As of Wednesday night, Biden had 264 electoral college votes, six short of the 270 needed to become President, and Trump had only 214, according to media tally
Clarion India
WASHINGTON – Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has won Michigan with 16 of the battleground state’s electoral votes, according to media reports. Both CNN and NBC News called the race for Biden on Wednesday evening, even as other key states such as Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Nevada were yet to declare a winner, The Hill news website reported.
In the 2016 presidential election, then Republican candidate Donald Trump bagged Michigan with 47.50 per cent of the vote, while his challenger Hillary Clinton trailed very close at 47.27 per cent.
Michigan is the second of three Rust Belt “blue wall” states that Biden has won after Trump had flipped them four years ago.
The other two are Pennsylvania, where counting was still underway of outstanding ballots, and Michigan.
As of Wednesday night, Biden had 264 electoral college votes, six short of the 270 needed to become President, and Trump had only 214, according to media tally.
The only way Trump can get re-elected is by capturing 54 of the remaining 60 votes.
Biden also created a record for the highest number of popular votes polled by a presidential candidate with 70.3 million ballots as of Wednesday afternoon, and still counting. Trump had polled 67.5 million votes.
Due to the incomplete results, there was a tie in the party standings in the Senate, with each side having 48 seats.
In the House of Representatives, Democrats had 205 seats to Republicans’ 190.
Meanwhile, police and businesses across the US are keeping preparations in Trump’s claims of victory – a scenario that experts warned held a greater potential for unrest.
According to media reports, on Wednesday evening, protesters gathered in cities including Washington, Denver, Portland and Los Angeles, leading to scattered arrests. Before the election, more than a dozen states activated National Guard troops, retailers boarded up windows and anxious Americans loaded up on body armor and guns in worries about violence.
A Facebook group called “Stand Up Michigan to Unlock Michigan” on Wednesday put out a call to action, asking volunteers to go to Detroit’s TCF Centre, locally known as Cobo Hall, to challenge the Michigan results being tallied there. The post told the group’s 79,000 members that hundreds of left-wing challengers were already on the premises.
The protesters, many of whom said they wanted to be poll watchers, were initially blocked by police at the front door. The crowd entered the convention centre through an unguarded rear door and resumed chanting: “Stop the count!”
The left-leaning group Protect The Results plans more than 100 protests to defend the election’s integrity, in cities including New York, Washington and Los Angeles, both virtual and in person.
Hundreds of protesters gathered on Wednesday evening in Central Park and outside the New York Public Library in Manhattan. They chanted “Count every vote,” while brandishing signs supporting Joe Biden.
Sporadic incidents occurred in several cities Wednesday evening. Near downtown Denver, police dispersed marchers after windows were smashed at a check-cashing store, according to video that spectators posted on Twitter. The marchers, most dressed in black, held a banner that read “Death to Fascism and the Liberalism That Enables It.” Police were seen in the video detaining two people.
(With inputs from agencies)
