USA Election in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan: latest votes and when will we know results?
The three Rust Belt states with the most clout to swing this election in either direction. The latest counts and why these three states are so important.
US Election 2020 live: Trump and Biden results | Nevada, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Georgia...
Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. Three states that prior to Trump’s unexpected sweep to victory in 2016 formed the so-called “blue wall”. They are all Midwestern states with high concentrations of manufacturing towns and therefore white working class, or union voters.
Trump’s appeal with his blue-collar base remains strong, but his support in the suburbs has waned dramatically in 2020 following unprecedented chaos and criticism of the White House’s handling of both the coronavirus pandemic and the mass civil rights protests that swept the country and the world this spring following the police killing of George Floyd in Minnesota, and many more. Trump’s appeal with college educated white voters at the last count was tied with Joe Biden in the Midwest.
At the time of writing, 6 p.m. ET, all counts were correct according to AP data.
Pennsylvania: latest vote count, when will we have result?
Pennsylvania saw significant early voting numbers, with 2.5 million votes being cast prior to polls opening. That's almost 41% of the 2016 turnout. Impressive for the state’s first year of mail-in voting.
Pennsylvania didn’t start counting the mail-in ballots until 7 a.m. on election day with seven Republican-held counties saying that they won’t start until 4 November. The Attorney General Josh Shapiro has promised every ballot will be counted.
In 2016 Donald Trump became the first Republican to win a presidential contest here since 1988. Joe Biden is hoping to flip it back to blue.
Total percentage of vote reported: 86%
Trump: 3,125,566 (52%)
Biden: 2,817,321 (46.9%)
When will count be complete? Officials have said they expect most votes will be counted by Friday 6 November. Remaining mail ballots are expected to favour Democrats.
Michigan: called for Joe Biden
Michigan had voted Democrat for the previous 25 years until 2016 when it voted for Trump by the smallest margin in the whole election: 10,704 votes.
Right up until ballots opened yesterday, Biden was leading Trump in almost every poll in the state, but the sitting president's camp saw an early surge. That said, it all swung back.
Total percentage of vote reported: 99%
Trump 2,618,093 (48.6%)
Biden 2,688,604 (49.9%)
Wisconsin: called for Joe Biden
Coronavirus infections have resurged this fall in Wisconsin and its city of Kenosha was the focus of mass protests and civil unrest over the police shooting of Jacob Blake, making it a battleground full of frustrations and contradictions.
A familiar story in Wisconsin; since 1984 it voted consistently Democrat, until Trump won by 23,000 votes against Hillary Clinton in 2016. In the polls leading up to Election Day, the state has seemed to be leaning considerably back to Biden’s blue.
Total percentage of vote reported? 99%
Biden 1,630,402 (49.6%)
Trump 1,609,885 (48.9%)