Biden reiterates confidence in victory, urges calm

Democratic presidential candidate and former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden has reiterated his confidence in winning the election, with counting still ongoing in battleground states.

In an address to the nation on Thursday, Biden said he had no doubt he would be declared winner once all the votes were counted.

He urged his supporters to remain calm and patient, noting that “democracy is sometimes messy”.

“Democracy is sometimes messy. It sometimes requires a little patience.

“We have no doubt that when the count is finished, Senator (Kamala) Harris and I will be declared the winners.

“So, I ask everyone to stay calm. The process is working. The count is being completed and we’ll know very soon,” he said.

As of the time of filing this report on Thursday night, Biden was leading in both the popular and electoral college votes.

According to the Associated Press tally, he was ahead with 73,639,060 or 50.4 per cent of the general ballots cast and 264 electoral college votes.

That means the former vice president needs just six more electoral votes to reach the 270 finishing line to end the president’s second-term dream.

Trump, on the other hand, was closely behind with 69,066,908 popular votes representing 47.9 per cent of the total and 214 electoral college votes.

Counting continues in key swing states including Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina and Alaska.

Shortly before Biden’s address, Trump vowed to legally challenge election results in all the states claimed by his Democratic rival.

“Plenty of proof, just check out the Media. We will win! America first!,” he said in a tweet, which Twitter labeled as unsubstantiated.

His campaign organisation has cited alleged instances, including limited access to counting centres in Pennsylvania.

It also alleged that people who tried to vote in Nevada were told that they had previously voted by even when they claim they had not done so.

The Biden campaign organisation said it was not at all concerned about Trump’s claims and campaign lawsuits.

It said that it had been prepared against this since September when they started seeing efforts by the president to discredit mail-in voting with misinformation.