Although America was repeatedly warned to expect an “Election Week” rather than getting results on Tuesday night, it feels slightly surreal that the nation does not yet know – midway into Thursday – who the next president of the United States will be.
Vote counts are slow to come in across the country, thanks to the unprecedented number of mail-in ballots and the variety of state laws regarding how to count them. While in most states, the mail-in vote will not change the result – California has counted less than 75% of their votes, but was called for Biden as soon as the polling stations closed – the election is extremely narrow in five crucial states:
Nevada (6 electoral college votes) – Biden currently has a slim lead in the Silver State, with almost 200,000 votes still to be counted. However, most of these votes are from deep-blue counties.
Arizona (11 votes) – Although the state was called for Biden by FOX News and the Associated Press yesterday, most news outlets have been unwilling to make that judgement yet. Biden has a small lead in the Grand Canyon State, but it has narrowed in recent hours. However, many of the mail-in ballots still to be counted are from comfortably Democratic areas.
Georgia (16 votes) – Trump’s lead in Georgia is razor thin (less than a third of a percent) and getting thinner, as the influx of votes from Atlanta and its suburbs have tipped the scales slowly towards Joe Biden.
North Carolina (15 votes) – Trump has a slight lead in the Tar Heel State, and is likely to win there when all is said and done. However, mail-in ballots are still coming in, and state laws say that ballots can arrive as late as November 12th and still be counted.
Pennsylvania (20 votes) – Trump maintains a lead in Pennsylvania, but it is narrowing by the hour. He absolutely must win Pennsylvania to be re-elected, but Biden is crushing it with mail-in votes, exceeding the margins he needs to overtake his Republican rival.