The US presidential election is on a knife edge with Democrat candidate Joe Biden winning 227 electoral college votes so far to Donald Trump’s 213.
With counting ongoing in eight states – seven of which could yet swing to either candidate – the result remains unclear, reports the BBC.
The headline news from election night itself was that Trump held Florida and Texas dealing a blow to Biden’s hopes of an early and decisive victory.
World looks on
The UK, EU and China are among nations around the world following the election with great interest.
If Biden does win, the EU and China will be hoping to restart trade relations with the US, after four years of tariff disputes with the Trump administration.
UK-US trade talks are at ‘advanced stages’ but some commentators have said a Biden win could delay or scupper a deal.
Read more about the ramifications of the election result for global trade here.
Huge turnout
Turnout for the election was the highest it’s been for over a century at 67%, according to the Guardian.
There has been a greater amount of postal voting compared to previous elections due to concerns about Covid-19. As a result, counting has taken longer than usual and may not be completed until Friday (6 November).
Trump contests result
The fact that the count is still ongoing did not stop Trump declaring victory this morning.
The 45th president of the United States has since said that he will dispute the result in the courts if he loses, calling the election a “major fraud on our nation”. He offered no evidence to support this claim.
Trump also said he “wanted all voting to stop” which commentators have interpreted as a call to block the counting of postal ballots.
Biden optimistic
Addressing supporters in the early morning in Delaware, Biden indicated he is optimistic that he is ‘on track’ to win.
“We feel good about where we are, we really do. I am here to tell you tonight we believe we’re on track to win this election,” he said.
“We’re going to have to be patient until the hard work of tallying votes is finished and it ain’t over until every vote, every ballot is counted.”
Markets unfazed
Stock markets in the US all rose today despite the uncertainty around the election result, Sky News reports. Shares in pharmaceutical and technology – two heavily regulated sectors – did well in particular.
The US dollar also remains at a similar value to where it was on election day, valued at around £0.77 – though it had temporarily dropped to £0.76 during election night itself.
