20:29
The Guardian’s Tom Phillips reports from Rio de Janeiro:
One of Donald Trump’s most devoted international disciples, the Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, now seems to be decoupling from his political idol.
Bolsonaro has been one of Trump’s loudest cheerleaders and revels in being portrayed as South America’s “tropical Trump”. Last year Brazil’s far-right leader was reported to have told his fellow populist: “I love you”.
But on Friday morning, with a Trump defeat looking increasingly likely, Bolsonaro appeared to jump ship. “I’m not the most important person in Brazil just as Trump isn’t the most important person in the world, as he’s said himself,” he told an event in southern Brazil. “The most important person is God.”
To hammer his point home Bolsonaro later posted a video of those comments to his Twitter feed, where he has 6.6 million followers. Despite Bolsonaro’s admiration for Trump, the US president is reportedly not one of them.
20:16
Brad Raffensperger, Georgia’s secretary of state, held another press conference as the margin in the race for his state’s 16 electoral votes remains razor-thin.
“We will get it right, and we will defend the integrity of our elections,” Raffensperger said, promising an “open and transparent” vote-counting process.
Raffensperger once again acknowledged that, with a margin this small, a recount was all but certain in the state.
The Republican official defended the integrity of the vote-count, saying he was committed to ensuring trust in the process.
As of now, Joe Biden leads Donald Trump by 1,603 votes in Georgia, out of nearly 5 million ballots cast in the state.
20:07
The Guardian’s Sam Levin reports from Los Angeles:
Jackie Lacey, the Los Angeles district attorney, was ousted by her progressive challenger, in one of the most closely watched criminal justice races in the US this year.
George Gascón, the former police chief and district attorney of San Francisco, won the race to lead the Los Angeles prosecutors’ office with more than 53% of the vote. Black Lives Matter LA and other activist groups played a major role in the heated contest, having protested Lacey’s policies for years.
An emotional Lacey conceded the race Friday, thanking her family and her supporters.
Lacey was the first woman and first African American to serve as the Los Angeles DA. In her second term, Lacey faced intensifying scrutiny over her refusal to prosecute police officers who kill, her close ties with law enforcement unions and her continued use of the death penalty.
Gascón, who was endorsed by political heavyweights such as Kamala Harris and Bernie Sanders, is part of a wave of liberal, reform-minded DA candidates across the US who have pledged to undo some of the harms and racial inequities of policing and prisons.
BLM and other activist groups have increasingly put pressure on elected district attorneys, who are some of the most influential and least accountable players in the US criminal justice system.
19:57
Joe Gloria, the Clark county registrar of voters, has said the Nevada county will post the results of another batch of ballots in about four hours.
Joe Biden currently leads in Nevada by 20,137 votes, but the AP has not yet called the race because of the outstanding mail-in and provisional ballots.
Gloria previously said there are about 63,000 mail-in ballots and 60,000 provisional ballots left to be processed.
Given Biden’s advantage in Clark county, the additional updates will likely help him build upon his lead in Nevada.
19:48
The Guardian’s Sam Levine reports from Philadelphia:
A day after Donald Trump leveled baseless claims about the election from a White House lectern, it was clear that his supporters standing outside the Pennsylvania convention center, where workers are counting ballots, heard him clearly.
Chanting “let us see the vote,” many in the group repeatedly said that Republicans were not being allowed inside the convention center, an untrue claim Trump made Thursday.
“We’re here for the millions of Americans who stood in line for hours to cast non absent votes for the president and who are being disenfranchised right now behind me by people who will not let us legally watch, who are keeping the poll watchers and the candidates 20 feet away. You cannot see anything,” said Joanne Young, a protester.
Observers from both parties have been allowed in. The Trump campaign secured a court order on Thursday requiring local election officials to allow observers to get up to six feet closer to observe the process. A Trump campaign attorney conceded in federal court that the party had observers inside the hall.
A woman who would only give her first name, Kathy, said that it was obvious Democrats were cheating because vote totals were consistently being added to Joe Biden’s vote totals. The reason that’s happening is because Democrats overwhelmingly voted by mail-in ballot, which take longer to count, while Trump supporters voted in person.
Kathy also said that Trump had watermarked all of the ballots and all the fake ones would come out this week. Such a watermark would be impossible – elections in the United States are run by the states at the local level. The president has no access to ballots or role in administering elections.
Valerie Fiorinno said she had observed the mail-in process and believed there were many ways to cheat. Election officials and voters closely track and verify ballots.
“I will never see him as legitimately elected,” she said of Joe Biden.
19:39
House Democrats have picked up their first major win of this election cycle, a rather remarkable statement given Democrats expected to build upon their majority in the chamber by at least a dozen seats or so.
The AP has just declared Democratic candidate Carolyn Bourdeaux to be the winner in Georgia’s 7th congressional district, which is currently represented by retiring Republican Rob Woodall.
Bourdeaux’s win represents the third seat Democrats have flipped, but the two others were largely thanks to redistricting in North Carolina.
Meanwhile, Republicans have defeated several freshman House Democrats in vulnerable districts and are looking at a net gain of about five seats in the chamber.
19:23
The Guardian’s Sam Levine reports from Philadelphia:
The area outside the Pennsylvania convention center has essentially become a massive dance party, with protesters holding “count every vote” signs and getting down to blasting tracks Beyoncé and others.
There’s a moderately sized pro-Trump crowd across the street, waving Trump 2020 flags and cheering “show us the vote.”
The Trump campaign has said they’re not being allowed meaningful access to vote-counting inside, even though the campaign does have observers in the hall where votes are being counted and there is a 24 hour live stream.
It’s the second day crowds have gathered here as workers continue to count ballots inside. But the mood is noticeably different – it’s much more jubilant today than it was on Wednesday or Thursday when protesters were more confrontational. Joe Biden overtook Trump’s lead in this key swing state earlier today.
19:22
The Guardian’s Nina Lakhani reports from Pennsylvania:
Joe Biden currently has a 19-point lead in Allegheny county, the state’s second-most populous county that’s home to Pittsburgh.
Donald Trump has so far picked up about 10,000 more votes than in 2016, whereas Biden has more than 34,000 more than Hillary Clinton managed four years ago.
Much to everyone’s frustration, especially mine, the county suspended counting yesterday due to a pending lawsuit. They hope to get through their outstanding 37,000 ballots by the end of today, inshallah.
On CNN, county executive Rich Fitzgerald has just reminded us that the only reason we are still waiting for Pennsylvania to finish counting is because the Republican-controlled legislature refused to allow mail-in ballots to be opened until 7am on election day.
Biden currently leads by 13,220 votes in Pennsylvania, and that lead is expected to grow as more ballots are processed.
Updated
19:20
Biden is poised for victory with leads in Pennsylvania and Nevada
Joe Biden appears to be on the brink of victory in the US presidential election, as the Democratic nominee grows his leads in Pennsylvania and Nevada.
Here’s where the day stands so far:
- Biden now leads Donald Trump by 13,220 votes in Pennsylvania, but the AP has not yet declared a winner in the state. Biden is clearly intending to declare victory, with plans to deliver a primetime address tonight.
- Georgia will hold a recount to settle the virtual tie between Biden and Trump in the state. As of now, Biden leads Trump by just 1,558 votes in the state, where about 5 million ballots were cast in the presidential race.
- Biden’s lead in Nevada grew to 20,137 votes, following an update from Clark county, where Las Vegas is located. But the AP has not yet called that state either, and a Clark county official said today that counting would continue through the weekend.
Updated