Election 2020 presidential results

Former Sen. Rick Santorum, a Republican from Pennsylvania, slammed President Trump’s claims of election fraud, saying that his were not factual and “was at times incendiary.”

“No Republican elected official will stand behind that statement,” Santorum said at CNN’s special election coverage. 

The former senator went on to criticize the President over his claim of voter fraud without evidence.

"We don’t know that right now, and for the President to go out there and claim that without any evidence of that is dangerous," Santorum said.

Santorum went on to call out Trump over his attacks on mail-in voting.

"I sat there I listened to him talking about the votes being taken away from him, and then he shifted to Arizona and said hey, 'I win this thing if they count the votes.' Well, how can you say we have to wait and count the votes in Arizona and I can win this thing, but if you count the votes in Philadelphia you’re stealing them? The reality is, in Pennsylvania Democrats voted by mail and Republicans voted — in person and it’s because you asked them to do so.”

CNN's Van Jones thanked Santorum for being critical of Trump's remarks.

"I just want to thank you for what you just said," Jones said. "I hope that other Republicans will also stand with you."

Hear what Rick Santorum had to say:

A Trump campaign lawyer admitted before a federal judge on Thursday that observers for the campaign were allowed to watch ballot canvassing in Philadelphia, after they claimed in court and the President's supporters alleged they were being deprived unfairly. 

But the federal judge was having none of it, instead asking Philadelphia city officials to confirm Democrats and Republicans were being treated fairly to watch the ballot-counting and that they were allowed to watch the ballot counting in the city from six feet away.

When the judge pressed the Trump campaign lawyer if there were observers in the room from the campaign, the lawyer, Jerome Marcus, said, "There's a non-zero number of people in the room."

The judge, Paul Diamond of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, a George W. Bush appointee, also pointed out he believed the President's case appeared to have no reason to be in federal court, and even cracked a joke that the lawyer "shouldn't quit his day job" when the campaign handed the judge a hand-drawn map of the ballot counting room.

After the judge confirmed the parties would have the same number of observers in the room, he dismissed the Trump campaign's request because it was moot.

An Arizona state judge ordered the Trump campaign and Maricopa county officials to propose a joint scheduling plan by Friday morning to handle a dispute over the use of Sharpie pens to fill out ballots.

Judge Margaret Mahoney of the Maricopa County Superior Court dismissed a suggestion by a lawyer for the Trump campaign to postpone legal arguments in the case for more than two weeks – a timeline that a lawyer for the Arizona Democratic Party argued could delay the final vote tally for Arizona, a key battleground state in the presidential contest.

Thomas Liddy, a lawyer for Maricopa County, asked the judge to move swiftly to restore confidence in the system.

“The voters have a right to know that the allegations flying around the internet about Sharpies being dropped from black helicopters to cheat people out of their votes is fake. It’s not true but it’s really scaring people.”

He added that the vendor for the voting machines said that Sharpies are the best pen to use because the ink dries quickly and won’t smudge the glass readers in the tabulation machines.

“All of this, frankly, is a waste of time,” said Liddy.

Some context: On Wednesday a lawyer and the Public Interest Legal Foundation filed a lawsuit representing 11 voters – only one is identified by name – against the Maricopa County Recorder, Clerk of Maricopa County and others asking that voters be permitted to observe the counting and adjudication of ballots.

The presidential race between President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden remains on a razor's edge as election workers in key states continue to count ballots.

Biden currently has 253 electoral votes, while Trump has 213.

Here's a look at where vote counting stands in two key states:

Trump cannot find a route to 270 electoral votes without Georgia and Pennsylvania, so his chances of securing reelection will hinge on developments in these two states in the coming hours.

President Donald Trump entrenched in false claims that a count of legally cast ballots would show him winning the presidential election, using the White House briefing room to espouse claims that he is being deprived the presidency by fraud.

"If you count the legal votes I easily win," Trump said, providing no evidence for his claim. "If you count the illegal votes, they can try to steal the election from us."

His message came as new tallies show his lead dwindling in Georgia and Pennsylvania. While Trump retains a pathway to 270 electoral votes, it is growing smaller.

Trump said he was advocating for a halt in counting of "votes that came in late," and went on to tout races that had already been called for him.

"I’ve already decisively won many critical states, including massive victories," he claimed.

CNN's Dana Bash and abby Phillip react to Trump's speech:

President Trump is speaking right now from the White House briefing room.

Trump was last seen publicly early Wednesday at the White House, where he delivered a speech and claimed some legitimate tallying efforts should stop. The President also tried to assert victory in the election.

Trump currently has 213 electoral votes, and Joe Biden, who has taken the lead in the race, has 253 electoral votes.

As President Trump prepares to speak from the White House, Joe Biden tweeted moments ago, again pressing his case that all votes need to be counted in this election.

Some context: The tweet echoes his messages throughout the past 48 hours, including in his remarks earlier today urging calm and patience as the vote count continues.

Biden’s advisers believe those remarks – along with his focus on coronavirus and the economy in his briefings – projects a responsible tone and shows he’s preparing himself for the challenges ahead if elected.

The only remaining absentee ballots to count in Gwinnett County are absentee ballots that require “adjudication.”

Ballots in this category require additional review because there was some issue on the ballot that was picked up by the counting machines.

Two important caveats: First, local officials cannot say exactly how many ballots still require adjudication. And second, it’s not clear how many of these ballots could affect the presidential race. That’s because if the vote-counting machine didn’t pick up an issue with the presidential vote when the ballot was first scanned, that vote has already been counted and reported to the public.

Some context: Election workers have already done about half of the adjudication that is needed, Gwinnett County spokesperson Joe Sorenson told CNN. New staff for adjudication came in at 3 p.m., but Royston said they are scheduled to close down for the night at 9 p.m.  

These ballots are grouped in batches of 25, and if there is a problem with just one ballot, the entire batch of 25 must be pulled aside. They pulled 3,200 batches of ballots, which means that the total number of ballots needing adjudication could be anywhere between 3,200 and 80,000, but the number of ballots needing adjudication is likely on the low end of that range.

“If 49 are good… it holds the entire batch up," Gwinnett County elections supervisor Kristi Royston said.

Lawyers for the Trump campaign and Nevada Republican Party said they have reached a settlement with the Clark County Recorder that will allow for additional observation of the ballots in the key area that includes Las Vegas, according to a new court filing.

In a court filing, the Trump attorneys ask the appeals court for an additional seven days to file its briefs, giving them room to obtain the signatures of the intervening parties to the settlement.

“On Nov. 4, 2020, appellants and respondents Barbara Cegavske and Joseph Gloria were able to reach a settlement agreement,” according to the court filing.

Under the terms of the agreement, “The Registrar shall allow the public to have additional observation access to the ballot duplication in the Greystone Facility such that all tables where the duplication process is occurring shall be visible to public observers.” 

In addition, the GOP will dismiss its appeal and lawsuit, according to the court filing.

Some context: Last week the Trump campaign and Nevada Republican Party challenged the signature-matching and verification process on absentee ballots conducted by computer in Clark County. A state court judge has already dismissed the lawsuit, but the Trump campaign appealed.  

The Trump campaign claims that the computer signature matching wasn’t as stringent as human checks, and fraudulent ballots could have snuck through.