- 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 264 electoral votes and Trump 214. 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 for Biden, but officials say mail-in ballots are still being counted.
Hello and welcome to Al Jazeera’s continuing coverage of the US elections. This is Linah Alsaafin in Doha, Qatar.
Biden takes lead in Pennsylvania
After more than two days of vote counting, Donald Trump’s early lead in Pennsylvania’s vote count has vanished. Democrat Joe Biden leads by just over 5,000 votes in the key battleground state, which has 20 electoral votes.
Almost 6.6 million votes have been counted in Pennsylvania and the count continues as localities continue to verify and count mail-in and provisional ballots.
Biden earlier Friday had taken the lead in Georgia, which has 16 electoral votes.
If Biden winds up winning both Pennsylvania and Georgia, it would be mathematically impossible for Trump to reach the 270 electoral vote threshold needed for victory.
US Postal Service: More mail ballots found in Pennsylvania facilities
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, the Associated Press reports.
In a court filing early Friday, USPS said about 1,070 ballots had been found at a processing centre in Philadelphia, 300 were found at a centre in Pittsburgh, 266 at a facility in Lehigh Valley and the remainder were discovered at other Pennsylvania processing centres.
US-France trade relations would be “improved” under Biden: France trade minister
If Joe Biden emerges victorious in the US presidential vote, France’s trade minister said he expects “improved” trade relations with America, Reuters reports.
“We would surely see an improvement in relations. We would be more aligned on matters of sustainable development and perhaps also on multilateral work,” France trade minister Franck Riester said.
Under President Donald Trump and his “America First” philosophy, the US imposed tariffs on French wines and threatened tariffs on Champagne, French cheese and luxury handbags.
Biden’s campaign promises to end the “artificial trade war” with Europe that has developed under Trump.
Police investigating plot to attack Pennsylvania Convention Centre
Al Jazeera’s Hilary Beaumont sent in this dispatch from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia police are investigating an alleged plot to attack the Pennsylvania Convention Centre on Thursday night where election workers are counting votes, according to Philadelphia television station WPVI.
Police received a tip that a group was driving in a Hummer from Virginia to attack the convention centre. They found a weapon and arrested two people.
The Hummer is still parked in downtown Philadelphia, only one block from the convention centre. Inside is a hat with a blue Q-Anon logo. The vehicle has several Q-Anon stickers and a large weathered American flag hanging from the back.
The alleged plot follows a Trump campaign lawsuit that accused Philadelphia election officials of “hiding” the vote count. The Trump campaign was allowed to enter the convention centre on Thursday to observe the count.
Pro-Orban Hungary media push US vote ‘fraud’ claims
Hungarian pro-government media outlets have pushed out unsubstantiated claims of widespread fraud in the US election, with nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban also appearing to lend credence to the allegations.
“Huge tension in America over the many signs pointing to fraud,” said a headline in the main pro-Orban news portal Origo.hu.
In 2016, Orban was the first European prime minister to endorse Trump and backed him for re-election in September.
“I have always stood beside President Trump,” he said in an interview with a public radio channel on Friday.
Describing Trump as “Hungary’s friend” he said Hungary-US bilateral and economic relations have been in the “best shape ever” since Trump came to power.
Georgia vote can be disputed legally
Under Georgia law, if the margin between Joe Biden and Trump is less than 0.5 percentage points of difference, a recount can be requested.
“Even if Georgia goes to Joe Biden, that can still be contested,” Robert Gutsche, an associate professor at Lancaster University, told Al Jazeera.
“This will be a test for American democracy. Donald Trump certainly has some concerns he can take to the courts, and we have to see how the American public is going to handle that.”
German foreign minister says US is more than a one-man show
The United States is more than a one-man show and good losers are more important for the working of democracy than great winners, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said in an interview with Funke media group.
“The USA is more than a one-man show. Those who continue to add fuel to the fire in the current situation are acting irresponsibly,” Maas said in the interview, which appeared in Berliner Morgenpost and other newspapers.
Biden gains narrow lead over Trump in Georgia
Biden has gained a narrow lead over Trump in battleground Georgia.
Biden pulled ahead in Georgia by 917 votes, US media and Edison Research reported, as the tallying of votes continues in the state.
This marks a major shift in Georgia, traditionally a Republican stronghold, which has not backed a Democrat for president since 1992.
Biden will have ‘difficult task’ ahead of him if he wins presidency
Biden will likely face opposition not only from the Republican Party but also from members within his own Democrat Party should he secure the presidency, an analyst told Al Jazeera.
“It will be a struggle for Biden to find partners in the Republican party and to pacify members of his own party who are going to want to continue to battle with Republicans in a confrontational way,” Joseph Ura, political science professor at Texas A M University in Doha said.
“I think Biden is going to have a very difficult task, but he campaigned on the issue of bringing the country together and governing in a new style and doing his best to find common ground. I think if he makes that a priority, he’ll most likely be able to reset the country on a more positive footing.”
ECB’s De Guindos says seems very likely Biden will win US election
European Central Bank Vice President Luis de Guindos has told Spain’s Antena 3 TV it seems very likely that Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden will win the US election.
De Guindos said he expected the next administration to work with Europe like in the past.
“It is fundamental the US economy do well and maintains its leadership in multilateral institutions and keeps its cooperation with Europe,” de Guindos said. “We are open to this cooperation.”
Election officials worried by threats and protesters
Election officials in several states on Thursday said they are worried about the safety of their staff amid a stream of threats and gatherings of angry protesters outside their doors, drawn by President Trump’s baseless claims of widespread fraud in the race for the White House.
“I can tell you that my wife and my mother are very concerned for me,” said Joe Gloria, the registrar in Clark County, Nevada, which includes Las Vegas. He said his staff was bolstering security and tracking vehicles coming and going from the election offices.
But he added that he and others would not be stopped from “doing what our duty is and counting ballots”.
Trump tweets he wins presidency with ‘legal votes cast’
Trump has fired off several tweets in the early morning hours on Friday, reiterating the complaints he aired earlier at the White House.
“I easily WIN the Presidency of the United States with LEGAL VOTES CAST,” he said on Twitter, without offering any evidence that any illegal votes have been cast.
Trump has made repeated unsubstantiated claims of “fraud” with Twitter slapping warning signs on post after post, saying the president is apparently spreading misinformation. No election officials have reported fraud.
The president blamed a conspiracy of “big media, big money, and big tech” for the whittling away of his lead as votes were counted, casting doubt about the integrity of the election.
Biden gains ground on Trump in Georgia and Pennsylvania
Democratic presidential candidate Biden has gained more ground on President Trump in the battleground states of Georgia and Pennsylvania.
In Pennsylvania, which has 20 electoral votes, Biden cut Trump’s lead to just more than 18,000 by the early hours of Friday, while his deficit in Georgia, which has 16 electoral votes, shrunk to about 650.
Those numbers were expected to continue to move in Biden’s favour, with many of the outstanding ballots from areas that typically vote Democratic, including the cities of Philadelphia and Atlanta.
Biden, meanwhile, saw his lead in Arizona shrink to approximately 47,000 by early on Friday; he was still ahead in Nevada by only 12,000 votes.
According to The Spectator Index, Trump’s lead in Georgia is down at 665 votes.
Poll watchers emerge as a flashpoint in battle over ballots
Election officials in key battleground states have pushed back on claims by the Trump campaign that Republican poll watchers were being improperly denied access to observe the counting of ballots, saying rules were being followed and they were committed to transparency.
Tasked this year with monitoring a record number of mail ballots, partisan poll watchers are designated by a political party or campaign to report any concerns they may have. With a few reports of overly aggressive poll watchers, election officials said they were carefully balancing access with the need to minimise disruptions.
“There were certainly a lot of eyes on the process in every absentee counting board all across our state,” said Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat and the state’s top election official. “I’m proud of how transparent and secure our process has been. I know that the truth is on our side here.”
Two arrested outside Pennsylvania vote centre: US media
US police have arrested two men outside a Philadelphia polling station in Pennsylvania, local media reported on Friday.
Ballot counting continues in four crucial states days after Tuesday’s vote, with Biden still confident of capturing the presidency from incumbent Trump.
Trump, narrowly ahead in Pennsylvania, has made unsubstantiated claims about vote-rigging in these key states.
Shortly after 10pm (03:00 GMT) two men were arrested outside the Philadelphia Convention Centre where vote counting is ongoing, according to the Philadephia Inquirer.
The local newspaper said the men were arrested following a tip-off, first reported by 6ABC Action News Thursday night, that an armed group was heading to the centre.
US networks pull the plug on Trump’s live address due to ‘lies’
Several US TV networks late on Thursday halted live coverage of Trump’s first public appearance since election night after concluding the president was spreading disinformation.
“OK, here we are again in the unusual position of not only interrupting the president of the United States but correcting the president of the United States,” said broadcaster MSNBC anchor Brian Williams, as the network quickly ended its live coverage.
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