Biden cements victory by flipping Arizona, as Trump keeps transition in limbo

(Reuters) – President-elect Joe Biden cemented his electoral victory by capturing the battleground state of Arizona late on Thursday, but the transition to his administration remains in political stasis as President Donald Trump refuses to accept defeat.

Biden was projected to win Arizona after more than a week of vote counting, Edison Research said. He becomes only the second Democratic presidential candidate in seven decades to win the traditionally Republican state.

Biden’s win in Arizona gives the Democrat 290 electoral votes in the state-by-state Electoral College that determines the winner, more than the 270 needed to claim victory. Biden is also winning the popular vote by more than 5.3 million votes, or 3.4 percentage points.

With only a few states still counting votes, the electoral math is daunting for Trump, who has claimed without evidence that the election was marred by widespread fraud.

In order to erase Biden’s advantage, Trump, a Republican, would have to overtake the Democrat’s lead in at least three of the competitive swing states.

The Trump campaign has filed lawsuits challenging the vote counts in numerous states, although some have already been thrown out by judges. Legal experts have said the litigation stands little chance of altering the outcome, and state election officials have said they see no evidence of serious irregularities or fraud.

Trump’s refusal to accept the result of the Nov. 3 election has stalled the process of transitioning to a new administration. The federal agency that normally would release funding to an incoming president-elect, the General Services Administration, has not yet recognized Biden as the winner.

His pick for White House chief of staff, Ron Klain, told MSNBC on Thursday that receiving transition funding is important given the U.S. government will roll out a coronavirus vaccination campaign early next year.

“The sooner we can get our transition experts into meetings with the folks who are planning a vaccination campaign, the more seamless the transition to a Biden presidency from a Trump presidency can be,” Klain said.