Joe Biden appears close to winning the presidency after taking the lead in Pennsylvania with 98% of votes counted
If he wins Pennsylvania, he wins the presidency.
The Democrat has also taken a narrow lead in Georgia with 99% of votes counted, but officials there announce there will be a recount.
Biden also has a slender lead in Nevada and Arizona – these states could provide more paths to the White House.
President Donald Trump again asserts he has won the election, though votes are still being counted.
He complains of “tremendous corruption and fraud in the mail-in ballots”, without giving evidence.
Joe Biden says people should remain calm as votes are counted, adding he has “no doubt” he will emerge the winner.
Overall turnout is projected to be the highest in 120 years at 66.9%.
President Donald Trump’s team has put out a statement, saying that “the American people deserve to have full transparency into all vote counting and election certification”.
“This is no longer about any single election. This is about the integrity of our entire election process,” the statement says.
The statement accuses Democrats of resisting the “basic principle” that “all legal ballots must be counted and all illegal ballots should not be counted”, and says Trump will “pursue this process through every aspect of the law”.
“I will never give up fighting for you and our nation,” the statement concludes.
Trump has repeatedly suggesting counting postal votes that arrive after election day is “illegal”.
But late postal ballots can be counted in around half of US states – as long as they are postmarked by 3 November (election day).
This includes the key states of Pennsylvania, Nevada and North Carolina, where a winner is yet to be projected. The deadlines for how late a postal ballot can arrive varies from state to state.
The president has made multiple, unsubstantiated claims of election fraud, which have been denied by local election officials.
