07:18 (IST)
US Election 2020 Latest Updates
Republican Phil Scott wins reelection in Vermont
Republican Governor Phil Scott has won reelection in the traditionally Democratic state of Vermont, the AP announced.
Scott has distanced himself from Donald Trump, previously announcing he intended to vote for Joe Biden. Explaining his Biden vote earlier today, Scott said, "We need someone that can pull us together. Our country needs to heal."
"We need someone that can pull us together."
— ABC News (@ABC) November 3, 2020
Vermont's Republican Gov. Phil Scott explains why he voted for Joe Biden, adding that "our country needs to heal." https://t.co/bMrqNVtaLc pic.twitter.com/f4WiWRvzb5
07:13 (IST)
US Election 2020 Latest Updates
Trump gets Alabama, Mississippi: US media
President Donald Trump has won Alabama, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Tennessee, while Democrat Joe Biden has won Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Rhode Island.
The results were not a surprise. Biden is very strong in the states that went for him, just as Trump is strong in the states he won.
Trump takes 33 electoral votes for winning those four states, while Biden adds 69 electoral votes to his total for winning seven states.
07:09 (IST)
US Election 2020 Latest Updates
Trump wins Arkansas, says AP
President Donald Trump is projected to win the state of Arkansas. The Republican nominee on Tuesday was awarded its six electoral votes.
Arkansas is a reliably Republican state that hasn’t gone for a Democratic presidential candidate since Bill Clinton in 1996.
06:53 (IST)
US Election 2020 Latest Updates
Republican Mitch McConnell wins reelection in Kentucky
Senate leader Mitch McConnell has won the re-election race, defeating Democratic candidate Amy McGrath, according to US media. McConnell, who won from Kentucky, is one of the many senators who have been re-elected.
The Democratic incumbents who won are Chris Coons of Delaware, Dick Durbin of Illinois, Ed Markey of Massachusetts, Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Cory Booker of New Jersey and Jack Reed of Rhode Island. On the GOP side, James Inhofe of Oklahoma has also won reelection.
06:42 (IST)
US Election 2020 Latest Updates
Trump picks up four states while Biden wins seven others
Joe Biden has won seven states, including his home state of Delaware. The Democratic nominee won Rhode Island, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maryland, Illinois, Delaware and Connecticut.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump has won the states of Oklahoma, Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama.
Again, none of these states are battlegrounds, so the results are not surprising. The major prizes of the night remain up for grabs.
BREAKING: Donald Trump wins Alabama. #APracecall at 7:00 p.m. CST. #Election2020
— AP Politics (@AP_Politics) November 4, 2020
06:38 (IST)
US Election 2020 Latest Updates
Donald Trump set to win South Carolina, projects AP
Donald Trump is projected to win the state of South Carolina by winning its nine electoral votes, the AP announced.
Trump was expected to win the state, but South Carolina’s key Senate race between Republican incumbent Lindsey Graham and Democrat Jaime Harrison remains too close to call.
BREAKING: Donald Trump wins South Carolina. #APracecall at 7:56 p.m. EST. #Election2020
— AP Politics (@AP_Politics) November 4, 2020
06:33 (IST)
US Election 2020 Latest Updates
Polls close in six US states
Polls have closed in six US states in a bitterly contested election between incumbent President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden, including in the key East Coast battleground of Georgia.
Polling places also shut statewide in Indiana, Kentucky, South Carolina, Vermont and Virginia in a landmark contest that saw tens of millions of American cast their ballots early amid the coronavirus pandemic.
CNN and NBC already projected a win for Donald Trump in Indiana.
06:26 (IST)
US Election 2020 Latest Updates
Trump takes Republican-leaning States of West Virginia, Indiana and Kentucky
The first results are trickling in, with US media projecting wins for the Republican incumbent so far in Indiana, Kentucky and West Virginia - all states he won in 2016. Biden has captured Vermont and Virginia.
So far, that gives Trump 24 electoral votes to 16 for Biden. The magic number is 270. Observers expect the hotly contested race for the White House to come down to a handful of key battleground states.
06:13 (IST)
US Election 2020 Latest Updates
Joe Biden set to win Virginia, says AP
Democrat Joe Biden is projected to win the state of Virginia by winning its 13 electoral votes.
Democrat Hillary Clinton won Virginia over Republican Donald Trump in 2016, helped in part by her choice of running mate: Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine.
Virginia has grown increasingly liberal over the last four years, and as a result of the 2019 elections, Democrats now control every branch of government in the state.
06:09 (IST)
US Election 2020 Latest Updates
Donald Trump projected to win West Virginia, Kentucky
AP projected that Donald Trump will coast to victory in West Virginia, winning its five electoral votes. The Republican nominee is set to defeat Democrat Joe Biden on Tuesday in the state, which is reliably conservative, the report said.
The report also projected eight electoral votes from Kentucky for Trump.
05:52 (IST)
US Election 2020 Latest Updates
Joe Biden to win Vermont, reports AP
BREAKING: Joe Biden wins Vermont. #APracecall at 7:00 p.m. EST. #Election2020
— AP Politics (@AP_Politics) November 4, 2020
05:48 (IST)
US Election 2020 Latest Updates
Donald Trump confident as early trends trickle in
Donald Trump took to Twitter on Tuesday evening (local time) as polls began shutting around the country and early trends began.
WE ARE LOOKING REALLY GOOD ALL OVER THE COUNTRY. THANK YOU!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 3, 2020
05:42 (IST)
US Election 2020 Latest Updates
CNN projects Indiana for Donald Trump
CNN PROJECTION: Donald Trump wins Indiana https://t.co/lCnX8gH59B #CNNElection pic.twitter.com/7P94E6UM2Y
— CNN (@CNN) November 4, 2020
05:20 (IST)
US Election 2020 Latest Updates
On radio, Donald Trump claims win in North Carolina and Florida
US president Donald Trump called into talk radio shows in the battleground states of Pennsylvania and Wisconsin just hours before polls closed. Trump projected confidence Tuesday that he will win key states like North Carolina and Florida and said he’s expecting a “great” evening.
Trump told Wisconsin host Vicki McKenna that he is expecting a strong night based on lines of people waiting to vote. Trump has sown doubts about mail voting, without evidence, and is expecting most of his supporters to turn out on Election Day.
05:13 (IST)
US Election 2020 Latest Updates
Joe Biden urges higher voter turnout as polls begin to close
As polls begin to close in certain parts of the country, remember to stay in line.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) November 3, 2020
If you’re in line at your polling place before it closes, you’re able to vote. pic.twitter.com/qUpn30B8mj
05:00 (IST)
US Election 2020 Latest Updates
Armed man arrested at North Carolina polling site
In North Carolina, an armed man loitering at a polling site on Election Day has been arrested and charged with trespassing, AP reported
Thirty-six-year-old Justin Dunn was legally carrying a firearm but loitered at the Charlotte site after voting Tuesday morning, which prompted a precinct official to call police over fears of voter intimidation. A precinct official accompanied by a police officer asked him to leave the site and banned him from the location.
Police say Dunn left the precinct but returned about two hours later. He was taken into custody and charged with second-degree trespassing.
Publicly listed numbers for Dunn were disconnected when a reporter tried to reach him Tuesday.
04:56 (IST)
US Election 2020 Latest Updates
'Superstitious' about poll predictions, says Joe Biden
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden isn’t making any predictions about the outcome of the election as the final hours of voting tick down.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday outside a Delaware community center, Biden said he’s “superstitious” about offering predictions for election night but remains “hopeful", AP reported. He says he’s heard from aides that there’s “overwhelming turnout” among young people, women and older Black adults in places like Georgia and Florida.
He says, “The things that are happening bode well for the base that has been supporting me -- but we’ll see.” Still, he admitted, “It’s just so uncertain” because of how many states are in play.
04:41 (IST)
US Election 2020 Latest Updates
Vermont Republican governor says he voted for Biden
Vermont Governor Phil Scott says he voted for Joe Biden for president, making him the first Republican governor in the nation to acknowledge voting for the Democratic presidential candidate.
The Republican governor told reporters Tuesday after casting his ballot in his hometown of Berlin, Vermont, that he had never voted for a Democrat in his life.
“As many of you knew, I didn’t support President Trump. I wasn’t going to vote for him,” Scott said. “But then I came to the conclusion that it wasn’t enough for me to just not vote. I had to vote against.” He says he “put country over party, which again wasn’t an easy thing to do in some respects.”
04:27 (IST)
US Election 2020 Latest Updates
Donald Trump to watch poll results in East Wing
US president Donald Trump will reportedly watch the poll results on Tuesday (local time) in the White House's East Wing, CNN reported.
“The President’s going to be watching returns tonight with senior aides, with members of the first family from the White House, from the East Wing. He’s excited. We’ve put in the work, we’ve not taken any vote for granted, he’s been out on the trail meeting with voters, doing as many as five events a day, and we’re ready to see these results,” communications director Alyssa Farah was quoted as saying.
04:06 (IST)
US Election 2020 Latest Updates
Voters say pandemic top issue in election
With the coronavirus now surging anew, voters ranked the pandemic and the economy as top concerns in the race between President Donald Trump and Democratic rival Joe Biden, according to AP VoteCast, a national survey of the electorate.
Voters were especially likely to call the public health crisis the nation’s most important issue, with the economy following close behind. Fewer named health care, racism, law enforcement, immigration or climate change.
After eight months and 232,000 deaths, the candidates faced a dissatisfied electorate. Many voters said they have been personally affected by the virus. Roughly 6 in 10 said the country is going in the wrong direction.
03:42 (IST)
US Election 2020 Latest Updates
FBI investigates robocalls warning voters to "stay home"
Voters across the US received anonymous robocalls in the days and weeks before Election Day urging them to “stay safe and stay home” — an ominous warning that election experts said could be an effort to scare voters into sitting out the election, AP reported.
The FBI is investigating calls that seek to discourage people from voting, a senior official at the Department of Homeland Security told reporters Tuesday. Authorities wouldn't offer details.
The brief calls, which featured a computerized female voice, made no mention of the election. But given the lack of details, and the timing, the message was clear, according to Dan Doughty, a Kansas City resident who received the robocall Tuesday morning.
03:33 (IST)
US Election 2020 Latest Updates
Waiting for the first polls to close?
Watch the Titanic Sink in Real Time in a New 2-Hour, 40 Minute Animation https://t.co/vgJZviRNeN pic.twitter.com/RNYDh4fs6g
— Open Culture (@openculture) November 3, 2020
03:32 (IST)
US Election 2020 Latest Updates
Poll results largely a referendum on COVID-19 management
The US poll campaign has largely been a referendum on Donald Trump’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Trump insists the nation was “rounding the turn” on the virus. But Dr Deborah Birx, the coordinator of the White House coronavirus task force, broke with the president and joined a chorus of Trump administration scientists sounding the alarm about the current spike in infections.
"We are entering the most concerning and most deadly phase of this pandemic," Birx wrote in a memo distributed to top administration officials. She added that the nation was not implementing "balanced" measures needed to slow the spread of the virus.
03:15 (IST)
US Election 2020 Latest Updates
Hand sanitiser causes ballot scanner malfunction in Iowa
A spokesperson for the Iowa secretary of state says hand sanitizer on voters’ hands caused a ballot scanner to jam at a polling place in Des Moines, AP reported.
Spokesperson Kevin Hall says some voters’ hands were moist when they handled the ballots and the buildup of sanitizer eventually caused the scanner to stop working. The machine was fixed in about an hour.
To prevent another breakdown, poll workers moved the sanitizing station farther back in the line so voters’ hands would be dry when they first touched the ballots.
It was a problem unique to the coronavirus era. Iowa is considered one of the tossup states in Tuesday’s election between President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden.
02:51 (IST)
US Election 2020 Latest Updates
Update from Michigan Secretary of State:
Update from Michigan:
— Jocelyn Benson (@JocelynBenson) November 3, 2020
✅ 92%+ of all absentee ballots are returned (still 4 hours to go if you haven’t dropped yours off yet!)
✅Absentee counting is going smoothly & very efficiently.
✅ Precincts are islands of calm, welcoming a steady stream of voters throughout the day.
02:47 (IST)
US Election 2020 Latest Updates
Kanye says will vote for the 'US president' — himself
God is so good 😊 Today I am voting for the first time in my life for the President of the United States, and it's for someone I truly trust...me. 🇺🇸 🕊
— ye (@kanyewest) November 3, 2020
02:33 (IST)
US Election 2020 Latest Updates
Arizona poll authorities say result could go either way, voting in Minneapolis 'very smooth'
As America set out to vote on Election Day amid the COVID-19 pandemic, state election authorities weighed in on the situation on polling in their respective jurisdictions.
In Arizona, Secretary of State Katie Hobbs said that while Joe Biden has a narrow edge over US President Donald Trump in the state, "either candidate has the possibility to win". "I try to be non-partisan, but we've seen Biden leading pretty much most of the polls that have been done here for Arizona. The margins vary, but he's been ahead," Hobbs told CNN'.
Meanwhile, the report said that voting in Minneapolis was going "very smoothly" so far "with no incidents of equipment malfunction or voter intimidation."
Additionally, in Michigan, the authorities said the vote "will be counted sooner than previously expected, with both day-of and absentee ballot counts expected to be reported soon after polls close tonight", CNN reported.
02:18 (IST)
US Election 2020 Latest Updates
Voters weary of 'divisive' campaign, says report
The hard-fought campaign left voters on both sides eager to move on, although the result might not be known for days, AP reported.
A new anti-scale fence was erected around the White House. And in downtowns ranging from New York to Denver to Minneapolis, workers boarded up businesses lest the vote lead to unrest of the sort that broke out earlier this year amid protests over racial inequality.
Just a short walk from the White House, for block after block, stores had their windows and doors covered. Some kept just a front door open, hoping to attract a little business.
Whoever wins will have to deal with an anxious nation, reeling from a once-in-a-century heath crisis that has closed schools and businesses and that is worsening as the weather turns cold.
02:01 (IST)
US Election 2020 Latest Updates
Trump predicts win by a larger margin than in 2016
The record-setting early vote — and legal skirmishing over how it will be counted — drew unsupported allegations of fraud from Trump, who had refused to guarantee he would honor the election’s result.
Trump called into “Fox & Friends,” where he predicted he will win by a larger electoral margin than he did in 2016, when he tallied 306 electoral college votes compared to Democrat Hillary Clinton's 232.
01:44 (IST)
US Election 2020 Latest Updates
102 million Americans, 73% of 2016 turnout, voted early
The Election Day surge to the polls came even after 102 million Americans voted early, an eye-popping total that that represents 73% of the total turnout of the 2016 presidential election.
Biden entered Election Day with multiple paths to victory while Trump, playing catch-up in a number of battleground states, had a narrower but still feasible road to clinch 270 Electoral College votes. Control of the Senate was at stake, too: Democrats needed to net three seats if Biden captured the White House to gain control of all of Washington for the first time in a decade. The House was expected to remain under Democratic control.
01:37 (IST)
US Election 2020 Latest Updates
Trump, Biden hand their fate to voters, with robust turnout
President Donald Trump and Joe Biden handed their fate on Tuesday to voters, who will decide which man will steer the country through the surging pandemic that has killed over 2,31,000 people, destroyed jobs and reshaped nearly every aspect of American life. With almost 102 million Americans voting early and millions more waiting in lines on Election Day, the rancorous campaign across a polarized nation clearly stuck a nerve with the electorate.
With the worst public health crisis in a century bearing down, the pandemic — and Trump's handling of it — became the inescapable focus for 2020.
In battlegrounds, including Florida, Iowa, Georgia, Michigan and Pennsylvania, some voters showed up to their polling places before dawn to beat the crowds, but still found themselves having to wait in long lines to cast their ballots.
01:30 (IST)
US Election 2020 Latest Updates
Voting extended in 4 North Carolina precincts
The North Carolina board of Elections extended voting in four precincts after they opened late on Tuesday, CNN reported, adding that the election results are likely to be delayed by at least 45 minutes in the state.
01:21 (IST)
US Election 2020 Latest Updates
Joe Biden's campaign says 'clear that we are winning'
Joe Biden’s campaign manager Jen O'Malley Dillon was quoted by CNN as expressing confidence that Biden was on his way to the White House.
"it is clear we are winning," Dillon said, adding that "that they are "confident" about their path to victory and "clear-eyed" on what will come in when. The campaign is staying consistent in its message that it believes the winner will be known tonight," the report said.
00:59 (IST)
US Election 2020 Latest Updates
'Have faith in the American people', says Kamala Harris
Democratic vice presidential nominee Senator Kamala Harris urged voters to stay calm no matter what the outcome of the election is and said, "Have faith in the American people. I do strongly believe that we — whoever we vote for — will defend the integrity of our democracy and the peaceful transfer of power. And that there are certain lines that no matter who you vote for, they won't cross."
Speaking to reporters in Detroit, she was quoted by CNN as saying, "The path to the White House and the path to determining who will be the next President of the United States without question runs right through Michigan."
00:49 (IST)
US Election 2020 Latest Updates
Beware of premature declaration of result, say reports
It is likely that the declaration of a winner after the US polls shut on Tuesday will be delayed due to the counting of the mail-in ballot. In such a scenario, reports are cautioning voters against speculation or a premature declaration of the result.
The U.S. will likely *not* know the final results of the #Election2020 today.
— Access Now (@accessnow) November 3, 2020
Beware of posts that claim a winner early. pic.twitter.com/4MkQqwsRpj
00:45 (IST)
US Election 2020 Latest Updates
Jim Clyburn predicts a ''good night for Democrats''
The third-ranking Democrat in the US House is predicting Democrats will pick up as many as a dozen House seats. Majority Whip Jim Clyburn told reporters outside a polling place in Columbia, South Carolina, on Tuesday that he believed it would be a “good night for Democrats” up and down the ticket.
Clyburn says, “Holding the House would just be status quo. Winning the Senate would make it good.” Democrats control the House 232-197, with five open seats and one independent. It takes 218 seats to control the chamber. Republicans control the Senate.
Clyburn has expressed concerns about voter suppression. He says President Donald Trump has been “literally stoking flames of indecision, unrest, threatening violence.” Clyburn says the nation''s division “didn't start with Trump, and it won't stop with Trump."
00:29 (IST)
US Election 2020 Latest Updates
Losing is not easy for me, says Donald Trump
Addressing his campaign team, Donald Trump said that he hadn't prepared a concession speech or an acceptance speech. He added that his rallies had got a "tremendous" response.
"Not thinking about concession speech or acceptance speech yet. Hopefully, we'll be doing only one of those two. Winning is easy, losing is never easy - not for me, it's not. When you see rallies, there's tremendous love going on in this country, tremendous unity," he added.
00:19 (IST)
US Election 2020 Latest Updates
Facebook vows vigilance on election day misinformation efforts
Facebook pledged real-time monitoring of Election Day misinformation and manipulation efforts as voters began in-person balloting across the United States Tuesday.
Along with other social platforms, the company has promised to stem misinformation around the election, including premature claims of victory, seeking to avoid a repeat of 2016 manipulation efforts.
"Our Election Operations Center will continue monitoring a range of issues in real time -- including reports of voter suppression content," said a Facebook statement posted on Twitter. "If we see attempts to suppress participation, intimidate voters, or organize to do so, the content will be removed."
00:14 (IST)
US Election 2020 Latest Updates
Donald Trump says 'doing very well' in Florida, Arizona, Texas
Addressing the campaign team in the bullpen of the headquarters in Virginia, Donald Trump claimed that his campaign was doing "very well" in the states of Florida, Arizona, and Texas. "I think we're going to have a great night and more importantly we're going to have a great 4 years."
Also speaking to reporters, Trump said, "I feel very good."
HAPPENING NOW: Pres. Trump speaks to staffers at RNC headquarters in Arlington, Virginia. https://t.co/c3lwtHKTbG
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) November 3, 2020
00:00 (IST)
US Election 2020 Latest Updates
US 'entitled to know' winner on election day, says Donald Trump
Amid reports that the declaration of the US poll results may be delayed due to the counting of mail-in ballots, US president Donald Trump said that Americans are "entitled to know" who the winner is on election day itself. The polls will close at 4.30 am IST, after which the counting of votes will begin.
Trump’s assertion comes even as poll officials have repeatedly urged voters to remain patient, while adding that counting has historically never been completed on poll day. This year’s delay has been especially highlighted because of the unprecedented number of voters choosing to cast their votes in advance, mainly due to the pandemic.
Trump, a Republican, has launched repeat assaults on the credibility of mail-in voting, often claiming without evidence that the process will be rigged against him.
23:55 (IST)
US Election 2020 Latest Updates
Barack Obama says Joe Biden 'made me a better president'
Former US president Barack Obama on Tuesday made another pitch for Joe Biden, who was the vice president during his terms in the White House. "For eight years, Joe was the last one in the room whenever I faced a big decision," he said.
For eight years, Joe was the last one in the room whenever I faced a big decision. He made me a better president. And today, we have the chance to elect Joe and Kamala to build our country back better. But it’s going to take every single one of us. Vote: https://t.co/XdZz4dh82T https://t.co/Tg95bMztqT
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) November 3, 2020
23:47 (IST)
US Election 2020 Latest Updates
'Joe Biden is not primetime,' says Donald Trump
US president Donald Trump weighed in on Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden's candidature on Fox News on Tuesday.
“Joe Biden is not primetime.” -@realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/WBVeXiYFjR
— GOP (@GOP) November 3, 2020
23:34 (IST)
US Election 2020 Latest Updates
Kamala Harris as president would be 'terrible thing' for US, women: Trump
Democratic vice presidential candidate Senator Kamala Harris becoming US president would be a "terrible thing" for both the country and women, President Donald Trump said on Tuesday.
The Republican leader said that the US would never remain the same if Biden-Harris ticket are the winner. "Our country could never be the same country if they win, because they are radicalised left," Trump said as he launched a scathing attack against Harris.
"Joe Biden will never call the shots and if he does, he's not going to be there very long. He's got a vice president who's further left than (Senator) Bernie Sanders, who is not a particularly good person and she would be, I think, a terrible first representative," Trump alleged. "If she became the first woman president, I think it would be a terrible thing for our country. I think it would be a terrible thing for women."
"I look forward to the first woman president," Trump said in response to a question. "But I wouldn't look forward to her being that person. I think it would be a very bad thing. I think you'd have a country that would become a socialist country, if they pack the courts, that would be a terrible thing."
23:23 (IST)
US Election 2020 Latest Updates
Nebraska, Michigan, Atlanta voters receive robocalls asking them to hold off voting due to pandemic
There were reports that some fake recorded calls were being made to voters in a few states with an intention to suppress voter participation. Earlier Michigan Attorney General tweeted a clarification telling voters not to pay heed to unverified information. Voters were reportedly being told that they shold hold off voting till tomorrow to avoid crowds.
Now Nebraska officials have also warned voters against fake news after several reported incidents of such calls.
CNN reported that it recieved information from the state of Atlanta as well where one of its reporters also recieved such a call.
23:03 (IST)
US Election 2020 Latest Update
Time to claim our democracy back, urges Joe Biden
In another appeal urging voters to step out to vote, Joe Biden re-asserted his oft-repeated campaign mantra: "It's time to claim our democracy back." Earlier, Biden had ended the last rally with the same slogan as he asserted he was expecting a "big win."
Folks, it’s go time.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) November 3, 2020
It’s time to restore the soul of this nation.
It’s time to stand up and take our democracy back.
It’s time to vote. https://t.co/eoxT07uII9
22:39 (IST)
Son of WSJ journalist beheaded by Al-Qaeda 18 years ago casts his first vote in 2020 polls
18 years ago our colleague Danny Pearl of the @WSJ was brutally murdered, beheaded, by Al-Qaeda.
— Christiane Amanpour (@camanpour) November 2, 2020
Now Adam, 18, the son Danny would never meet, votes along with his mum Mariane, in his first ever presidential election.https://t.co/po8mX3eseg
22:28 (IST)
US Election 2020 Latest Update
Why is 270 the magic number in US elections?
What's all this hubbub about 270? It's not about the 270 whales stranded this fall on Australia's island state of Tasmania. It's not about congestion on Interstate 270 feeding commuters into Washington, DC. It's about who's going to sit in the White House for the next four years.
Nearly 2.9 million more people voted for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election, but she still lost. President Donald Trump won because he took the Electoral College, under a system set up in the US Constitution and refined through the centuries. This is where the magic number comes into play.
Each state is allotted a different number of electoral votes, based on how many representatives it has in the House, plus its two senators. To win the White House, a candidate must win at least 270 electoral votes. That's a majority of the 538 that are up for grabs in the 50 states.
22:19 (IST)
US Election 2020 Latest Update
Did you know?
No Republican president has ever won the US election without carrying the state of Ohio
22:12 (IST)
US Election 2020 Latest Update
What to expect from Indiana and Kentucky after polling closes at 4.30 am IST
Indiana and Kentucky won’t tell us much — Trump is expected to win both of them easily, and Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky is expected to win easily, too.
In the unlikely event that McConnell’s Democratic challenger, Amy McGrath, becomes competitive, that could be a sign of a really bad night for Republicans. But early returns will not say much, because the polls will be open for another hour in parts of western Kentucky and Indiana that are on Central time.
22:06 (IST)
Michigan Attorney general debunks fake messages asking voters to turn up tomorrow to vote
Getting reports of multiple robocalls going to Flint residents that, due to long lines, they should vote tomorrow.
— Dana Nessel (@dananessel) November 3, 2020
Obviously this is FALSE and an effort to suppress the vote. No long lines and today is the last day to vote. Don’t believe the lies! Have your voice heard! RT PLS.
US Election 2020 Latest Updates: Biden has captured his home state of Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, Vermont, Virginia and New Jersey, as well as the three electoral votes given to the US capital Washington (District of Columbia).
Democrat Joe Biden is projected to win the state of Virginia by winning its 13 electoral votes.
Democrat Hillary Clinton won Virginia over Republican Donald Trump in 2016, helped in part by her choice of running mate: Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine.
Virginia has grown increasingly liberal over the last four years, and as a result of the 2019 elections, Democrats now control every branch of government in the state.
Donald Trump took to Twitter on Tuesday evening (local time) as polls began shutting around the country and early trends began trickling in.
US president Donald Trump called into talk radio shows in the battleground states of Pennsylvania and Wisconsin just hours before polls closed. Trump projected confidence Tuesday that he will win key states like North Carolina and Florida and said he’s expecting a “great” evening.
Trump told Wisconsin host Vicki McKenna that he is expecting a strong night based on lines of people waiting to vote. Trump has sown doubts about mail voting, without evidence, and is expecting most of his supporters to turn out on Election Day.
In North Carolina, an armed man loitering at a polling site on Election Day has been arrested and charged with trespassing, AP reported.
Thirty-six-year-old Justin Dunn was legally carrying a firearm but loitered at the Charlotte site after voting Tuesday morning, which prompted a precinct official to call police over fears of voter intimidation. A precinct official accompanied by a police officer asked him to leave the site and banned him from the location.
Police say Dunn left the precinct but returned about two hours later. He was taken into custody and charged with second-degree trespassing.
Publicly listed numbers for Dunn were disconnected when a reporter tried to reach him Tuesday.
Vermont Governor Phil Scott says he voted for Joe Biden for president, making him the first Republican governor in the nation to acknowledge voting for the Democratic presidential candidate.
The Republican governor told reporters Tuesday after casting his ballot in his hometown of Berlin, Vermont, that he had never voted for a Democrat in his life.
“As many of you knew, I didn’t support President Trump. I wasn’t going to vote for him,” Scott said. “But then I came to the conclusion that it wasn’t enough for me to just not vote. I had to vote against.” He says he “put country over party, which again wasn’t an easy thing to do in some respects.”
With the coronavirus now surging anew, voters ranked the pandemic and the economy as top concerns in the race between President Donald Trump and Democratic rival Joe Biden, according to AP VoteCast, a national survey of the electorate.
Voters were especially likely to call the public health crisis the nation’s most important issue, with the economy following close behind. Fewer named health care, racism, law enforcement, immigration or climate change.
After eight months and 232,000 deaths, the candidates faced a dissatisfied electorate. Many voters said they have been personally affected by the virus. Roughly 6 in 10 said the country is going in the wrong direction.
Voters across the US received anonymous robocalls in the days and weeks before Election Day urging them to “stay safe and stay home” — an ominous warning that election experts said could be an effort to scare voters into sitting out the election, AP reported.
The FBI is investigating calls that seek to discourage people from voting, a senior official at the Department of Homeland Security told reporters Tuesday. Authorities wouldn't offer details.
The brief calls, which featured a computerized female voice, made no mention of the election. But given the lack of details, and the timing, the message was clear, according to Dan Doughty, a Kansas City resident who received the robocall Tuesday morning.
As America set out to vote on Election Day amid the COVID-19 pandemic, state election authorities weighed in on the situation on polling in their respective jurisdictions.
In Arizona, Secretary of State Katie Hobbs said that while Joe Biden has a narrow edge over US President Donald Trump in the state, "either candidate has the possibility to win". "I try to be non-partisan, but we've seen Biden leading pretty much most of the polls that have been done here for Arizona. The margins vary, but he's been ahead," Hobbs told CNN'.
Meanwhile, the report said that voting in Minneapolis was going "very smoothly" so far "with no incidents of equipment malfunction or voter intimidation."
Additionally, in Michigan, the authorities said the vote "will be counted sooner than previously expected, with both day-of and absentee ballot counts expected to be reported soon after polls close tonight", CNN reported.
The North Carolina board of Elections extended voting in four precincts after they opened late on Tuesday, CNN reported, adding that the election results are likely to be delayed by at least 45 minutes in the state.
Democratic vice presidential nominee Senator Kamala Harris urged voters to stay calm no matter what the outcome of the election is and said, "Have faith in the American people. I do strongly believe that we — whoever we vote for — will defend the integrity of our democracy and the peaceful transfer of power. And that there are certain lines that no matter who you vote for, they won't cross."
Speaking to reporters in Detroit, she was quoted by CNN as saying, "The path to the White House and the path to determining who will be the next President of the United States without question runs right through Michigan."
Addressing the campaign team in the bullpen of the headquarters in Virginia, Donald Trump claimed that his campaign was doing "very well" in the states of Florida, Arizona, and Texas. "I think we're going to have a great night and more importantly we're going to have a great 4 years."
US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he had built the world''s greatest economy, which was "horribly" interrupted by the "plague" that came from China
First Lady Melania Trump has cast her in-person vote at the Morton and Barbara Mandel Recreation Center in Palm Beach.
According to the US president's son, China, Mexico, Cuba, Liberia, the US states of New York and California along with part of India are the only places that don't want Trump to have four more years in the White House. Curiously, Jammu and Kashmir, according to Trump Jr, would prefer a Trump presidency.
News reports say that 9,069,761 people have already voted in Florida, which is roughly 95 percent of the 9.6 million total votes in the 2016 election. Registered Democrats lead registered Republicans by about 115,000 votes. Nearly 2 million people with no party affiliation have also voted, CNN reported.
In what CNN termed 'only a mildly confident view of his prospects', President Donald Trump asserted that he will call in a win, only when there's a win.
Joe Biden has started Election Day with a visit to church — and the grave of his late son, Beau. Biden and his wife, Jill, made an early morning stop at St. Joseph’s on the Brandywine in Wilmington, Delaware
At least 98.1 million people voted before Election Day, or just shy of 71 percent of the nearly 139 million ballots cast during the 2016 presidential election, according to data collected by The Associated Press. Given that a few states, including Texas, had already exceeded their total 2016 vote count, experts were predicting record turnout this year
President Donald Trump and his reelection campaign are signaling they will pursue an aggressive legal strategy to try to prevent Pennsylvania from counting mailed ballots that are received in the three days after the election. The matter could find its way to the Supreme Court, especially if those ballots could tip the outcome in the battleground state.
On Election day, President Donald Trump is planning to visit his campaign headquarters in Virginia on Tuesday, while Biden will travel to his birthplace of Scranton, the scrappy Pennsylvania town where Trump also visited on Monday
Polls opened at 6:00 am (4.30 pm IST) in the eastern states of New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Connecticut and Maine. But the first polling stations to open in the country were in two New Hampshire villages, Dixville Notch and Millsfield, starting at midnight
Election Day is finally here.
Or at least what we still call Election Day, since nearly 100 million Americans had already cast ballots by Tuesday.
That's the result of an election system that has been reshaped by the worst pandemic in a century, prompting many voters to take advantage of advance voting rather than head to polling places in person at a time when coronavirus cases are rising.
Here's what to watch as the final votes for President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden are cast:
Results, Results...?
We may not know who won the presidential election on Tuesday night. And if so, it does not necessarily mean anything is broken, fraudulent, corrupted or wrong.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly suggested a slower-than-typical result is a sign of trouble.
“I think it’s terrible that we can’t know the results of an election the night of the election,” he said on Sunday. “I think it’s a terrible thing when states are allowed to tabulate ballots for a long period of time after the election is over."
It's unclear what the president thinks is a long period. But it's standard practice to continue tabulating votes after Election Day. But as it turns out that not knowing final results on the voting day itself is not an exception but the norm. The reason is simple enough, that it is physically impossible to count millions of ballots overnight as votes are cast across 51 states both in person, and by mail.
What the headlines mean, when they say that results will be delayed this year is that there may not be enough information available early enough to call out the polls in favour of one candidate over the other.
Does this mean results will come out later than usual?
Yes.
The biggest factor that may slow things down this year is clear: Millions of Americans decided to vote by mail rather than risk contracting coronavirus at a polling place. And in general, those mail ballots take longer to count.
Election workers must remove the ballots from their envelopes, check for errors, sort them and flatten them — all before they can be run through scanners the moment polls close and be tabulated. In states with well-established vote-by-mail programs, this processing happens weeks before Election Day. The results are often released quickly.
But several states did not have this system in place before this year and laws on the books prohibited election officials from processing the ballots well in advance of Election Day. Without a head start, there's virtually no way to process and count all the mail votes on Election Day, while also counting all the in-person votes.
There are three important battlegrounds with restrictions on when the mail vote can be processed — Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
In those states, Republican-controlled legislatures have resisted pleas from election officials to update the laws to allow for a speedier count. (The Michigan legislature did allow processing to begin 24 hours before Election Day in cities, but election officials say that's not enough of a head start.) Instead, they will initially report in-person votes — expected to heavily favor Trump — and gradually update with the more Democratic-leaning mail ballots later.
But don't news organisations call a winner before all the vote is counted?
Yes, there's never been a presidential race in history in which all votes are counted on election night. It's just not physically possible to instantly count that many ballots — possibly as many as 150 million on the night of Nov. 3.
Media organizations, including The Associated Press, declare winners in thousands of races on election night based on the results that are in, voter surveys and other political data.
But in a close race, more of the vote may need to be counted before The Associated Press can call a winner.
Is there any hope for knowing the winner on election night?
Sure. Not all battleground states are slow-counting states. So if several key states release their results promptly, one candidate may have a majority of the electoral vote — even without knowing who won in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania or Michigan.
That becomes more likely if the races in those states are not close.
It's a scenario that puts a lot of eyes on Florida. The state allows its election offices to process mail ballots 22 days before the election. It's also the biggest swing state. As long as the race isn't too close — a big “if” in a place famous for tight races — there could be a close-to-complete count by midnight. And if Trump loses Florida, it's is very difficult for him to reach the 270 electoral votes he needs to defeat former Vice President Joe Biden and return to the White House.
Two other Southern battlegrounds — North Carolina and Georgia — also can begin processing mail ballots early. They are both considered critical states for Trump. However, unlike Florida, neither state has a record of handling a large number of mail ballots. It's unclear how quickly they will count those votes.
Finally, two Midwestern states — Iowa and Ohio — also allow for early processing of mail ballots. Trump won both states handily in 2016, but Democrats believe Biden is competitive there. Results in those two states on election night could give hints about what lies ahead in the critical Rust Belt states that take longer to count.
With inputs from AP and AFP
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