US Election 2020 Results LIVE Updates, The votes counted tally in Georgia now shows that Joe Biden has the lead in the state.
President Donald Trump's reelection campaign has launched a multi-state legal battle in its efforts to secure a second White House term over Democratic challenger Joe Biden. Court actions have been brought in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Georgia. The campaign has also said it plans to seek a recount in Wisconsin. These battleground states, along with Arizona and North Carolina, are under intense scrutiny as former Vice President Joe Biden inches closer to the 270 Electoral College votes needed to secure the presidency. USA TODAY is tracking developments in the legal battle for the election. Keep refreshing this page for updates.
As all eyes remain glued to slow burn presidential battle, US beats it daily COVID case record for second straight day
The US reported more than 121,000 infections Thursday, beating a daily case record it set just 24 hours ago, CNN reported. The grim tally comes after Wednesday's record of more than 100,000 cases, which was the first time the US hit a six-figure number of infections.
Philadelphia City Council President Darrell L. Clarke fills out an application for a mail-in ballot before voting at the opening of a satellite election office at Temple University's Liacouras Center. Nevada election officials sued
Several hours after President Donald Trump’s campaign and the Nevada Republican Party announced a lawsuit would be filed to stop the vote count in Clark County, a pair of Nevada election officials have been sued.
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But neither the names of the president or the state GOP party appear on the federal complaint aimed at Nevada Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske and Clark County Registrar of Voters Joseph Gloria.
It was filed on behalf of Las Vegas voter Jill Stokke, Chris Prudhome – a “credentialed member of the media" – and the campaigns of Republican politicians Jim Marchant and Daniel Rodimer, according to the filing.
2020 US election results LATEST Updates
What's happening in Pennsylvania
Biden has cut Trump’s lead in Pennsylvania to under 20,000 votes, with many more ballots left to count. The state, which has 20 electoral votes, is a must-win for Trump if he wants to remain within a fighting chance of the presidency.
There has been no evidence to show the election has been stolen or fraudulent despite attacks on Nevada's voting system by the president and his campaign. During a brief media event Thursday morning, reporters asked members of the Trump campaign, who announced the lawsuit, if they could provide proof of such fraud. Instead of taking questions, they piled into a van and left.
The lawsuit aims to stop Clark County from using signature verification machines to check votes and require that all mail ballots be hand-checked before verification.
— James DeHaven and Ed Komenda, Reno Gazette Journal
With Michigan ballots counted, judge dismisses Trump campaign's lawsuit
A judge has denied the Trump campaign's lawsuit seeking to stop vote-counting in Michigan until the campaign's representatives could get what it called "meaningful access" to observe the process.
Ruling from the bench, the judge said the ballot counting is already finished, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson has issued a directive about access for poll watchers in another recent court case, and there is no legal basis for Benson to provide access to surveillance video of drop-boxes.
Michigan law allows observers from opposing campaigns to monitor vote counting. This is a normal part of the election process, intended to give both parties the opportunity to ensure the law is followed when people vote and ballots are tabulated.
2020 US election results LATEST Updates.
World stocks mixed after Wall Street election gains.
Global stock markets followed Wall Street higher on Friday amid protracted vote-counting following this week’s US elections. London and Frankfurt rose in early trading. Tokyo, Hong Kong and Sydney closed higher. Shanghai declined. Markets are betting on control of the U.S. Congress being split between Republicans and Democrats, which could mean low taxes and light regulation that investors like will stay in place.
A lawyer who worked Tuesday's election as a Republican poll challenger also alleged ballot counting misconduct in Detroit, based on an interaction she said she had with an election worker at TCF Center, where absentee ballots were counted. The judge dismissed that claim, too, calling it hearsay.
— Dave Boucher and Paul Egan, Detroit Free Press
Rhetoric heats up on legal battles
The president took to his favorite medium Thursday morning to hail his campaign's legal onslaught.
"All of the recent Biden claimed States will be legally challenged by us for Voter Fraud and State Election Fraud," Trump tweeted, claiming "plenty of proof." But as with his prior claims of widespread voter fraud, he provided no evidence.
Biden campaign attorney Bob Bauer, meanwhile, told reporters that Trump's lawsuits will fail. He said they are only designed to “create an opportunity for them to message falsely what is happening in the election process.”
Barry Burden, director of the University of Wisconsin’s Elections Research Center, said there doesn't appear to be “a coherent theme” to the Trump legal strategy.
“In one place they are asking for the count to be stopped; in another they are asking for the counting to continue,” he said. “But the burden is on the plaintiff (Trump) to prove that they have been harmed in some way. Now that all of the voting is done, I don’t know what the harm is.
“Maybe they can find an argument, but right now it’s still nebulous.”
“I find it remarkable how relaxed these markets are under the circumstances,” said Craig Erlam of Oanda in a report. “Hopefully, the faith investors have shown is rewarded, because the last thing we need is an extremely messy conclusion to what has already been a hostile and divisive election."
In Asian trading, the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo rose 0.9% to 24,325.23 while the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.2 percent to 3,312.16. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong gained less than 0.1% to 25,712.97. The Kospi in Seoul advanced 0.1 percent to 2,416.50 and Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 rose 0.8 percent to 6,190.20.
India’s Sensex gained 1.2 percent to 41,821.54. New Zealand and Jakarta gained while Singapore and Bangkok retreated. Overnight on Wall Street, the benchmark S&P 500 index closed 1.9 percent higher. It is moving toward its biggest weekly gain since April. The Dow gained 1.9% and the Nasdaq composite climbed 2.6 percent.
2020 US election results LATEST Updates
Facebook, Twitter purge violent rhetoric as tensions rise over election
Facebook Inc removed on Thursday a fast-growing group in which supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump posted violent rhetoric, as it and other companies tackled baseless claims and potential violence after a contentious election.
The “Stop the Steal” group, which called for “boots on the ground to protect the integrity of the vote,” was adding 1,000 new members every 10 seconds and had grown to 365,000 members in a day.
“The group was organized around the delegitimization of the election process, and we saw worrying calls for violence from some members,” a Facebook spokeswoman said.