Nov. 9 (UPI) — While former Vice President Joe Biden secured enough electoral votes to become president of the United States, races in four states remained too close to call as election officials continue to tabulate votes.
Biden secured 279 electoral votes to claim the presidency over incumbent President Donald Trump’s 214 electoral votes on Saturday, but races in Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona and Alaska were still undecided early Sunday, according to tallies by CNN, NBC News and The New York Times.
Former President George W. Bush on Sunday congratulated Biden on his win, as well as praising Trump for “a hard-fought campaign,” adding that while Trump “has the right to request recounts and pursue legal challenges” Biden’s victory was clear.
“The American people can have confidence that this election was fundamentally fair, its integrity will be upheld and its outcome is clear,” Bush said.
In 2000, Bush was declared president 37 days after the election when a U.S. Supreme Court ruling paved the way for a win over Democrat Al Gore. The high court by a 5-4 vote ruled against continuing a hand recount in Florida. Ultimately, Bush won Florida by 537 votes to capture the state’s 25 Electoral College votes and a total of 271 nationwide, one more than necessary to become president.
Like in 2000, the Democrat in 2020 received the most votes — by around 4.3 million with Biden at 75,312,139 (50.5%) to Trump’s 721,048,919 (47.7).
Trump has not conceded the race and his campaign has issued a number of legal challenges to results in states that have been called in favor of Biden or where he holds a lead.
On Sunday morning, he shared various quotes on Twitter alleging issues with the way some votes were tabulated as he continued his efforts to challenge the result of the election.
“Since when does the Lamestream Media call who our next president will be? We have all learned a lot in the last two weeks!” Trump wrote on Twitter.
First lady Melania Trump also took to Twitter to comment on the election, repeating the president’s claims that “illegal” votes were cast.
“The American people deserve fair elections. Every legal — not illegal — vote should be counted. We must protect our democracy with complete transparency,” she wrote.
Former Republican presidential candidate Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, said he has not seen evidence of widespread voter fraud in the United States.
“I do believe, however, that it is destructive to the cause of Democracy to suggest widespread fraud or corruption. There’s just no evidence of that at this stage,” he told CNN’s State of the Union. “And I think it’s important for us to recognize that the world is watching.”
Condoleezza Rice, a well-known figure of the Republican Party as she was the former secretary of state during the Bush presidency, congratulated Biden late Sunday and called for unity among Americans.
“Congratulations President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, and the American people who voted in record numbers showing the strength and vibrancy of our democracy,” she tweeted. “Now, let’s come together for the common good with empathy and respect for each other.”
In Georgia, Biden maintained a 10,353 vote lead over Trump with 2,465,781 votes (49.5%) to Trump’s 2,455,428 (49.3%) with 99% of the vote counted.
A recount is expected to determine who will ultimately claim the state’s 16 electoral votes, as the process is forced if the difference between candidates is 0.5% or less.
Former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams told CNN Sunday that she believes Biden will maintain his lead in the state even in the face of the pending recount.
“The results will be the same, Joe Biden has won the state of Georgia,” Abrams said.
Trump led the battle for North Carolina’s 15 electoral votes on Sunday with 2,733,681 votes (50%), leaving Biden trailing by 75,407 with a total of 2,658,274 with 98% of votes tallied.
With 97% of votes tallied in Arizona, Biden held a lead of 19,348 votes, with a total of 1,633,181 (49.5%) over Trump’s 1,613,833 (48.9%).
The Trump campaign filed a lawsuit on Saturday, alleging that poll workers did not notify in-person voters when the electronic ballot tabulation machines detected an “overvote,” indicating that a voter had selected more than the number of candidates allowed in a certain race.
Only 47% of votes were counted in Alaska, on Saturday as Trump held a commanding lead of 108,231 (62.9%) to Biden’s 33% 56,849.
