With states like Nevada accepting accepts ballots until November 9 and 10, as per their laws, it's clear that the US presidential election is going to play out for quite some time.
Despite polling in advance that put Biden ahead across most of the country, Donald Trump has won the key battleground states of Florida, Ohio and Texas in a blow to the Democrat's hopes for victory.
However, as expected due to the impact of COVID on voting pattern, results in some states may come in more quickly than usual, while in others, they could be delayed because mail-in votes take more time to count.
For example, Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Utah and Washington are holding all-mail elections.
Trump has prematurely declared victory, calling the election a "fraud on the American public" and threatening to go to the Supreme Court to challenge it.
Biden, meanwhile, has told his supporters to "keep the faith".At the time of writing, CNN's electoral map is stating that Joe Biden stands on 224, while Donald Trump is on 213.
The electors will meet as an Electoral College on a specified date by federal law – “the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December next following their appointment” (on December 14 this year) – to tally their votes for president and vice president.
For those that stayed up, the general consensus is that CNN's coverage was excellent.
"The stats & graphics on the CNN touchscreen are amazing - incredibly detailed!" while there was plenty of love for journalist John King and his use of the touchscreen.
"Find someone who loves his job as much as John King," "John King, standing in front of his digital map on CNN, is where you need to be on election night. Especially when he drills down to county level," and "This guy John King is phenomenal! He hasn't taken a breath...his depth of knowledge and speed of delivery makes it so hard to go to bed."
As for the pattern of the early votes, one user noted that "this is starting to feel a lot like 2016 all over again...." while the closeness of the election was too close for some.
"It’s still flabbergasting that anyone looks at Donald Trump and thinks to themselves, ‘that’s the guy I’d like to lead us..’ He really is what weak people believe strength looks like. He’s trying to be a little tyrant here, I hope he’s dragged out of the Oval Office," is what TD Gary Gannon stated.
At present, things are very much up in the air with various takes being circulated like "This could get weird.
If Biden can win Michigan and Wisconsin, flip Arizona (and that's looking good) and take the Nebraska 2nd Congressional district, Biden wins the electoral college by 2 votes.
As for Trump's claim that he has already won the election, that moment was succinctly summed up with the following tweet: "What a moment in history. US president declares fraud, falsely claims victory and announces he is going to court to stop his opponent's votes being counted. It's official."
For those looking for a bit of levity, one person asked "is it too late to get Bertie to oversee this election?" while for those who stayed up, another person said what everyone who's sleep-deprived needs to know: "I need 50 naps and about 8 red bulls to get me through today."
