Meanwhile, the Trump campaign reminded Americans that the election is “not over.”
Three days past Election Day, neither Trump nor Biden has reached the 270 Electoral College votes needed to be declared the winner as ballot counts in battleground states continued.
“The false projection of Joe Biden as the winner is based on results in four states that are far from final,” read a statement by Matt Morgan, Trump’s campaign general counsel.
The Associated Press, which this newspaper follows on election calls, has not called a winner in Alaska, Nevada, Pennsylvania, North Carolina or Georgia as of Friday night. Its call of Biden in Arizona on Wednesday has has come under fire from Trump’s team as Biden’s lead there narrowed.
Here is where the election stands in the remaining states.
Georgia
Biden slightly widened his razor-thin lead over Trump Friday evening as absentee ballots continued to be counted.
At 10 p.m., just over 4,000 votes separated the two candidates.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported thousands more military, overseas and provisional ballots will soon be added to Georgia’s vote count.
Georgia’s 16 electoral votes are a must-win for Trump is he is to win reelection.
Georgia’s secretary of state said Friday morning that the state likely will have a recount because the vote count is so close.
Nevada
Biden is leading Nevada, which has six electoral votes, by about 22,600 votes, which remained unchanged at 10 p.m. The race remains too early to call, according to the AP, because Biden leads by less than a percent.
Officials have only tallied a little over three quarters of the state’s expected vote, and, by state law, ballots postmarked by Election Day if they arrive by Tuesday, Nov. 10, will be counted.
In Clark County, Nevada, elections officials were working Friday to process roughly 60,000 mail-in ballots and 60,000 provisional ballots, according to 8 News Now. The ballots need to be reviewed for eligibility.
Pennsylvania
Biden took the lead over Trump on Friday in Pennsylvania.
By 10 p.m. Biden’s lead grew to about 27,100 votes after surpassing the president just before 9 a.m., largely due to mail-in ballots that have skewed heavily in Biden’s favor, according to the AP.
Mail-in ballots could not begin being processed until Election Day, under Pennsylvania law.
Pennsylvania is a must-win state for Trump, with 20 total electoral votes. Tens of thousands of votes remain to be counted, keeping the AP from calling the race for either candidate.
If there is less than a half percentage difference between the candidates' totals, a recount will be held, AP reported.
Arizona
Arizona has been called for Biden by the AP, but as the counting has continued, Trump has cut into Biden’s lead.
As of 10 p.m. Friday, the former vice president’s lead narrowed to about 29,800 votes there.
Many other news organizations have not called Arizona, which has 11 Electoral College votes.
North Carolina
In North Carolina, the AP said that it is too early to call, with up to 116,000 ballots left to count, as well as 41,000 provisional ballots statewide. In North Carolina, election officials have until Nov. 12 to count them, the AP said.
Election experts, however, have said the state, which as 15 electoral votes, leans toward Trump, who has a lead of about 76,600 votes, which remained unchanged as of 10 p.m. Friday. The News & Observer reported that the results there are unlikely to change, likely giving Trump the win there.
Alaska
Alaska, which the Associated Press, calls a “solidly Republican state,” has not been called because only half of its votes have been counted, and the state will not release absentee ballot numbers until Nov. 10.
Trump’s lead by 54,600 votes in Alaska, which has three electoral votes, remained unchanged at 10 p.m. Friday.
Lawsuits
The Trump campaign promised to file lawsuits in an attempt to block counting of votes in some states, filing lawsuits in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Georgia, demanding greater observer access at ballot processing and counting locations while raising concerns over absentee ballots, according to the AP.
However, judges in Georgia and Michigan dismissed lawsuits on Thursday, with a Michigan judge noting that the state’s ballot count was already over as she did so, according to the AP.
In Pennsylvania the campaign won an appellate ruling to get party and campaign observers closer to election workers processing mail-in ballots in Philadelphia, but the order did not affect the counting of ballots, the AP reported.
On Friday, the Trump campaign claimed ballots were improperly cast or counted in multiple battleground states; those allegations have been unsubstantiated, according to AP.
“Biden is relying on these states for his phony claim on the White House, but once the election is final, President Trump will be re-elected,” read a statement from Trump’s campaign.
