Biden v. Trump- Lawsuits & Countersuits: Final Vote Count and Recount on November 24th, 2020

For all of you BBC North American Edition readers who have been watching the longest election and like most writers, thought by staying up late on November 3, 2020 to see the demise of current US President Trump tenure, you were mistaken. After waking up the next day, the polling booths still had not finalized the count and many of the voting booths have been plagued with processing errors. This means that the final recount will occur on November 24, 2020 which makes this the longest and likely the most boring election that one could fathom, regrettably. It is purported that the actual delay in counting the votes is based on the number of Canadian police officers who have made fictitious identifications and have repeatedly went into various voting stations wearing various disguises. In one example a man dressed as a woman was caught in one of the district ridings attempting to vote, however forgot he used the same identification while registering to vote.

If you thought this was the end of the election, you were sadly mistaken, considering current President Trump has one of the best legal teams in US and Canadian history and considering that the president and incumbent are both threatening legal action and the first ballot isn’t even over yet, we could be waiting till November 24, 2020 for the final vote count. This can be construed as being an election of election in which voter fraud is rampant and likely resulting in the 3 days election thus far. We do have projections, but we don't exactly know who won the 2020 presidential election, since the votes aren't all counted. (A refresher on how CNN makes projections is here.)

And even where all the votes have been counted, there's the potential for recounts. The Trump campaign has threatened to exercise its right to request a recount in Wisconsin, although it would have to wait for the initial count to be completed. The current margin is more than 20,000 votes, not unlike the margin by which Trump won the state in 2016.

The state did conduct a recount that year, but it didn't materially change the results. Recounts almost never do. It would have to be completed by December 1, the state's election certification deadline. Election judges sort Minneapolis ballots during the recount process in the 2008 U.S. Senate race between Republican Sen. Norm Coleman and Democrat Al Franken in Minneapolis. The only successful recount I can remember is the one after the 2008 election in Minnesota that gave Al Franken a slim majority over incumbent Sen. Norm Coleman. But Franken, who had sought the recount, made up 215 votes, not 20,000.

The counting in battleground states is becoming contentious. Here is information from battleground state officials, which is supplemented with key information on each state from CNN's political unit, as of 6 p.m. ET Wednesday.

Nevada -- Biden leads

Status: The state may not update its vote totals until as late as Thursday. Biden has an approximately 8,000-vote lead. Mail-in votes postmarked November 3 but received by November 10 can still be counted.

• Recount rules: Candidate can request a recount.

• Election certification deadline: November 24.

Arizona -- Biden leads

Biden has less than a 100,000-vote lead. Approximately 600,000 votes are being counted from across the state, according to CNN's estimate, but particularly in Maricopa County, the state's population center, which has so far gone for Biden. Votes will be reported by the state late Wednesday ET, and potentially early Thursday morning ET, according to the Arizona Republic.

• Recount rules: Automatic for fewer than 200 votes or a 0.1% margin. Candidates cannot request a recount.

• Election certification deadline: November 30.

Michigan -- Biden leads

There are outstanding mostly mail-in votes, according to CNN's estimate, and Biden has an approximately 60,000-vote lead. Trump would have to over-perform the current vote to make a comeback. Michigan's secretary of state said Wednesday on CNN that we should know the state of the race by the end of the day. CNN projected Biden would win just after 4 p.m. ET.

• Recount rules: Automatic for a margin of fewer than 2,000 votes. Candidates can also request a recount.

• Election certification deadline: November 23.

Pennsylvania -- Trump leads

State Attorney General Josh Shapiro said on CNN that the count could go through Friday as the state continues to accept postmarked mail-in ballots. It's possible the Trump campaign will again challenge those late-arriving ballots despite its previous loss in the Supreme Court. If you're betting on a legal fight, this is a good place to focus.

• Recount rules: Automatic for a less than 0.5 percentage point difference. That seems like a very possible margin.

• Election certification deadline: November 23.

The Trump campaign has signaled it will pursue all options in Pennsylvania, but perhaps only if the state is determinative. It's not right now. You can watch the opening of ballots in Philadelphia. They're live-streaming it!

Georgia -- Trump leads

Trump holds an approximately 80,000-vote lead, but there are absentee ballots still being counted in Democratic strongholds around Atlanta. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said Wednesday that counting could be completed late the same day, but sorting out all the ballots could take days.

• Recount rules: Candidates can request a recount.

• Election certification deadline: November 20.

North Carolina -- Trump leads

Trump has a lead of more than 75,000 votes. But mail-in votes received by November 12 can still be counted.

• Recount rules: Candidate can request a recount.

• Election certification deadline: November 24.