US election result 2020 Timeline: The outcome of the U.S. presidential election hung in the balance on Wednesday as nine states continued to count ballots, including some of the most competitive battleground states where the tally could take days to complete.

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Democratic nominee Joe Biden has a slight edge over Republican President Donald Trump with 227 to 213 electoral votes. That leaves 98 electoral votes to be allocated, and possible paths to victory for both candidates. The winner needs to secure 270 votes.

Here is the state of play in the nine states. The vote counts are supplied by Edison Research.

Alaska

Trump has a wide lead and is broadly expected to carry the state. Still, just 47% of the expected vote has been counted, with Trump ahead by 62.9% to 33%.

Arizona

Biden has a significant lead, and the Associated Press and Fox News have already called the state for the Democrat. With 86% of the expected vote counted, Biden leads with 51.0% against 47.6% for Trump, according to Edison Research.

Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs told ABC News that Maricopa County, which includes heavily populated Phoenix, had about 400,000 outstanding ballots to be counted and would release more results on Wednesday at 7 p.m. MST (0200 GMT Thursday), and again at 9:30 p.m. MST (0430 GMT Thursday).

Georgia

Trump is holding onto a narrow lead, but several of the large counties around Atlanta that lean Democratic have substantial numbers of ballots still to count. With 94% of the expected vote counted, Trump is ahead with 50.0% versus 48.8% for Biden.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said he hoped to have a result by the end of Wednesday.

Under Georgia law, if the margin between the candidates is less than or equal to 0.5 percentage point, a candidate may request a recount within two business days following the certification of results.

Maine

Maine is one of two states that divide their Electoral College votes between the winner of the statewide popular vote and the winner in each of its congressional districts.

Edison Research has allocated Biden two votes for the statewide outcome, which he leads by 53.8% to 43.2% with 87% of the state`s expected votes counted. It also called the state`s 1st Congressional District for Biden, giving him a third electoral vote from the state.

Trump has a lead of 51.4% to 45.1% in the state`s 2nd Congressional District. The Associated Press projected Trump the winner of the state`s fourth vote on Wednesday, with only 53.7% of the expected vote in.

Michigan

Biden has a razor-thin but growing margin, with CNN and NBC projecting Biden the winner there just before 4.30 p.m. EST (2130 GMT) on Wednesday. Biden leads Trump by 49.8% to 48.6% with 97% of the state`s expected votes counted.

Wayne County - the state`s largest and home to Detroit - had counted 95% of expected votes, with Biden leading Trump by 67.6% to 31%.

The vote counts in Wayne and a clutch of other key counties are expected to continue updating on Wednesday. Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said the state aimed to have a first, unofficial tabulation within 24 hours.

Nevada

Long seen as a solid Biden-leaning state, Nevada now appears in play. Edison Research data shows 86% of the expected vote is in and Biden`s lead is just 49.3% to 48.7% for Trump.

State officials expect the remaining votes - largely mail-in ballots - to be counted by 9 a.m. PST (1700 GMT) on Thursday. Clark County, the state`s largest and home to Las Vegas, has tallied 84% of expected votes so far and Biden is ahead there 52.9% versus 45.4% for Trump.

North Carolina

The margin between Trump and Biden is less than 2 percentage points as the president clings to a lead of 50.1% to 48.7% for the Democrat, with 95% of the expected vote counted.

The state allows mail-in ballots postmarked by Tuesday to be counted if they are received by Nov. 12. On Wednesday morning, the Biden campaign said it expected a final result to take several days, and state officials said later on Wednesday that a full result would not be known until next week.

Pennsylvania

Of the battleground states, Pennsylvania has the furthest to go in counting votes, and Trump so far maintains a lead. With 85% of the expected vote counted, Trump is up 51.7% to 47.1% for Biden.

Officials there can accept mailed-in ballots up to three days after the election if they are postmarked by Tuesday. About 1 million votes remain to be counted, Governor Tom Wolf, a Democrat, said on Wednesday.

If the margin of victory is within half of 1%, state law requires a recount.

Wisconsin

The Trump campaign said on Wednesday it would request a recount of votes in Wisconsin, where the margin between the candidates is less than 1 percentage point.

Biden is up 49.4% to 48.8% for Trump with 99% of the expected vote tallied, according to Edison Research. Edison said that it would not call a race in Wisconsin or any state where the margin is narrow enough to allow a candidate to demand a recount under state law. Some media outlets, including NBC and the Associated Press, projected Biden the winner.

Note: Vote counts supplied by Edison Research, which provides exit polls and voting data to the National Election Pool media consortium. Reuters has not independently tabulated the ballots.
 

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