Election 2020 presidential results

By Meg Wagner, Melissa Mahtani, Melissa Macaya, Jessica Estepa, Veronica Rocha and Fernando Alfonso III, CNN

Updated 7:32 a.m. ET, November 5, 2020
82 Posts
Sort byDropdown arrow
4:27 p.m. ET, November 4, 2020

CNN Projection: Biden wins Michigan

Joe Biden will win Michigan, CNN projects.

There are 16 electoral votes at stake in Michigan. It takes 270 electoral votes to win the 2020 presidential election.

Who won in 2016: President Trump carried the state and won the general election.

CNN's Wolf Blitzer and John King report:

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

Biden: "I am here to report when the count is finished, we believe we will be the winners"

Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images
Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden acknowledged the historic nature of the election and how more than "150 million people cast their votes" this year during a speech in Wilmington, Delaware.

"More Americans voted this election than ever before in American history. Over 150 million people cast their votes. I think that is just extraordinary. And if we had any doubts, we shouldn't have any longer about a government of, by and for the people. It is very much alive, very much alive in America," Biden said.

Biden added: "Now after a long night of counting, it's clear that we are winning enough states to reach 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency. I'm not here to declare that we have won, but I am here to report when the count is finished, we believe we will be the winners."

Watch the moment:

4:15 p.m. ET, November 4, 2020

Biden speaking now from Delaware

Pool
Pool

Joe Biden is speaking now from the Chase Center in Wilmington, Delaware, the same place he accepted the Democratic nomination in August.

"Here, the people rule. Power can't be taken or asserted. It flows from the people," Biden said. "And it's their will that determines who will be president of the United States and their will alone."

"And now after a long night of counting, it's clear that we are winning enough states to reach 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency," Biden continued.

4:13 p.m. ET, November 4, 2020

Trump campaign files Michigan lawsuit demanding vote count be halted statewide

From CNN's Ariane de Vogue and Jessica Schneider

he fate of the United States presidency hung in the balance Wednesday morning, as President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden battled for three familiar battleground states, Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, that could prove crucial in determining who wins the White House. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
he fate of the United States presidency hung in the balance Wednesday morning, as President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden battled for three familiar battleground states, Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, that could prove crucial in determining who wins the White House. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio) Carlos Osorio/AP

The Trump campaign has filed a lawsuit in Michigan state court demanding the vote count be halted statewide until representatives from the campaign are provided meaningful access to observe mail-in ballots being opened and processed.

Lawyers for the campaign say the secretary of state is violating the Michigan Constitution and Michigan election law by “allowing absent voter ballots to be processed and counted without bipartisan teams and without allowing challengers to observe the process.”

Michigan law provides that poll challengers can monitor officials’ administration of an election to assure that the election complies with Michigan’s Constitution and Election Code. 

Ryan Jarvi, press secretary for Attorney General Dana Nessel, responded:

“Michigan’s elections have been conducted transparently, with access provided for both political parties and the public, and using a robust system of checks and balances to ensure that all ballots are counted fairly and accurately.”

4:06 p.m. ET, November 4, 2020

Biden will push against false suggestion of fraud, but not declare victory today

From CNN's Jeff Zeleny

Joe Biden is on his way to the Chase Center in Wilmington, Delaware, and he will speak soon from the same place he accepted the Democratic nomination in August.

This will not be an outdoor rally on the stage we saw last night. Flags are blowing in the wind on that stage now, but it will be a formal statement inside the convention center. It will be a presidential-like address, an aide said.

He will be joined by running mate Sen. Kamala Harris. 

Biden has spent the morning calling top Democrats, including longtime elected officials across Pennsylvania, to gauge his standing in the state that will determine how long this race for the White House will go on.

An adviser said he will not declare victory, but he will call for the counting to continue – and he will push back against suggestions of fraud.

But for now, the Biden campaign is taking a page from the Florida 2000 playbook: Get out front, have a consistent argument about counting all ballots everywhere. Ron Klain, a veteran of Al Gore’s recount team, is helping guide this strategy for Biden.

“Twenty years later, we are putting in place the lessons learned from Florida,” a top Democratic official says, “and never giving up our position of strength or high ground.” 

3:57 p.m. ET, November 4, 2020

Trump campaign asking Supreme Court to intervene in Pennsylvania vote count 

From CNN's Ariane de Vogue and Pamela Brown

The Trump campaign is going to the Supreme Court, asking it to intervene in a pending case challenging a Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision that allowed ballots to be counted after Election Day. 

The justices refused to expedite the appeal before the election, but they are still considering whether to take up the case. 

“The time has come. Given last night’s results, the vote in Pennsylvania may well determine the next President of the United States,” Jay Sekulow, a lawyer for the President, said in the new filing.

“And this Court, not the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, should have the final say on the relevant and dispositive legal questions," he said.

Some context: The President is laying the groundwork to challenge the election results in Pennsylvania at the United States Supreme Court.

His attorneys filed a petition with the Supreme Court to insert the President personally as a party to the lawsuit that is currently pending.

The case involves a challenge to Pennsylvania’s mail-in ballot deadline extension  — the Pennsylvania Supreme Court is allowing for mail-in ballots to be accepted through Friday at 5 p.m. ET, including ballots without a legible postmark. 

The Supreme Court deadlocked 4-4 in October, allowing the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling to stand, and did not grant an expedited review of the case in the days before the election. However, the Supreme Court is still deciding whether to take up the underlying case.

CNN's Pamela Brown reports:

4:01 p.m. ET, November 4, 2020

Trump campaign says it's suing in Pennsylvania over poll watchers and voter ID laws

From CNN's Donald Judd

Election workers count ballots on Wednesday, November 04, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Election workers count ballots on Wednesday, November 04, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

The Trump campaign says it's suing in Pennsylvania over poll watchers and voter ID laws.

Trump deputy campaign manager Justin Clark says in a statement: “Bad things are happening in Pennsylvania. Democrats are scheming to disenfranchise and dilute Republican votes. President Trump and his team are fighting to put a stop to it.”

Clark continues: “We are suing to stop Democrat election officials from hiding the ballot counting and processing from our Republican poll observers — observers whose only job is to make sure every valid ballot is counted, and counted once.”

Clark also writes, “The Trump Campaign is also suing to stop Pennsylvania Democrats from breaking the very law that helps America vote—the Help America Vote Act (HAVA). While HAVA requires that states ensure certain first-time voters provide identification in order to vote, Secretary Boockvar—three days ago—re-wrote Pennsylvania Election Code to abuse her unilateral executive fiat and move the deadline for absentee and mail-in voters to provide missing proof of identification well past the deadline.”

CNN teams in Pennsylvania are checking to see if the suit has actually been filed.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro said of the lawsuit: "I think that's probably more of a political document than a legal document." 

Shapiro told CNN's Jake Tapper: "There is transparency in this process. The counting has been going on. There are observers, observing this counting and the counting will continue. I recognize that right now the campaign wants to spin, they want to say whatever they're going to say. But, Jake, here's the deal. The campaign is over." 

He said the state "will not let anything interrupt that process of counting" of votes. 

Some context: Early Wednesday, Trump attempted to claim victory in the presidential race and called for a halt to legitimate vote counting that is underway around the country. He currently holds a lead in Pennsylvania, but counting continues in the state. Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar said that the majority of the ballots in her state could be counted "significantly sooner" than Friday. 

See Pennsylvania Attorney General's response on CNN:

3:35 p.m. ET, November 4, 2020

Major counties in Georgia are still counting ballots. Here's where things stand.

From CNN's Jason Morris 

An election personnel examines a ballot as vote counting in the general election continues at State Farm Arena, Wednesday, November 4, in Atlanta.
An election personnel examines a ballot as vote counting in the general election continues at State Farm Arena, Wednesday, November 4, in Atlanta. Brynn Anderson/AP

Georgia is one of the battleground states that is still counting ballots as the winner of the presidential election is still unknown.

President Trump and Democratic rival Joe Biden are battling to reach 270 electoral votes to win the presidency.

Here are some of the major counties that are still counting. Most of these are absentee ballots:

DeKalb County

  • Located in the Atlanta area and Hillary Clinton won in 2016.
  • There are about 18,000 votes that need counted, according to a county election official.

Fulton County

  • Fulton County is also located in the Atlanta area and was won by Clinton in 2016.
  • There are approximately 64,000 ballots left to be counted, the Georgia Deputy Press Secretary Jordan Fuchs said. 

Cobb County

  • Clinton won this Atlanta suburb by a small margin in 2016.
  • There are approximately 24,000 ballots left to count. That includes 8,900 provisional and military ballots.

Forsyth County

  • President Trump won this Atlanta exurb in 2016.
  • The Georgia deputy press secretary says there are about 7,000 votes left to count. 

Houston County

  • Located in central Georgia, Trump won this county in 2016.
  • There are approximately 15,000 ballots to still be counted.
3:13 p.m. ET, November 4, 2020

USPS to continue extraordinary measures to deliver properly postmarked ballots through Saturday

From CNN's Paul Murphy

USPS' Kevin Bray, who's in charge of all mail processing during the 2020 election, testified in court Wednesday that the US Postal Service will continue to implement extraordinary measures to deliver ballots in time to count through Saturday.

This is important because some states allow properly postmarked ballots to be counted if they arrive after Election Day.  Those ballots must be postmarked on, or before, Election Day.

Bray said that USPS, through Saturday, would continue to utilize the express mail network— it guarantees delivery by one to two days — and what they call "local turnaround” that allows for local ballots to be delivered the same or next day.