Democracy on a knife edge - 6th November 2020

The US presidential election balanced on a knife edge as contenders Donald Trump and Joe Biden awaited the final electoral college results on Wednesday.

There has been a dramatic expansion in early and postal voting during this election due to Covid. It has resulted in the highest turnout ever recorded. However, court cases in numerous states have attempted to restrict voting and discount mail-in ballots.

Biden: "We knew because of the unprecedented early vote, and the mail-in vote, that it was going to take a while. We're going to have to be patient until we, the hard work of tallying the votes is finished. And it ain't over till every vote is counted, every ballot is counted."

Before key votes had been counted, President Trump made unsupported claims of victory and election fraud. He filed lawsuits to prevent millions of legally cast ballots from being counted in key swing states.

Trump: "We were winning everything and all of a sudden it was just called off. The results tonight have been phenomenal and we are getting ready, I mean literally, we were just all set to get outside and just celebrate something that was so beautiful, so good. Such a vote, such a success."

Mr Biden condemned President Trump’s authoritarian behaviour, stating candidates don’t declare the result.

Biden: "As I've said all along, it's not my place or Donald Trump's place to declare who's won this election. That's the decision of the American people. But I'm optimistic about this outcome."

Winning the most votes does not assure a candidate of success. Under the ‘electoral college’ system, Democratic Party candidates have often won the popular vote but not become the president. This election is going down to the wire despite Biden gaining the highest popular vote in US history.