US Elections: Biden Maintains Lead at Halfway Mark, Trump Catching up

Washington: Former vice president and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has maintained his lead mid-way through the counting of votes, with Republican incumbent Donald Trump appearing to be fast catching up.

As per Fox News, Biden has 237 of the 538 electoral college seats, while Trump has 210. On the other hand, CNN has projected 215 electoral college votes to Biden and 171 to Trump.

The New York Times reported that Biden has earned 213 electoral college votes and Trump 174. The winner needs at least 270 electoral college votes.

According to the latest reports, Trump was leading in the key battleground states of Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan. Biden was leading in Arizona and Minneapolis.

The Biden campaign tried to downplay its electoral performance in Florida, which has 29 electoral college votes.

“We said Florida was going to be close and… it is! We also said we didn’t have to win it, and that remains true,” the campaign said in a statement, reiterating that it has multiple paths to victory.

In a surprise, Trump was leading by seven percentage points in Virginia, which was considered to be a Democratic bastion.

Nate Silver from the iconic FiveThirtyEight.com, which had earlier reported a big win for Biden, by late night said that Trump now is in a better position to win the election.

“Trump's in a better position than he was at the start of the night. Biden's not going to win in a landslide. But there's still not a ton we know outside of Florida, and the data we do have is fairly mixed and not necessarily suggestive of as large a polling error elsewhere,” it said.

The counting of votes in the crucial US presidential election began on Tuesday night.

The next occupant of the White House needs to win 270 of the 538 electoral college votes.

As results from key battleground states just started trickling in, experts say that Biden has multiple paths to victory, with Trump having very little room to maneuver.

President Trump, who is seeking his re-election for the second consecutive term, expressed confidence in the results with a tweet.

“WE ARE LOOKING REALLY GOOD ALL OVER THE COUNTRY. THANK YOU!” Trump tweeted.

He was watching the election results from the White House. Trump has invited close to 250 select guests for an event in the East room of the White House.

“Stay in line, folks,” tweeted Biden, “Stay in line” said his running mate senator Kamala Harris, who is of Indian-origin.

According to experts, North Carolina, Ohio and Pennsylvania hold key to the election results. Trump needs to win all three of them, while Biden can earn the presidency witha win in any one of these states.