Democrat Joe Biden held a narrow lead in Wisconsin on Wednesday after officials completed their vote count in the pivotal state, Trend reports citing Reuters.
Biden also led in another critical Midwestern battleground state - Michigan - as he and Trump raced to get to the 270 electoral votes in the state-by-state Electoral College needed to win the White House. Trump won Wisconsin and Michigan in his 2016 election victory.
Trump’s campaign said on Wednesday afternoon it had filed a lawsuit seeking to halt vote counting in Michigan and asserting that it had not been given enough access to counting sites to observe the opening of ballots. Biden was ahead by 45,000 votes out of more than 5 million ballots in Michigan.
Wisconsin officials finished their tally at around midday after an all-night effort, showing Biden with a lead of just over 20,000 votes, or 0.6%, according to Edison Research. The Trump campaign immediately said it would seek a recount, which is permitted under state law when the margin is below 1%.
A Biden victory in Wisconsin would significantly narrow Trump’s path to a second four-year term, though the outcome remained in doubt with Michigan and other closely contested states including Pennsylvania, Arizona, Nevada, Georgia and North Carolina still counting votes.
Voting concluded as scheduled on Tuesday night, but many states routinely take days to finish counting ballots.
Trump led in the two Southern states, Georgia and North Carolina, as well as in Pennsylvania, where more than 1 million ballots were yet to be processed. But if Trump loses Wisconsin, he would have to win all three as well as either Arizona or Nevada, where Biden was leading in the latest vote counts.
At the moment, not including Wisconsin, Biden leads Trump 227 to 213 in Electoral College votes, which are largely based on a state’s population.