US election: Joe Biden closes in on Donald Trump in battleground Georgia as he says path to victory is ‘clear’

Joe Biden has said it is "clear" he is on track to win the US presidency as he closed in on his rival Donald Trump in the battleground state of Georgia.

The Democrat presidential candidate insisted "I'm not here to declare that we've won" but insisted he was on course to take key battlegrounds by bigger margins than Mr Trump did in 2016.

Mr Biden has won Michigan and Wisconsin, pushing him closer to 270 electoral college votes and narrowing US President Donald Trump's possible path to re-election.

US Elections 2020 - In pictures

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Only a handful of battleground states remain uncalled, including Georgia, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.

In Georgia, Mr Biden is now less than 30,000 votes behind his rival, a much smaller gap than the 300,000 he was trailing by this time yesterday.

Both Michigan and Wisconsin represent parts of the "blue wall" that slipped away from Democrats four years ago, paving the way for Mr Trump's election.

Mr Biden's campaign had counted on winning back at least some of them.

Mr Biden's victory in Michigan pushes him to 264 electoral college votes, six short of the 270 needed to win the White House.

Mr Trump is at 214 electoral votes. 

Mr Biden's victory in Michigan pushes him to 264 electoral college votes, six short of the 270 needed to win the White House.Mr Trump is at 214 electoral votes. 

At a speech in Delaware on Wednesday evening, Mr Biden said: "It is clear we are winning enough states to reach 270 electoral votes”.

"I will govern as an American president," He said. "There will be no red states and blue states when we win. Just the United States of America." 

In Wisconsin, the first state he looks set to flip from red to blue, Mr Biden said he had won by 20,000 votes.

Michigan is another tight race that Mr Biden is projected to win. Here he claimed to be leading by 35,000 votes - a “substantially” larger margin than Mr Trump won it by in 2016.

“We the people will not be silenced. We the people will not be bullied,” Mr Biden said.

"We the people will not surrender."

Mr Biden said it was time to "lower the temperature" following the campaign trail.

"Once this election is finalised, and behind us, it will be time for us to do what we've always done as Americans," he told the crowd in Delaware.

"To put the harsh rhetoric of the campaign behind us, to lower the temperature, to see each other again, to listen to one another, to hear each other again, to respect and care for one another.

"I know how deep and hard the opposing views are in our country on so many things. But I also know this as well. 

"To make progress, we have to stop treating our opponents as enemies. We are not enemies." 

His remarks came as Mr Trump's campaign manager vowed to "immediately" request a recount in Wisconsin due to "reports of irregularities”.

Rudy Giuliani, former mayor of New York, said "quite possibly" national legal action will be launched against the ballot checking process.

Counting continues across several other swing states, with the race to the White House still too close to call.

In a bid to derail two potential losses, the Trump campaign filed lawsuits to try and halt counting in Michigan and Pennsylvania.

The campaign said it was calling for a temporary halt in the counting until it is given "meaningful access" in numerous locations and allowed to review ballots that already have been opened and processed.

The campaign also said it would ask for a recount in Wisconsin, a state The Associated Press called for Mr Biden on Wednesday afternoon.

Campaign manager Bill Stepien cited "irregularities in several Wisconsin counties".

The actions came as officials counted votes in several undecided states that are crucial to the outcome of the presidential election.

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