JOE Biden has told supporters he believes he is “on track to win this election” amid a tense night for the United States.
It has been a tight race in key states with turnout its highest in more than a century, and counting in some states set to go on into tomorrow.
Donald Trump and Biden need 270 electoral college votes to secure the presidency.
The votes are currently extremely tight and US media outlets say the election result is still too close to call.
Speaking from Wilmington, Delaware, with 36 of 50 states declared, the Democratic challenger told supporters he knew “this was going to go long”.
He added: “But look, we feel good about where we are. We really do. I am here to tell you tonight we believe we’re on track to win this election.”
The former vice president said he was confident about Wisconsin and Michigan and expressed his hopes that he could turn Arizona blue.
He went on: “We can know the results as early as tomorrow morning but it may take a little longer. As I’ve said all along, it’s not my place or Donald Trump’s place to declare who’s won this election, that’s the decision of the American people.
“But I’m optimistic about this outcome and I want to thank every one of you who came out and voted in this election.”
Immediately after making the statement Trump claimed on Twitter that Democrats are trying to “steal” the election.
He wrote: “We will never let them do it. Votes cannot be cast after the Poles are closed!”
Twitter imposed a restriction on the tweet and placed a warning on it for being “misleading about an election”.
Trump added he will also be making a statement shortly.
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