Who is winning the popular vote in the US 2020 election?

Joe Biden secured the 270 electoral college votes needed to win the presidency

Joe Biden has secured the magic 270 electoral college votes needed to win the White House, and is storming ahead on the popular vote. 

As of Saturday evening, Mr Biden has 51 per cent of the popular vote (74,846,612), compared to 48 per cent for Trump (70,590,524), according to AP figures. In electoral votes, the Democrat has 290, while the Republican trails behind on 214.

Those figures will change, however, as the vote count progresses.  The disparity between Mr Biden and Mr Trump has crept up throughout the week.

In 2016, it was Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton who won the popular vote.  She secured 65,853,625 votes compared with Mr Trump’s 62,985,106. However,  Ms Clinton lost the electoral college vote (232-306 in favour of Mr Trump).

Read more: Follow 2020 US election results live

Mr Biden made history on Wednesday by earning the most-ever votes cast in a US presidential election, a record previously held by President Barack Obama with 69,498,516 in 2008. 

Michigan and Wisconsin turned blue for Mr Biden on Wednesday as the the rust belt states flipped back to the Democrats after going red for Mr Trump in 2016. On Saturday, the Democrat secured both Pennsylvania and Nevada, securing the more than 270 electoral votes needed to become president.

The election, like everything else, has been overshadowed by the coronavirus pandemic, which has claimed more than 200,000 American lives.

Both candidates offered drastically different visions for the country. Mr Biden espoused pandemic precaution while Mr Trump pedalled economic boosterism, telling Americans "not to be afraid" of a resurgent virus that continues to sweep across the country.