Joe Biden 118, Donald Trump 114; US lurches towards nail biting finish

A little over three hours into the US 2020 presidential election results night splotches of red and blue are slowly lighting up the American electoral map nudging voters in the general direction that closely fought elections go Nail biting fights in high stakes statesAPresident Donald Trump and Democratic rival Joe Biden opened their tally with a predictable string of victories while key prizes including Florida Georgia North Carolina Wisconsin Michigan and Pennsylvania remain too early to callThe electoral vote count as of Tuesday night at 11 pm EST 930 am IST Wednesday morning placed Biden at 118 and Trump 114So far deep red states have not budgedTrump has picked up South Dakota Missouri Louisiana Nebraska North Dakota Arkansas Alabama Mississippi Oklahoma Tennessee Kentucky West Virginia Wyoming and Indiana while Biden has won California Colorado New Hampshire District of Columbia New York Vermont Connecticut Delaware Illinois Maryland Massachusetts New Jersey and Rhode IslandVirginia once a battleground and now a Democratic stronghold has also been called for BidenNew Hampshire which went to former Democratic hopeful Hillary Clinton by the slimmest of margins in 2016 Biden is expected to win by a comfortable marginDelaware on the Biden column has been the former Vice Presidents hometown since he moved there as a young boy from Scranton PennsylvaniaDelaware went to Clinton in 2016 The state last voted for a Republican in 1988Bidens victory in Vermont is on expected lines as Democrats have kept the state in their column since 1992 Clinton got a huge win here in 2016Trump won West Virginia by 42 points in 2016 and Kentucky by nearly 30 points The last time a Democratic candidate carried West Virginia was Bill Clinton in 1996All these are holds no upsets The results from the biggies are coming up during a long long nightWild swings were expected in the early hours because of the split between mail in voting and final day numbersEarly votes are projected to generally favour Biden final day numbers are likely to be strong for RepublicansWhile Trump is tracking results from the White House where a new fence has been erected to throw an extra ring of security Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris have chosen Delaware as their election night hubOn Tuesday Americans flocked to the polls in record numbers in the middle of the raging Covid19 pandemic which has killed 232529 people in the country and infected 9376293 others as well as upended the lives and work for millionsEven before Election Day a record number of Americans had cast mail in votes accounting for more than 70 per cent of the total vote in 2016Based on projections ahead of the counting Trump came into election night with a narrow path to victory Biden with several potential paths hinging on wins in Wisconsin Michigan and PennsylvaniaThe Pennsylvania count is expected to drag on for days while the Michigan count is expected in the early hours of Wednesday morningIn parallel the legal battle that Trump has been pointing to has begun with Republican lawyers on Election Day challenging mailin ballots in a crucial Democraticleaning district near PhiladelphiaKeep scrolling to read more newsCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest newsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever