Presidential election results 2020

By Meg Wagner, Melissa Macaya, Veronica Rocha, Melissa Mahtani and Amanda Wills, CNN

Updated 2:44 p.m. ET, November 23, 2020
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2:59 p.m. ET, November 4, 2020

Our live coverage has moved

Our live coverage has moved. Go here for the latest results and news from the election.

4:53 a.m. ET, November 4, 2020

Biden takes the lead in Wisconsin

From CNN's Allison Gordon

Election officials count absentee ballots in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, early on November 4.
Election officials count absentee ballots in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, early on November 4. Scott Olson/Getty Images

Results from Milwaukee have flipped Wisconsin to Joe Biden, who has a lead in the state right now, CNN's Phil Mattingly says.

Earlier, the city of Milwaukee's absentee ballot information was delivered with a police escort, CNN's Ryan Young reported.

"When they have those three officers walking with them, you understand the importance of the event," Young told CNN's Chris Cuomo.

The election is far from over with millions of votes still outstanding in key states, including in battleground Wisconsin.

4:34 a.m. ET, November 4, 2020

CNN Projection: Biden wins Hawaii

Joe Biden will win Hawaii, CNN projects.

There are four electoral votes at stake in Hawaii. It takes 270 electoral votes to win the 2020 presidential election.

Who won in 2016: Former Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton carried the state, and President Trump won the general election.

4:36 a.m. ET, November 4, 2020

How Trump's $300 million ground game may have helped narrow the race 

From CNN's Josiah Ryan

Republican insiders are crediting a $300 million get-out-out the vote effort organized by the Trump campaign and allies for narrowing the gap in many states, CNN's Ryan Nobles reported early this morning.

"Republicans are talking about... the ground game that the Republican National Committee and the Trump Victory Organization put into place shortly after President Trump was inaugurated," said Nobles.

Nobles reported on Friday that the campaign had spent more than $300 million on a data and ground operation and less on television and digital advertising in the final leg of the campaign. 

"They firmly believe that that ground game was going to be a big part in narrowing the gap, in many of these key states and they're now saying that we're seeing that play out in realtime as these votes come," added Nobles.

4:05 a.m. ET, November 4, 2020

Biden campaign manager calls Trump speech "outrageous, unprecedented, and incorrect"

From CNN's MJ Lee

President Donald Trump speaks during election night in the East Room of the White House on November 4.
President Donald Trump speaks during election night in the East Room of the White House on November 4. Carlos Barria/Reuters

Joe Biden's campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon issued a strongly worded statement following President Trump's White House speech, calling it "outrageous, unprecedented, and incorrect."

“The president’s statement tonight about trying to shut down the counting of duly cast ballots was outrageous, unprecedented, and incorrect. It was outrageous because it is a naked effort to take away the democratic rights of American citizens," she said in the statement.

 O’Malley Dillon went on to say that "the counting will not stop.”

3:49 a.m. ET, November 4, 2020

Vote counting is still underway in key states. Here's what you need to know.

From CNN's Maeve Reston and Stephen Collinson

Workers with the Detroit Department of Elections help process absentee ballots at the Central Counting Board in the TCF Center in Detroit on November 4. 
Workers with the Detroit Department of Elections help process absentee ballots at the Central Counting Board in the TCF Center in Detroit on November 4.   Elaine Cromie/Getty Images

Votes are still being counted in several key states across the US, and no winner has been determined in the presidential election.

If you're just reading in, here's what you need to know about the race:

  • All eyes on the Midwest: The election is far from over with millions of votes outstanding in key states like Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan — ballots that were cast before Election Day that have yet to be counted. Pennsylvania has counted 39% of the mail-in ballots it has received, according to the state.
  • Counting underway in Arizona and Georgia: Joe Biden appears to have made significant gains in Arizona, a state which Trump won in 2016. Georgia appeared at a standstill as officials in Fulton County, which includes Atlanta and its populous suburbs, said they would resume counting at resume at 8 a.m. ET.
  • President Trump attempted to claim victory: Donald Trump called for a halt to legitimate vote counting that is underway around the country and sought to mislead his loyal supporters by conflating the legitimate counting of ballots with voting as he falsely claimed Democrats were trying to "steal the election."
  • Biden holds the lead: The Democratic nominee holds the lead in the Electoral College at this stage in the night, 220 to 213. Remember: 270 electoral votes are needed to become president. Speaking to reporters, the former vice president urged them to "Keep the faith, guys. We're going to win this."
3:20 a.m. ET, November 4, 2020

Longtime Republican election lawyer: "Let all the votes be counted"

From CNN's Leinz Vales

Benjamin Ginsberg, right, prepares to testify before a Senate Rules and Administration Committee hearing in Russell Building titled "Bipartisan Support for Improving U.S. Elections: An Overview from the Presidential Commission on Election Administration," on February 12, 2014.
Benjamin Ginsberg, right, prepares to testify before a Senate Rules and Administration Committee hearing in Russell Building titled "Bipartisan Support for Improving U.S. Elections: An Overview from the Presidential Commission on Election Administration," on February 12, 2014. Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call

Benjamin L. Ginsberg, a longtime Republican election lawyer who co-chaired the Presidential Commission on Election Administration, said Wednesday that President Trump should “let all the votes be counted,” following his attacks on legitimate vote counting efforts.

“If you have objections to either the particular ballots or to the process, then you have remedies after the fact from each state individual contests laws or recount laws if the margins are close enough,” Ginsberg told CNN’s Jake Tapper during CNN’s special election coverage. 

“But these are legally cast ballots, Jake, or at least will be determined to be legally cast ballots by the appropriate local county and state officials. And for a president to say we are going to disenfranchise those legally cast ballots — it really is extraordinary.”

Hear Ginsberg explain:

3:05 a.m. ET, November 4, 2020

Philadelphia expects another update on mail-in ballots at 9 a.m. ET

From CNN’s Mark Morales

Philadelphia won’t have an updated number on mail-in ballots until 9 a.m. on Wednesday, said Lisa Deeley, head of the Philadelphia City Commissioners, which is a bipartisan board of elected officials in charge of elections and voter registration.

Election officials are waiting on in-person voting numbers to be reported by some individual precincts and ingested into their system before they can report the number of mail-in ballots, Deeley said. 

“That’s just the configuration of our system,” said Deeley, adding that it was a reporting issue, not mechanical.

The delay in in-person results from the field are slowing down the reports, particularly in West Philadelphia, Deeley said 

“We are counting, we have been counting, we are going to continue counting until it's done,” Deeley said. “We’re just waiting for the rest of the in-person results to come in from voting machines.”

Another update with mail-in votes will come at 9 a.m., Deeley said.

As of 1:10 a.m. ET, with 1,598 of 1,703 divisions reporting, former Vice President Joe Biden has received 73.3% of the city’s votes, and President Trump has received 25.67% of the city’s vote.

3:00 a.m. ET, November 4, 2020

It's 3 a.m. ET: Here's where things stand in the race to 270.

From CNN's Allison Gordon

Based on CNN's current projections, Joe Biden has 220 electoral votes while Donald Trump has 213 electoral votes.

Here's the latest look at where things stand:

Reminder: Each candidate needs 270 electoral votes to win the presidency.