Democratic candidate and former vice president Joe Biden has taken the lead in four states — Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada, and Arizona — with outstanding vote totals that will decide the presidential election.
President Donald Trump had been leading the vote count in both Pennsylvania and Georgia – states he won in the 2016 election – but as counting of mail-in ballots continued throughout the week, Biden pulled ahead in both states on Friday morning.
The Trump campaign issued a statement Friday morning expressing confidence that Trump can win reelection.
“This election is not over. The false projection of Joe Biden as the winner is based on results in four states that are far from final. Georgia is headed for a recount, where we are confident we will find ballots improperly harvested, and where President Trump will ultimately prevail,” Trump campaign lawyer Matt Morgan said in a statement emailed to American Military News.
Morgan also pointed out “irregularities in Pennsylvania” that included observers initially being refused adequate observing distance to oversee the counting process. A court sided with the Trump campaign’s lawsuit to mandate all observers to be granted access to observe while abiding by a six-feet social distancing protocol.
“In Nevada, there appear to be thousands of individuals who improperly cast mail ballots. Finally, the President is on course to win Arizona outright, despite the irresponsible and erroneous ‘calling’ of the state for Biden by Fox News and the Associated Press,” Morgan added. “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.
Biden currently leads by more than 5,500 votes in Pennsylvania with 95% of total votes counted. The state is currently counting Election Day votes, and still has mail-in ballots left to count. State officials do expect most of the counting to be completed today.
Pennsylvania is also still bound by a court order that prohibits them from processing some votes until 5 p.m. today.
In Georgia, Biden nudged ahead with a lead of 1,100 votes on Friday morning. The margin is slim enough that a recount will be requested by the Trump campaign.
According to a Friday morning update, less than 8,200 ballots remain to be counted in the state, with approximately 4,800 expected from Gwinnett County, a Biden-favored county in the Atlanta area. Another 1,797 votes are expected from Laurens County, a Trump-favored county in the central area of the state.
Friday also marks the deadline for Georgia to receive its 8,900 military and overseas absentee ballots sent upon voter request, which have not yet been returned.
In Nevada, Biden retains his lead with 11,000 votes ahead. On Thursday, voting officials said the state would be receiving ballots postmarked before Election Day until the Tuesday deadline, but expected most votes to be counted by Saturday or Sunday. The state’s next vote count update is expected Friday afternoon.
In Arizona, Biden remained ahead with a lead of 47,000 votes as of Friday morning.
Trump has already requested a recount in Wisconsin where Biden leads by approximately 20,000 votes.
