Long Night in US As Trump Takes Early Lead over Harris

Estimates Show Trump Leading over Harris Amid Counting of Ballots

By Manish Anand

New Delhi, November 6: Former US President Donald Trump has taken an early lead over his Democratic rival Kamala Harris. The CNN reported that Trump has leads in the electoral college with 90 votes against 27. Former US President Barack Obama cautioned the people for a delayed counting of the votes.

AFP stated in a news break that Trump won Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, Oklahoma, and Mississippi. Harris won Maryland, Rhode Island, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Illinois, and Massachusetts. Trump also won Nebraska, Ohio, and Texas. Trump’s winning kitty also counted for North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming. Harris won Delaware, the home state of the incumbent US President, Joe Biden.

Trump was leading the swing state of Georgia with 55.9 per cent votes against 43.5 per cent polled by Harris after the counting of over one-third ballots. Foreign Policy in a news break said that Trump has won Indiana, Kentucky, and West Virginia’s 23 total Electoral College votes.

Also Read: Democrats Power Trump to Tower Over Harris in US Prez Poll 

The Associated Press in a projection claimed that Trump was leading in nine states. The AP said that Harris was leading in five states. The projections were based on counting of ballots by 8 PM Eastern. Experts stressed that the outcome of the elections may not be known tonight in the US.

“It took several days to count every ballot in 2020, and it’s very likely we won’t know the outcome tonight either. Let the process run its course. It takes time to count every ballot,” stated Obama in a post on X.

Both Trump and Harris have arrived in Washington. Trump cast his ballot in Florida that he won. Pollsters are betting on a nail-biting finish for the presidential elections. Trump in his late remarks said that he would not be running for elections again.

Also Read: Indians Gain Spotlight in Cliffhanger US Elections 

Trump win in Florida has upset the calculations of the American media on their early projections. “We now estimate Harris’ lead in the national popular vote to be just over one percentage point. This is somewhat smaller than we opened the night with, and it’s almost entirely attributable to Trump’s strong result in Florida,” the New York Times stated in an update amid the counting of the ballot.

The NYT projected Trump to win 280 electoral college votes against 258 of Harris. This translates into a late surge in favour of Trump even while the media houses leaned over Harris to win the US Presidential elections.

The ballots are being counted after the political observers the election campaign in the US most polarising. Democrats unleashed the full power of party icons to attack Trump, claiming that democracy could be in a danger if Trump won. The 84-year-old Republican built poll campaign around issues of immigration and economy.

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About The Author

Manish Anand

Manish Anand is a senior journalist with more than two decades of hardcore reporting on beats such as Prime Minister’s Office, Parliament, BJP, Congress, Planning Commission, NITI Aayog, and scores of Union Ministries.

His past has been with The New Indian Express, The Asian Age/Deccan Chronicle, and The Statesman.

For about 15 years, Manish was also a regular commentator and host for talks on AIR on foreign affairs.

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