News24.com | LIVE | Now Republicans turn to US Supreme Court to challenge Pennsylvania ballots

JUST IN | Republicans ask US Supreme Court to halt counting of ballots entered after 3 November

CNN reports that Pennsylvania Republicans are asking the US Supreme Court to order the state to not take any action on any mail-in ballots received after Election Day, 3 November.

The Pennsylvania secretary of state has already ordered any ballots that arrive between Wednesday, 4 November, and Friday, 6 November, be segregated from those that arrived by Election Day, pending ongoing litigation, and the state GOP’s request simply asks the court to enforce that action as well as order that “no action” is taken on the ballots.

'Republicans seeking to raise at least $60m to fund Trump's election legal challenges'

Sources have told Reuters that the Republican National Committee has reached out donors as it seeks to raise at least $60 million to fund legal challenges brought by President Donald Trump over the results of the US presidential election, two sources familiar with the matter said.

The Trump campaign has filed lawsuits in several states following the Nov. 3 election pitting the president against Democrat Joe Biden.“They want $60 million,” said a Republican donor who received solicitations from the RNC.

- Reuters

RECAP | Biden on verge of winning US presidency, leads in Pennsylvania, Georgia as Trump threatens more legal action

Democrat Joe Biden stands on the verge of winning the US presidency, as he expands his narrow leads over President Donald Trump in the battleground states of Pennsylvania and Georgia three days after polls closed.

Biden has a 253 to 214 lead in the state-by-state Electoral College vote that determines the winner, according to Edison Research. Winning Pennsylvania's 20 electoral votes would put the former vice president over the 270 he needs to secure the presidency.

Biden would also win the election if he takes two of the three other key states where he held narrow leads on Friday: Georgia, Arizona and Nevada. Like Pennsylvania, all three were still processing ballots on Friday.

As Biden inched closer to triumph, he was expected to address the nation on Friday evening, according to two people familiar with his plans. That may be a victory speech, given that his aides say Biden appears on the cusp of winning.

Meanwhile, Trump showed little sign he was ready to concede, making clear in a statement on Friday he would continue to press his unsubstantiated claims of election fraud.

"From the beginning we have said that all legal ballots must be counted and all illegal ballots should not be counted, yet we have met resistance to this basic principle by Democrats at every turn," he said in a statement released by his campaign.

"We will pursue this process through every aspect of the law to guarantee that the American people have confidence in our government," Trump said.

The statement came a day after Trump leveled an extraordinary attack on the democratic process by a sitting president, appearing at the White House on Thursday evening to falsely claim the election was being "stolen" from him.

- Reuters

Trump vows to pursue all legal challenges against election

Donald Trump has said his party will pursue legal avenues to ensure the public gets "transparency" into the voting. 

He said that there have been suspicions since the beginning of the voting process of illegal ballots slipping through the system, saying that they have faced "resistance" from Democrats about this.

Former Republican presidential nominee Romney blasts Trump for claiming election 'rigged'

Republican US Senator Mitt Romney said Friday it was wrong for Donald Trump - on the verge of losing the presidency to Joe Biden - to claim that the election was "rigged, corrupt and stolen" by Democratic rivals.

While the president is "within his rights" to request recounts and seek investigations into alleged voting irregularities, as his supporters claim occurred, "he is wrong to say that the election was rigged, corrupt and stolen," said Romney, an occasional Trump critic.

"Doing so damages the cause of freedom here and around the world, weakens the institutions that lie at the foundation of the Republic, and recklessly inflames destructive and dangerous passions.

- AFP

JUST IN | Biden's lead in Pennsylvania increases

Joe Biden's lead in key state Pennsylvania has increased to 12 390 over Donald Trump.

Securing Pennsylvania would see Biden crowned president.

Crucial update in Pennsylvania expected about 21:00

About 95% of ballots in Pennsylvania have been counted, CNN reports.

Joe Biden leads Donald Trump by just 9 746 votes, with about 124 000 votes outstanding. 

Pennsylvania has 20 electoral votes up for grabs, and a win for Biden would secure him the White House.

Biden to address the US at about 04:00

CNN reports that Joe Biden, who is on the verge of victory, is due to make an address. 

Biden, so far, is in the lead in key battlegrounds, including Pennsylvania, where a victory will ensure he is named president. 

His running mate, Kamala Harris, is also expected to deliver an address. 

RECAP | White House in reach for Biden as he builds leads in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada

Democrat Joe Biden expanded his narrow leads over President Donald Trump in the battleground states of Pennsylvania and Georgia on Friday, putting him on the verge of winning the White House three days after polls closed.

Biden has a 253 to 214 lead in the state-by-state Electoral College vote that determines the winner, according to Edison Research. Winning Pennsylvania's 20 electoral votes would put the former vice president over the 270 he needs to secure the presidency.

Biden would also win the election if he prevails in two of the three other key states where he held narrow leads on Friday: Georgia, Arizona and Nevada.

Like Pennsylvania, all three were still processing ballots on Friday.

In both Pennsylvania and Georgia, Biden overtook Trump on the strength of mail-in ballots that were cast in urban Democratic strongholds like Philadelphia and Atlanta.

With his re-election chances fading, Trump escalated his baseless attacks on the results, appearing at the White House on Thursday evening to falsely claim the election was being "stolen" from him.

As Biden moved closer to victory, hundreds of Democrats gathered outside Philadelphia's downtown vote-counting site, wearing yellow shirts that read, "Count Every Vote." In Detroit, a crowd of Trump supporters, some armed, protested outside the counting location, waving flags and chanting, "Fight!"

Trump's campaign is pursuing a series of lawsuits across battleground states, but legal experts described them as unlikely to succeed in altering the election outcome.

The campaign's general counsel, Matt Morgan, asserted in a statement on Friday that the elections in Georgia, Nevada and Pennsylvania all suffered from improprieties and that Trump would eventually prevail in Arizona.

"This election is not over," he said. "Biden is relying on these states for his phony claim on the White House, but once the election is final, President Trump will be re-elected.

"He also said the campaign expected to pursue a recount in Georgia, as it has said it will do in Wisconsin, where Biden won by more than 20 000 votes.

Election officials across the nation have said they are unaware of any significant irregularities. Georgia officials said on Friday they expect a recount, which can be requested by a candidate if the final margin is less than 0.5%, as it currently is.

Biden expressed confidence on Thursday he would win and urged patience as votes were counted. In response to the idea that Trump might not concede, Biden spokesman Andrew Bates said in a statement on Friday, "The United States government is perfectly capable of escorting trespassers out of the White House.

In Pennsylvania, Biden moved ahead of Trump for the first time and had a lead of 8 867 votes by late Friday morning while in Georgia, he was 1 579 votes ahead. Both margins were expected to grow as additional ballots were tallied.

- Reuters

Biden's lead grows in Nevada, dips in Arizona - reports

The Spectator has tweeted that Biden's lead in Arizona has fallen to 43 779 votes.

His lead in Nevada has doubled, now stands at 22 076 votes.

Georgia secretary of state says a vote recount is likely

Georgia's secretary of state says he expects a recount due to the small margin for the presidential election in the battleground state, where Democrat Joe Biden has a small lead over Republican President Donald Trump.

The presidential candidates each had 49.4% of counted ballots, though Biden was ahead by just 1 579 votes with 4 169 left to count, Georgia's voting system implementation manager, Gabriel Sterling, said.

"With a margin that small, there will be a recount," Brad Raffensperger, Georgia's secretary of state, told reporters.

Officials said about 9 000 military and overseas ballots were still outstanding and could be accepted if they arrive on Friday and are postmarked on Tuesday or earlier.

There are two ways of seeking a recount in Georgia. A presidential candidate who loses by 0.5% of the vote or less can force a recount by sending a written request to the secretary of state, or a candidate can ask the secretary of state to conduct one by alleging a "discrepancy or error" in the vote tabulation. In that case, state law gives the secretary discretion about whether to conduct a recount.

Local election officials in Georgia also can conduct recounts in their counties if they think there is a discrepancy in the results.

The Southern state switched to new touch-screen voting machines this year. After a voter makes their choices, the machine produces a marked paper ballot that’s fed into a scanner that counts the vote.

Absentee voters – hundreds of thousands this year – filled out the same ballots, which also were fed into the scanners. If the scanner cannot read the ballot, a bipartisan group of election officials reviews it to determine whether or how it should be counted.

A recount essentially repeats that process, and in the past has not made big changes in the results. Because of that, a recount is considered unlikely to have a big effect on the state’s vote totals.

- Reuters

RECAP | A win in Pennsylvania will give Biden the presidency

As the United States awaits a winner in the presidential election, returns overnight put Democratic presidential contender Joe Biden ahead in Georgia and Pennsylvania by slim margins, adding to his advantage in the electoral votes.

With nearly five million votes counted in Georgia, Biden leads by just 1 096 votes. If it holds, it would flip the historically Republican state.

A win for Biden in Pennsylvania will give him more than 270 electorate votes - enough for the presidency.

With counts of mail ballots nearing an end, Americans and the world may know on Friday who the apparent winner is. But it will not end there.

Recounts appear inevitable as President Donald Trump is planning to challenge the results in several key states in court. He has already attacked the entire process as rigged on Twitter and in a White House appearance on Thursday night.

Biden’s campaign is assembling a team of lawyers to protect his electoral lead in the courts and is asking online donors for money, saying "the fight is not over".

The heavily Democratic city of Philadelphia in the key state of Pennsylvania is emerging as a hotspot in the dispute as the counting of mail ballots sliced President Trump’s early lead from in-person voting.

Biden is still leading in continuing counts in Arizona and Nevada, two southwest states that combined, could also give Biden an overall win. Trump leads in North Carolina.

In statements from the White House and on Twitter, Trump attacked the integrity of the election process in which in-person votes gave him an early lead in the count which was clipped by mail ballots.

- Al Jazeera

As the US presidential bid takes shape, with Democrat Joe Biden making significant gains en route the White House, CNN reported that Fox News is instructing its anchors not to call Joe Biden the "President-elect" when the network calls the race, according to two memos.

According to CNN, the memos emphasised that the network should report moves by Donald Trump's legal teams to challenge the results. "We will report both sides until there is further guidance," one memo said.

At the same time, Biden's campaign swiftly responded to news that Trump would not concede.

According to reports, Biden's campaign spokesperson said: "... the American people will decide this election. And the United States government is perfectly capable of escorting trespassers out of the White House".

US Donald Trump's campaign said Friday that "this election is not over" as his challenger Joe Biden edged closer to victory in the cliffhanger White House race.

"This election is not over," a statement from campaign general counsel Matt Morgan said while making further allegations of irregularities.

"The false projection of Joe Biden as the winner is based on results in four states that are far from final," it said.

- AFP

Democrat Joe Biden has taken the lead in key battleground state Pennsylvania, where a victory for the former vice president would push him past the threshold of electoral votes needed to win the White House.

More ballots are yet to be counted, but shortly before 1400 GMT, CNN and The New York Times reported that Biden had moved ahead of incumbent President Donald Trump by more than 5 500 votes.

Biden currently has at least 253 electoral votes. The magic number is 270. If he wins Pennsylvania - a state won by Trump in 2016 - and its 20 electoral votes, he would pass that threshold.

Biden is also currently in the lead in key states Georgia and Nevada.

- AFP

CNN is reporting that former US vice-president and Democratic candidate Joe Biden has taken the lead in Pennsylvania over President Trump.

The publication adds that Trump cannot be reelected if he doesn't win Pennsylvania's 20 electoral votes, no matter how many other states he wins.

US Secret Service to dispatch extra protection squad to Biden's HQ in Delaware

The extra security will be assigned to the Wilmington Convention Center in Delaware, where the Biden campaign is headquartered and where he could potentially make his victory speech today, according to the Independent.

However, with Trump unlikely to concede if Biden wins, the Secret Service may have to wait until the electoral college meets in December to certify the vote results before officially treating him as the president-elect, The Washington Post reported.

Donald Trump takes fighting stance as election swings toward Joe Biden

As former Vice President Joe Biden moved closer to winning the White House, President Donald Trump adopted a fighting posture on Thursday, making false claims to undermine a vote that was not going his way.

Trump worked from the Oval Office on Thursday in what was otherwise largely an empty West Wing. Many of his senior staff were huddled at the campaign's headquarters in nearby Virginia.

"He's very engaged, he's monitoring, talking to all the states. It doesn't look good, but this guy wants to keep fighting," said one Trump confidante, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

"He's in a fighting mood right now. He's not melancholy or dejected. But the path is getting harder and harder."

Donald Trump Senate allies attack legitimacy of US election vote count

Two Senate allies of Donald Trump on Thursday warned that Republicans may reject the legitimacy of vote results if they turn against the embattled president.

As a few Republicans distanced themselves from Trump's unsubstantiated allegations of fraud in Tuesday's election, Senators Lindsey Graham and Ted Cruz enthusiastically backed him in back-to-back appearances on Fox News.

Trump aides reportedly had to explain his 'STOP THE COUNT' demand would guarantee his loss

According to The Washington Post, the president's senior advisors "intervened, explaining to the president that he needed to be more precise about just which vote counts he wanted halted."

"He did not want all of the states to stop counting votes, they added, because that would lead to a Biden victory," The Post added.

JUST IN: Pennsylvania is set to release a new vote count shortly

According to CNN, election officials are expected to release more results on their vote count in Pennsylvania soon.

[Joe] Biden is only behind [Donald] Trump by a little more than 18 000 votes in Pennsylvania right now. 

'I easily win!': Trump repeats baseless claim of vote fraud in White House rant

In an extraordinary outburst, the US president again claimed the election was being 'stolen' from him and cast doubt on the integrity of the democratic process, but offered no evidence.

JUST IN: Joe Biden's lead in Georgia has grown slightly to 1,096 votes

What you need to know right now

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden took a narrow lead over President Donald Trump in the battleground state of Georgia early on Friday, putting the White House within his reach as it and other undecided states continued to count votes.

- Trump backers ramped up demonstrations on Thursday night against an election they believe was rigged or being stolen, clashing with counter-protesters as vote counting continued in battleground states.

- Trump's campaign lost court rulings in the closely contested states of Georgia and Michigan on Thursday as it vowed to bring a new lawsuit challenging what it called voting irregularities in Nevada.

- The US Postal Service said about 1 700 ballots had been identified in Pennsylvania at processing facilities during two sweeps Thursday and were in the process of being delivered to election officials.

- Reuters

Republicans react to Trump's election fraud claims

Several prominent Republicans condemned U.S. President Donald Trump's claims of a 'stolen' election.

BREAKING: Joe Biden has taken the lead by 917 votes in the state of Georgia.

Two detained outside Pennsylvania vote count center - US media

Ballot counting continues in four crucial states days after Tuesday's vote, with Democrat Joe Biden still confident of capturing the presidency from incumbent Donald Trump.

Trump, narrowly ahead in Pennsylvania, has made unsubstantiated claims about vote rigging in these key states.

Philadelphia police investigate an alleged plot to attack building where votes are counted - report

According to WPVI, police received a tip that a group, "possibly a family," drove up from Virginia in a Hummer "to unleash an attack at the Convention Center."

Police arrested one man, though it is not clear if the man detained was part of the group.

JUST IN: Trump's lead in Georgia falls to 463 votes

According to CNN, these are the gaps between Trump and Biden in the remaining key states:

Trump ahead in Pennsylvania by 18 229. (Down by 4 347 since last count)

Trump ahead in Georgia by 665. (Down by 602 since last count)

Biden ahead in Nevada by 11 438.

Biden ahead in Arizona by 47 052.

- Americans continue to watch and wait to see who will be declared the winner of Tuesday’s presidential elections.

- Currently, Biden is projected to have won 253 electoral votes and Trump 213.

- The race goes to the contender with 270 votes.

- President Trump on Thursday repeated voting fraud claims without evidence in his first address since Tuesday’s elections.

- Alaska, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina and Pennsylvania are still counting ballots and winners have not been projected in those states.

- Biden, who has urged for patience, has closed the gap in Georgia and Pennsylvania.

- Arizona has been projected by some for Biden, but officials say mail-in ballots are still being counted.

I easily WIN the Presidency of the United States with LEGAL VOTES CAST. The OBSERVERS were not allowed, in any way, shape, or form, to do their job and therefore, votes accepted during this period must be determined to be ILLEGAL VOTES. U.S. Supreme Court should decide!

John Matisonn | America may reject Trump, but Trumpism isn’t dead

Election tension in the United States is likely to continue for a long time even after the counting process is done with, writes John Matisonn. 

FACT CHECK | Donald Trump claims US election rigged

As the tortuous US presidential election appeared headed to a conclusion, Donald Trump addressed the nation Thursday and claimed without evidence that he was being robbed of a second term.

The White House press conference was the president's first public appearance in more than 36 hours, and came after a day punctuated by tweets that showed his displeasure as his Democratic rival Joe Biden moved closer to victory.

In his 17-minute presentation Trump made a series of inaccurate comments about the election and its conduct.

He left without taking questions.

AFP breaks down what he said.

Here are the legal challenges Trump's campaign has filed to dispute the 2020 election results

The 2020 election hasn't been called yet, but the Trump campaign has already mounted legal challenges in several battleground states as the president trails the Democratic nominee Joe Biden in electoral votes.

JUST IN: Trump's lead in Pennsylvania falls to 22,500 votes

The outcome of the US presidential election remained in the balance on Friday morning as a handful of battleground states complete their vote counts.

Democrat Joe Biden has racked up at least 253 of the 270 electoral votes that he needs, according to US network projections - and 264 if Arizona is included, which Fox News and The Associated Press have called in his favour.

Donald Trump has amassed 213 electoral votes so far, and is still in contention in several states that would afford the Republican incumbent a path to reelection.

Expected to report final vote counts Thursday night or Friday are Georgia (16 electoral votes), North Carolina (15), and Nevada (6). However, mail-in ballots sent on or before Election Day in North Carolina can be counted until November 12.

Biden could reach the magic number to gain the White House with a win in any of the three, if he keeps Arizona. Trump needs to capture all three to stay competitive.

Meanwhile, with his re-election chances fading as more votes are counted in a handful of battleground states, President Donald Trump launched an extraordinary assault on the country's democratic process from the White House on Thursday, falsely claiming the election was being "stolen" from him.

Offering no evidence, Trump lambasted election workers and alleged fraud in the states where results from a dwindling set of uncounted votes are pushing Democrat Joe Biden nearer to victory.

"This is a case where they're trying to steal an election," Trump said.

- AFP

US Postal Service failed to deliver over 150,000 mail-in ballots by Election Day - report

Less than 85% of swing-state ballots that reached the post office by Tuesday were actually delivered by Election Day, The Washington Post reported.

More than 150,000 mail-in votes were affected by the US Postal Service's inability to process them on time, a product of delays in mail delivery that have significantly worsened since Trump donor Louis DeJoy became Postmaster General, The Post noted, citing court documents filed Thursday.

US counties worst affected by Covid overwhelmingly voted for Trump

Counties that are experiencing some of the worst Covid-19 surges have overwhelmingly voted for President Donald Trump in this year's presidential election, the Associated Press reported. 

Trump won the majority of votes in more than 90% of the 376 US counties with the highest number of new Covid-19 cases per capita. 

Most of those were rural areas in Midwestern states, where there is high opposition to social distancing and face mask guidelines. 

US election continues to boost rand – R15/$ ‘increasingly plausible’

On Friday morning, the rand was trading at R15.71 - its best level since early March, before lockdown and the Moody's downgrade.

One analyst believes the rand could now approach R15.

A somber mood has prevailed at the White House, according to reports from AFP. Aides to the president said they remained cautiously optimistic that he still had a path to re-election, while conceding that he may lose.

Trump worked from the Oval Office on Thursday in what was otherwise largely an empty West Wing. Many of his senior staff were huddled at the campaign's headquarters in nearby Virginia.

"He's very engaged, he's monitoring, talking to all the states. It doesn't look good, but this guy wants to keep fighting," said one Trump confidante, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

"He's in a fighting mood right now. He's not melancholy or dejected. But the path is getting harder and harder."

The president's campaign has launched multiple legal challenges in the states where votes are still being counted.

One White House official said he was confident the strategy of legal challenges would prevail, even if television networks call the race for Biden once final vote counts in states such as Georgia, Arizona and Pennsylvania come in.

Another lamented the loss of support among suburban women that helped doom Trump's chances in Wisconsin, while lauding the president for changing the Republican Party for decades to come by attracting more Latino and African-American votes.

- AFP

While we wait for results to trickle in, have a listen to News24's new podcast: Politics Unmuted.

PODCAST | POLITICS UNMUTED: Is American democracy in danger?

In the third episode of Politics Unmuted, a new podcast by News24, we talk about the American elections, the state the country finds itself in, and what it means for democracy.

Political editor Qaanitah Hunter talks to News24 assistant editor for in-depth news, Pieter du Toit, and News24 political reporter Lizeka Tandwa about whether the US could learn from countries like South Africa. 

The trio of political hacks provide insights and analysis into America's electoral system.

Trump campaign loses legal fights in Georgia and Michigan, vows Nevada lawsuit

President Donald Trump's campaign lost court rulings in the closely contested states of Georgia and Michigan on Thursday, even as it vowed to bring a new lawsuit challenging what it called voting irregularities in Nevada.

In the Georgia case, the campaign alleged that 53 late-arriving ballots were mixed with on-time ballots. In Michigan, it had sought to stop votes from being counted and obtain greater access to the tabulation process.

State judges tossed out both lawsuits on Thursday.James Bass, a Superior Court judge in Georgia, said there was "no evidence" that the ballots in question were invalid.

In the Michigan case, Judge Cynthia Stephens said: "I have no basis to find that there is a substantial likelihood of success on the merits."

A Trump campaign spokeswoman did not respond to requests for comment on the Michigan and Georgia rulings.

Trump allies also alleged that there had been voting irregularities in Nevada's populous Clark County, which includes Las Vegas.

Votes are still being counted in all three states, among a handful of battleground states that could decide the presidency.

Democratic challenger Joe Biden has a narrow lead in Nevada, Trump a narrow lead in Georgia, and Biden has been projected to win in Michigan.

- Reuters

CNN's Anderson Cooper describes Trump as 'an obese turtle on his back, flailing in the hot sun'

CNN's Anderson Cooper didn't mince words when he reacted to President Donald Trump's grievance-filled speech from the White House podium Thursday evening.

"That is the president of the United States. That is the most powerful person in the world. We see him like an obese turtle on his back flailing in the hot sun, realizing his time is over," Cooper said.