It’s been three days since the US election. You might have reasonably expected to have some kind of clue about the results by now.
So who is going to be the next president?
We still don’t know, because not enough votes have been counted for either Donald Trump or Joe Biden to win.
READ ALSO: Biden Shocks Trump In Georgia Stronghold, Also Leading In Pennsylvania
But it is getting closer.
The huge number of postal votes cast during this pandemic election, and different states’ laws about how to count them, meant this always was going to take longer if the race was tight.
Hasn’t Joe Biden won the popular vote?
Yes, so far, and by a big margin, but that’s not what decides who gets to be president.
Instead, a candidate has to win the majority in a system called the electoral college, where each state gets a certain number of votes or “electors” roughly in proportion to its population. If you win a state, you win all its votes (except Nebraska and Maine, but that’s complicated). There are 538 state votes and the person who gets 270 wins the prize.
So what are we waiting for now?
Mr. Biden is on 253 electoral college votes to Mr. Trump’s 214. There are several ways each of them could reach 270.
If Mr. Biden gets Pennsylvania, that’s all he needs – he is over the line. Georgia and any of Nevada, Arizona or North Carolina works for him too.
Mr Trump would need Pennsylvania’s votes and to win three states out of Georgia, North Carolina, Nevada or Arizona.
So how are they doing in these states?
Georgia (16 votes): The story here is about how Mr Biden ate into Mr Trump’s lead in a solid Republican state as postal votes and tallies from more Democratic counties came in. Mr Biden has taken a very slim lead in the state but there are still votes to be counted, such as military and overseas votes. Analysts suggest a call won’t be made here soon because the margins are just so tight – if it is less than 0.5%, there could also be a recount
Pennsylvania (20 votes): There are fewer than 200,000 mail ballots left to count, and Mr Trump currently has a small lead. However, mail ballots in most places tend to go Democratic, so the overall picture is very likely to change.
Nevada (6 votes): Mr Biden has a narrow lead but the counting has stopped there for the night. The last update said there were about 190,000 ballots left to count, many of them from Clark county, which analysts say leans Democratic.
Arizona (11 votes): Joe Biden has a narrowing lead of about 47,000 votes. Many of those remaining are from Maricopa County, home to 60% of the state’s population.
The story in one line?
Donald Trump has done better than expected and Joe Biden has failed to win those battleground states which count votes quickly, but the Democrat is closing the gap in crucial states as votes get counted.
BBC
