White House race on knife edge, voting continues in key states

Americans woke up on Wednesday not knowing who the next US president would be as votes were still being counted in six key states that could swing the bitterly contested election to Republican incumbent Donald Trump or Democrat Joe Biden.   

Fueling fears of a constitutional crisis, Trump prematurely declared victory overnight and threatened to demand the intervention of the Supreme Court to stop vote-counting but it continued nonetheless.   

 “We did win this election,” the 74-year-old president told cheering supporters in the East Room of the White House before the final vote tallies were complete. “This is a fraud on the American public.” The Biden campaign slammed Trump’s victory claim as “outrageous, unprecedented, and incorrect” and a “naked effort to take away the democratic rights of American citizens.” “The counting will not stop.   

As of 9:00 am (1400 GMT), Biden had a slim lead in Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin while Trump was ahead in Georgia, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.   

But state election officials cautioned that with tens of thousands of ballots outstanding in some states --millions in others-- the races could shift.   

The tight White House race and recriminations evoked memories of the 2000 election between Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Al Gore.   

The Bush vs Gore race, which rested on a handful of votes in Florida, eventually ended up in the Supreme Court, which halted a recount while Bush was ahead.   
WASHINGTON AFP Nov4, 2020   

Reports: Biden projected winner of Arizona, project Fox, AP   

Washington (dpa) - Joe Biden, the Democratic candidate to be US president, is projected to win Arizona, with its 11 electoral votes, Fox News and the Associated Press are reporting.   

Biden leads Trump with 51 per cent of the vote and more than 2.5 million ballots cast.   
Arizona has historically been a Republican stronghold