Trump, Biden's paths to victory in US presidential election
US President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden on Wednesday each faced narrow paths to potential victory in a close-fought US presidential election that'll be dependant on a razor-thin margin.Six states remain to be called Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, NEW YORK, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin with Biden having to carry at least three to win, while Trump would want at least four.
The outcome is nearly certain to come down to millions of absentee ballots which were the first cast in this election and frequently will be the last to be counted.
At 6 am ET (1100 GMT), Biden held narrow leads in Nevada and Wisconsin. Trump held slim leads in Georgia, NEW YORK, Pennsylvania and Michigan, though thousands of ballots remain to be counted in those states, most of them votes cast by mail in the areas around major cities, which traditionally favor Democrats.
Trump's probably road to victory goes through Pennsylvania, a state he carried in 2016. If he wins there, he will need to win three of the other battleground states to secure 270 electoral votes. If he doesn't win Pennsylvania, he'll have to sweep the rest of the five. Trump led the voting in Pennsylvania about 55% to 43% with about 75% of the votes likely counted.
The state's biggest cities, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, have reported only a little share of their election results so far, and the ones results traditionally favor Democrats. Beyond that, many of the ballots that remain to be counted were filed by mail, and the state has said a lot more Democrats than Republicans cast mail-in ballots this season.
Pennsylvania offers one other wrinkle: Its state courts have ordered officials to count absentee ballots that were cast by Tuesday so long as they get to the mail by Friday. (Trump has criticized the U.S. Supreme Court for permitting the change and the case could go back to the court following the election.)Biden's probably road to victory undergoes Nevada and Wisconsin, states where he held narrow leads early Wednesday morning as officials worked to tally the ultimate votes. If Biden wins those states, victories in Georgia, Michigan or Pennsylvania would give him enough to win.
Trump held a lead around 51%-47% in Michigan, but lots of the votes remaining to be counted there were mail-in ballots from Detroit and its suburbs, where Democrats have historically enjoyed an electoral advantage. Officials in Nevada, where Biden had a razor-thin 49.3%-48.7% lead with 86% of expected votes counted, said they might not resume counting ballots until Thursday morning.
