US Election 2020: Biden Leads With 224 Electoral Votes, Trump Has 213
Can Donald Trump defy the polls for a second time and beat challenger Joe Biden in his bid to win the 2020 US presidential election?
electoral college votes
65,092,661 votes
electoral college votes
63,300,950 votes
65,092,661 votes
63,300,950 votes
Live coverage / Trump takes Texas and Florida as Biden says ‘we’re on track to win’
The latest results will show up here.
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Key states to watch
The race for the presidency is usually decided in a small number of key battleground states that switch party allegiance between elections.
Democrats
Republicans
Florida
29 electoral college votes
Est. vote count 96%
Winner called an hour ago
Est. vote count 96%
| Candidate | Votes | Percent | |
| Donald Trump | 5,649,429 | 51.3% | |
| Joe Biden | 5,272,335 | 47.8% | |
| Jo Jorgensen | 69,685 | 0.6% |
Why does it matter?
Florida has voted with the eventual winner in all but one presidential election since 1964. It is also the swing state with the largest population and the most electoral college votes.
Ohio
18 electoral college votes
Est. vote count 94%
Winner called an hour ago
Est. vote count 94%
| Candidate | Votes | Percent | |
| Donald Trump | 3,041,663 | 53.4% | |
| Joe Biden | 2,569,033 | 45.1% | |
| Jo Jorgensen | 63,922 | 1.1% |
Why does it matter?
Ohio is one of the largest swing states in the midwest, and it has sided with the eventual election winner for decades. Trump won the state by a margin of over eight points in 2016.
Pennsylvania
20 electoral college votes
Est. vote count 64%
Polls closed 6 hours ago
Est. vote count 64%
| Candidate | Votes | Percent | |
| Donald Trump | 2,703,112 | 56.7% | |
| Joe Biden | 2,009,967 | 42.1% | |
| Jo Jorgensen | 56,600 | 1.2% |
Why does it matter?
Pennsylvania was one of the largest states to swing to Trump in the 2016 election. He won the state by a margin of just 0.7 percentage points, turning it Republican for the first time since 1992.
Georgia
16 electoral college votes
Est. vote count 93%
Polls closed 7 hours ago
Est. vote count 93%
| Candidate | Votes | Percent | |
| Donald Trump | 2,366,242 | 50.7% | |
| Joe Biden | 2,248,032 | 48.1% | |
| Jo Jorgensen | 56,869 | 1.2% |
Why does it matter?
Long a Republican stronghold, southern Georgia has recently become more of a battleground state due to its growing black electorate. In the 2018 governor’s election, Republican Brian Kemp defeated Democrat Stacey Abrams by just 1.4 percentage points.
Michigan
16 electoral college votes
Est. vote count 64%
Polls closed 5 hours ago
Est. vote count 64%
| Candidate | Votes | Percent | |
| Donald Trump | 1,866,604 | 53.6% | |
| Joe Biden | 1,557,530 | 44.7% | |
| Jo Jorgensen | 41,325 | 1.2% |
Why does it matter?
Trump won Michigan by just 0.2 percentage points in 2016 – the narrowest margin of any state. In the six elections prior, the state consistently voted Democratic.
North Carolina
15 electoral college votes
Est. vote count 94%
Polls closed 6 hours ago
Est. vote count 94%
| Candidate | Votes | Percent | |
| Donald Trump | 2,732,104 | 50.1% | |
| Joe Biden | 2,655,392 | 48.7% | |
| Jo Jorgensen | 47,213 | 0.9% |
Why does it matter?
Historically Republican-leaning, North Carolina has become increasingly competitive in recent years. The state’s recent voting patterns mirror a national trend towards more polarisation, with cities swinging further towards the Democrats and rural areas towards the Republicans.
Arizona
11 electoral college votes
Est. vote count 77%
Polls closed 5 hours ago
Est. vote count 77%
| Candidate | Votes | Percent | |
| Joe Biden | 1,332,887 | 52.5% | |
| Donald Trump | 1,171,143 | 46.2% | |
| Jo Jorgensen | 32,924 | 1.3% |
Why does it matter?
Arizona last voted Democratic for President in 1996, but the state has become increasingly competitive as the Hispanic share of the electorate has grown. The Democrats managed to gain a number of seats in the 2018 midterms here.
Wisconsin
10 electoral college votes
Est. vote count 88%
Polls closed 5 hours ago
Est. vote count 88%
| Candidate | Votes | Percent | |
| Donald Trump | 1,436,652 | 51.2% | |
| Joe Biden | 1,329,509 | 47.3% | |
| Jo Jorgensen | 33,568 | 1.2% |
Why does it matter?
Wisconsin sided with the Democratic candidate in all presidential elections from 1988 through 2012, although sometimes by very narrow margins. In 2016, Trump managed to flip the state despite his underdog status in the polls.
Who is controlling Congress?
Americans are also electing members to the two chambers of Congress, the main law-making body of the US. Those chambers are the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Without support in the Senate and the House, the president’s ability to enact key policies is severely limited.
How does the election work?
The winner of the election is determined through a system called the electoral college. Each of the 50 states, plus Washington DC, is given a number of electoral college votes, adding up to a total of 538 votes. More populous states get more electoral college votes than smaller ones.
A candidate needs to win 270 electoral college votes (50% plus one) to win the election.
In every state except two – Maine and Nebraska – the candidate that gets the most votes wins all of the state’s electoral college votes.
Due to these rules, a candidate can win the election without getting the most votes at the national level. This happened at the last election, in which Donald Trump won a majority of electoral college votes although more people voted for Hillary Clinton across the US.
How are the results reported?
The election results on this page are reported by the Associated Press (AP). AP “call” the winner in a state when they determine that the trailing candidate has no path to victory. This can happen before 100% of votes in a state have been counted.
Estimates for the total vote in each state are also provided by AP. The numbers update throughout election night, as more data on voter turnout becomes available.
