With final races called, Biden ends with 306 Electoral College votes, Trump 232

WASHINGTON: Democrat Joe Biden defeated President Donald Trump in the state of Georgia, while Trump won North Carolina, Edison Research projected on Friday as it called the final two states in the U.S. presidential race.

Edison Research said Biden had won 306 Electoral College votes to Trump’s 232. Biden had surpassed the 270 Electoral College votes needed to capture the presidency on Saturday.

Earlier, President-elect Joe Biden had cemented his US electoral victory by capturing the battleground state of Arizona late on Thursday, but the official transition to his administration remains stalled as President Donald Trump had refused to accept defeat.

Biden was projected to win Arizona after more than a week of vote counting from the Nov. 3 election, Edison Research had said. He had become only the second Democratic presidential candidate in seven decades to win the traditionally Republican state.

Biden’s win in Arizona had given him 290 electoral votes in the state-by-state Electoral College that determines the winner.

Biden had already cleared the 270 vote threshold to win the election, setting him on course to be sworn in on Jan. 20. Arizona’s 11 additional electoral votes put any longshot challenge by Trump even further out of reach.