No clear winner emerged in the US presidential election as of Wednesday (4 November) morning as incumbent President Donald Trump and Democratic contender Joe Biden each secured several important states in early results. As results trickled in from around the country, Biden led Trump by 238 to 213 electoral votes with key battleground states like Pennsylvania and Michigan still outstanding and not expected to report their tallies overnight. Both still remain far below the 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House. Biden’s successes were mostly concentrated in typically Democratic-leaning states, with his hopes for a decisive early defeat of Trump fading as the president took solid leads in Florida, Ohio and Texas.
Most swing states remain close in the race for the White House, which analysts predict could come down to the key states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. For the first time in 24 years, Arizona has picked a Democratic presidential candidate, which means that all 11 electoral votes are now going to Democratic nominee Joe Biden. Democrats had been hoping to flip the state – a bulwark of Republican support for decades – in the tightly-contested presidential race against President Donald Trump. In the upper Midwest (Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin), mail-in ballots were not processed until Election Day (3 November). Winning those states would be enough to give Biden an Electoral College victory. The polls have so far seen few disruptions, either digital or physical. However, fears of unrest continue to simmer as the vote count drags on, with Trump supporters having threatened violence ahead of the polls.
Meanwhile, US voters in Europe say the election outcome could influence their plans to move their families back to the country. Many Americans said they were feeling stressed and were concerned about the future of the country after this election. Some of them even began volunteering with Democrats Abroad this year to help encourage other Americans overseas to vote in the election and prevent the incumbent president from remaining in the office for another four years. Also a great many Europeans across the continent are anxiously waiting for the election results. Four years of the Trump presidency has challenged what was long thought were deeply embedded transatlantic norms, with trade wars, a questioning of the military alliance and a view that the EU is a threat rather than an ally. Many see the past four years with President Trump as a cold, hard slap in the face for much of Europe.
