US Election: Biden takes lead over Trump in Michigan

ANKARA

Democratic candidate Joe Biden took the lead against President Donald Trump in the key state of Michigan in the 2020 US presidential election, according to the latest poll results Wednesday.

The former vice president has gained 2,586,566, or 49.5% of the votes in the swing state, which was around 33,000 more than Trump's 2,553,774, or 48.9%, according to The Associated Press at 11.42 a.m. (1637GMT).

Although Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said Tuesday that she anticipated votes would be counted sooner than expected, she indicated Wednesday that the state could have unofficial results by end of the day, but cautioned it could last longer to get results.

"Rest assured, we are focused on counting every single ballot. That's our focus. Every single ballot in Michigan will be counted," she said in a video statement.

"The information I have is ballots are still be counted in our largest jurisdictions, including Detroit, Grand Rapids, Flint, Kalamazoo and numerous other Michigan cities and townships," said Benson. "These ballots were cast by tens of thousands of Michigan citizens who have the right to have their vote counted, and we're going to make sure that right is protected," she added.

In the Wolverine State with 16 electoral votes, 96% of votes have reportedly been counted.

However, Biden and Trump are neck-and-neck in several other key states.

In Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Alaska, Trump is still ahead, while Biden leads in Wisconsin and Nevada.

In 2016, Trump won Michigan by nearly 11,000 votes against Hillary Clinton.