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Donald Trump wins swing state North Carolina after close fight with Kamala Harris
US Elections: North Carolina, with 16 electoral seats, is seeing a close fight between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. The swing state could become decisive.
After a close fight, Republican Donald Trump was poised to beat Democrat Kamala Harris to take the all-important swing state of North Carolina. News agency AP called North Carolina in the former president's favour after 89% of votes were counted on Tuesday. North Carolina is among seven swing states that could decide the outcome of the US presidential polls. Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump were locked in a neck-and-neck fight to succeed Joe Biden but Trump held on to his slender lead and nudged ahead to claim the 16 electoral college votes of the state.
A candidate needs at least 270 electoral votes out of 538 nationally to clinch the election. Also, a candidate can win the election despite trailing their rival in the popular vote.
Why North Carolina matters
The state’s 16 electoral votes make it strategically important for both Harris and Trump. They have spent the final week before the November 5 election, campaigning in the swing states, including here.
Pre-poll surveys: The Republican has a slender 1 pp lead over Harris, his principal rival, The Charlotte Observer reported.
Also Read: From one North Carolina polling booth, decoding the Donald Trump edge
2020 result: This was the only swing state where Trump won. He got 49.9% votes here and 46.9% nationally, while Biden secured 48.6% (51.3% nationally).
Current controversy: Mark Robinson, the Republicans' gubernatorial nominee, allegedly posted racist and explicit messages on a pornographic website more than a decade ago. According to AP, the party made a last-minute push to convince Robinson to withdraw from the contest. However, he has refused to do that, leading to fears this could affect Trump’s performance in the critical state.
For a live map of the US election results, click here
Early voting numbers: Ahead of the 17-day, early in-person voting period that concludes at 3 pm on Saturday (00:30 am IST), nearly 3.8 million (38 lakh) people had already used the early in-person ballots. When traditional absentee, military, and overseas voter ballots are included through Friday afternoon, the number rises to nearly 4.01 million ballots — more than 51% of the state’s 7.83 million (78 lakh) registered voters.
