Trump vs. Biden: Which Candidate Leads In 2020 Popular Vote And How Does It Compare To 2016?

Democratic nominee Joe Biden leads Republican President Donald Trump in the popular vote as of Thursday at 3:35 p.m. ET.

Biden has received 72,661,004 votes (50.5%) while Trump has received 68,830,257 votes (47.8%).

While all the votes have yet to be counted, there are some early conclusions to be drawn. Biden has already received more votes than Barack Obama's record number (69,498,516) in 2008. Obama won the 2008 election by both an electoral and popular-vote landslide.

In the 2016 election, Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton also led Trump in the popular vote. Clinton received 65,853,514 votes (48.2%), while Trump received 62,984,828 (46.1%). The 2020 totals show that voter turnout has been much stronger even as ballots continue to be counted. It also shows how third-party candidates have played a weaker role in 2020 after receiving a total of nearly 5% of the vote in 2016.

Several states are not close to tallying all the votes. It could take several days to learn the total popular vote.

California, the most populated state in the country, has only counted 74% of the votes. Alaska, which has yet to declare a winner for their 3 electoral votes, has only tallied 56%.

The election is still undecided with several swing states still counting votes.

According to CNN and the New York Times, Biden has 253 electoral votes, while Trump has 213. The Associated Press and Fox News have projected that Biden won Arizona, which puts their tally for Biden at 264, and with Trump at 214.

Biden won the key battleground states of Wisconsin and Michigan. Biden is a slight favorite to win Arizona, Nevada, and Pennsylvania, as mostly Democratic mail-in ballots are being tallied in those states. Biden also has a shot at winning Georgia, a traditionally red state.

Pennsylvania’s Secretary of State said the majority of mail-in ballots would likely be counted by the end of Thursday. If Biden wins Pennsylvania, with 20 electoral votes, he would be elected to the White House.