US President Donald Trump has sought transparency into vote counting and election certification and asserted that he will pursue this process through every aspect of the law to guarantee that Americans have confidence in the government. “We believe the American people deserve to have full transparency into all vote counting and election certification, and that this is no longer about any single election. This is about the integrity of our entire election process," Trump said in a statement issued by his campaign on Friday.
Trump is trailing behind his Democratic challenger Joe Biden in the presidential elections. Latest voting count indicates that Biden and his running mate Senator Kamala Harris are on the cusp of a historic victory. Trump has challenged the authenticity of the elections, alleging massive voters fraud and electoral malpractice. “From the beginning, we have said that all legal ballots must be counted and all illegal ballots should not be counted, yet we have met resistance to this basic principle by Democrats at every turn, he said.
"We will pursue this process through every aspect of the law to guarantee that the American people have confidence in our government. I will never give up fighting for you and our nation," Trump said.
The Trump campaign had said Friday that "this election is not over" as his challenger Joe Biden edged closer to victory in the cliffhanger White House race.
The statement came after Biden overcame the president's lead in the key battleground state of Pennsylvania, putting him in position to win its 20 electoral votes. A win in Pennsylvania would give Biden the presidency, as he currently holds at least 253 of the 270 electoral votes needed.
"This election is not over," a statement from campaign general counsel Matt Morgan said while making further allegations of irregularities. "The false projection of Joe Biden as the winner is based on results in four states that are far from final."
With tens of thousands of votes remaining to be counted in Pennsylvania, many of them from heavily Democratic areas, Biden opened up a 5,500-vote lead over the Republican incumbent, real-time state election results showed.
Biden currently has at least 253 electoral votes and is leading in three other states -- Arizona, Georgia and Nevada -- where votes from Tuesday's bitterly contested election continue to be counted.
With his reelection hopes fading, Trump is making it clear, however, that he is not ready to accept defeat, launching unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud and claiming that he won.
In an extraordinary appearance at the White House on Thursday, Trump himself claimed that he had been cheated out of reelection. "They are trying to steal the election," Trump said.
With a Biden victory looking increasingly likely, the US Secret Service increased its protective bubble around the former vice president, The Washington Post reported Friday. The Secret Service sent an extra squad of agents to Biden's campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, the newspaper said.
The Secret Service, an agency under the Department of Homeland Security, is charge or protecting the White House and senior government officials, visiting high officials, and others.
(With inputs from PTI, AFP)