President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden both proclaimed victory as votes trickled in from multiple “swing states” several days after Election Day.
Trump has called for legal action in several states, citing allegations of voter fraud, while several national news outlets projected Biden as the winner with a forecast of 290 electoral votes.
A candidate must collect at least 270 electoral votes to win the race.
In a speech Saturday night, Biden said voters “have delivered us a clear victory, a convincing victory.”
The same day, Trump tweeted, “I won this election, by a lot.”
Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada all came into question after having significant delays in the release of returns on Election Night.
Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) has called for a Department of Justice investigation after receiving an affidavit alleging that mail-in ballots were being backdated in Pennsylvania, a swing state with 20 electoral votes.
The affidavit was signed by U.S. Postal Service employee Richard Hopkins.
Other allegations include claims that Republican poll watchers were denied legal access to watch the counting of ballots in Pennsylvania.
Trump attorney Rudy Guiliani said he has enough evidence to change the outcome of Pennsylvania’s presidential election.
Pennsylvania’s Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf promised his state would “continue to administer a free and fair election,” and “officials are administering the election with the highest degree of transparency.”
Some Republicans, skeptical of Biden’s growing lead in late returns, also pointed to an irregularity in Antrim County, Michigan.
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, acknowledged “erroneous reporting of unofficial results from Antrim County,” but said it “was a result of accidental error on the part of the Antrim County Clerk…”
A statement on the Michigan Secretary of State website said “the software did not cause a misallocation of votes; it was a result of user human error. Even when human error occurs, it is caught during county canvasses.”
Although Election Day was Nov. 3, the date on which the Electoral College casts votes is scheduled for December. Inauguration Day is Jan. 20, 2021.
Court battles are expected between now and Inauguration Day to sort through the competing claims by candidates.