Michigan is set to announce a result TODAY, with Joe Biden ahead

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Donald Trump’s campaign has filed a lawsuit to halt counting of ballots until they receive ‘meaningful access’ to counting locations, after rival Joe Biden inched ahead with a 0.7 percent lead with 99 percent of votes tallied.

Michigan – which is worth a valuable 16 electoral college votes – was expected to declare an result at some point today as counting runs long amid an influx of mail-in ballots. 

The Trump campaign said it filing the lawsuit because they had been denied access to the count – but did not specify where.

The Detroit Department of Elections said at 3:30pm that there were 16,000 absentee ballots left to count, according to WWJ Detroit. 

Counting was reportedly continuing despite the Trump campaign lawsuit, in the absence of a judicial order to stop. 

 Bill Stepien, Trump’s campaign manager, said in a statement: ‘As votes in Michigan continue to be counted, the presidential race in the state remains extremely tight as we always knew it would be. 

‘President Trump’s campaign has not been provided with meaningful access to numerous counting locations to observe the opening of ballots and the counting process, as guaranteed by Michigan law.

‘We have filed suit today in the Michigan Court of Claims to halt counting until meaningful access has been granted. We also demand to review those ballots which were opened and counted while we did not have meaningful access. President Trump is committed to ensuring that all legal votes are counted in Michigan and everywhere else.’

In response, a spokesman for Michigan’s Attorney General Dana Nessel said: ‘Michigan’s elections have been conducted transparently, with access provided for both political parties and the public, and using a robust system of checks and balances to ensure that all ballots are counted fairly and accurately. 

‘At this time our department has not been notified by the Court of Claims about this lawsuit and when we are served, we will review it and respond accordingly. 

‘Michigan will always continue to protect the rights of all voters to have their ballots counted.’ 

Election officials at the Detroit count closed their doors Wednesday afternoon after more than 100 challengers showed up at the TCF Center downtown in addition to the more than 200 challengers were already roaming the floor, the Detroit Free Press reported. 

Trump claimed overnight that he had won the entire election, labeling it a ‘fraud’ that he didn’t yet have enough electoral college votes and vowing to go to the Supreme Court to challenge it. 

At midday on Wednesday he tweeted: ‘They are finding Biden votes all over the place — in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan. So bad for our Country!’

He added: ‘They are working hard to make up 500,000 vote advantage in Pennsylvania disappear — ASAP. Likewise, Michigan and others!’ 

 He told supporters at the White House: ‘We’ll be going to the U.S. Supreme Court — we want all voting to stop,’ Trump told supporters at the White House.

But the voting is over. It’s only counting that is taking place across the nation. No state will count absentee votes that are postmarked after Election Day.

Biden’s campaign called Trump’s statement ‘outrageous, unprecedented, and incorrect.’

‘If the president makes good on his threat to go to court to try to prevent the proper tabulation of votes, we have legal teams standing by ready to deploy to resist that effort,’ Biden Campaign Manager Jen O’Malley Dillon said in a statement. ‘And they will prevail.’

Biden tweeted Wednesday afternoon: ‘To make sure every vote is counted, we’re setting up the largest election protection effort ever assembled. Because Donald Trump doesn’t get to decide the outcome of this election — the American people do.’ 

The former vice president’s campaign said it welcomed the ongoing vote count and a Biden campaign attorney said they are ready for any legal fight. 

Michigan Democrats said Trump’s lawsuit was a longshot. 

Lonnie Scott, executive director of Progress Michigan, a liberal advocacy group, said Trump only filed the suit to stop media outlets from calling the race for Biden.

‘This is a Hail Mary,’ he said.

The campaign didn’t immediately make public a copy of the lawsuit and it wasn’t clear what areas they argue they were denied access.

Poll watchers from both sides were plentiful Wednesday at one major polling place in question — TCF Center, The Associated Press observed. They checked in at a table near the entrance to the convention center’s Hall E and strolled among the tables where ballot processing was taking place. 

In some cases, they arrived en masse and huddled together for a group discussion before fanning out to the floor. Uniformed Detroit police officers were on hand to make sure everyone was behaving.

Mark Brewer, a former state Democratic chairman who said he was observing the Detroit vote counting as a volunteer lawyer, said he had been at the TCF arena all day and had talked with others who had been there the past couple of days. He said Republicans had not been denied access.

‘This is the best absentee ballot counting operation that Detroit has ever had. They are counting ballots very efficiently, despite the obstructing tactics of the Republicans.’

Republicans already are mounting legal challenges involving absentee votes in Pennsylvania and Nevada, contesting local decisions that could take on national significance in the close election.

Election law expert Richard Hasen wrote in Slate on Sunday that ‘there has never been any basis to claim that a ballot arriving on time cannot be counted if officials cannot finish their count on election night.’

Ohio State University election law professor Edward Foley wrote on Twitter Wednesday: ‘The valid votes will be counted. SCOTUS would be involved only if there were votes of questionable validity that would make a difference, which might not be the case. The rule of law will determine the official winner of the popular vote in each state. Let the rule of law work.’

In any event, there’s no way to go directly to the high court with a claim of fraud. Trump and his campaign could allege problems with the way votes are counted in individual states, but they would have to start their legal fight in a state or lower federal court.

There is a pending Republican appeal at the Supreme Court over whether Pennsylvania can count votes that arrive in the mail from Wednesday to Friday, an extension ordered by the state’s top court over the objection of Republicans. That case does not involve ballots already cast and in the possession of election officials, even if they are yet to be counted.

Detroit, the Michigan’s biggest city and a hub of Democratic voters, has experienced record levels of turnout, local officials said – which is a good sign for Biden.

Turnout in Motor City, where Biden campaigned with Barack Obama on Friday, is expected to hit 55 per cent – up seven points on 2016.

The record number of votes means full results will be known Wednesday, City Clerk Janice Winfrey announced Tuesday night.

Statewide, 3.3 million absentee ballots had been cast, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said, but results will take time.

‘We’re on track to be in a position to potentially see a full result of every tabulation in the next 24 hours,’ she announced.

Trump won the state in 2016 by taking the suburbs – the Macomb and Monroe counties outside of Detroit – but he also won working-class areas in like Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, which has many white working-class voters.

Biden has concentrated on winning African American voters in the state in urban areas like Flint.

Michigan is among a handful of battleground states where Trump prematurely claimed early Wednesday he was ‘winning’ the contest with Biden. 

Both are locked in a tight race for the 270 electors needed to win the presidency. 

‘We’re winning Michigan by – I’ll tell you, I looked at the numbers,’ Trump said during an appearance at the White House, where he promised to contest the election before the Supreme Court.

More than 5.26 million votes have been cast in Michigan and many of the ballots left to be counted were submitted by mail, a way of voting that favors Biden. Of those, a significant number were from Wayne County, home to heavily Democratic Detroit. 

Several high-profile supporters of Donald Trump including Chris Christie and Rick Santorum condemned the president early on Wednesday morning after he falsely declared victory before all of the votes in key battleground states have been counted.

Christie, the former New Jersey governor who helped Trump prepare for his debates against Joe Biden, told ABC News that ‘there’s just no basis to make that argument tonight.’

‘I talk tonight now not as a former governor but as a former US attorney,’ Christie told an Election Night panel covering the dramatic events.

‘All these votes have to be counted.’

Santorum, the Republican former senator from Pennsylvania and CNN commentator who is largely sympathetic to Trump, also criticized the president on Wednesday.

‘I was very distressed by what I heard the president say,’ Santorum said.

‘The president is prone, as we all know, to bluster and to fits of pique of being upset about how he is being treated.

‘Using the word ‘fraud’ [to describe] people counting votes is wrong.

‘I understand he sees votes potentially being shifted around in some places, but the reality is what’s happening in Pennsylvania is they’re counting the absentee and mail-in ballots now.’

How Biden or Trump could both still win fair and square TODAY without election ending up in court

Donald Trump and Joe Biden have plausible paths to claiming victory in the White House race on Wednesday and on Thursday without going to court – or the need to win Pennsylvania.

As of 10 am Joe Biden was on 238 Electoral College votes and Donald Trump on 213.

That leaves Georgia (16 votes), North Carolina (15), Wisconsin (10), Michigan (16), a single vote from Maine’s undeclared Congressional district and the big prize of Pennsylvania with 20 votes. But Pennsylvania’s results will not be known until Friday, officials say. Despite that it is possible for Biden and Trump to both win Wednesday and Thursday.

Undecided Nevada – widely expected to break for Biden – is not announcing more results until Thursday. Alaska is seen as safely in Trump’s column. That would put Biden on 244 and Trump on 216. 

Here are the ways that the election could be decided on  – without any court battles and without involving Pennsylvania.

HOW TRUMP CAN WIN ON WEDNESDAY 

If Trump takes all four of the states on the table – Wisconsin, Michigan, North Carolina and Georgia – without touching Pennsylvania, it is game over for Biden. Trump would get 273 votes.   

HOW BIDEN CAN WIN ON WEDNESDAY

Without Nevada, Biden starts on 238 votes Wednesday morning. 

To get to 270, he needs three of the four states counting. If he wins Michigan, Wisconsin and Georgia, he take 42 votes – taking him to 272 votes regardless of any other states. That is an outright win.    

HOW BIDEN CAN WIN ON THURSDAY 

SCENARIO ONE: MICHIGAN AND WISCONSIN GO FOR BIDEN, NEVADA IN THE BAG

This is the ending to the election which involves the fewest states and could break most rapidly.

Combined the two mid-western states have 26 votes. That would put Joe Biden on the vital 270 figure. Wisconsin’s results could come as early as 9am Wednesday.

Michigan’s results are less clear but the Secretary of State said Tuesday that she hopes to provide ‘a very clear picture, if not a final picture’ by Wednesday night.

As of 6am Biden was slightly behind Trump, at 51.3% to 47%.  

Currently almost 20% of votes are still to be counted and they are mail-in ballots, which are expected to favor Biden.  

Detroit, the state’s biggest city and a hub of Democratic voters, won’t have its results known until sometime Wednesday as it experiences record levels of turnout, a good sign for Biden.

Turnout in Motor City, where Biden campaigned with Barack Obama on Friday, is expected to hit 55 per cent – that’s up seven points over the 48 per cent who voted in 2016.

The record number of votes means full results will be known Wednesday, City Clerk Janice Winfrey announced Tuesday night.  

Statewide, 3.3 million absentee ballots had been cast, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said, but results will take time.

‘We’re on track to be in a position to potentially see a full result of every tabulation in the next 24 hours,’ she announced. 

Trump won the state by taking the suburbs – the Macomb and Monroe counties outside of Detroit – but he also won working-class areas in like Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, which has many white working-class voters.

Biden has concentrated on winning African American voters in the state in urban areas like Flint.  

If that tactic eventually pays off there could be a victory for Biden declared rapidly – on Wednesday night.  

But the state governor Gretchen Whitmer has also warned that results could take days more.  

SCENARIO TWO: BIDEN TAKES THE SOUTH AND NEVADA

This appears the least likely scenario given that North Carolina is trending slightly towards Trump.  

But if Joe Biden takes Georgia and North Carolina, that would get him a total of 31 votes. That puts him on 275.

Georgia Secretary of State has said he expected Georgia to have all its results on Wednesday.

Trump was narrowly ahead of Biden by 5am but with a substantial number of votes still to be counted from Atlanta where poll workers went home to rest.

But North Carolina’s results are in greater doubt. Trump was ahead as of 5am, 50.1% to 48.7%, with 95% of the vote reported.

On its own that seems to make the scenario unlikely for Biden.

But mail-in ballots postmarked by Tuesday will be accepted until November 12. 

If mail-in ballots skew Democratic, that may make it impossible to know the outcome before November 12 even if it is in Biden’s favor.

BUT THE MOST LIKELY SCENARIO: IT’S ALL ABOUT PENNSYLVANIA SO THERE WILL BE NO RESULT ON WEDNESDAY

Pennsylvania’s results probably won’t be known until Friday.

But its 20 electoral college votes would offer a clear path to victory for whoever gets them.

If Biden takes the 20, he needs to pick up any one of the other states to get over 270.

For Trump the path is trickier but Pennsylvania would undoubtedly help.

With 226 votes secured, he could then win with the two southern states and Michigan – leaving Wisconsin untouched.

But Pennsylvania is the most challenging state for both parties because of the huge uncertainties which surround its votes. 

Compounding the problem are lawsuits expected over disputed ballots, which could drag out the results of the election even longer. Republicans have made it clear they will sue when and where they see necessary. 

In Pennsylvania, state law forbids officials from counting mail-in ballots until Election Day. Additionally, the Supreme Court allowed the state to count ballots for three days after Nov. 3 so long as they are postmarked by Election Day. 

 Only 25 per cent of the early votes have been counted.     

In Philadelphia officials said around 350,000 votes were cast, but only 76,000 were tallied during the day Tuesday. The rest won’t be counted until Wednesday. 

‘The counties are working really hard to get [the results] in as soon as possible,’ Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar said Tuesday. ‘It’s going to take time.’ 

Biden’s biggest strongholds in the Keystone State are in Philadelphia and then Pittsburgh – where he and VP nominee Kamala Harris held rallies with Lady Gaga and John Legend Monday night. 

Philadelphia in particular is a Democratic stronghold with more than 1.1 million registered voters, which is more than 10 per cent of all the voters in the state.

But Trump has campaigned heavily in the state – he held four rallies there on Saturday alone – and wants to repeat his stunning 2016 win there. 

Election workers in Luzerne County, a northeastern county near Scranton, stopped counting mail-in ballots on Tuesday evening and will resume Wednesday, according to county manager David Pedri. He said the county had counted about 26,000 mail-in ballots of the about 60,000 cast. 

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, on Tuesday called on residents to remain calm and patient as they await results.

In a brief one-and-a-half-minute video, he urged Pennsylvanians to ‘take a breath.’

‘Across the state, dedicated county workers are ready to tirelessly make sure everyone’s vote counts,’ the Pennsylvania governor said. ‘But counting that tremendous number of ballots will take more time than we are used to.’

‘We may not know the results today,’ he acknowledged, ‘but I encourage all of us to take a deep breath and be patient.’

‘What is most important is that we have accurate results – even if that takes a little longer,’ Wolf added.

Pennsylvania saw about 2.5 million of its 9 million registered voters request absentee ballots. As of Tuesday morning, 81 per cent of them had been returned.

Any ballot post marked by Election Day and received by November 6 will be counted.