The Trump campaign filed a lawsuit Wednesday in Pennsylvania and Michigan and is asking for a recount of Wisconsin’s votes after a shift in support in those states.
President Trump spoke in the East Room at The White House early Wednesday morning, promising a legal challenge in Pennsylvania and Michigan, claiming that he wants vote counting to come to a stop.
““This is a fraud to the American public … We were getting ready to win this election, frankly, we did win this election,” said Trump. “So our goal now is to ensure the integrity for the good of this nation … We will be going to the Supreme Court. We want all voting to stop. We don’t want them to find any ballots at 4:00 in the morning and add them to the list.”
Democratic nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden addressed Trump’s call to halt votes as he addressed reporters Wednesday in a calm manner, ensuring “When the count is finished, we believe we will be the winners.”
“Every vote must be counted,” said Biden. “We the people will not be silenced.”
It was projected even before the start of the election there would be a “red mirage” of Trump-heavy election votes earlier on in the vote counting process, with Biden’s votes more likely to appear in absentee and mail-in ballots later in the evening.
According to a report by Pew Research, Democrats are far more likely to vote by absentee ballot as opposed to Republicans, who would prefer to vote in-person.
More than 65 million mail-in ballots were received for the 2020 election, according to the U.S. Elections project, which is also likely due to health concerns amid the coronavirus pandemic.
A delay in votes is not an uncommon occurrence in elections. In 2012, it took four days for Florida to be called for President Barack Obama. In 2016, it took two weeks of counting for Trump to be the confirmed victor in Michigan.
In states like Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, officials cannot begin processing early ballots until Election Day, while some separate counties made their own decisions about prioritizing ballots.
In an interview with CNN, Philadelphia City Commissioner Al Schmidt noted that Pennsylvania allows mail-in votes to be received and counted up until Friday.
“We are going to continue day and night until we get every one of those votes counted,” Schmidt said.
Thumbnail photo courtesy of Karl DeBlaker / AP Photo.