Much will depend on how many yet-to-be-counted votes were mail-in ballots, which favor Biden, or in-person votes, which boosted Trump
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The US presidency is likely to be determined by a few thousand votes in a handful of states, with the nation’s torturous uncertainty liable to be prolonged for many hours or even days by recounts and legal challenges.
Even before the counting was finished, Biden had won more votes than any president in history – nearly 69.8 million – edging out Barack Obama’s 2008 record and about 2.5 million ahead of Trump, once again highlighting the disparity between the popular vote and the arithmetic of the US electoral college system.
