Biden wins key state of Wisconsin as Trump sues to stop count elsewhere – US election live | US news

A protest of apparent Trump supporters has emerged at a vote-counting site in Detroit, where valid ballots continue to be counted.

As the protesters demanded access to the building to observe the vote count, they chanted, “Stop the vote.”

Election officials have pledged to count every valid ballot cast by election day in Michigan, where Joe Biden has pulled ahead to a narrow lead over Trump.

The scene in Detroit was reminiscent of the 2000 “Brooks Brothers riot,” which disrupted vote-counting in Florida as the presidential race remained too close to call for weeks after election day.

Joe Biden is expected to soon address the nation about the state of the presidential race in Wilmington, Delaware.

With Wisconsin being called for Biden and Michigan moving in his direction, the Democrat’s team has voiced optimism about the ultimate result.

Donald Trump’s re-election campaign is falsely declaring victory in the key swing state of Pennsylvania, which remains too close to call.

Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien said on a press call: “We are declaring a victory in Pennsylvania.”

The president’s son echoed that message in a tweet:

Fact-check: Trump has not won Pennsylvania as of now, and more than 1m valid ballots must still be counted in the state.

Election analysts have said, based on the results seen so far, that Joe Biden is on track to win the state.

More importantly, Biden doesn’t necessarily need to win Pennsylvania for a victory in the presidential race. With Wisconsin in his column, Biden could hit 270 electoral votes by simply holding onto his leads in Nevada and Michigan.

Donald Trump’s reelection campaign has said it is also suing to halt vote-counting in Pennsylvania, after announcing a similar lawsuit in Michigan.

“Bad things are happening in Pennsylvania,” deputy campaign manager Justin Clark said in a statement. “Democrats are scheming to disenfranchise and dilute Republican votes. President Trump and his team are fighting to put a stop to it.”

There is no evidence Democrats are attempting to “disenfranchise” Republican voters. Pennsylvania election officials continue to count valid ballots cast by election day.

The Trump campaign said it would also sue to challenge the ruling upholding an extension to count Pennsylvania absentee ballots that were postmarked by election day.

“As the President has rightly said, the Supreme Court must resolve this crucial contested legal question, so President Trump’s Campaign is moving to intervene in the existing Supreme Court litigation over the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s unlawful extension of the mail-in ballot receipt deadline,” Clark said.

But the supreme court already rejected a request from Pennsylvania Republicans to overturn the extension last week.

Donald Trump’s allies are trying to push the claim that the president is on track to win Arizona, a state that the AP and Fox News have already called for Joe Biden.

Fox News has said its Decision Desk stands by its Arizona call, arguing the last batch of the state’s votes will not split the way Trump’s team insists it will.

Even election analysts who have not yet made a definitive call on Arizona have expressed skepticism that Trump could pull off a victory there.

It’s worth noting that Joe Biden’s current margin of victory in Wisconsin, in terms of raw vote count, is almost identical to Donald Trump’s margin there in 2016.

As of now, Biden leads Trump in Wisconsin by 20,517 votes.

In 2016, Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in Wisconsin by 22,748 votes.

So Biden has clawed back at least one state in Democrats’ “blue wall,” but Wisconsin seems destined to have more extremely close presidential races in the years to come.

With Wisconsin in Joe Biden’s column, the Democratic nominee could win the election solely by holding onto his leads in Nevada and Michigan.

If Biden won both Nevada and Michigan after securing Wisconsin, his electoral vote count would be 270, the exact number needed to capture the White House.

Michigan officials continue to count valid ballots, although Donald Trump’s reelection campaign said it has filed a lawsuit to “halt counting” in the state.

Nevada is expected to provide an update on its vote count tomorrow morning.

Donald Trump’s reelection campaign has already said it will “immediately” call for a recount in Wisconsin.

However, with Joe Biden ahead by more than 20,000 votes in Wisconsin, a recount is unlikely to change the final result in the state.

Even the president’s allies, like former Wisconsin governor Scott Walker, have said they think the state is definitively lost for Trump.

The AP has called Wisconsin and its 10 electoral college votes for Joe Biden. It is the second state to be flipped from Republican to Democrat, following the call of Arizona for the Democratic nominee early this morning. (Biden has also flipped the lone electoral vote from Nebraska’s 2nd congressional district.)

Meagan Wolfe, the administrator of the Wisconsin elections commission, said in a briefing that the state believed it had all unofficial results, except for a small township of 300 people. (Biden currently leads by about 20,000 votes.)

The announcement from Wisconsin aligns with the Biden campaign’s statements that they are optimistic the race is moving in their direction. Biden’s electoral vote count is now up to 248, meaning he will win the election if he can maintain his leads in Nevada and Michigan.

Donald Trump’s reelection campaign has already said it will “immediately” call for a recount in Wisconsin, but given the margin in the race, a recount is unlikely to change the final result.

Earlier today the Democratic chair in the state, Ben Wikler, had a tweet labelled as misleading by Twitter when he claimed the state had been won by Biden at around 7:20am ET.

Incidentally Michigan’s Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson has said they expect an unofficial vote count by the end of the day. The state is, she said, still counting “tens of thousands” of ballots.

CNN has projected Joe Biden will win Wisconsin and its 10 electoral votes.

The Guardian goes by AP’s race calls, so we are not yet declaring a winner in the state, but the news is certainly a good sign for Biden’s chances of victory.

Advisers to Donald Trump’s reelection campaign — including the president’s son, Eric Trump — will hold a press conference in Philadelphia in about an hour, as Pennsylvania remains too close to call.

“Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. will host a press conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with Eric Trump, Trump 2020 Senior Advisor Lara Trump, Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, and campaign Senior Advisor Corey Lewandowski at 3:30 pm EST,” the campaign said in a press release.

The campaign made no mention of Rudy Giuliani, the president’s personal lawyer, joining the press conference, but he said he was also headed to Philadelphia.

Quick fact-check on Giuliani’s tweet: there is no evidence of “massive cheating” in Pennsylvania or any other battleground state.

There is also no evidence that Pennsylvania Democrats are trying to “steal” the race. Election officials in the state continue to count valid ballots cast by election day.

Donald Trump’s reelection campaign said it had filed a lawsuit to halt the counting of ballots in the swing state of Michigan.

“President Trump’s campaign has not been provided with meaningful access to numerous counting locations to observe the opening of ballots and the counting process, as guaranteed by Michigan law. We have filed suit today in the Michigan Court of Claims to halt counting until meaningful access has been granted,” campaign manager Bill Stepien said in a statement.

“We also demand to review those ballots which were opened and counted while we did not have meaningful access. President Trump is committed to ensuring that all legal votes are counted in Michigan and everywhere else.”

Joe Biden has narrowly pulled ahead in Michigan, giving him the advantage in the key swing state, but many ballots still need to be counted.

And it’s official: Republican Susan Collins of Maine has won reelection to the US Senate, the AP announced.

Democrats have almost no path to a Senate majority at this point. They would have to win at least three of the five remaining uncalled races and take the White House to flip the chamber.

Of the five remaining uncalled races, Democrats have a very slim advantage in Michigan, and Republicans are ahead in Alaska and North Carolina.

At least one of the Georgia Senate races is headed to a January runoff, but Democrats would likely have to force the other Georgia Senate race to a runoff to have even a glimmer of a chance of taking the majority.