press Democrat Joe Biden was on the cusp of winning the presidency on Friday as he opened up narrow leads over President Donald Trump in the critical battlegrounds of Georgia and Pennsylvania.
Those put Biden in a stronger position to capture the 270 Electoral College votes needed to take the White House. The winner will lead a country facing a historic set of challenges, including a surging pandemic and deep political polarization.
Trump remained in the White House residence Friday morning as his campaign insisted the election wasn't over. Biden was at his home in Wilmington, Delaware, as the vote count continued.
The focus on Pennsylvania, where Biden led Trump by nearly 7,000 votes, came as Americans entered a third full day after the election without knowing who will lead them for the next four years. The prolonged process added to the anxiety of a nation whose racial and cultural divides were inflamed during the heated campaign.
With his pathway to reelection appearing to greatly narrow, Trump was testing how far he could go in using the trappings of presidential power to undermine confidence in the vote.
10:47 a.m. We are not seeing any widespread irregularities," said Gabriel Sterling, Voting System Implementation Manager in Georgia, in a Friday press conference. Sterling noted that there is no evidence of voter fraud - something Trump has repeatedly falsely claimed.
Sterling also expects a recount in Georgia due to the thin margin between the candidates - but one cannot be formally requested until the election is certified, he said.
10:32 a.m. | The Associated Press: U.S. stocks are slipping Friday, as Wall Street takes its first breather from a torrid run this week on enthusiasm about the upside of potential gridlock in Washington.
Optimism was still pumping through other areas of the market, though, and Treasury yields rallied after a report showed U.S. employers hired more workers last month than economists expected.
The S&P 500 was down 0.5 per cent in early trading, though it remains on pace for its best week since April. It had jumped at least 1.2 per cent in each of the last four days, with the gains accelerating after results from Tuesday's election indicated control of Congress may remain split between Democrats and Republicans. That raised investors' expectations that business-friendly policies may stick around, regardless of who wins the presidency.
9:51 a.m. The Associated Press: Philadelphia police said they arrested two men Thursday for not having permits to carry the guns they were armed with near the state convention centre, where vote counting is ongoing.
Police said they had received information earlier in the day that individuals armed with firearms were on their way to the convention centre in Philadelphia in a Hummer truck. The two men arrested acknowledged that the Hummer, spotted by officers near the centre, was their vehicle, police said Friday.
An additional firearm was recovered from inside the vehicle, police said.
Both men will face firearm charges but have not been formally charged yet, police said. Their names had not been released as of Friday morning.
9 a.m. The Associated Press: Biden is now leading 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 favour after Trump spent months claiming - without proof - that voting by mail would lead to widespread voter fraud.
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.
8:47 a.m. | The Associated Press Some Republican lawmakers are criticizing President Donald Trump's unsupported claim that Democrats are trying to steal" the election, saying Trump's comments undermine the U.S. political process and the bedrock notion that all Americans should have their vote counted.
Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, whose state is a key battleground in the presidential election, said Friday he had seen no evidence to support Trump's claim Thursday evening 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.
7:50 a.m.: Star staff: As the U.S. staggered into a third day without a clear winner in the presidential election, Democratic challenger Joe Biden gained momentum as he took a slim lead in a critical battleground state while incumbent president Donald Trump attempted to sow doubts in the election process with a flurry of falsehoods, lawsuits and tweets.
Biden finished the day Thursday with 264 electoral votes of the 270 necessary to take the White House, with four states - Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina and Pennsylvania - left unclaimed. A win in any of those four states would give him the presidency.
In Georgia, as mail ballots continued to be counted, Biden approached, then surpassed Trump, taking a 917-vote lead as of Friday morning.
In North Carolina and Pennsylvania, Trump maintained a slim lead, with Biden rapidly closing the gap in the latter state as the counting of mail ballots continued.
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."
Read Star reporter Steve McKinley's breakdown here:
7 a.m.: Star staff: Even though Joe Biden is likely to be sworn in as the next U.S. President in January, he would preside over what would still look very much like Donald Trump's America, writes Tony Burman.
And that appears to be the tragic outcome of this week's U.S. election.
Instead of relegating the corrupt Trump presidency to the dustbin of history, as widely predicted in public opinion polls, an enormous number of American voters - nearly half of them - voted for more of the same.
Even more appalling is that these Americans voted for a president whose mishandling of the pandemic crisis will have cost more than 400,000 lives by the time he would leave office in January - with an economy that is in shambles.
Read Star columnist Tony Burman's latest analysis here:
In the wake of divisive presidential election, an angry America polarized like never before
5:27 a.m.: The Associated Press: Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said Friday that whoever wins the U.S. presidential election should end U.S. interference in the internal affairs of her city and China overall.
She accused the Trump administration of repeatedly interfering over the past year, citing U.S. sanctions on officials including herself and the suspension of special trading conditions previously granted to Hong Kong.
That is totally unreasonable," she said at a news conference wrapping up a four-day visit to Beijing. I hope that they will come back to normalcy and accept that the relationship has to be built on mutual respect and co-operation."
The U.S. took issue earlier this year with China's enactment of a national security law for Hong Kong which was designed in part to snuff out pro-democracy protests that rocked the city for months last year.
5:14 a.m. | The Associated Press: 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.
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.
2 a.m. | The Associated Press: 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 the runoff elections, Joe 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.
In Georgia, two runoff elections would mean a campaign on an almost national scale, with tens of millions of dollars spent by both sides.
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.