US election: Biden takes lead in Georgia over Trump

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) – In what may be one of the last bricks in building a presidential electoral victory, Democratic candidate Joe Biden early Friday took a slim lead in Georgia over President Donald Trump, even as vote tallies nationwide face numerous legal challenges.

In Georgia, the former vice president took the lead by 917 votes over Trump with 99% of the votes reported at 06.15 a.m. local time (1115 GMT), according to The Associated Press.

Biden had 2,449,371 votes against Trump's 2,448,454, with around 10,000 ballots left uncounted across the state.

Georgia state laws do not automatically trigger a recount, but a candidate can request one if the race is separated by a margin of 0.5% or less.

In the swing state of Pennsylvania, Biden was also closing in on Trump with 3,267,923 against the president's 3,285,965 – a difference of some 18,000 votes, or 0.3%.

The Keystone State provides for an automatic recount if the race is separated by a margin of 0.5% or less, or if election officials find irregularities in the results.

Trump still comfortably dominates in North Carolina with his 2,732,084 votes versus Biden's 2,655,383 for a lead of over 70,000, or 1.4% difference. The president looks almost certain to win the southern state, where a candidate can only seek a recount when the margin is within 10,000 votes or 0.5%.

Biden, on the other hand, looks certain to have Nevada in his column, where he leads with 604,251 votes over Trump’s 592,813 for a margin of over 11,000 votes, or 0.9%.

There is no automatic process for a recount in Nevada, but a candidate can seek a recount if he or she pays its estimated cost, but is reimbursed if the recount flips the election's outcome.

Trump is far ahead in Alaska with 62.1% of the vote against Biden's 33.5%, even with only half of the state's ballots counted.