Race to 270 on Saturday: States talk recounts as Biden lead slowly widens

As of Saturday morning, this is where the election stands.

By the call of the Associated Press, Joe Biden holds 264 Electoral College votes, while Donald Trump holds 214.

There are five remaining states that have not yet been called for one candidate or the other by the Associated Press, which this newspaper follows on election calls.

Alaska

Alaska, which holds three electoral votes and which the Associated Press has called a “solidly Republican state,” the race remains in much the same place this morning as it was on Friday morning. The AP estimated that only about 50% of the expected vote in the state has been counted.

What has been counted currently heavily leans toward Trump, with the president leading by 54,000 votes.

Georgia

Although Biden’s lead has gradually widened in Georgia after surpassing Trump early Friday morning, as of 6 a.m. today Biden only led Trump by 4,020 votes, or about 0.08% of the vote. Votes are still being counted across the state, where 16 electoral votes are at stake, the AP said, adding that many of these votes are in counties where Biden is in the lead.

As the lead remains so small, the AP said the state may be asked to do a recount. Under Georgia law, a candidate can request a recount if the margin between the totals is 0.5 % or less.

The AP said that according to its research, there have been 31 statewide recounts since 2000. Only three of those changed the outcome of the election, and each had leads of between 100-300 votes.

Nevada

In Nevada, which holds six electoral votes, the AP still has not called the election for one candidate, citing a tight vote margin and large number of ballots yet to be counted.

As of 6 a.m., Biden leads in Nevada by just over 22,600 votes, or around 1.79%.

However, the AP said tens of thousands of ballots remain to be counted statewide, most of which are in Clark County, where Las Vegas is.

North Carolina

In North Carolina, worth 15 electoral votes, the race leans in Trump’s favor, where the president leads by just over 76,400 votes as of 6 a.m. today, a lead of around 1.4%.

This is slightly less than the lead that Trump held on Wednesday, when he had a nearly 77,000 vote lead, but the AP said that North Carolina still has over 100,000 mail-in and provisional ballots to count statewide, making the race still too early to call.

Pennsylvania

Biden surpassed Trump in Pennsylvania Friday morning, and his lead as since gradually extended to just over 28,800 votes, a lead of about 0.43%.

Friday night, the AP reported the Pennsylvania secretary of state website read that there were more than 100,000 mail-in ballots to tally, many from Allegheny County, where Pittsburgh is, as well as Philadelphia County, both largely Democratic areas.

There are also potentially tens of thousands of provisional ballots to be processed and counted, though the exact number is unclear.

The AP pointed out that if the vote totals remain within 0.5% of each other, Pennsylvania requires that there be a recount.

Pennsylvania, which has 20 electoral votes, is a key state to both candidates' election efforts.