US Election: Five things you might have missed and the latest results

This U.S. presidential race has shaped up to be far tighter than pollsters have predicted.

Americans woke up to a cloud of uncertainty hanging over the nation as there is still no answer as to who will become the next President

Democrat Joe Biden is leading in battleground states but ballots remain to be fully counted.

1. FIVE STATES TO KEEP AN EYE ON

According to the Associated Press, Biden is leading with 264 electoral votes, just six electoral votes shy of the target of 270 to claim victory. He is one battleground state away to becoming president-elect.
Trump is trailing with 214 electoral votes, with 60 electoral votes not yet called.
Meanwhile, CNN has put Biden in the lead with 253 electoral votes (Trump - 213) as at 1pm (Malaysian time). Here are key states remained in contest:

Nevada (6 electoral votes)
Georgia (16)
North Carolina (15)
Pennsylvania (20)
Arizona (11) *

The Associated Press had earlier called Biden the winner in Arizona, but CNN has yet to call it.
Arizona is a longtime Republican state that Trump won in 2016
As at 1pm, with 86% of the expected vote count in Arizona, Biden was ahead with a roughly 79,000-vote lead over Trump.

2. BIDEN FLIPPED MICHIGAN AND WISCONSIN

Biden won the electoral battleground of Michigan and Wisconsin
Trump won Wisconsin by less than a percentage point in 2016
Michigan was one of the battleground states Trump prematurely claimed that he was “winning”
“We’re winning Michigan by — I’ll tell you, I looked at the numbers,” Trump said during an appearance at the White House.

Activists march along State Street in front of the Pennsylvania State Capitol Building to protest attempts to halt the counting of ballots cast in the state for the 2020 presidential election, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania November 4, 2020. REUTERS/Nathan Layne

3. TRUMP’S LEGAL ACTION

Trump’s campaign has filed lawsuits in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Georgia
The filings join existing Republican legal challenges in Pennsylvania and Nevada
Trump’s campaign raised absentee ballot concerns and demand better access for campaign observers to locations where ballots are being processed and counted
Trump’s campaign is also seeking to intervene in a Pennsylvania case at the Supreme Court that deals with whether ballots received up to three days after the election can be counted
But here’s why experts think the Supreme Court may not have the final say in the presidential election despite Trump’s threat

4. HIGHEST ELECTION TURNOUT

Experts are forecasting the 2020 U.S Election could feature the highest turnout rate -- the percentage of the eligible population that votes -- since women were granted the right to vote in the 20th century.
Biden has received the most votes in history for a U.S. presidential candidate with more than 72 million votes (and counting)
Biden surpassed Barack Obama's 2008 record of 69.5 million votes
As at 1pm, Trump has received close to 68.9 million votes
The record voter turnout was buoyed by more than 100 million ballots cast during the early voting period amid the Covid-19 pandemic that led to many states expanding mail-in and in-person early voting

5. DEMOCRAT'S HOPE FOR SENATE CONTROL (ALMOST) DASHED

While Biden is edging closer to the White House, his Democrats are coming up short in their effort to win control of the Senate, where Republicans currently hold a 53-47 majority.
Democrats, however, are expected to retain control of the House of Representative.
A divided government means gridlocks and hurdles in passing legislations on issues ranging from health care to climate change, to an economic stimulus.
Republicans controlling the Senate means they can block every proposal from a Biden administration

U.S. Democratic presidential nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden arrives with his wife Jill to react to early results from the 2020 U.S. presidential election in Wilmington, Delaware, U.S., November 4, 2020. REUTERS Pic