EXPLAINER: Why AP hasn't called Michigan

There are over 1 million ballots left to be counted in Michigan, many coming from the Democratic stronghold of Detroit

Election 2020 Michigan Voting (Copyright 2020 Associated Press)

WHY AP HASN’T CALLED MICHIGAN:

There are over 1 million ballots left to be counted in Michigan many coming from the Democratic stronghold of Detroit. That makes the race between President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden too early for the Associated Press to call.

Michigan is among a handful of battleground states where Trump prematurely claimed early Wednesday he was “winning” the contest with Biden. Both are locked in a tight race for the 270 electors needed to win the presidency.

“We’re winning Michigan by — I’ll tell you, I looked at the numbers,” Trump said during an appearance at the White House, where he promised to contest the election before the Supreme Court.

More than 5.26 million votes have been cast in Michigan and many of the ballots left to be counted were submitted by mail, a way of voting that favors Biden. Of those, a significant number were from Wayne County, home to heavily Democratic Detroit.

Trump also gave differing figures for his lead in the contest. At one point he said he was ahead by 300,000 votes, but he later said his lead was 107,000.

With 79% of the vote counted in the state, Trump is actually leading by 226,000 votes.