Pennsylvania and Wisconsin governors attack Trump after he baselessly claimed victory and suggested that election officials should stop counting votes
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Connor Perrett
Nov 4, 2020, 18:58 IST
President Donald Trump holds a campaign rally at Wilkes-Barre Scranton International Airport in Avoca, Pennsylvania, November 2, 2020.Carlos Barria/Reuters
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf and Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, both Democrats, criticized President Donald Trump after he prematurely claimed victory in the 2020 presidential race.
Elections officials across the US have warned that the counting of ballots would extend past Election Day, as states work to count a large number of absentee and mail-in ballots due to the coronavirus pandemic.
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Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf and Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers early Wednesday condemned President Donald Trump after he baselessly claimed victory in the 2020 presidential election and incorrectly suggested the continued counting of ballots after Election Day was "fraud."
"We were getting ready to win this election," Trump said at about 2:30 a.m. ET at the White House, despite the fact that no clear winner has yet been announced. "Frankly, we did win this election."
The president also suggested he wanted the counting of ballots to stop, claiming their continued counting was part of "a major fraud on our nation."
"We want law to be used in a proper manner," he said. "So we'll be going to the US Supreme Court. We want all voting to stop."
Polls closed in every state on Tuesday night, so no one is still voting. Election officials are simply still counting all of the ballots.
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"We still have over 1 million mail ballots to count in Pennsylvania," Wolf said in a tweet just before 3 a.m. "I promised Pennsylvanians that we would count every vote and that's what we're going to do."
The Pennsylvania governor continued: "Let's be clear: This is a partisan attack on Pennsylvania's elections, our votes, and democracy," adding "our counties are working tirelessly to process votes as quickly AND as accurately as possible."
"Our clerks and election workers are continuing to do their important work after millions of Wisconsinites cast their ballots to make their voices heard," the Democratic governor said.
Even in election years that aren't upended by pandemics, it takes days or weeks to ensure all of the votes are counted. States are usually called for candidates based on mathematical projections rather than a direct tally.
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