* Election hanging on swing States

* Biden leading in GOP stronghold Georgia

* Trump’s chances thought to be fading

* White House renews fraud charge

* Trump criticized for ‘undermining electoral process’

* Possibility of race ending in a tie not ruled out

The US presidential election was down to a few States yesterday evening with Georgia with 16 electoral votes being prominent among them. According to official polls results, Democratic candidate Joe Biden was closing in. Biden had won 253 electoral votes and Trump 214. There was the possibility of the race going either way with the results of the remaining States coming in. Media outfits have announced different results, and this is because their conclusions are based on projected results.

The final result in Georgia, where Biden was leading at the time of going to press, is expected decide Trump’s fate in the race. This State has been a Republican stronghold for the last 28 years or so. If Biden bags Georgia he will have 269 electoral votes. If he loses it, he will have to win in two other states to pass the 270-vote mark. According to the projected results, if Trump loses Georgia, he will be able to secure only 269 votes even if he wins all other states including Pennsylvania, which has 20 electoral votes. A candidate has to obtain at least 270 electoral votes to win the election. If speculated scenario played out, the race might end in a tie, polls analysts say.

Biden, in his address to the people, said they had to wait until the last vote was counted. President Trump declared himself the winner on the election night itself, saying that he would take the election to the Supreme Court if he was defeated in what he called a fraudulent manner. He spoke from the White House again, yesterday, repeating the allegations of widespread vote rigging and other frauds. He said millions of postal votes had reached the counting centres after the Election Day and the Republican observers had been denied access to some centres. He, however, did not field questions from the media. He left immediately after making his 17-minute speech.

Meanwhile, elections to the House of Representatives and the Senate took place alongside the presidential race. The presidential contest has overshadowed them. The Democrats were hoping to capture power in the Republican-controlled Senate, where a party has to obtain 51 seats to be the winner. But, they were not likely to make it, according to political observers.