As more votes were counted throughout the night and this morning, it’s becoming more apparent the role Michigan will play in deciding this year’s election.
At noon Nov. 4, there was still no winner declared for the 2020 Election, but Joe Biden leads President Donald Trump in the state of Michigan by 15,793 votes, just .3%, with 95% of the expected vote in, according to the Associated Press. The lead Biden has currently is larger than the 10,704-vote margin Trump had in 2016 in Michigan.
If the election was called from the 10:00 a.m. results, in who is leading in each state, the election would go to Biden with 270 and Trump at 268.
Over 3.26 million absentee ballots were cast in Michigan and election officials have said they expect the total turnout to be 5.26 million, according to the Detroit Free Press. The 5.03 million counted as of Wednesday morning already broke the record of around 5 million in 2008.
Both campaigns made last-minute efforts visiting the swing states of Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Florida.
At 12:42 a.m. Biden said, “We are on track to win the election” and “we will wait till every vote every ballot is counted.”
He went to also talk about how he will win Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, but it will take time.
Shortly after 2:00 a.m., Trump addressed the public at the White House, stating “We were going to win this election, frankly we did win this election…This is a major fraud on our history.”
Trump said if he does not win, he will take the results of the election all the way up to the Republican-controlled Supreme Court.
Mike Pence shortly went on air after Trump wrapped up his speech, to clear the air on how the Trump campaign will wait until all the votes are counted, and “they are on the path to victory.”
Stated that still need to be called are Alaska, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina, Maine, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Secretary of state Jocelyn Benson tweeted this morning to give voters an update.
“Recently updated and reported results now include absentee ballots voted by citizens in Livonia and Dearborn. Detroit, Flint, Grand Rapids still have yet to fully complete and report their tabulation of every ballot.”
Chuck Todd from NBC News said, “We are going to get Michigan vote all day long.”
Unlike some other states, Michigan law does not allow clerks to begin tabulating absentee ballots until 7 a.m. on election day. Final results may not be in until sometime on Friday, Nov. 6 according to Benson, who has assured voters that every vote in Michigan will be counted.
“No matter how long it takes, Michigan citizens can be certain that their ballots will be counted,” Benson said in a tweet. “That’s how elections work, and what democracy requires.”