The US presidential election was on Tuesday, but we’re still waiting for a candidate to cross the magic mark of 270 electoral college votes. As things stand, Joe Biden has the advantage as counting continues:

• In Georgia, the two candidates are virtually neck-and-neck, with Trump's lead cut to about 600 votes. Authorities have stated they will keep tallying the ballots and should hopefully have a result on Friday
• Biden has a lead of more than 11,000 votes in Nevada, after 89% of expected votes counted
• Trump’s lead in Pennsylvania has dropped to fewer than 20,000 votes as mail-in and absentee ballots are counted, with hundreds of thousands of votes remaining
• But Trump has cut the Democratic candidate’s lead in Arizona, with Biden leading by about 47,000 votes in the southwestern state

Alaska and North Carolina are also still counting, and Trump is leading in both states. But without wins in some of those four states where the counts are tight, Trump has no chance of winning re-election. Biden has more options to ensure a win.

You can follow all the results here

Associate Professor of Public Law at the University of Southampton, Jacob Eisler, has told BBC Radio 5 Live that the lawsuits filed by the Trump campaign are "weak".

He adds that he has concerns over the prospect of Trump refusing to leave office.

"The thing that constrains [Trump] is self-interest," he says. "Trump, if he plays his cards right, could come out of this with the chance to continue influencing the Republican party."

In an apparent response to Trump's unfounded allegations of electoral fraud, Facebook has said it will add labels with the projected winner as calculated by reputable news sources.

"While several states continue to count votes, we wanted to share a reminder of the steps we’ll take to provide reliable information across our products once there is a projected presidential winner," the social media giant said in a statement.

As an example, it showed a label carrying the name of a (fictional) projected winner attached to a false claim of victory.

Biden is ahead overall in the election so far, both in terms of electoral college votes and the popular vote.

However, Trump still has a path to victory and the race is not over yet.

If you're just joining us, there's been little movement overnight as vote counting continues in key states which will decide the winner of the US presidential election.

Donald Trump has doubled down on unfounded claims that he would win with "legal votes cast", demanding on Twitter that the US Supreme Court should decide the winner. Twitter has flagged the tweet with a warning that it may be "misleading about an election".

The votes that are being counted now are not "illegal" but legitimate mail-in ballots. There is no evidence to support the president's claim of “tremendous corruption and fraud in the mail-in ballots”.

The delay in counting postal votes is standard procedure. In some states, including Pennsylvania, they are not allowed to begin counting mail-in ballots until the day of the election itself.

The president's lead in some pivotal states like Georgia and Pennsylvania is narrowing as more postal votes are counted. While Trump has cited "fraudulent" ballots, Democrats are simply more likely to have voted by mail: Joe Biden actively encouraged his supporters to do this, while Trump discouraged it.

Image source, Reuters

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a close ally of Donald Trump, has pledged to donate $500,000 (£380,000) to help fund the Trump campaign's lawsuits.

"The allegations of wrongdoing are Earth-shattering," Graham, who was re-elected in South Carolina, told Sean Hannity in an interview with Fox News, without providing any details.

"I'm here tonight to stand with President Trump - he stood with me, he's the reason we're going to have a Senate majority," he said.

The money donated to Trump's legal team will come from Graham's own campaign funds, the Associated Press reports.

Trump, who has filed a barrage of lawsuits alleging irregularities and lack of transparency in several states, has said he is prepared to take the election to the Supreme Court, and his campaign is asking Republican donors to help fund legal challenges.

Democrat rival Joe Biden is also gearing up for battles in the courts.

Biden's campaign manager, Jen O'Malley Dillon, has started a fundraising effort, sending an email to supporters. "We are standing up the biggest and most comprehensive legal effort ever assembled," she wrote, adding: "I am coming to you to ask you to pitch $25 in to the newly-formed Biden Fight Fund."

Biden's running-mate, Kamala Harris, earlier tweeted asking supporters to contribute $5 to help pay for litigation that could "stretch on for weeks".

Steve Rosenberg
BBC Moscow Correspondent

In this US election, Russia has been keeping its expectations low. Very low.

“For Russia, choosing between Trump and Biden is like choosing between two kinds of castor oil,” said tabloid Moskovsky Komsomolets today. Ugh.

There’s no doubt, though, that a spoonful of Trump medicine would be more palatable for the Russian authorities. After all, Donald Trump never criticises Vladimir Putin and calls for closer ties with Moscow; Joe Biden has slammed the Kremlin leader many times. There’s concern here a Biden presidency would mean more sanctions.

Moscow claims to be sitting on the side-lines. But the Russian state media have been more complimentary of Donald Trump than Joe Biden.

Is that about to change? Today’s edition of the Russian government paper had some praise for the Democrat.

“Unlike the aggressively disposed Trump, Biden assumed a markedly neutral position and adopted the role of national peacemaker.”

Another newspaper posed the question: “Is Biden so terrifying?”

A change of tone, in expectation of a Biden victory?

"Senator Jones has just informed me that the returns indicate your election, and I hasten to extend my congratulations. We have submitted the issue to the American people and their will is law."

Presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan sent this brief telegram to his opponent William McKinley in 1896, two days after losing that year's election.

It established a precedent of graciously conceding defeat. Since then every candidate has kept up the tradition - no matter how rancorous or hostile the election - and usually within hours of the polls closing.

But there's no legal or constitutional requirement to concede. Refusing to do so opens the door to court challenges and confusion.

In 2000, Democratic candidate Al Gore conceded to George W Bush but then took back the concession once it became clear the vote was far closer than his campaign had thought. Eventually the Supreme Court settled the result in favour of Bush.

People have been sharing clips and messages of previous defeated candidates online to contrast with this year's election. BBC media editor Amol Rajan posted a video of John McCain's speech after losing to Barack Obama in 2008.

While the result remains too close to call, the Trump campaign has made clear that the president will not automatically concede if Joe Biden claims victory.

Image source, Getty Images

The US secret service is to boost protection of Joe Biden from Friday in anticipation that he might soon claim victory in the election, the Washington Post reports.

Extra agents will be put in place after his campaign team told the Secret Service that he could make a major speech as early as Friday, the paper reported, citing people familiar with the plans.

Secret Service spokeswoman Catherine Milhoan declined to comment, saying that the agency did not discuss security arrangements for senior figures. Biden aides have also not commented.

Biden and his campaign team have been based at a convention centre in Wilmington, Delaware.

Image source, Reuters

After taking similar legal action in other key battleground states, the Trump campaign has filed a lawsuit in Nevada.

Among the complaints are some that have already been put before the courts and were unsuccessful, US broadcaster ABC News reports - including an attempt to stop ballots being counted.

Without providing evidence, the suit claims: "Irregularities have plagued the election in Clark County, including lax procedures for authenticating mail ballots and over 3,000 instances of ineligible individuals casting ballots."

Trump has repeatedly alleged electoral fraud and irregularities in states in which either Biden is leading, or Trump's lead is shrinking.

In Nevada, where Biden is currently ahead, Trump supporters had until now been calling for the ballot count to continue - believing that further votes would be uncovered for Trump.

• Read more: Three viral vote claims fact-checked

Image source, Reuters

We reported earlier that Twitter had added warning flags to Trump's tweets which contain unfounded claims of electoral fraud.

Now, the social media site has also suspended the account of former Trump adviser Steve Bannon.

In a video posted on his Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter accounts, Bannon advocated extreme violence against Dr Anthony Fauci, the top US infectious diseases expert, and FBI Director Christopher Wray.

The video was later removed by YouTube and Facebook. A spokesman for Twitter said the account violated its terms of service, "specifically our policy on the glorification of violence, external".

Fauci and Trump have repeatedly had public feuds this year over the handling of the coronavirus outbreak. Addressing a Florida crowd just before the vote, Trump suggested he would fire Fauci after the election.

The US has the highest number of cases and deaths in the world, and measures to control the virus - such as masks and lockdown restrictions - are highly politicised.

Police in Philadelphia are investigating an apparent plot to attack the Pennsylvania Convention Centre, where votes are being counted.

ABC News says a group of people - possibly a family - was planning to drive up from Virginia in a Hummer SUV to carry out the attack.

Police have seized the vehicle and arrested a man, the report says.

Philadelphia is now one of a few cities at the centre of the presidential race. As the count continues, Trump's narrow lead in Pennsylvania shrinks further - sparking attempts by his campaign to stop remaining votes being tallied.

Despite the president taking legal action against the ongoing count, optimism among Joe Biden's supporters in the state has been growing. A dance party even broke out outside the Convention Centre.

Democrats in Georgia are urging voters to fix absentee ballots rejected because they had missing or invalid signatures.

The deadline for correcting - or "curing" - such ballots is 17:00 on Friday. Absentee voters can check online to see whether their ballots have been accepted or rejected.

The plea comes as Donald Trump's early lead in Georgia grew smaller and smaller. By late Thursday it was down to 1,800 votes.

Georgia has 16 electoral college votes. A win there for the Democrats would take Joe Biden's projected total to 269 - just short of the 270 needed to win the White House.

Democratic New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez joined others in encouraging the state's absentee voters to check their ballots.

Peter Bowes
North America correspondent

Image source, Reuters

The uncertainty goes on. Three days after the election, votes are still being counted, lawsuits are flying and the country remains in a state of flux.

It is still too early to project the winner in a number of key states, where Donald Trump and Joe Biden are neck and neck. All eyes are on Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada.

Looking downcast, and without taking questions from reporters, the president held a news conference at the White House, to again claim, without providing any evidence, that he was a victim of electoral fraud.

Postal votes, which are still being tallied in large numbers, are favouring Joe Biden, with the former vice-president edging slightly ahead in some of the crucial counts.

There’s been no acknowledgement from Mr Trump that the reason his rival is picking up many of these votes, is that he encouraged Republican voters to cast their ballots in person, on election day, while Mr Biden, because of the coronavirus pandemic, urged his supporters to vote by post.

The president has threatened to take his case to the Supreme Court. In a tweet, Joe Biden wrote that his campaign had assembled "the largest election protection effort in history to fight back.” Earlier, he urged Americans to be patient, as they wait for a result.

It’s still unclear when a final result will be in, but Donald Trump’s path to victory, based on the electoral college system of votes, is narrow. America remains on tenterhooks with many nervous that any legal fallout from the election could drag on for weeks.

While the presidential race remains unclear, the White House has been hailing “great victories” in the congressional election.

Spokesman Judd Deere said that President Trump had “defied all expectation” and, as of this moment, not one Republican member of the House of Representatives had lost their seat.

The Democrats had high hopes of regaining control of the Senate and increasing their majority in the House. But results so far suggest there has been little change in the make-up of the Senate and the Democrats will have a reduced majority in the House.

You can read more on the congressional race here.

Image source, EPA

“We will not allow anyone to stop us from doing what our duty is, in counting ballots,” Joe Gloria, Clark County Registrar of Voters in Nevada, told reporters.

He said law enforcement were on site and other security measures were being put in place to ensure staff are safe to continue ballot counting.

But he warned, with the last of the mail-in ballots expected in the coming days, it could be next week before the full result is known.

Joe Biden is leading narrowly in Nevada, and the Trump campaign has threatened to file a lawsuit alleging irregularities, though without providing evidence.

In response to voter fraud claims, Mr Gloria said: "We are not aware of any improper ballots that are being processed."

Chelsea Bailey
Digital producer, BBC News in Atlanta, Georgia

Image source, Reuters

Courtney Herbert cut a solitary figure as she stared down a crowd of President Trump’s supporters outside of the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.

Protesters gathered here on Thursday afternoon to demand that election workers inside the arena stop “stealing” the election from President Trump by continuing to count the remaining legal absentee ballots. Herbert said she was driving by and was surprised to see the crowd.

“I have somewhere to be but this is more important,” she tells me. “I parked my car, walked up with my (Biden) sign and here I am.”

Officials say they are accurately counting each ballot. But that’s not enough for David, who drove to Atlanta from Nashville, Tennessee, to join the protest. He tells me this election has made him question his faith in the government.

“All of the sudden you see jumps in the votes that are irregular on one side or the other it brings into question in the validity of the process,” he says.

“I believe in this country, I believe - in theory - in our electoral process, but when that process is not transparent, I think it’s absolutely necessary for citizens to come out here and to make sure that it is.”

Image source, EPA

If you're just joining us...

Thursday's vote counting hasn't resulted in any new state being projected for either Donald Trump or Joe Biden. But the Democrat appears to be inching forward.

The focus has been on four battleground states:

• Georgia: Trump is still marginally ahead, but his lead has shrunk by 90% - from 18,000 early on Thursday to 1,800. Fewer than 15,000 ballots remain to be tallied as of 05:00 GMT
• Nevada: Biden increased his lead from about 8,000 at the start of the day to more than 11,000 votes
• Pennsylvania: Trump began Thursday with a margin of more than 160,000 votes. But as mail-in ballots were counted, the lead narrowed to fewer than 25,000, with 220,000 votes yet to be processed.
• Arizona is the only potential bright spot for Trump, who appears to be clawing back votes. Biden’s lead in the state fell on Thursday from about 69,000 to 46,000. More than 220,000 ballot are yet to be counted.

Image source, Getty Images

As the election drama continues, let's hark back to the year 2000. Florida may not be the centre of the count rows this time around, but that was where the election was decided 20 years ago.

It was a tight race between Democrat Al Gore and Republican George W Bush, but on election day, it looked as though Gore had it in the bag.

Gore was the clear popular vote winner, but things were closer in the electoral college. Everything hinged on how Florida doled out its votes.

But the Sunshine State was using some questionable election tech at the time. The accuracy of the tallies was called into question and the race was close enough to trigger a recount.

Gore’s team asked for four counties to do that recount by hand, prompting an appeal by the Bush camp.

And then, weeks after the actual election, the US Supreme Court took up the case, eventually ruling in favour of Bush along party lines 5-4.

The recount stopped, Gore conceded and President Bush moved into the White House.

To date, it's the only time an election has been essentially decided by the top court.

Image source, Reuters

Both Republican senators in Georgia are facing challenges from Democrats, who have generally had a disappointing election in their efforts to regain control of the US Senate.

Kelly Loeffler will definitely have to fight a run-off election on 5 January, as she trails Democrat Raphael Warnock by nearly seven percentage points. Georgia election law requires the winning candidate to win 50% of the vote or face a second vote against their nearest rival.

Republican incumbent David Perdue is just short of 50%, as the count continues in the second Senate race, and may have to compete again against Democrat Jon Ossock.

The Democrats needed to gain four seats from the Republicans to win control of the Senate for the first time in six years, but they have only made one gain overall - winning seats in Colorado and Arizona, but losing one in Alabama.

But if they can win both seats in Georgia, the new Senate would be split 50-50 between Republicans and Democrats, with the vice-president hold a casting vote.

Image source, Getty Images

Rick Santorum, a Republican former senator for Pennsylvania, called Trump's news conference on Thursday "dangerous".

In his address the president called legitimate votes "illegal" and accused the media of "election interference" - without evidence.

Speaking on CNN, Santorum said it was "disappointing and shocking" to listen to Trump's remarks.

"I am hopeful that Republicans will stand up at this moment and say what needs to be said about the integrity of our election," he said.

However, not all Republicans are turning against Trump.

Appearing on Sean Hannity's show on Fox News, Senator Lindsey Graham from South Carolina said he didn't trust the counting in Pennsylvania or Nevada. "We need to stand with President Trump because he stood with us," he said.

On the same show, Texas Senator Ted Cruz repeated Trump's unfounded allegations of fraud, and claimed the events of the past three days had been "outrageous and lawless" on the part of the Democrats.