Biden becomes the first presidential candidate in US history to win 80 million votes — and counting

• President-elect Joe Biden continues to rack up the most votes won by any candidate in US history.
• As of Wednesday at 4 p.m., Biden earned more than 80 million votes in the 2020 presidential election.
• Election officials are still counting votes and the number is expected to increase.
• President Donald Trump has secured nearly 74 million votes so far, making him second for most votes in any American presidential election.

President-elect Joe Biden continues to rack up the most votes won by any presidential candidate in US history.

At least 80 million people ticked the Democratic box in the 2020 presidential election as of Wednesday afternoon. The figure is only expected to increase while election officials continue counting votes across the country.

Biden breaks the record held by then-presidential candidate Barack Obama, who secured 69.5 million votes in 2008, with Biden on the ticket as his running mate. The president-elect surpassed that number only a day after the election.

In the weeks since, a tremendous amount of mail-in ballots due to the coronavirus pandemic dramatically increased Biden's tally and propelled him to victory. Insider and Decision Desk HQ called the race for Biden on Nov. 6.

President Donald Trump, who refuses to concede the results, is on track to lose the popular vote to Biden, as he had in 2016 to Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Biden's current share is more than 51% of the vote.

Yet Trump has far exceeded his previous win of 63 million votes. Almost 74 million people voted for the president this year, making him runner-up to the most votes of all time.

The United States Election Project, which tracks votes, estimates that around 159 million people voted this election, crushing voter turnout rates in over a century at roughly 66.7%. The last high was 73.7% in 1900.