2020 Latest: Biden says ‘no one’ will take US democracy away
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on the presidential campaign (all times local):
7:55 p.m.
Democrat Joe Biden says, “No one is going to take our democracy away from us.” His comment came after President Donald Trump’s unfounded claims that Democrats were trying to “steal” the presidential election from him.
In a Thursday evening tweet, Biden says, “America has come too far, fought too many battles, and endured too much to let that happen.”
The nation is waiting to learn whether Biden or Trump will collect the 270 electoral votes needed to capture the presidency. Biden’s victories in Michigan and Wisconsin have put him in a commanding position, but Trump has showed no sign of giving up.
Speaking earlier Thursday from
the White House, Trump did not back up his claim about Democrats with
any details or evidence. State and federal officials have not reported
any instances of widespread voter fraud.
The ballot-counting
process across the country has been running smoothly, and the count is
ongoing in several battleground states.
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HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE PRESIDENTIAL RACE:
Democrat Joe Biden is pushing closer to the 270 Electoral College votes needed
to carry the White House, securing victories in the battlegrounds of
Wisconsin and Michigan and narrowing President Donald Trump’s path.
Read more:
— Biden pushes closer to victory as Trump presses legal threats
— With another Florida loss, Democrats begin second guessing
— EXPLAINER: States still in play and what makes them that way
— Trump sues in 3 states, laying ground for contesting outcome
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HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON:
7:10 p.m.
A
federal judge has denied a bid by President Donald Trump’s campaign to
stop the vote count in Philadelphia over observer access, urging the two
sides to instead forge an agreement.
U.S. District Judge Paul S.
Diamond suggested each party be allowed 60 observers inside a hall at a
downtown convention center where the final ballots are being tallied. As
the hearing unfolded Thursday evening, President Donald Trump and
former Vice President Joe Biden were locked in a tight battle for the 20
electoral votes in Pennsylvania.
Diamond, an appointee of
President George W. Bush, chastened the lawyers as both sides bickered
about who was following the rules and reminded them they are officers of
the court.
“Really, can’t we be responsible adults here and reach
an agreement?” the exasperated judge asked. “The whole thing could
(soon) be moot.”
Republicans went to court Thursday afternoon to
complain that election officials in the Democratic-led city were
ignoring a state court order they’d won earlier in the day to give them a
closer view of ballot processing.
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7:05 p.m.
The
Associated Press has not declared a winner in the presidential race,
with a number of battleground states still too early to call.
But
President Donald Trump is renewing his unfounded claims that Democrats
are trying to “steal” the election from him. He did not back up his
claim with any details or evidence. State and federal officials have not
reported any instances of widespread voter fraud.
Trump spoke
from the White House briefing room on Thursday, unleashing harsh
criticism of pre-election polling that showed him trailing Democrat Joe
Biden and claiming without evidence that the ballot-counting process is
unfair and corrupt. He also renewed his criticism of widespread use of
mail-in balloting in the pandemic.
The ballot-counting process
across the country has been running smoothly, and the count is ongoing
in several battleground states.
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6:15 p.m.
A legal
effort in Nevada by President Donald Trump’s campaign and state
Republicans to try to stop the count of mail ballots in Las Vegas is
over.
A document submitted in an appeal pending before the state
Supreme Court says the campaign, state GOP, Democrats and attorneys for
the state have reached a settlement requiring Clark County election
officials to supply “additional observation access” at a ballot
processing facility in Las Vegas.
The state high court declined on
Election Day to stop the count based on an appeal of a state judge’s
decision not to stop processing mail ballots in Las Vegas and
surrounding Clark County — a Democratic stronghold in an otherwise red
GOP state.
In an order released Monday, Judge James Wilson Jr. in
Carson City said he found neither the state nor Clark County had done
anything to give one vote preference over another.
Nevada Democrats accuse Republicans of trying to suppress voting in the state’s most diverse area.
Trump
campaign representatives said Thursday that they intended to file
another complaint in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas to try to stop the
counting of what state campaign co-chair Adam Laxalt called “improper
votes.” That lawsuit was not immediately filed.
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6 p.m.
President Donald Trump is set to make his first public appearance since the early morning hours after Election Day.
The
White House says Trump will deliver remarks at 6:30 p.m. Thursday from
the press briefing room. It was unclear if he would take questions.
Trump
last appeared in public early Wednesday, when he falsely declared
victory over Democrat Joe Biden in the presidential race. Trump has also
publicly called for vote counting to stop by citing baseless
allegations of fraud and misconduct.
The presidential race has not
yet been called because neither Trump nor Biden has yet collected the
requisite 270 Electoral College votes.
Biden’s victories in
Michigan and Wisconsin have put him in a commanding position to win the
presidency, but Trump has showed no sign of giving up.
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5:50 p.m.
The
Trump campaign and Republican National Committee have asked an Arizona
judge to let them join a lawsuit that alleges vote tabulation equipment
in metro Phoenix was unable to record a voter’s ballot because she
completed it with a county-issued Sharpie pen.
They argued that
anecdotal accounts of potential tabulation errors resulting from
Sharpies demands further review and that they should be allowed to
participate in the lawsuit because it will likely affect their interests
in the tabulation of votes.
The lawsuit seeks a court order for
all Maricopa County voters whose ballots were rejected as a result of
using a Sharpie to be given a chance to fix their ballots. It also asks
for such voters to be able to be present while election officials count
their ballots.
The Arizona Democratic Party earlier asked to join
the lawsuit, arguing that Democratic voters could be disenfranchised if
the woman who filed the lawsuit was able to challenge a voter’s intent
in making ballot choices without knowing the applicable standards.
A
judge is holding a hearing Thursday in Phoenix in the lawsuit by
Phoenix-area voter Laurie Aguilera, who also alleged ink from the marker
bled through the back side of her ballot and that poll workers refused
her request for a new ballot.
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4:30 p.m.
Democrat
Joe Biden says he feels “very good” about the outcome of the
presidential election and is telling his supporters to “stay calm” as
votes continue to be counted.
Biden delivered brief remarks
Thursday at a theater in downtown Wilmington, Delaware. He says, “It is
the will of the voters — no one, not anyone else — who chooses the
president of the United States of America.”
President Donald
Trump’s campaign has pursued legal efforts to halt the vote counting in
some states and is seeking a recount in Wisconsin.
Biden says that
“the process is working” and “we’ll know very soon” the outcome of the
election. Biden and his top campaign officials have expressed confidence
about the vote but have been careful to emphasize the need for every
ballot to be counted.
Biden’s running mate, California Sen. Kamala Harris, stood next to him as he spoke.
The
Associated Press has not called the presidential race yet because
neither Biden nor Trump has secured the 270 Electoral College votes
needed for victory. Several key states remain too early to call —
Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina and Nevada.
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3:35 p.m.
A
federal judge in Washington, D.C., has ordered the U.S. Postal Service
to perform twice daily sweeps of processing centers in states with
extended ballot receipt deadlines to check for mail-in votes and to
expedite them for delivery.
Thursday’s order will remain in place until the end of states’ windows for accepting ballots.
According
to court records, a similar order by the same judge earlier this week
found just 13 ballots in a search of 27 processing hubs in several
battleground areas.
Elections officials in key battleground states
are continuing presidential vote counting. Democrat Joe Biden is urging
patience, while President Donald Trump is pursuing his legal options.
Several key states are too early to call — Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina and Nevada.
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2:25 p.m.
Joe
Biden is getting virtual briefings on the coronavirus pandemic and its
economic fallout from panels of experts, sticking to a routine he’s had
since March, even as the outcome of the presidential race remains in
doubt.
The former vice president traveled Thursday afternoon to a
theater in downtown Wilmington, Delaware, where his campaign has set up a
makeshift studio. He and his running mate, California Sen. Kamala
Harris, often sit facing large screens while experts participate by
video conference.
Biden has held similar public health and
economic briefings about once a week since March while criticizing
President Donald Trump’s administration for the federal government’s
response to a pandemic that has killed more than 230,000 Americans.
Journalists
traveling with Biden were not allowed inside the briefing but saw him
as he entered the theater. He did not take questions.
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2 p.m.
The
Arizona Democratic Party has asked a court to let it participate in a
lawsuit that alleges vote tabulation equipment in metro Phoenix was
unable to record a voter’s ballot because she completed it with a
county-issued Sharpie pen.
A judge is holding a hearing Thursday
in Phoenix in the lawsuit by voter Laurie Aguilera, who also alleged
that ink from the marker bled through the back side of her ballot and
that poll workers refused her request for a new ballot.
Aguilera
is seeking a court order for all Maricopa County voters whose ballots
were rejected as a result of using a Sharpie to be given a chance to fix
their ballots. She also is asking for such voters to be able to be
present while election officials count their ballots.
The
Democrats say the lawsuit is based on the unconfirmed account of one
voter and her request to monitor ballot processing could throw the
processing of ballots in Arizona’s largest county in disarray.
In a
court filing, the party says Democratic voters could be disenfranchised
if Aguilera and others were able to challenge a voter’s intent in
making ballot choices without knowing the applicable standards.
Arizona
election officials have said voting with a Sharpie would have no impact
on the votes being recorded by a tabulation machine.
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1:55 p.m.
As
the nation awaits results from Nevada, Clark County Registrar Joe
Gloria says it could take until Saturday or Sunday before the state’s
largest county finishes tallying mail-in ballots that have been
returned.
Gloria said Thursday at a press conference: “Our goal
here in Clark County is not to count fast. We want to make sure that
we’re being accurate.”
Gloria says Clark County has at least
63,262 ballots left to count, including 34,743 returned in drop boxes on
Election Day and 4,208 returned via the U.S. Postal Service. But as
mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day continue to trickle in,
Gloria said he had no way of knowing the total number of outstanding
ballots.
He says, “That’s a number that I can’t give you. I can’t predict to you what’s going to come through the U.S. mail.”
Gloria
says the fact that Nevada’s six electoral votes could push Democrat Joe
Biden beyond the 270 electoral vote threshold needed to win the
presidency reaffirmed the need to not rush the count.
He said the last day to count ballots is Nov. 12.
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1:30 p.m.
A
Michigan judge has dismissed a lawsuit by President Donald Trump’s
campaign in a dispute over whether Republican challengers had access to
the handling of absentee ballots.
Judge Cynthia Stephens noted
that the lawsuit was filed late Wednesday afternoon, just hours before
the last ballots were counted. She also said the defendant, Secretary of
State Jocelyn Benson, was the wrong person to sue because she doesn’t
control the logistics of local ballot counting, even if she is the
state’s chief election officer.
The Associated Press called the
Michigan presidential election for Democrat Joe Biden on Wednesday
evening. Trump won the state in 2016.
The lawsuit claimed Benson, a
Democrat, was allowing absentee ballots to be counted without teams of
bipartisan observers as well as challengers. She was accused of
undermining the “constitutional right of all Michigan voters … to
participate in fair and lawful elections.”
Benson, through state
attorneys, denied the allegations. Much of the dispute centered on the
TCF Center in Detroit where pro-Trump protesters gathered while absentee
ballots were being counted.
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11:45 a.m.
A judge in
Georgia has dismissed a lawsuit by the state Republican Party and
President Donald Trump’s campaign that asked him to ensure one county
was following state laws on processing absentee ballots.
Chatham
County Superior Court Judge James Bass did not provide an explanation
for his decision Thursday at the close of a roughly one-hour hearing.
The county includes the heavily Democratic city of Savannah.
The
suit had raised concerns about 53 absentee ballots that poll observers
said were not part of an original batch of ballots. County elections
officials testified that all 53 ballots had been received on time.
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11:40 a.m.
Joe
Biden’s campaign is expressing optimism at the ultimate result of the
election but warning supporters to “stay patient and stay calm” as vote
counting continues.
Biden campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon
said Thursday on a briefing call with reporters that “the story of today
is going to be a very positive story” for their campaign, but cautioned
that as the counting continues, “we need to allow it to get done and
get done well.”
She says the campaign expects their lead to fluctuate in some states as more votes come in.
O’Malley
Dillon also charged that legal challenges by President Donald Trump’s
campaign to halt vote counting in some states and seek a recount in
Wisconsin are a “flailing strategy” that are an “attempt to distract and
delay” from the results of the election.
The Associated Press is
not calling the presidential race yet because neither candidate has
secured the 270 Electoral College votes needed for victory. Several key
states were too early to call — Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina
and Nevada.
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10:38 a.m.
Arizona state officials say there are about 450,000 ballots still to be counted in the Western battleground.
The
Associated Press says it is monitoring that vote count as it comes in.
The AP has called the presidential race in Arizona for Democrat Joe
Biden.
AP executive editor Sally Buzbee says: “The Associated
Press continues to watch and analyze vote count results from Arizona. We
will follow the facts in all cases.”
Biden holds a 2.35 percentage point lead over Trump in Arizona, an advantage of about 68,000 votes.
The vast majority of the ballots yet to be counted are from Maricopa County, the most populous area of the state.
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This item has been corrected to show that 450,000 ballots, not 375,000 ballots, still need to be counted.
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9:40 a.m.
With
Joe Biden edging closer to unseating him from the White House,
President Donald Trump says he wants to put a halt to vote counting.
The
extraordinary statement by an incumbent president to voice support for
ceasing the count of legally cast votes came in a Thursday morning
tweet, saying only: “STOP THE COUNT!”
Elections are run by
individual state, county and local governments. Trump’s public comments
have no impact on the tallying of votes across the country.
So
far, the vote count across the country has been conducted efficiently
and without evidence of any misconduct, despite Trump’s public
complaints.
Trump’s comments come as his campaign has filed legal
action in several states to try to stop vote counting, claiming a lack
of transparency. Still, Trump’s campaign has held out hope that
continued counting in Arizona could overcome a Biden lead in the state.