U.S. news outlets on Friday called the Southeastern U.S. state of North Carolina for President Donald Trump, a day after projecting that President-elect Joe Biden would win the Southwestern state of Arizona.
The latest calls in the presidential race gave Biden a projected 290 votes in the Electoral College to Trump’s 232 votes.
Biden had previously cleared the 270-vote threshold needed to win the White House, paving the way for his inauguration on January 20. Trump has refused to acknowledge defeat in the presidential race and has leveled unproven claims of widespread voter fraud.
Edison Research, along with major U.S. news outlets, projected Trump the winner in North Carolina, giving him 15 more electoral votes. North Carolina was one of the last states to report its vote tally because it allowed ballots postmarked by Election Day to be received through November 12. With more than 98% of ballots counted in the state, Trump led by more than 73,000 votes.
On Thursday, major U.S. news outlets projected Biden the winner in the Arizona. With more than 99% of the votes counted in that state, Biden led Trump by about 11,000 votes.
The New York Times, CNN, NBC News and The Washington Post were among the news organizations that projected Biden the winner in Arizona, historically a Republican stronghold. Fox News and The Associated Press called Arizona for Biden last week.
The only state that has not yet been called by all major media outlets is Georgia, with its 16 electoral votes. The state is conducting a statewide, hand recount of the presidential votes because Biden is leading in that state by only about 14,100 votes.
Trump, a Republican, has repeatedly made unfounded claims that he was defeated by widespread election fraud. But a statement released Thursday by the federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, established by Trump in 2018, said the November 3 election was the most secure in U.S. history. The agency’s declaration was the most direct rejection to date of Trump’s assertions about the fairness of the election.
State election officials also report no serious irregularities, while Trump’s legal challenges have failed in court.
While Biden is the projected winner of the presidential election, results are subject to legal challenges and recounts.
States are required to meet a December 8 deadline to certify their vote counts and pick electors for the Electoral College, which will officially select the new president on December 14.
