'Let's give each other a chance': US president-elect Joe Biden calls for unity in moving victory speech

The US Office of Special Counsel has opened an investigation into allegations that the Trump campaign’s use of the White House as an Election Day command center violated federal law, Democratic Representative Bill Pascrell said, according to Reuters.

In a statement, Mr Pascrell said the federal watchdog responded to his call for a probe, telling him a special unit “has opened an investigation into these allegations to determine if the Hatch Act was violated.”

President Donald Trump monitored election returns in the living room of the White House residence on election day, later addressing some 200 supporters gathered in the East Room.

Mr Pascrell had asked the special counsel, Henry Kerner, to investigate reports suggesting that Trump used space in the adjacent Eisenhower Executive Office Building - on the grounds of the White House - as a campaign “war room.”

The Hatch Act of 1939 limits the political activities of federal employees, except the president and vice president.

The White House denied any violation of the federal law. “Both the official activity of Administration officials, as well as any political activity undertaken by members of the Administration, are conducted in compliance with the Hatch Act,” spokesperson Judd Deere said.

Reuters

There is a big question mark over whether we will see Democratic challenger Joe Biden today, hours after he announced he would address the nation.

US media has reported the Biden campaign hoped at least one of the four key battleground states would be called on Friday, local time, likely giving Mr Biden's election chances a significant boost.

But as vote counts slowly trickle in from Pennsylvania, Arizona, Nevada and Georgia (which all currently have Mr Biden in the lead), media outlets have held off making any calls.

Democratic candidate Joe Biden is inching closer to the White House, as votes slowly come in from a number of key battleground states. Source: EPA

This has led to speculation that Mr Biden, and his running mate Kamala Harris, may not appear today, but a CNN reporter on the scene in Wilmington, Delaware - where the pair are scheduled to appear - says preparations at the Chase Centre are still going ahead.

The address was scheduled to take place at primetime in the US - roughly midday here - but there has been no further confirmation of time.

Mr Biden has not spoken publicly for more than a day, with his Twitter page also falling silent for the past 22 hours.

Whatever happens, we'll be sure to bring you any updates right here in the blog, including a live stream of the address if it goes ahead. 

President Donald Trump has once again taken to Twitter to sow uncertainty over the election process, claiming his lead has "miraculously disappeared".

You can read his Tweets below, but just noting: there has been no evidence put forwards by the Trump campaign - or anyone else - that suggests widespread electoral fraud. 

It's been awhile since we've updated you on Pennsylvania, perhaps the most critical state at this point in the race, so let's take a look.

Vote tallies have been updated incrementally throughout the morning. In our last update we said Joe Biden had taken a lead of about 13,000 votes over President Donald Trump.

That has now grown to more than 19,000, in favour of Mr Biden. As we reported earlier, a win for the Democratic challenger in this state will mean he becomes the next president.

A quick refresher on the electoral college system, from my colleague Aaron Fernandes: 

The US has an in-direct democracy, meaning the president is actually elected by a process called the Electoral College. It is a process by which a group of officials vote on a state-by-state basis for the US president.

Across the US, there are 538 total electors, with a certain number allocated to each state. The number of electors each state has is determined by the number of people it has in Congress. Essentially, the more populous the state, the more electors it has.

Now, a presidential candidate needs to win 270 of these electoral votes to take the presidency - or, 50 per cent plus one of the 538 electors.

Mr Biden currently has 253 electoral votes, to President Trump's 214. 

This is why Pennsylvania is so important: a populous state, it has 20 electoral votes - the largest of all the undecided states. So, if Mr Biden was to win here it would take his total to 273, surpassing the magic number and handing him the White House.

It's getting into the nitty-gritty now, with more than 96 per cent of the vote counted. We'll bring you any major updates as they happen. 

Both Arizona and Nevada, neighbouring states in America's southwest, have released new results as counting in the battleground states continues. 

In Arizona, 2,361 newly counted votes went to Joe Biden and 2,337 to Donald Trump. There is currently almost 40,000 votes between candidates, with Mr Biden in the lead. 

Over in Nevada, Mr Biden nabbed a further 5,454 votes while President Trump received 2,337. The race is closer here with Mr Biden leading by roughly 20,000 ballots. 

Social media platforms have had their work cut out for them over the past few days, not least of them Twitter which has been busily marking certain Tweets about the election - including many from President Trump - as misleading. 

They've also gone a step further and suspended former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon from the platform after he incited violence against disease expert Anthony Fauci and FBI Director Christopher Wray in a video shared on his social platforms.

The video was online for about 10 hours before being removed by Facebook and YouTube, CNN reports. 

When attempting to view Mr Bannon's Twitter profile on Saturday, a notice reads the account has been suspended as it violates Twitter rules.

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Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been asked about the unfolding situation in the United States, saying he'll wait until all the votes are counted to take any action.

Asked if he would work as closely with a potential Joe Biden administration as he has with Donald Trump, he said "of course".

"Once the election has concluded and all the votes are counted and it is declared - and that has not been resolved yet - that has always been our approach," Mr Morrison told reporters. 

Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney has called on the President to "put his big boy pants on" and concede the election, as counting continues in Pennsylvania.

Joe Biden inched to a narrow lead in the battleground state overnight (AEST), with about 14,500 votes currently separating the two candidates.

"What the President needs to do is, frankly, put his big boy pants on and acknowledge the fact he lost and congratulate the winner," Democratic Mayor Kenney said.

Watch the media conference below:

Democratic candidate Joe Biden has more than doubled his extremely narrow lead in Georgia, inching him closer to taking the White House.

There are now 4,262 votes between the 77-year-old challenger and the President in the state, up from less than 2,000 earlier today.

By any measure, it is a small margin in a state where about 5 million people voted - but, even a small win for Mr Biden would cripple Mr Trump's reelection chances.

The President needs to win Georgia to secure a second term, while the 16 electoral votes would take Mr Biden almost to 269 - just under the 270 needed to claim the presidency. Due to the small margin, a recount in this state is almost a certainty. 

Backers of President Donald Trump, some carrying guns, have ramped up demonstrations against what he has baselessly called a rigged election, in battleground states where votes were still being counted.

The protests were largely peaceful, although Trump supporters occasionally shouted with counter-demonstrators. Mr Trump says the election is being "stolen" but there has been no evidence of fraud.

Here is a glimpse of what the protests looked like on the ground.

President Trump supporters pray in front of the Maricopa County Election Department while votes are being counted in Phoenix, Arizona. Source: AFP

President Trump supporters pray in front of the Maricopa County Election Department, while votes are being counted in Phoenix, Arizona. Joe Biden currently has a narrow lead in the typically Republican state. 

Police officers stand between protesters supporting President Trump (bottom) and people participating in a protest in support of counting all votes. Source: Getty / Getty Images

Police separate President Trump supports and those calling for all votes to be counted outside the Philadelphia Convention Center as the counting of ballots continues. Pennsylvania has emerged as one of the most important states in this election, after Mr Biden overtook the President overnight. If the lead holds, it will mean Mr Biden wins the presidency.

US far-right radio show host Alex Jones speaks to supporters of President Trump as they protest in front of the Maricopa County Election Department. Source: Getty / Getty Images

Far-right commentator and radio host Alex Jones speaks to Trump supporters outside the Maricopa County Election Department in Phoenix, Arizona.

Police officers escort Biden supporter Ron Russ away from pro-Trump protesters who have gathered in the parking lot of the Maricopa County Elections Building. Source: Getty / Getty Images

Police officers escort Biden supporter Ron Russ away from pro-Trump protesters who have gathered in the parking lot of the Maricopa County Elections Building, in Phoenix, Arizona. Mr Russ said he went to the protest because his father was a WWII vet and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Trump supporter Edward X. Young protests outside the Pennsylvania Convention Center. Source: Getty / Getty Images

President Trump supporter Edward X. Young protests outside the Pennsylvania Convention Center as counting continues in the critical battleground state. 

Read the full story here.

Since Joe Biden announced he would address the nation during primetime, people have been questioning whether he would use the speech to declare victory - or if he would postpone if the results are still unclear.

But eagle-eyed election watchers will note that if Mr Biden did declare victory this evening, with no plans from Donald Trump to concede the election, it would be a significant departure from tradition. 

Historically, the losing candidate is the first to make the call - literally, by calling the winning candidate and conceding the race, paving the way for the new president-elect to take the stage.

However, as I'm sure is clear to everyone by now, this is no typical presidential election.

CNN has reported that Mr Trump has no plans to concede, even if results come back in Mr Biden's favour, instead opting to let a number of Republican-led legal challenges run their course through the courts - a process that could take weeks.

But not all Republicans are on board with this approach. Republican congressman Dan Crenshaw on Saturday tweeted that "if Trump loses, he loses". "It was never an impossible outcome and we must accept the final results when it is over," he said. 

So, where does this leave the country? My colleague Gavin Fernando took a look at this exact question in an article earlier this week. Read the full story ahead of Mr Biden's address, which we expect to take place around lunchtime today in Australia. 

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Georgia's Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has warned that his state is still "too close to call" in a media conference on Saturday.

He said they were "closing in on a final count" but with a margin of less than 2,000 ballots in a state where about five million people voted a recount was likely. 

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. Source: Undefined / Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Hitting back at unfounded claims of electoral fraud and misconduct, he said the focus was "making sure that every legal vote is counted and recorded accurately".

"The stakes are high, and the emotions are high on all sides. We will not let those debates distract us from our work. We will get this right," he said. 

There are up to 8,410 military votes that could be accepted in the state, as long as they are postmarked by 3 November and received by the end of business on Friday, local time.

The election has not been called, but CSPAN - a US not-for-profit network that televises government proceedings - seems to forecasting an upcoming concession speech...

This the morning they've been sharing past concession speeches from one-term presidents, including Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush.

While we wait for a result, why not take a walk down memory lane. 

Lawyers for the Trump campaign has asked the Supreme Court to halt action on mail-in ballots that arrived after election day in Pennsylvania pending legal action, CNN reports. 

"Given the results of the November 3, 2020 general election, the vote in Pennsylvania may well determine the next President of the United States—and it is currently unclear whether all 67 county boards of elections are segregating late-arriving ballots," the document states. 

Donald Trump has launched numerous legal challenges to the incoming election results while making unfounded claims about widespread election fraud. 

You can read the full filing here. 

Over the past few days we've brought you many examples of Twitter flagging President Donald Trump and his supporter's unfounded claims of election fraud as misleading, but the social media giant has also taken aim at those claiming a Joe Biden win. 

In one example, Twitter flagged a tweet by Democratic Coalition co-founder and podcaster Scott Dworkin tweeted that read: "President-Elect Joe Biden. Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris".

Underneath the post, which appears to suggest the Biden-Harris team have won the election, a notice reads: "Official sources may not have called the race when this was Tweeted".

It also links to information about the ongoing election.

"As votes are still being counted across the country, our teams continue to take enforcement action on tweets that prematurely declare victory or contain misleading information about the election broadly," Twitter said, according to AFP.

"This is in line with our civic integrity policy and our recent guidance on labeling election results."

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All eyes have been on Pennsylvania this morning, with its election-winning 20 electoral votes. But let's have a look at the situation in the other battleground states where counting is continuing.

Georgia (16 electoral votes)

Alongside Pennsylvania, Georgia is the other key state that has recently flipped to a Joe Biden lead after a showing a "red wave" early on. 

There are currently less than 2,000 votes separating the two candidates, of 4.9 million votes reported. Let me repeat that: it's coming down to less than 2,000 ballots in a state where about 5 million people voted. Talk about a nail-biter. 

Nearly all the votes have now been tallied, but because of the tiny margin, there will be a recount.

But even a small Democrat lead is surprising in the Republican stronghold - Donald Trump took the state by five percentage points in 2016 and no Democrat has won there since 1992. 

Arizona (11 electoral votes)

Oh boy, results in the Arizona have been quite the rollercoaster. Shortly after polls closed on Wednesday, some major US media outlets, including the AP, were quick to call the state for Mr Biden after he showed a surprising, but convincing, lead early on.

But since then, the lead has steadily narrowed putting the state back into contention.

At present, there is less than one percentage point separating Mr Biden and President Trump, with the Democratic challenger ahead by just over 40,000 votes. More results from Arizona are expected later today. 

Another Republican stronghold, if Mr Biden's lead holds he will be the first Democratic presidential candidate to win the state since 1996. 

Nevada (six electoral votes)

Mr Biden has long held a narrow lead in Nevada, but after a recent update from Clark County - home to Las Vegas - it's grown to more than 20,000 votes.

The next dump of results is expected later this day, which will be made up of mail-in and provisional ballots. About 93 per cent of votes have been counted so far.  

Unlike the above states, Democrat Hillary Clinton won Nevada in 2016 by a small margin.

North Carolina (15 electoral votes)

Mr Trump is ahead in North Carolina by about 1.5 percentage points, a lead that is expected to hold. He won the Republican-leaning state in 2016. 

But mail-in ballots are accepted in this state until 12 November, meaning final results will not be available for many days to come.

Mr Biden does not require North Carolina to win the election, but it is crucial for Mr Trump's reelection chances. 

A more obvious path to victory for Mr Biden is either a win in Pennsylvania OR some combination of Georgia/Arizona/Nevada. 

Republican senator and former presidential nominee Mitt Romney has issued a seething statement about President Trump's unfounded allegations of widespread voter fraud, saying it "damages the cause of freedom here and around the world".

Senator Romney, one of the President's fiercest Republican critics, also urged the American people to "have faith in democracy" while waiting for all the votes to be counted.

Read the full statement below: 

As we wrote earlier, major news outlets in the US have held off calling Pennsylvania for Joe Biden, with only about 13,000 votes between them and the massive ramifications of a Democratic win in the state.

To put it simply: calling a Mr Biden win in Pennsylvania is declaring a new President of the United States.

However, CNN's election analyst John King - who is among those holding off calling a result in Pennsylvania - made some illuminating comments on Saturday morning (AEST). 

"The trajectory is inevitable," he said about Mr Biden's lead in Pennsylvania. "But why rush it?"

President Trump has issued another statement attacking the "integrity" of the US electoral system, once again repeating unfounded allegations of "illegal votes" but providing no evidence of widespread voter fraud.

The statement comes after his challenger Joe Biden took the lead in Pennsylvania and Georgia - both key states that showed a Republican lead early on in the counting process.

It is now looking less likely that Mr Trump will be able to make up the required number of electoral votes to claim a second term, though, not impossible.

Supporters of President Donald Trump walk to a rally outside the Maricopa County Recorder's Office in Arizona. Source: AP

"We believe the American people deserve to have full transparency into all vote counting and election certification, and that this is no longer about any single election," the statement, issued on Saturday AEST, read.

"This is about the integrity of our entire election process. From the beginning we have said that all legal ballots must be counted and all illegal ballots should not be counted, yet we have met resistance to this basic principle by Democrats at every turn.

"We will pursue this process through every aspect of the law to guarantee that the American people have confidence in our government. I will never give up fighting for you and our nation.”

Just to be crystal clear, no evidence has been provided of widespread voter fraud or "illegal ballots" impacting this election. 

Joe Biden and vice-presidential candidate Kamala Harris will address the nation this evening, local time, in a primetime broadcast event.

The pair will speak from Delaware - Mr Biden's home state - at roughly midday AEST, planning the address to coincide with the major news bulletins in the US. 

It is the first time we've heard from the man who could soon be the new president of the US and his running mate since election night.

Senator Harris is expected to speak ahead of Mr Biden, CNN reports.

After Mr Biden took the lead in the key battleground states of Pennsylvania and Georgia overnight, speculation is rife over what the pair will say to the country, three days after polls closed. 

We'll bring you the speech live so make sure to check back in later today.