President-elect Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, alongside vice-president elect Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff.

President-elect Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, alongside vice-president elect Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff. Source: President-elect Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, alongside vice-president elect Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff.

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'Let's give each other a chance': US president-elect Joe Biden calls for unity in moving victory speech

Follow the SBS News live blog for the major updates from the 2020 United States presidential election.

President-elect Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, alongside vice-president elect Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff.

President-elect Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, alongside vice-president elect Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff. Source: President-elect Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, alongside vice-president elect Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff.

Published 4 November 2020 5:22am
Updated 8 November 2020 5:31pm
By SBS News
Source: SBS

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7 Nov 2020 5:32am
Joe Biden takes the lead in Pennsylvania by more than 13,000 votes
While you were sleeping, Joe Biden has taken the lead in Pennsylvania - a crucial battleground state with a whopping 20 electoral votes up for grabs.

There are currently only about 13,000 between the 77-year-old challenger and incumbent Donald Trump, who had an early lead in the battleground state. 

Mr Biden currently sits on 253 electoral votes (after his early lead in Arizona narrowed and the call for Democrats was reversed) - this means if Pennsylvania is called for Mr Biden, the race is over. He has 273 electoral votes and is the new president.

The Associated Press and CNN, among other key media outlets, are yet to call the critical state for Mr Biden but some have suggested a result might not be far off:

Mr Biden also leads in Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada - more details on those key states coming soon - which means Mr Trump's path to the White House is becoming more and more unlikely.

Without Pennsylvania, Mr Biden could also win with a combination of any two of those states.

7 Nov 2020 5:17am
Welcome to day four
Good morning! It's Maani Truu here, ready and raring to take you through day four of our rolling coverage of the US presidential election.

Will today be the day that we have a new president? Quite possibly. We've had some major developments overnight, so don't go anywhere. 



7 Nov 2020 12:07am
Good night!
We're about to log off for the night. But first, here's the state of play.

The US has woken to news that Joe Biden has taken the lead in Georgia, and is now leading by 1,096 votes.

There's talk that another update from Pennsylvania could come soon, where US media reports Mr Biden has clawed back Donald Trump's lead to around 18,000 votes.

Meanwhile, CNN has just reported Mr Biden is leading by more than 11,438 votes in Nevada, and 47,052 in Arizona. Mr Trump was ahead in North Carolina by 76,737.

And where does that leave the race for president? Reuters sums it up this way:

"Biden has a 253 to 214 lead in the state-by-state Electoral College vote that determines the winner, according to most major television networks. Winning Georgia's 16 electoral votes would put the former vice president on the cusp of the 270 he needs to secure the presidency. Biden, 77, would become the next president by winning Pennsylvania, or by winning two out of the trio of Georgia, Nevada and Arizona. Trump's likeliest path appears narrower - he needs to hang onto both Pennsylvania and Georgia and also to overtake Biden in either Nevada or Arizona."

We'll be back to bring you the latest on Saturday morning. Good night!

6 Nov 2020 11:03pm
Things are slowing back down again
After a burst of quickfire updates from Georgia, the last hour and a bit has been pretty quiet. There's not a whole lot happening, though US media is reporting Pennsylvania could potentially have some updates in the next few hours.

The one update we CAN bring you, however, is that Joe Biden's lead in Georgia has grown ever so slightly from 917 votes to 1,096.

6 Nov 2020 9:40pm
Why Trump appears to have won more non-white voters this year
He's been repeatedly branded as racist by his critics, but some exit polls show Donald Trump has won over more non-white voters at the 2020 election than in 2016.

Experts say while some may be surprised about that, it's actually fairly understandable.

Read SBS News reporter Rashida Yosufzai’s story below:

READ MORE

Why Donald Trump appears to have won over more non-white voters this election



 

6 Nov 2020 9:13pm
The state of play
 
As the race for Georgia turns into a nail-biter, let's take a look at the state of play elsewhere.
 
In the key battleground of Pennsylvania, Donald Trump was still ahead as of the last update. However, multiple media have reported that his lead has narrowed to a little over 18,000 votes.
 
Meanwhile, CNN reported an hour ago that Mr Biden was leading by more than 11,438 votes in Nevada, and 47,052 in Arizona. Mr Trump was ahead in North Carolina by 76,737.
 
Some results have continue to roll through as the US sleeps. It's just after 5am in Pennsylvania and Georgia, and just after 2am in Nevada.
 
Joe Biden has so far got 253 electoral college votes (264 if you count Arizona which Associated Press and Fox News have called, but others have not). Donald Trump has 213.  A candidate needs 270 votes to claim the presidency.
6 Nov 2020 9:10pm
Georgia's on John Legend's mind
Singer-songwriter John Legend, who spoke at a Joe Biden rally a few days ago, seems pleased with recent developments - he's just tweeted himself singing the classic song "Georgia on My Mind".

The version of this song performed by Ray Charles, who was born in Georgia, is Georgia’s official state song.

6 Nov 2020 8:39pm
More on Georgia
In the space of about an hour, Donald Trump's 665 vote lead in Georgia has turned into a 917 vote lead for Joe Biden.

And he's continuing to make ground on Mr Trump in Pennsylvania.

But while this is a big development, there are still a few things that need to happen for Mr Biden to win the election.

Arizona is still in play, as is Nevada and Pennsylvania - and of course, Mr Biden hasn't actually won Georgia yet.

We'll bring you more on the other states as soon as we can.

6 Nov 2020 8:27pm
Joe Biden takes the lead in Georgia
Joe Biden has just pushed ahead of Donald Trump in the tight race for Georgia.
 
Decision Desk HQ reports the Democratic hopeful is now leading by 917 votes in the Republican stronghold. 
 

 
 
6 Nov 2020 7:56pm
Joe Biden continues to gain ground in Georgia
Decision Desk HQ says the race in Georgia has now narrowed even further, with Donald Trump leading by just 463 votes.

6 Nov 2020 7:17pm
The race in Georgia is very, very close
Donald Trump is now leading by just 665 votes in Georgia, according to multiple US media reports.

Georgia unexpectedly has the nation's attention as Joe Biden does surprisingly well in the Republican stronghold, making a serious run at its 16 electoral votes.

If he wins Georgia, he would become the first Democratic nominee for president to do so since Bill Clinton.

 

6 Nov 2020 6:53pm
'I didn't expect this to break my heart'
An emotional Stephen Colbert wore black for his monologue on A Late Show on Thursday night, saying he was dressed for a funeral.

Speaking about Donald Trump's earlier press conference, in which he 
peddled more claims of election fraud
, Mr Colbert said the US president had "tried really hard to kill something tonight".

"We all knew he would do this. What I did't know is that it would hurt so much. I didn't expect this to break my heart," the talk show host said.

"For him to cast a dark shadow on our most sacred right, from the briefing room in the White House ... that is devastating."

6 Nov 2020 6:30pm
Trump takes back to Twitter
After an extraordinary
press conference
hours earlier, Donald Trump has returned to Twitter to repeat claims of election fraud.

A reminder: Authorities have not uncovered any evidence of fraud.

It comes after the three big US broadcast networks
cut away from Mr Trump's press conference
when he lobbed false claims about the integrity of the election earlier in the day.

“We have to interrupt here, because the president made a number of false statements, including the notion that there has been fraudulent voting,” said Lester Holt, the “NBC Nightly News” anchor. He added, “There has been no evidence of that.”

6 Nov 2020 6:14pm
Everything you need to know about the US voting system
Still wondering how elections are decided in the US? SBS News reporter Aaron Fernandes has you covered. 




6 Nov 2020 6:07pm
Joe Biden gains ground in Pennsylvania
Meanwhile, Donald Trump's lead in Pennsylvania has fallen to 18,042 votes.

The Associated Press count suggests the race is close, with Mr Trump holding 49.6 per cent of the vote, and Joe Biden holding 49.3 per cent.

 

6 Nov 2020 5:40pm
Campaign costs hit a record high in 2020
Here's some interesting news - apparently there's been more spending on political campaigns than ever before this year. Here's a report from AFP:

"America's 2020 campaigns cost some $14 billion USD, a record sum showing that parties are increasingly willing to spend big on races to express visceral opposition to their rivals - even when their chances are slim.

The enormous cost of this year's presidential and legislative elections is nearly double the cost of 2016's races, and more than triple those of 2000, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a non-partisan research group that tracks money in politics.

The Democrats in particular lost some costly wagers this year.

South Carolina's incumbent Republican Senator Lindsey Graham easily beat his rival Jaime Harrison, who spent a record $108 million after donations from Democrats poured in from all over the country, according to Karl Evers-Hillstrom from the CPR."

6 Nov 2020 5:10pm
Facebook, Instagram keep users updated
Facebook and Instagram will notify users when a winner emerges in the US election, as part of their efforts to provide reliable information.

"Once Reuters and a majority of independent decision desks at major media outlets, including ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, CNN and AP project a winner, we'll update the notifications running across the top of Facebook and Instagram with the projected winner of the election," Facebook said in a statement on Friday.

"We will also start applying labels with the projected winner on all presidential candidates’ posts with a link to our voting information center to see more about the election results."

Facebook is currently notifying users that votes are still being counted, and the winner of the election has not been projected.

 

6 Nov 2020 4:45pm
G'day, howdy and hello
 
Good afternoon all, I'm Jodie Stephens and I'll be keeping you updated on the latest out of the US tonight. Thanks to Rashida Yosufzai for bringing us up to speed.
 
Reports have surfaced in the last hour that police in Philadelphia are looking into an alleged plot to attack the Pennsylvania Convention Centre, where votes are being counted.
 
Philadelphia's Action News reports that police have recovered a weapon and a man has been taken into custody. It's not yet clear if he's linked to the investigation.

6 Nov 2020 4:26pm
Where we're at now
It's now past midnight in the key battlegrounds of Pennsylvania and Georgia.

Joe Biden is closing in on the presidency - he's got 253 electoral college votes (264 if you count Arizona which Associated Press and Fox News have called, but others have not). Donald Trump has 213.

Mr Trump is ahead in Georgia by 1775 votes. And in Pennsylvania, by 22,389. These are based on the count provided by Associated Press.

Mr Trump needs both Georgia and Pennsylvania if he wants to return to the White House. 

It looks like Georgia might be the one to watch for a Biden presidency - there are now just 14,097 votes there left to count.



6 Nov 2020 3:44pm
Prayers outside Nevada counting centre
A group of women wearing red hats have offered prayers outside the Clark County election office in Nevada.

Earlier today, the Nevada Elections office said there were 190,000 ballots still left to be counted, the majority from Clark County. Joe Biden is currently leading with 604,251 votes to Donald Trump's 592,813 - according to CNN.

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