Joe Biden has overtaken President Trump in Pennsylvania and in Georgia on the fourth day of the US election, telling supporters he is confident he will win the race.
Several states are yet to finish counting their ballots, including some of the most competitive battlegrounds. Biden has more paths to the 270-vote threshold for victory in the Electoral College than the incumbent, President Donald Trump.
What you need to know
- Biden has 253 electoral votes, while incumbent President Donald Trump has 214.
- The states Biden's won: Vermont (3), Virginia (13), Delaware (3), Rhode Island (4), New Jersey (14), Massachusetts (11), Nebraska CD2 (1), Maryland (10), Illinois (20), Connecticut (7), New Mexico (5), New York (29), District of Columbia (3), Colorado (9), California (55), Oregon (7), Washington state (12), Hawaii (4), New Hampshire (4), Minnesota (10), Maine (3), Wisconsin (10), Michigan (16).
- The states Trump's won: South Carolina (9), Kentucky (8), West Virginia (5), Oklahoma (7), Tennessee (11), Mississippi (6), Alabama (9), Arkansas (6), Indiana (11), Wyoming (3), South Dakota (3), North Dakota (3), Louisiana (8), Nebraska (4), Kansas (6), Missouri (10), Idaho (4), Utah (6), Maine CD2 (1), Florida (29), Ohio (18), Montana (3), Iowa (6), Texas (38).
- States still up-for-grabs: Nevada (6), Arizona (11), Georgia (16), North Carolina (15), Pennsylvania (20), Alaska (3).
- A recount has been ordered in Georgia where Biden leads by a narrow margin.
- Biden told supporters on Saturday afternoon that he was confident he would win the election. He says he will ensure every vote is counted.
- Trump's Chief of Staff has tested positive for COVID-19.
Situation in the remaining battleground states as of 9pm NZ Time
- Pennsylvania - Biden leading by 28,833 votes with a 96 percent counted
- Georgia - Biden leading by 7248 votes with 98 percent counted
- Nevada - Biden leading by 22,657 votes with 93 per cent counted
- Arizona - Biden leading by 29,861 votes with 97 per cent counted
- North Carolina - Trump leading by 76,515 votes with 98 per cent counted
9:10pm - We are going to turn these live updates off now but we will be back with coverage in the morning. Will Sunday be the day that Biden finally gets to 270 votes? Or will Trump make a miraculous comeback? It's likely to be a critical day.
8:50pm - We have just had a surprise batch of results come in from Georgia. Of the 5110 votes, 77.6 percent went Joe Biden's way and 22.4 percent went to Donald Trump. That pushes Biden's lead out to 7248 in the sun-belt state.
8:25pm - If you are wondering why we haven't reported on any ballots recently, it's because the key states haven't released any new results for a couple of hours. Many counties rushed to get results out before midnight in the US, which is about 6pm NZT. We likely won't see any more significant releases until Sunday.
8:10pm - The US election has provided the media - especially 24/7 cable shows - a lot to talk about. From the actual results to Trump's unfounded claims of electoral fraud, it certainly hasn't been a boring few days.
However, one of the most interesting aspects of the coverage has been seeing how the likes of Fox News and the New York Post - typically allies of Trump - present the events. As other media outlets have pointed out, both Rupert Murdoch outlets have changed their tones significantly in recent days, criticising the President for his misleading statements.
Trump reportedly rang Murdoch furiously on Wednesday after Fox called the Arizona race for Biden, something other outlets like CNN and the New York Times still haven't done. Murdoch didn't order a retraction, despite the President's pleas.
Laura Ingraham - who received attention in New Zealand recently for her incorrect claims about our COVID-19 response - has said Trump should concede graciously if the time comes. That's significant as she has been one of his biggest supporters, one of the first to endorse him way back in 2016.
"If and when it’s time to accept an unfavorable outcome in this election, and we hope it never comes, but if and when that does happen, president Trump needs to do it with the same grace and composure he demonstrated at that town hall with Savannah Guthrie. So many people remarked about his tone and presence. Exactly what he needs," she said on Fox News.
"Now losing, especially when you believe the process wasn’t fair, it’s a gut punch. And I’m not conceding anything tonight by the way. But losing, if that’s what happens – it’s awful. But President Trump’s legacy will only become more significant if he focuses on moving the country forward."
She goes on to say that Trump will be a massive player in the Republican Party in coming years and a "kingmaker" at the next presidential election.
Others at Fox News have pointed out that many of the President's statements have been factually incorrect.
The Guardian has described Ingraham's comments as "astounding" and that they "seemed directed at Trump himself".
7pm - Let's have a look at the remaining battleground states and what it would take for the trailing candidate to flip them. This isn't exact as the number of votes remaining to be counted in each state is an estimate, but it gives us a rough idea of the direction.
Arizona: Biden's leading here with a margin of 29,861. Trump needs to receive about 57.37 percent of the remaining vote (estimated to be 180,944) to take it out. He's averaging 53.6 percent based on the previous 30k votes counted.
Georgia: Biden is leading in the traditionally Republican state by 4430 votes. As the number of votes remaining to be counted in the state hasn't been published, we can't say how many Trump needs to flip it. But the vast majority of votes have been going to Biden recently here.
Nevada: Biden has been holding a steady lead here, with a margin of 22,657 over Trump. The incumbent US President would need 57.56 percent of the remaining 131,288 votes, but has been averaging 41.3 percent.
North Carolina: Trump is leading here with 76,515 votes over Biden. For Biden to take it, he'd need about 69.53 percent of the remaining roughly 189,319 votes. He has been averaging 51.9 percent.
Pennsylvania: Biden leads here by 28,833 votes. Trump needs to get about 66.6 percent of the remaining estimated 83,589 votes. He is averaging 26.2 percent.
6:50pm - Georgia has counted 74 more votes. It's not that much, but we'll take it.
The batch favours Biden 73.6 percent to Trump's 26.4 percent. That takes Biden's lead in the state to 4430.
6:10pm - Frank Bainimarama, the Prime Minister of Fiji, has seemingly congratulated Biden on his election result.
"Congratulations, Joe Biden," Bainimarama has just tweeted.
"Together, we have a planet to save from a #ClimateEmergency and a global economy to build back better from #COVID19. Now, more than ever, we need the USA at the helm of these multilateral efforts (and back in the #ParisAgreement — ASAP!)."
5:55pm - The number of aides with COVID-19 is now four, according to Bloomberg.
5:45pm - It's now the middle of the night in the United States, so it's unclear when we will get more vote results. We will let you know whenever a batch turns up. But, at this stage, it looks like the US election will head into another day.
5:40pm - Bloomberg reports that along with Mark Meadows, two White House aides have also tested positive for COVID-19.
5:25pm - As Trump's CoS tests positive for COVID-19, the US has also suffered another horrific day in terms of cases.
US coronavirus infections surged by at least 129,606 on Friday, according to a Reuters tally, the third consecutive daily rise of more than 100,000 cases as a third wave of COVID-19 sweeps the United States.
In the midst of the presidential election, the spike marks the fourth time that more than 100,000 cases of the new coronavirus have been reported in the world's worst-hit country, which is reporting about 95,000 daily cases on a seven-day average.
Twenty of the 50 states reported record increases on Friday, the same as Thursday when the national daily total crossed 120,000 for the first time.
The Midwest remains the hardest-hit region based on daily new cases per capita.
Illinois, marking the highest total, reported more than 10,000 daily cases for the first time, while record increases were reported in Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio and Wisconsin.
Also setting daily records were Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Maine, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.
In Wisconsin, an appeals court blocked Governor Tony Evers's order to limit public gatherings to 25 percent of a building or room's capacity, which was set to expire on Friday.
Evers, noting that the temporary injunction came as the state was marking a record of over 6,000 infections, vowed to challenge the decision. "The bottom line is that we can't wait for the courts to figure this out - we need Wisconsinites to stay home and mask up, and it has to start today," he said in a statement.
Some cities and states have imposed curfews or curbed gatherings to combat the spread of the virus, but the United States has taken no action at the federal level. Seventeen states do not require masks.
US hospitalizations for COVID-19 rose for a 12th consecutive day, exceeding 54,500.
Texas, which accounts for over 10 percent of US cases, reported about 9,000 infections and is on the verge of becoming the first state to exceed a cumulative 1 million COVID-19 cases.
Governor Greg Abbott said the US Department of Defense has deployed three US Air Force Medical Specialty Teams to El Paso.
COVID-19 deaths are trending higher but more slowly than infections. The United States is averaging 880 deaths a day, up about 10 percent in a week.
Ten states have reported record daily death increases this month: Arkansas, Idaho, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming.
- Reuters
5:15pm - Donald Trump has shared a Fox News video on Twitter.
5:10pm - Donald Trump's Chief of Staff Mark Meadows has contracted COVID-19.
5pm - Biden is tweeting parts of his speech.
4:56pm - That wraps up his press conference. As he walked off, his supporters erupted into cheers. CNN says Biden's speech was a contrast to Trump's on Friday.
4:55pm - Biden says he and Harris have met with experts to speak about the worsening COVID-19 pandemic in US. It's possible the country could see 200,000 virus cases in a single day eventually, Biden says. He notes the high death toll and wants Americans to know they are not alone and that on his first day as President he will put a plan into action.
His acknowledges that tensions are high. But he wants people to remain calm and patient while the process works. He wants to see all votes counted.
"Democracy works."
He doesn't care how hard people will try and stop it, he won't let that happen, Biden says.
Strong disagreements are healthy, Biden says. The purpose of politics isn't unending warefare, but to solve problems and give everyone a fair shot, he says. People may be opponents, but they are not enemies.
Regardless of who they voted for, Americans want the vitriol out of politics, Biden says.
He wants the nation to come together and heal. He wants to represent the whole nation and work for everyone. It is a "duty of care for all Americans," Biden says.
There is no more time to waste on "partisan warfare". It is the right time to build a future for our children and grandchildren.
He has never been so optimistic for the future of the US, Biden says.
4:50pm - Biden says there is no final declaration of victory yet, but the numbers are clear he is going to win this race. He points to Georgia and Pennsylvania moving to his column. He is leading in Arizona and Nevada.
He believes he will win with a clear majority. Biden has received more than 74 million votes, more than any other candidate. His vote total continues to grow, Biden points out.
He is proud of how well he has done across the US and he will be the first Democrat to win in Arizona in 24 years and first in Georgia in 28 years. Biden says he has rebuilt the blue wall.
Biden says the tally are not just numbers, but people having their voice heard. He says they are coming from different races and religions. He says they are giving him a mandate to deal with the likes of COVID.
Americans want the country to come together, Biden says.
4:48pm - Biden has just shared this tweet, signalling he is about to come out.
4:45pm - New votes in from Pennsylvania. The 3201 votes favour Biden 76.6 percent to Trump's 23.4 percent. That takes Biden's lead to 28,833 in the state.
4:40pm - Democrat Joe Biden's motorcade has arrived at Chase Center, where he will soon speak.
4:35pm - CNN reports that Biden's running mate Kamala Harris will not speak on Saturday afternoon, but she will appear alongside the presidential candidate.
Biden's motorcade is on its way to Chase Center, Wilmington.
Also noteworthy, Allegheny County in Pennsylvania expects to release another lot of votes soon.
4:30pm - While we wait for the Democrat to come out in Wilmington, Delaware, here are some photos of his supporters gathering:
4:20pm - We are waiting on the former vice-President to speak. You will be able to watch that in the video above.
4pm - The Guardian reports that Biden will speak at 4:30pm (New Zealand Time). CNN says that it's expected Biden won't declare victory, but will speak about his growing lead.
3:50pm - Republicans are trying to raise at least $60 million to fund legal challenges brought by President Donald Trump over the US presidential election's results, three sources familiar with the matter said on Friday.
Trump's campaign has a filed lawsuits in several states over Tuesday's election, as Democratic challenger Joe Biden edged closer to winning the White House, extending his leads in battleground states.
"They want $60 million," said a Republican donor who received solicitations from the campaign and the Republican National Committee (RNC).
Two other sources said the campaign wanted as much as $100 million for the joint fundraising committee it maintains with the RNC, a sign of the scale of the legal fight the campaign expects to mount.
All three sources spoke to Reuters about the requests for money on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter. The Trump campaign and the RNC did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The call for funds comes as the Trump and Biden campaigns gird for a potentially protracted legal battle.
Since voting ended on Tuesday, the Trump campaign has sent out email and text solicitations alleging foul play and seeking donations, although the fine print indicates that more than half of the money raised would go to paying down the campaign's debts.
Trump, who started the race with a strong financial advantage, ended his campaign struggling to keep up with the Biden fundraising juggernaut.
A Trump adviser described the campaign's litigation strategy thus far as chaotic, disorganized and a "disservice to the president."
The adviser, who also asked for anonymity, said the Trump team appeared to have been caught off guard by the election results and had not been prepared to mount a legal fight.
The campaign has already lost court rulings in closely contested states including Georgia and Nevada, but scored a win in Pennsylvania on Friday, when a court ordered election officials to set aside provisional ballots cast on Election Day by voters whose absentee or mail-in ballots were received on time.
"There needs to be patience as the process continues to play out," said Marc Short, Vice President Mike Pence's chief of staff. "There's a matter of making sure that every legal vote's counted," he said.
Trump wrote on Twitter late on Friday that he had a "big lead" in states late into election night, which "miraculously" disappeared as the days went by.
"Perhaps these leads will return as our legal proceedings moving forward!" he wrote.
Trump campaign senior advisor David Bossie, a prominent conservative activist who leads advocacy group Citizens United, has been chosen to lead the post-election legal challenges, according to a source familiar with Trump's campaign strategy.
Bossie was among a group of Trump loyalists who were in Las Vegas this week challenging the count in Nevada and is a fixture among Trump's inner circle.
As Biden expanded his narrow leads in Pennsylvania and Georgia on Friday, a Republican official said it was doubtful the strategy of challenging the ballot count in various states would produce a victory for Trump.
"The math is what it is. You look at what it would take for a recount to overturn an outcome and we are well outside those numbers," said the official, who asked to remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of the matter.
The Biden campaign on Wednesday launched a new "Biden Fight Fund" to help raise money for the legal battle, according to emails reviewed by Reuters.
A Biden campaign spokesman did not immediately comment on whether they had set a fundraising target.
"The president threatened to go to court to prevent the proper tabulation of votes," Biden campaign manager Jen O'Malley Dillon said in an email, adding that the battle could stretch on for weeks.
The Republican official said it was time for the president to "move on."
"This race is over, and the only person who doesn't see it is Donald Trump," the official said.
- Reuters
3:40pm - We have 9256 new votes in from Pennsylvania's Allegheny County, where Pittsburgh is located. They extend Biden's lead in that pivotal state by 5605 votes. He now leads there by 27,130 votes.
For Trump to regain his lead there, he needs to receive about 64.98 percent of the remaining 86,000 votes. At the moment, he is averaging about 28.5 percent.
3:30pm - New tweet in from Trump:
"'We need an explanation as to how these numbers have been running up for the last two or three days.' Matthew Whitaker. @EveningEdit."
An obvious explanation may be that votes are still being counted.
3:15pm - The Arizona Secretary of State says there are 173,000 votes still to be counted in the state, with 92,000 remaining in Maricopa County - where Phoenix is located.
That state total includes 47,000 provisional votes that won't be counted until next week.
A batch of 7463 votes in from the state just now split between Trump and Biden 50-50.
To pass Biden in the state, Trump needs to be receiving about 57.8 percent of the incoming votes. However, at the moment he is averaging 53.6 percent
3pm - A massive batch of 71,932 votes has just come in in Arizona. They favour Trump 54.8 percent to Biden's 45.2 percent. That brings Biden's lead in the state down from 36,816 to 29,861. There are believed to be 180,407 votes left in the state to count.
2:55pm - A new batch of 5184 votes has been received in Pennsylvania. It favours Biden 71.4 percent to Trump's 28.6 percent. That extends Biden's lead from 19,491 votes to 21,705 votes.
2:50pm - The US election is all about picking up electoral college votes, but it's still interesting to track how many overall votes each candidate receives.
As of 2:50pm on Saturday:
Joe Biden: 74,254,694
Donald Trump: 70,116,620.
Both candidates have now received more votes than any other presidential candidate in US history. That record was currently held by Barack Obama in 2008, when he received 69,498,516 votes.
In 2016, Trump received 62,984,828 votes. That means he has received nearly 8 million more votes this year than at the last election - and the votes are still being counted.
2:35pm - CNN says that Biden is still expected to speak this afternoon, regardless of whether the race is called for him or not.
2:30pm - Cindy McCain, the widow of 2008 Republican presidential candidate John McCain, who was mocked by Donald Trump, told ABC that she is confident Biden will win Arizona.
"I am so proud of all the poll watchers, the election watchers, the people who are doing the counting, everybody across the state of Arizona for the job they are doing."
She believes the result will be "accurate" and "for Biden".
2:25pm - Two men were charged with gun offenses in Philadelphia on Friday (local time) after they were arrested the previous night near a vote counting site that has become a focal point for election-related protests, according to the city district attorney's office.
Antonio LaMotta, 61, and Joshua Macias, 41, allegedly drove to Philadelphia from Virginia in a Hummer SUV and had two loaded semi-automatic handguns, one semi-automatic AR-15 style rifle and ammunition, the district attorney's office said.
Pennsylvania has become one of a handful of states that could decide the U.S. presidential election following Tuesday's vote. If Democrat Joe Biden can retain a narrow lead in that state over Republican President Donald Trump, it would give him the presidency.
Protesters supporting both candidates have gathered outside the Pennsylvania Convention Center in recent days for what have been largely peaceful demonstrations.
LaMotta and Macias were each charged with carrying a concealed firearm, a felony, and carrying a firearm on public streets or property, a misdemeanor.
Local media reports showed stickers on the suspects' vehicle promoting QAnon, a pro-Trump online conspiracy theory. The unfounded theory posits that Trump is secretly fighting a global cabal of child-sex predators that includes prominent Democrats, Hollywood elites and "deep state" allies.
Facebook and Twitter accounts that appeared to belong to LaMotta show numerous postings related to the conspiracy theory.
"QAnon is a positive military operation that is working to take down the deep state," reads one April Facebook post.
Anita LaMotta, the suspect's mother, told Reuters in a telephone interview that he had traveled to Philadelphia because "he wanted to help" in the event riots broke out.
LaMotta and Macias did not respond to requests for comment. It was not immediately clear whether they have attorneys.
Macias billed himself online as a strategic adviser for a grassroots group called Vets for Trump. A group spokesman said Macias was no longer affiliated with them.
- Reuters
2:10pm - There's been two tiny batches of votes received in Georgia and Pennsylvania. Both favoured Trump, but don't make much of an impact on Biden's lead in both states.
2:05pm - We haven't heard anything more from the Biden campaign regarding the former vice-President speaking. The New York Times reports his camp is still making a decision.
"People familiar with the Biden campaign’s thinking say he may speak tonight even if the race isn’t called, but the tone will be shaped by the results that are in. Things are still fluid."
2pm - The United States Supreme Court has ordered that Pennsylvania separates ballots received after election day from those received beforehand. All votes must still be counted, however.
In PA, any ballots received in the three days after election day can be counted if they are postmarked on or before election day. This has been disputed by the Republican Party.
But the PA Secretary of State doesn't believe these ballots will make much of a difference.
"Unless it's super close, I don't see them making or breaking this one way or another," Kathy Boockvar said during an interview on CNN earlier this week.
1:50pm - We have new votes in from Arizona, Georgia and North Carolina.
In Arizona, a batch of 2976 votes favour Trump 77.2 percent to Biden's 22.8 percent. That brings Biden's lead in the state down to 36,835 votes with an estimated 252,951 votes remaining.
In Georgia, a small lot of 210 votes have been counted, favouring Biden 61.4 percent to Trump's 38.6 percent. Biden's lead here is now at 4022 votes. There are still many provisional and military votes to be counted in the state.
In North Carolina, a batch of 301 votes have just been counted, favouring Biden 66.1 percent to Trump's 33.9 percent. Trump leads here by 76,526 votes with about 189,501 votes to go.
1:45pm - It's nearly been 24 hours since Joe Biden last tweeted. The campaign had been wanting the candidate to speak to supporters on Saturday, but with the race still so tight, it's unclear if that will happen.
In contrast, Trump has tweeted multiple times over recent hours, repeating his unfounded claims of fraud.
1:30pm - Kia Ora, good afternoon. Jamie Ensor here taking over the live updates for Saturday afternoon.
We were expecting Joe Biden to speak at 2pm, but CNN is currently questioning whether that will go ahead. According to CNN, the Biden camp thought - with the former vice-President ahead in key states - that new outlets would have called the election for Biden by now. However, with the races so close, that hasn't happened.
CNN's Jim Acosta is also hearing from sources that Trump is starting to acknowledge he may not win the election.
"Source described Trump as sounding more 'realistic' as returns show Biden's leads increasing. Doesn't mean he's given up, source adds."
1:15pm - Arizona's Pima County reports more than 7.200 ballots in its final update on Friday, leaning towards Trump.
The latest vote counted 3,640 votes for Trump and 3,352 votes for Biden.
1:10pm - Georgia's Fulton County, the state's largest population centre, expects to upload 3,612 provisional and 900 overseas ballots in a few hours time, the county's elections director Richard Barron said.
"Here in Fulton County, the fat lady has almost sung," Robb Pitts, chairman of the Fulton County Board of Commissioners said.
"All early votes have been counted, all day-of votes have been counted, all absentee ballots have been counted."
12:59pm - Joe Biden's lead in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania has grown to 80 percent - 555,833 votes, according to data from the Philadelphia election office.
President Trump currently has 125,897 votes, only 18.3 percent of the ballots counted so far.
12:25pm - President Donald Trump says he had "such a big lead" on election night but it "miraculously disappeared" as the days went by.
12:23pm - Democratic Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf and Secretary of the Commonwealth Kathy Boockvar have done everything they can in the way of "changing the rules" to hlep Joe Biden, Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman told Fox News on Friday.
Corman said on Friday Democrats have done a "great disservice," and that such "shenanigans" will cause any Biden victory to be deemed illegitimate.
12:15pm - Joe Biden is expected to address the nation at 8pm (local time), 2pm (NZ time), according to Axios.
12:05pm - Trump has tweeted that "Joe Biden should not wrongfully claim the office of the President", saying he could "make that claim also".
"Legal proceedings are just now beginning!" he tweeted.
Trump has already wrongly claimed victory - on the first night of counting. Since then, the count has put Biden well in the driver's seat.
11:48am - President Donald Trump will not be speaking on camera tonight, Fox News reported.
Joe Biden will be addressing the nation on prime time television with senator Kamala Harris Friday night (local time).
11:42am - Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms told CNN she "absolutely believes Georgia will flip for Joe Biden".
"This is our year. I've known for a while that Georgia was trending blue," she said.
"It's going to be a thin margin, but we're used to close elections."
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said earlier on Friday there will "likely be a recount".
The latest count shows Joe Biden's lead by 4,162 votes.
11:30am - Lindsey Graham, the Republican South Carolina senator told The Hill reporters, he's going to stand with President Trump.
"I'm going to stand with President Trump. If a Democrat were doing this, it'd be cheered on, and we're not going to let the media intimidate us."
11:13am - Patrick Gower spoke to The Nation on Saturday (NZ time) and says he's confident Joe Biden is in with a chance.
"He's got ahead in Pennsylvania, and taking that [20 seats] will pretty much push him over the top," he said.
"Georgia gives him, even more, luxury and then, of course, he's hanging on out in Nevada and is going to flip Arizona by the looks of things."
"Georgia is going to have a recount and it is, of course, complicated and close but that bevvy of states that he's taken leaves a combination that even if one or two of them got in legal troubles or got turned back to Donald Trump - Joe Biden will still be President of the United States."
Gower says he is confident Biden will take the prize.
"In fact, it's fair to say right now, it's only a matter of time before Joe Biden is announced as the President-elect of the United States of America.
11:00am - Donald Trump's reelection campaign is trying to raise money for their lawsuits but their tactics have become threatening.
Their fundraising emails have been described as "aggressive" and a "clear sign of desperation".
10:50am - MSNBC's Steve Kornacki explains why Pennsylvania is too close to call.
"It's far from clear at this point that all 100,000 of those uncounted mail ballots will in fact be counted."
"Remember - they're getting these ballots, they're opening them up, they could be challenged."
"So you say there's 100,000 that are uncounted, that doesn't mean that's going to be what actually goes into the final vote - there's uncertainty there."
10:45am - Police in Philadelphia arrested two men on firearms charges on Thursday night, according to the Washington Post.
The Philadelphia Police Department said on Friday it received information that people armed with guns were coming to the convention centre, where votes were being counted.
District Attorney Larry Kraner said his office was still working to determine exactly what charges it would bring.
Both men had guns they were not allowed to carry in the state.
10:28am - Arizona will extend its vote counting to the weekend, with 250,000 ballots left to count.
Secretary of State Katie Hobbs told CNN they will be releasing more results tonight.
"They have told us they expect to be counting through the weekend and should have pretty much everything except for provisional ballots wrapped up this weekend."
10:24am - Former Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue is speaking to media regarding vote counts.
He calls for "every legal vote to be counted" and "every illegal vote to be thrown out".
"I think we have an obligation to investigate claims of voter fraud," he added.
10:12am - Bomb threats were called into an area close to the Philadelphia Convention Centre, the Independent reported.
Philadelphia police said mall security received two calls from an individual claiming "a bomb was going to go off in the Fashion District".
Police found no explosives or any suspicious devices after they searched the building on Friday.
10am - One of Trump's fellow Republicans is engaging in a Twitter battle with a colleague.
"If Trump loses, he loses. It was never an impossible outcome and we must accept the final results when it is over," Dan Crenshaw, a Texas Republican tweeted.
"But the unfortunate reality is that there is very little trust in the process, where irregularities have been flagrant and transparency lacking."
But Marjorie Taylor Greene, Georgia's Congresswoman-elect, stood up to Trump.
"The time to STAND UP for Donald Trump is RIGHT NOW! Republicans can't back down. The loser mindset is how the Democrats win," she replied to his tweet.
"President Trump has fought for us, we have to fight for him."
9:50am - Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said the final tally remains too close to call.
"There will be likely a recount," he said during a news conference on Friday.
Raffensberger told reporters a recount is likely due to the small margin between Joe Biden and President Trump, who both have 49.4 percent of the vote.
Biden is just ahead of Trump by 1599 votes in Georgia.
The state allows a recount if the difference between the candidates is under 0.5 percent.
9:42am - Donald Trump's legal team is alleging at least 21,000 people who registered on Pennsylvania voter rolls are dead.
Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani shared an article about a lawsuit that claims Pennsylvania failed to "reasonably maintain" their voter registration records in time for the 2020 election.
"At least 21k dead people on Pennsylvania voter rolls," he tweeted.
9:37am - Joe Biden has been spending the day at home with family and senior advisers as he awaits results, CNN's sources say.
The Democratic nominee is expected to address the nation on prime time television with senator Kamala Harris.
9:25am - Pennsylvania Republicans are asking the US Supreme Court to stop mail-in ballots received after Election day.
The Pennsylvania secretary of state has ordered any ballots that arrived after Tuesday to be segregated from those that arrived by Election day.
"Given the results of the November 3, 2020 general election, the vote in Pennsylvania may well determine the next President of the United States," the GOP petition wrote.
"And it is currently unclear whether all 67 county boards of elections are segregating late-arriving ballots,"
9:00am - Joe Biden is currently 20,137 votes ahead of Trump in Nevada and there are more than 12,000 mail-in votes yet to be counted.
Joe Gloria, Clark county registrar of voters says the Nevada county will post the results of another batch of ballots in four hours.
8:51am - Senator Bernie Sanders has already declared Biden's victory.
Sanders, who unsuccessfully went up against Democratic presidential candidate Hilary Clinton is thanking progressive groups for their efforts to make "Biden's victory possible".
"I want to thank progressive grassroots organisation for their extraordinary efforts in helping to make Biden's victory possible," he tweeted.
"Together, you built whitespread support for Biden among young people, people of colour and the working class. Congratulations."
8:40 am - House Democrats have picked their first major win in Georgia's congressional district.
Democratic candidate Carolyn Bourdeaux has been declared the winner, according to the AP.
7:36 am - President Donald Trump has released a statement about vote counting and fraud, saying he won't give up fighting.
7:23am - White House sources say some officials are beginning to quietly back away from Trump.
"It's over," a White House adviser told CNN. The source went on to say there are concerns what Trump will do next.
"God. Who knows," the adviser said, noting multiple officials in the campaign were shaking their heads after Trump's false statements during his speech on Thursday.
7:07am - Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney has lashed out as Trump during a press conference.
Votes from that city helped Biden overtake Trump in Pennsylvania. He too has criticised the President for alleging fraud.
"While some including the President continue to spew baseless claims of fraud - claims for which his team has not produced one iota of evidence - what we see in Philadelphia is democracy, pure and simple."
"I think what the president needs to do is, frankly, put his big boy pants on. He needs to acknowledge the fact that he has lost, and he needs to congratulate the winner."
7:04am - Joe Biden's campaign says he will give a speech today during 'prime time' AP has tweeted.
6:47am - Republican and former-Presidential candidate Mitt Romney has criticised Donald Trump for alleging this election has been fraudulent. Romney tweeted "he is wrong to say the election was rigged, corrupt and stolen."
6:40am - Joe Biden's lead in Arizona, the state Fox News already declared him as winning, has reduced slightly overnight. Biden still holds a lead of over 43,000 with around 93 per cent of the votes counted.
6:20am - According to the New York Times Joe Biden is leading in four of the remaining six states left to declare - Arizona, 11 votes, Nevada, 6, Georgia,16, and Pennsylvania, 20. Biden's lead in Georgia is too close to call though.
The President is leading in Alaska, 3, and North Carolina, 15.
The maths favours Biden.
6:01am - Associated Press has tweeted that while Joe Biden may be closing in on the presidency, it ain't over yet.
5:50am - Joe Biden's lead in Pennsylvania has grown to almost 10,000 and is expected to increase further as more votes from Philadelphia are counted.
Trump had a commanding lead in the state at one point but it was slowly eroded by Biden, who campaigned heavily in what was seen as a crucial state.
If Biden wins Pennsylvania it will take him above the 270 electoral votes needed to win the Presidency.
5:40am - Donald Trump, the President, has been Tweeting regularly overnight and has wasted no time this morning stoking the fires of divisiveness in the US.
5:30am - CNN is reporting Donald Trump has said he has no intention of conceding the election, even if he is unable to reach the target of 270 votes. In the US elections, the losing candidate generally concedes.
CNN reports Trump believes the election is being stolen from him.
5:20am - Georgia's Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has ordered a recount as Biden took a narrow lead in the state. Biden leads Trump by around 1,579 votes.
5:11am - While his daughter Ivanka Trump has weighed in on the illegal votes Donald Trump referred to in his controversial speech on Friday.
5:07am - Donald Trump has weighed in on losing his lead in Pennsylvania calling into question the state's integrity.
5:00 am - Joe Biden has taken the lead in the key state of Pennsylvania. The former Vice-President has a lead of around 6,737 votes with a number of ballots still to be counted. Those ballots are thought to favour Biden.
