Biden Eyes 'Last-Minute Comeback' in Georgia... "Gap Narrows as Counting Continues"

With 96% of votes counted, trailing by a 0.4 percentage point margin

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] The vote counting in Georgia for the U.S. presidential election is progressing slowly, narrowing the gap between President Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Joe Biden. Although President Trump maintained an early lead, Biden's vote share has risen, reducing the margin between the two to 0.4 percentage points.

Vote counting is in full swing at the Fulton County counting center in Georgia [Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

On the 4th (local time), with 96% of the votes counted in Georgia, The New York Times (NYT) reported that President Trump had 49.6% and Biden had 49.2% of the vote share. Earlier, at 95% counted, Trump had 49.6% and Biden had 49.1%. As the additional 1% of votes were counted, the gap between the two narrowed by 0.1 percentage points.

Since the remaining votes are from suburban areas where Biden has strong support, there is speculation that a last-minute dramatic turnaround could occur. Fulton County, where counting is currently underway, includes Atlanta and is home to affluent voters around the city, who are known to strongly support Biden.

NYT's election forecast model also predicts a Biden victory within the margin of error. NYT stated that Biden holds a 0.4 percentage point lead with a 64% chance of winning. If Biden wins Georgia, he would add Georgia's 16 electoral votes to the 253 electoral votes he has already secured, bringing his total to 269?just one short of the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency.

Meanwhile, Biden is leading in Arizona and Nevada, so if he wins Georgia, his chances of securing the presidency increase dramatically. Georgia's election results are expected to be announced by the morning of the 5th U.S. time.

Conversely, if President Donald Trump loses Georgia, he must win Pennsylvania as well as Arizona and Nevada, where he is already trailing, to secure victory in the presidential election.

Meanwhile, Nevada, where Biden had a strong lead, temporarily suspended vote counting and announced that results would be released on the morning of the 5th.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.