Dubai- Massader News
This year’s US presidential election was anticipated to be one of the most competitive races in recent years, but what has ensued is chaos, confusion and lawsuits, according to Al Arabiya English.
President Donald Trump routinely warned of voter fraud leading up to Election Tuesday, but Democrats said there was no proof for his claims.
Mail-in ballots, allowed this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, are the main issue at hand for the Trump campaign. They have said they are not being allowed into several vote counting centers in battleground states, including Pennsylvania, Georgia and Nevada.
The Trump campaign has also sought to have court orders issued to invalidate mailed ballots received after Election Day. But a number of the battleground states have said they would accept mailed ballots if there was a postmark that it was sent on or before Tuesday, Nov. 3.
“The lawsuits are meritless,” said Bob Bauer, who is part of Biden’s legal team. “They’re intended to give the Trump campaign the opportunity to argue the vote count should stop. It is not going to stop.”
With Democratic nominee Joe Biden sitting at 264 Electoral College votes, he needs one more state to cross the 270 needed to win. Trump has 214.
Pennsylvania (20 Electoral College votes)
On Thursday, an appellate court in Philadelphia ordered more access for Trump campaign observers inside the Pennsylvania Convention Center. Republicans have said they want to see the ballots being opened to ensure transparency. But the Biden campaign quickly pushed back with reports suggesting they would appeal the decision. Vote-counting was briefly in Philadelphia paused due to the litigation before resuming. But one of the main counties still counting votes announced they would halt their work until Friday. Fox News reported that 29,000 ballots in Allegheny County were incorrectly sent out before corrected ones were mailed. It is a separate issue from the Philadelphia development earlier. The chair of the Board of Elections in the county confirmed the report, saying out of 313,072 mailed ballots, 35,000 are left to be counted. Out of those, 29,000 ballots were ordered by a federal court not to be counted until Friday, the official said in televised remarks. Another 6,800 ballots had “other issues” and will be looked at starting Friday, the official said.
Georgia (16 Electoral College votes)
A judge in Georgia dismissed a lawsuit by the state Republican Party and Trump’s campaign that asked him to ensure a coastal county was following state laws on processing absentee ballots. Chatham County Superior Court Judge James Bass did not explain his decision Thursday at the close of a roughly one-hour hearing. The county includes the heavily Democratic city of Savannah. Trump has been slightly ahead in the state, but mailed ballots are expected to help Biden.
Nevada (6 Electoral College votes)
Emerging as one of the determining states, Biden is hopeful that he will win the six Electoral College votes needed to emerge as the 46th president. According to a New York Times tally, as of noon EST, Thursday, Biden held a slight lead of less than 1 percent. Trump campaign officials said they would file a lawsuit in this state as well.
Arizona (11 Electoral College votes)
Despite being called for Biden, the Trump campaign has vehemently opposed any result, saying there were close to 500,000 votes not counted. Biden’s team came out Thursday and said that the outcome there may take longer to determine. No lawsuit has been announced here, although Trump said every state claimed by Biden would be legally challenged.
North Carolina (15 Electoral College votes)
One of the first states to close its polls, North Carolina emerged as one of the last states to announce its results. Trump needs to win the state where an estimated 5 percent of the votes are yet to be counted. North Carolina’s Democratic governor pushed to allow ballots to be accepted for one week after Election Tuesday. No litigation has been announced here.
Wisconsin (10 Electoral College votes)
In another state that has been widely ruled for Biden, Trump has demanded a recount. An estimated 20,000 votes, less than 1 percent, separated Biden from the president. Trump won this state in 2016, making him the first Republican to win there since the 80s.