EXPLAINER: Why AP hasn't called Pennsylvania

The Associated Press has not declared a winner in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, because there are more than 1.5 million votes left to be counted in the contest between President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden

Election 2020 Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

WHY AP HASN’T CALLED PENNSYLVANIA:

The Associated Press has not declared a winner in the battleground state of Pennsylvania because there are more than 1.5 million votes left to be counted in the contest between President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden

Pennsylvania is among a handful of battleground states Trump and Biden are narrowly contesting as they seek the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency.

Trump, who held a 675,000-vote lead early Wednesday, prematurely declared victory in the state.

“We’re winning Pennsylvania by a tremendous amount. We’re up 690,000 votes in Pennsylvania. These aren’t even close. It’s not like, ‘Oh, it’s close,’” Trump said during an appearance at the White House.

Yet, the vast majority of the votes left to be counted there were cast by mail, a form of voting that Biden has carried by a large margin. That’s likely because Trump has spent months claiming without proof that voting by mail would lead to widespread voter fraud.

Democrats had long considered Pennsylvania a part of their “blue wall” — a trifecta that also includes Wisconsin and Michigan — that for years had served as a bulwark in presidential elections. In 2016, Trump won each by less than a percentage point.

Biden, who was born in Scranton, claims favorite-son status in the state and has long played up the idea that he was Pennsylvania’s “third senator” during his decades representing neighboring Delaware. He’s also campaigned extensively in the state from his home in Delaware.