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

Good morning to all the political tragics out there.

There has been fairly little movement out of the states overnight. Votes are still being counted in Georgia while more results are starting to trickle in out of Nevada and Arizona. 

In brief, President Donald Trump holds a small - and shrinking - lead in Georgia, while early results suggest challenger Joe Biden is pulling ahead in Nevada. 

If Mr Biden wins Nevada - and doesn’t lose Arizona - he’s won the election.

And with not a whole lot happening at the moment, we'll leave the blog here for now. It's getting late in Australia and it's the early hours of Thursday morning across much of the US.

We'll log back in again in a few hours to bring you the latest - or earlier if things start to move.

But until then, you catch up on what's been happening via our website, social media pages, via the SBS News channel wherever you get your podcasts, and by turning the TV to SBS at 10:15pm AEDT to watch the late edition of SBS World News.

It’s been a long night. Votes are still being counted, memes about Nevada are still being shared, and protests have been breaking out in multiple cities across the US over Donald Trump's unsubstantiated "voter fraud" claims. 

The presidential election is still too close to call, with Georgia likely to be the next state to declare a winner.

Here’s a summary of the most important states to keep watch of.

Georgia: Mr Trump is now leading Joe Biden by just over 22,500 votes in Georgia, with 98 per cent of votes counted. This is incredibly tight and too close to call. A press conference about the results is expected at 10.30am local time (2.30am Friday AEDT).

Arizona: So, this is a weird one. Arizona was called for Mr Biden yesterday - but a slight question mark is back over this state after the Democrats’ lead dropped to less than 80,000 votes. With only 88 per cent of the vote counted so far, there is still time for Mr Trump to pull back in. It was expected that the early votes would largely go to Mr Biden, as has been the general trend - but instead, they’re breaking for the president. The numbers suggest it’s unlikely Mr Trump will reclaim Arizona. Unlikely, but still possible.

Pennsylvania: We could still be days away from a definitive result on Pennsylvania, but the trend is moving in Mr Biden’s favour. Where Mr Trump led by 700,000 votes last night, he’s now ahead of his Democratic rival by just over 164,000 votes. There are still hundreds of thousands of votes to be counted across the state, including many from the heavily Democratic Philadelphia County. If Mr Biden wins Pennsylvania, he wins the election.

Nevada: If Mr Biden wins Nevada - and doesn’t lose Arizona - he’s won the election. They’re not announcing anything until 9am Thursday local time, which will be 4am Friday AEDT. If Mr Trump wins Nevada, the race is still on.

If there’s one thing the US election results so far have shown, it’s that the country remains a conflicted and deeply-divided nation.

As experts have noted, there are now broadly two polarised camps of Americans: the ones who love Mr Trump and the ones who loathe him. What will that mean for the country after this never-ending election? 

As we wait for results, here’s an excellent analysis by Rashida Yosufzai on division in America.

Twitter Inc said on Wednesday it permanently suspended several accounts falsely claiming to be tied to the Associated Press after they posted unverified US election results.

According to screenshots circulating online and a review of the accounts in question, four accounts were disabled after making calls on the results of an undeclared swing state in the presidential election that the news agency had not made.

Twitter later confirmed the accounts were permanently suspended for violating its policy on impersonation.

The AP is closely watched for its authoritative take on US electoral contests.

“These are bogus accounts not affiliated with AP,” the AP said in a statement.

The director of the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Christopher Krebs, confirmed the reports of fake accounts on Twitter.

- Reuters

Counties in Georgia are now wrapping up their vote counts.

DeKalb County, a Democratic stronghold just outside Atlanta, just reported that it has processed 369,948 votes.

The county’s final tally was 83 per cent for Mr Biden and 16 per cent for Mr Trump.

Mr Trump's lead over his rival has now narrowed to just 23,000. 

Fulton County, the state’s most populated county and one that's heavily Democratic, is still tallying up votes.

It’s not just Arizona where protests are breaking out.

Over in New York, several arrests have been made after individuals clashed with police during a “Count Every Vote” rally.

In stark opposition to Arizona, these protesters are marching against Donald Trump, after the president’s team announced it would file lawsuits in Michigan and Pennsylvania to stop the count.

Here’s a look at the clashes in Manhattan:

Election protestors gathered at the Times Square to protest Donald Trump's apparent attempt to stop counting ballots in several key states. Source: Anadolu

In New York, several arrests have been made after individuals clashed with police during a 'Count Every Vote' rally. Source: Getty

There are just over 90,000 ballots still outstanding in Georgia, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger's office told CNN.

A news conference has been scheduled for 10.30am local time (2.30am AEDT) at the Georgia State Capitol.

Donald Trump is ahead of Joe Biden by just over 30,000 votes - a rapidly tightening gap, considering the president had more than 379,000 votes over his rival last night. 

Protesters have gathered for a “Voters’ Rights” rally outside the Maricopa County Elections Department office in Arizona while the state’s results are being counted.

Protesters in support of President Donald Trump gather to protest the election results at the Maricopa County Elections Department office. Source: Getty / Getty Images North America

Local reporters have reportedly been moved back into the building for safety concerns.

Arizona has been called for Joe Biden, but 14 per cent of the votes are still being counted.

Tensions will be running higher for Trump supporters here, as the Arizona victory gave Mr Biden's presidential hopes a surprising major boost.

The US election isn't all about Donald Trump and Joe Biden.

A diverse cohort of Americans ran for Congress in 2020, following on from the success of minority candidates during the 2018 midterm elections.

And while votes are still being counted in many districts, there have been some big and historic wins for women, people of colour, LGBTQI+ candidates and younger Americans across the United States.

Click here to read my colleague Evan Young’s piece on some of those who are celebrating.

A number of top Republican figures have come out criticising Donald Trump over his false claims about "voter fraud" yesterday.

Mr Trump on Wednesday night claimed victory in the contest and accused his opponents of trying to "steal" the election by counting votes after the close of polling.

There is currently no proof of voter fraud in this election, and previous studies have shown it is an extremely rare occurrence in general.

Former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum told CNN he was “very distressed” by Mr Trump's speech.

“The idea of using the word ‘fraud’ being committed by people counting votes is wrong,” Mr Santorum said.

“(In Pennsylvania) they’re counting the absentee and mail-in ballots right now. And some counties have stopped counting. Why have they stopped counting? Because it’s 2.48 in the morning!"

Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, another top ally of Mr Trump, said there was “no basis” to his argument.

“I talk tonight not as a former governor, but as a former US attorney. There’s just no basis to make that argument tonight. There just isn’t,” he told ABC America.

“There comes a point where you have to let the process play itself out before you judge it to have been flawed. I think by prematurely doing this, if there is a flaw in it later, he has undercut his own credibility in calling attention to that flaw.

“So I think it’s a bad strategic decision, it’s a bad political decision.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters that, while it's "not unusual" for people to claim they've won an election in advance, making claims about the integrity of the voting process is another thing altogether.

"It's not unusual for people to claim they've won the election. I can think of that happening on numerous occasions," he said. "But claiming you win the election is different from finishing the (vote) counting. And what we're going to see here in the next few days, both in the Senate races and in the presidential race, is each state will ultimately get to a final outcome."

And Mr Trump’s former national security adviser John Bolton said his "fraud" remarks were "some of the most irresponsible comments that a president of the United States has ever made".

“He has cast doubt on the integrity of the entire electoral process purely for his own personal advantage,” he told Sky News.

“It’s a disgrace.”

Pretty graphs > words. 

Georgia could be the state that ENDS THE MADNESS once and for all.

State electoral officials are aiming to have the vote count done and dusted anywhere between midnight to 3am local time (4pm-7pm AEDT), Fulton County election head Richard Barron just told CNN.

If Joe Biden wins Georgia, he’s won the election.

If Donald Trump wins, the election is still up for grabs and we will all soldier on painfully.

Good afternoon! Gavin Fernando here taking over for Maani Truu. 

Here's a quick catch-up on where we're at: 

• Joe Biden is leading Donald Trump with 264 electoral votes to Mr Trump's 214. Each candidate needs 270 votes to bag the election. The odds are increasingly against the president, but it's too soon to call a victory for either candidate.

• The gap is narrowing further in Pennsylvania, one of the key states that could determine the election. As it stands, Donald Trump is leading Joe Biden at 50.9 per cent to 47.8 per cent. But there's still a truckload of absentee votes to be counted. So far, Mr Biden has won more than three quarters of these votes.

Remember - with all the votes still to be counted, the counting trends are more significant than who's leading who at this stage.

• Mr Biden is also closing in on Georgia, another key state that has the potential to turn blue. Last night, Mr Trump was leading Georgia by more than 370,000 votes. As we speak, that gap has fallen to a lead of less than 40,000.

• Arizona is tipping for Joe Biden, with 50.7 per cent of votes versus 47.9 per cent for Donald Trump. The race in this state is one of the tightest, with the Democratic candidate leading by less than 80,000. We'll stay on top of it, but don't expect a result over the next few hours.

• Nevada, where Mr Biden is currently leading, would bring the Democratic candidate to 270 votes. Votes are still being counted and state election officials said they will not announce any new updates until 9am Thursday local time - which is 4am Friday AEDT.

Don't assume Nevada will go to Mr Biden though. According to the NYT, almost 90 per cent of absentee votes there are going to Mr Trump, and Mr Biden is leading there by less than one per cent. 

• Wisconsin - another key state - has been called for Mr Biden, tipping the election in his favour. 

Opposition leader Anthony Albanese has weighed into the unfolding US election contest, saying he is confident America will "come through" the deadlocked election. 

But he said Australians would be concerned by scenes like people outside polling stations chanting for votes to stop being counted - following President Trump's claims of voter fraud.  

"It is absolutely critical that the counts are allowed to continue," he said. 

"People shouting in a chant Stop the Count - that's really shouting stop democracy. Democracy is too important for it be undermined by any individual."

- Tom Stayner

Let's take a brief break from the presidential nail-biting and check out some of US election's more unexpected winners:

In a very 2020 move, North Dakota has elected a man who died last month of coronavirus. 

Republican David Andahl passed away on 5 October after a short illness with COVID-19, his family said.

David Andahl. Source: Facebook

Meanwhile, yesterday we brought you the news that Marjorie Taylor Greene would be heading to Congress, making her one of the first full-blown QAnon conspiracy theories to sit in Capitol Hill.

She will be joined by Colorado Republican Lauren Boebert who has also expressed support for the QAnon movement, in the House of Representatives.

For the uninitiated, QAnon is a baseless and widely debunked conspiracy theory that posits President Donald Trump is fighting a global cabal of child sex predators.

And finally young Democrat Aaron Coleman, who's headed to the Kansas House of Representatives despite previously admitting to circulating naked images of a 13-year-old. 

Read the full story by SBS News report Rashida Yosufzai here. 

Further details have been revealed about the Republican campaign's legal challenge in Georgia. 

The lawsuit has been filed against the Chatham County Board of Elections asking a judge to order 53 votes received after 7:00pm on election day be accounted for.

It alleges that a Republican observer watched a poll worker take unprocessed absentee ballots from a backroom and mix them into processed ballots waiting to be tabulated.

In Georgia, ballots must have been received by 7:00pm on election day in order to count. 

At present, Mr Trump leads in Georgia by roughly 46,000 votes - and his campaign is suing over 53 individual ballots.

There are currently four battleground still in contention, with Donald Trump needing to win them all for a shot at the White House. On the other hand, Joe Biden needs just six more electoral votes according to the AP.

These states are: Georgia (16 electoral votes), Pennsylvania (20 electoral votes), Nevada (six electoral votes), and North Carolina (15 electoral votes). 

Counting in Nevada has paused for the evening, meaning we are unlikely to get any updates from the state until tomorrow, local time. According to current data out of Nevada, there is less than one percentage point between Mr Biden, who is leading, and Mr Trump. 

But we are expecting updated vote numbers from Arizona (which AP has already called for Mr Biden) and Georgia (where Mr Trump has a slim margin) within the next hour or so. 

Pennsylvania has previously warned it may take a number of days to get a total vote count, hindered by record numbers of early votes. 

But while we wait for the actual results, Sportsbet say they have called it for Mr Biden and will issue early payouts of $23 million. 

Video has emerged of a crowd protesters trying to push their way into a counting centre in Detroit, Michigan, as they shout "stop the count".

The Republican campaign has launched a legal bid to halt counting in Michigan, which AP has called for Joe Biden, due to Republican allegations of electoral misconduct.

Inside, electoral workers continue to count early votes as guards attempt to push back the crowd. It is estimated approximately 99 per cent of votes in Michigan have been counted with a two percentage point lead for Mr Biden. 

For those keeping track at home, the Republican campaign has now vowed to launch legal bids in three states: Georgia, Michigan and Pennsylvania.

Georgian Republican chairman David Shafer announced the most recent challenge via statement on Thursday, local media reported, alleging incidents of electoral fraud in a number of counties. 

The state, where Mr Trump currently has an about one percentage point lead, is one of four key battleground states that have not been called for either party.