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Six
states remain to be called -- Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North
Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin -- with Biden needing to
carry at least three to win, while Trump would need at least
four.
The outcome is almost certain to come down to millions of
absentee ballots that were the first cast in this election and
often are the last to be counted.
At 6 a.m. ET (1100 GMT), Biden held narrow leads in Nevada and
Wisconsin. Trump held slim leads in Georgia, North Carolina,
Pennsylvania and Michigan, though tens of thousands of ballots
remain to be counted in those states, many of them votes cast by
mail in the areas around major cities, which traditionally favor
Democrats.
Here are Trump's and Biden's paths to victory:
TRUMP
Trump’s most likely road to victory goes through Pennsylvania, a
state he carried in 2016. If he wins there, he will have to win
three of the other battleground states to secure 270 electoral
votes. If he doesn’t win Pennsylvania, he’ll have to sweep the
remaining five.
Trump led the voting in Pennsylvania about 55% to 43% with about
75% of the votes likely counted.
The state’s biggest cities, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, have
reported only a small share of their election results so far,
and those results traditionally favor Democrats. Beyond that,
many of the ballots that remain to be counted were filed by
mail, and the state has said many more Democrats than
Republicans cast mail-in ballots this year.
Pennsylvania offers one other wrinkle: Its state courts have
ordered officials to count absentee ballots that were cast by
Tuesday so long as they arrive in the mail by Friday. (Trump has
criticized the U.S. Supreme Court for permitting the change and
the case could return to the court after the election.)
BIDEN
Biden’s most likely road to victory goes through Nevada and
Wisconsin, states where he held narrow leads early Wednesday
morning as officials worked to tally the final votes. If Biden
wins those states, victories in Georgia, Michigan or
Pennsylvania would give him enough to win.
Trump held a lead of about 51%-47% in Michigan, but many of the
votes remaining to be counted there were mail-in ballots from
Detroit and its suburbs, where Democrats have historically
enjoyed an electoral advantage.
Officials in Nevada, where Biden had a razor-thin 49.3%-48.7%
lead with 86% of expected votes counted, said they would not
resume counting ballots until Thursday morning.
(Reporting by Brad Heath in Washington; Editing by Scott Malone
and Alistair Bell)
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