US Election 2020: Joe Biden nears magic number 270

Washington : Democratic Presidential candidate Joe Biden has taken a narrow lead over Donald Trump in the battleground state of Georgia, making his way even closer to the magic number of 270.

Biden has a 253 to 214 lead in the state-by-state Electoral College vote that determines the winner, according to most major television networks. Winning Georgia's 16 electoral votes would put the former vice president on the cusp of the 270 he needs to secure the presidency.

77-year-old Joe Biden will be able to become the President of the United States if he manages to win two out of the trio of Georgia, Nevada and Arizona. Trump's likeliest path appears narrower - he needs to hang onto both Pennsylvania and Georgia and also to overtake Biden in either Nevada or Arizona.

Biden is now ahead by 917 votes in Georgia, where counting continued early on Friday.

The change in trend has been registered shortly after Donald Trump's address from the White House from where he claimed fraud in the elections and said that the elections are being stolen from him.

Biden has been steadily chipping away at the Republican incumbent's lead in Pennsylvania as well. His deficit had shrunk to just more than 18,000 there by early on Friday, and was expected to continue falling with many of the ballots still to be counted being cast in Democratic areas.

Biden also maintained slim advantages in Arizona and Nevada. In Arizona, his lead narrowed to about 47,000 early on Friday and in Nevada he was ahead by about 11,500 votes.