Biden Widens Lead Over Trump; 1st Case Goes To Supreme Court

ACROSS AMERICA — As Democrat Joe Biden widens his lead over President Donald Trump in the critical battleground state of Pennsylvania, the Keystone State's Democratic Party has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hold off on hearing a petition from Republicans asking the tribunal to strike down a three-day deadline extension for the counting of mail ballots sent by election boards to be received by election board.

The case is the first in a flurry of promised lawsuits filed by the Trump campaign to reach the high court. Trump's path to the 270 electoral votes needed to win re-election is becoming increasingly more difficult as election boards chip away at a crush of 102 million ballots voted by Americans skittish about voting in person during the coronavirus pandemic.

As ballot counting continued Friday, Biden's lead over Trump in the popular vote widened by more than 4.1 million votes. The more than 74 million votes cast in the election are a record.

Trump sought to discredit a vote-by-mail election months ago, claiming without evidence that it would lead to widespread fraud. He doubled down on those comments early Wednesday morning, when he declared a premature victory in the election, and again Thursday at a White House press briefing when he unleashed harsh criticism on the slow counting process and accused Democrats of trying to "steal" the election.

In their petition for the U.S. Supreme Court to step in, Republicans said the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overstepped its authority when it allowed the deadline extension earlier this year. In their response, Democrats say that as Biden's lead widens in Pennsylvania, U.S. Supeme Court intervention may not be necessary. Election officials say the ballots postmarked on Election Day have already been separated from the batches currently being counted.

As it stands, Biden has 264 electoral votes, compared with 214 for Trump, according to projections by The Associated Press. Other news organizations have been more conservative and have not put Arizona, with 11 its electoral votes, in the win column for Biden. Those projections put Biden's electoral vote total at 253, meaning he would have to take at least two of the four states to win.

With his lead widening in key battleground states, Biden is set to make an address during prime time on Friday. It's unclear exactly when or where the address will be held, but airspace over the Chase Center in Wilmington, Delaware, has been closed to air traffic, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Related: First-Time Florida Voters Share Their Stories From The Polls

Trump, meanwhile, has a much more difficult path to 270 electoral votes, as his election night lead shrinks with more ballots being counted. His campaign has filed a flurry of lawsuits in battleground states.

As results continued rolling in Wednesday and two battleground states flipped blue, the Trump campaign filed legal challenges in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Georgia, joining a pre-existing lawsuit in Pennsylvania and another the campaign said it will file in Nevada.

The campaign in Michigan and Pennsylvania sued to halt the counting of ballots, claiming it was not given "meaningful" access to review ballots that have already been processed.

Related: Republicans React To Trump Election Fraud Claim

The campaign touted its victory in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania’s largest city, after a state appeals court said Trump’s poll watchers must be permitted to get an up-close look at ballot processing.

In Michigan, however, Judge Cynthia Stephens denied the lawsuit, saying the majority of votes had already been counted.

A Chatham County in Georgia also dismissed a lawsuit asking to ensure state laws are being followed on absentee ballots. The Associated Press reports campaign officials were considering peppering a dozen other Georgia counties with similar claims.

The Trump campaign also planned to file a suit alleging thousands of ballots were cast in Nevada by people who no longer live in the state, Reuters reports.

Related: What To Know If Presidential Vote Goes To Supreme Court

In Georgia, Biden took the lead early Friday by 1,096 votes with roughly 10,000 ballots to still be counted. The remaining ballots are from six key counties, most of which are in the Atlanta metro area and have historically voted for Democrats.

In brief remarks Thursday afternoon with running mate Sen. Kamala Harris, Biden urged Americans to be patient and stay calm while votes are counted.

"Democracy is sometimes messy. It sometimes requires a little patience, as well," Biden said.
"That patience has been rewarded now for 240 years with a system of governance that has been the envy of the world."

Speaking in measured tones, Biden said that "the process is working" and expressed his confidence that he and Harris will prevail in the election.

"We continue to feel very good about where things stand," he said. "We have no doubt that when the count is finished, Senator Harris and I will be declared the winners."

On Wednesday, he assured Americans his presidency will not see red or blue states: "It will be a victory for the American people, for democracy, for America."

Trump also addressed reporters in a press conference Thursday evening, speaking for about 20 minutes and doubling down on unfounded allegations of voter fraud at election offices in states where he did not fare well among mail-in voters.

Trump's Lead Disappears In Pennsylvania

Biden now leads Trump by more than 5,500 votes in Pennsylvania with some 117,000 ballots yet to be counted, mostly from Philadelphia and Allegheny Counties. As of 9:10 a.m. Friday, Biden led Trump 3,295,304 to 3,289,717, a difference of 5,587 votes. As Biden pulled ahead, authorities in Pennsylvania said they thwarted an apparent plot to attack the convention center in Philadelphia where votes are being tabulated. By Eric Heyl for Pittsburgh Patch

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Democrat Lead In Arizona Narrows

Biden's lead over Trump in Arizona continued to narrow Friday morning after a new batch of unofficial results was released by election officials in Coconino County. As it stands, Biden leads Trump by 47,052 with a total of votes. The president has 1,517,368. Still, Fox News and The Associated Press continued to stand by their projections that Biden will win the state. A new batch of votes from Maricopa County will be released at 7 p.m. Friday. Also, Democratic candidate Mark Kelly is projected to win the state's U.S. Senate race, according to projections from the Associated Press and CNN. By Lindsay Walker for Arizona Patch

Georgia Tips Blue In Last-Minute Counts

New counts of mail-in ballots from largely Democratic counties in Georgia put Biden in the lead for the first time Friday morning with some 4,000 ballots still outstanding. The remaining ballots are from Cherokee, Cobb, Floyd and Gwinnett counties, most of which are in the Atlanta metro area. A win in Georgia alone would give Biden 16 electoral votes, not enough for an outright victory in the Electoral College.

Meanwhile, the gap in a Georgia senatorial race dwindled, with Democrat Jon Ossoff — who is trying to unseat GOP incumbent Sen. David Perdue — having 2,351,092 votes and Perdue having 2,449,502. If neither candidate gets over 50 percent of the vote, the race will go to a runoff in January. By Kathleen Sturgeon for Atlanta

Patch North Carolina Results On Hold

Election workers in North Carolina will not be done counting ballots this week, officials said early Wednesday, noting workers at that time had not begun processing provisional ballots. The state was also holding out on receiving at least another 117,000 absentee ballots that can still be received and counted through Nov. 12. At last count, Trump led Biden by more than 76,000 votes in the state.

Protests Break Out

Protests broke in cities across the country Wednesday and Thursday after the Trump campaign filed lawsuits in several states and claimed without evidence that the election was under attack by fraudsters in key states.

A "Count Every Vote" demonstration Wednesday resulted in 25 people being arrested and 32 being issued summonses after police converged on groups of post-election protesters in Manhattan. Arrests were also made in Washington and Oregon after property was damaged during protests, the Associated Press reported.

In Minnesota, 646 people received citations after a large group protesting Trump's premature claim of election victory blocked Interstate 94 in Minneapolis late Wednesday and early Thursday.

A "Count Every Vote" group also gathered in Philadelphia on Thursday opposite a group of Trump supporters outside the Pennsylvania Convention Center, which was later the target of a thwarted attack.

Peaceful protests were also reported in New Jersey and Arizona, where hundreds of angry Trump supporters gathered outside the Maricopa County Recorder's Office in Phoenix to chant "Stop the steal!" after the president asserted without evidence that there were major problems with voting and ballot counting.

Election officials in several cities expressed concern after small groups gathered in Phoenix, Detroit and Philadelphia, the Associated Press reports. In Michigan, Attorney General Dana Nessel pleaded with Trump supporters to "stop making harassing & threatening calls" to her staff, and election worker Cynthia Duquette said "aggressive" poll challengers at the former Cobo Arena threatened the "overall strength and integrity of the American electoral process."

More 2020 Election Coverage:

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• Republicans React To Trump Election Fraud Claim
• What To Know If Presidential Election Results Go To Supreme Court
• Plot To Attack Philly Vote Count Location Investigated: Reports
• Election Officials Worried By Threats And Protesters
• Judge Orders Twice-Daily Sweeps Of Post Offices For Mail Ballots
• With Biden Win In Reach, Dems Still Wrestle With Disappointment
• GOP Women Elected To U.S. Congress Hits Record Number
• Did Social Media Actually Counter Election Misinformation?
• Trump, Biden Coalitions Show Race, Class Divide: AP VoteCast