US election results: Biden takes Michigan and says ‘clear we will win’

The US presidential election took place on Tuesday, however, a winner is still far from decided. As the ballots of around 160 million Americans continue to be counted, for some the outcome is starting to take shape. 

On Wednesday Trump falsely declared victory and accused his opponents of committing electoral fraud. In a series of tweets, which have been flagged as misleading, Trump claimed his opponents were fabricating votes.

However, that is not the case at this point. There are still millions of legally cast ballots in the process of being counted.

With Biden projected to win Michigan and Wisconsin, the country turns to Arizona, Nevada, Georgia and Pennsylvania.

Biden is currently in the lead with 243 electoral college votes, with Trump at 214 electoral college votes. To win, one of them will need to reach 270 college votes.

How Biden can win

Biden has to maintain the lead he currently holds in Arizona and Nevada. If he does that, he hits 270 electoral votes - the bare minimum needed to take the White House.

In Michigan, Biden pulled ahead of Trump in the early morning hours as mail-in ballots were counted in heavily Democratic Detroit - and by late afternoon he was projected to win the state. CNN and AP have called that they predict Biden to win Michigan. However, Republicans are talking about a recount.

Biden has maintained a steady lead in Arizona with more mail-in ballots to be counted. The margin in Nevada is just a few thousand votes, but all election-day votes - which have tilted Republican - have been counted and only mail-in ballots, which have typically favoured Democrats, are left.

How Trump can win

Trump has to hold on in the remaining key states where he has a lead. In his case, that's Pennsylvania and Georgia. In the early hours of Thursday morning, the race in Georgia is much tighter than it was yesterday, with Trump ahead by 49.9%  with Biden not far behind with 49.1%. Then, Trump has to win at one of those aforementioned states where Biden is on top. 

Nevada is very, very close. It wouldn't take much of a shift to move the state into Trump's column. If the late-arriving mail ballots - postmarked on election day but can be delivered after - turn out to be from Trump-leaning independents or Republicans, not Democrats as expected, the picture could change.