US President, Donald Trump has reiterated claims that widespread voter fraud has tarnished the United States presidential election, which remains too close to call as ballot counting continues in several key states.
In an address at the White House, the US president has accused pollsters as well as the Democratic Party of engaging in fraud.
“If you count the legal votes, I easily win,” said Trump, adding that if “illegal votes” are counted, “they can try to steal the election from us”.
Trump did not provide any evidence to back up any of the fraud claims he made during his speech. It was the first time the Republican leader addressed the nation since election night.
Meanwhile, Mr Trump’s opponent, Joe Biden has called for patience as “all votes must be counted.”
The Democratic candidate tweeted, “Democracy is sometimes messy, so sometimes it requires a little patience. But that patience has been rewarded now for more than 240 years with a system of governance that has been the envy of the world.”
Earlier in brief remarks delivered at a theatre in Delaware, Mr Biden also said he feels “very good” about the outcome of the presidential election and told his supporters to “stay calm” as votes continue to be counted.
“It is the will of the voters – no one, not anyone else – who chooses the president of the United States of America,” he said.
Joe Biden insists that “the process is working” and “we’ll know very soon” the outcome of the election. He and his top campaign officials have expressed confidence about the vote but have stressed the need for every ballot to be counted.
Arrests made as protesters demand vote count
Police have arrested dozens of people in Seattle, Minneapolis and Portland, Oregon during protests demanding the count of all votes in the US election, while smaller groups backing Trump returned to tabulation sites to insist counting be halted.
In Seattle, seven people were arrested. In Minneapolis, police arrested more than 600 demonstrators who marched onto an interstate protesting Trump’s threats to challenge the election results.
In Portland, protesters smashed windows at businesses, hurled objects including fireworks at officers. According to a statement from the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office, Police made at least 10 arrests.
In New York, hundreds of people paraded past boarded-up stores and in Chicago, demonstrators marched through downtown across the river from Trump Tower. Protesters also gathered in cities including Los Angeles, Houston, Pittsburgh and San Diego.
Additionally, Facebook said it has taken down a rapidly growing group in which Trump supporters posted misinformation, violent rhetoric and organised protests against the baseless claim that Democrats were stealing the election.
“The group was organised around the delegitimisation of the election process, and we saw worrying calls for violence from some members of the group,” a Facebook spokeswoman said in a statement.
She said the move was in line with measures Facebook was taking during “this period of heightened tension”.
The “Stop the Steal” group, which called for “boots on the ground to protect the integrity of the vote”, had garnered more than 365,000 members in one day.
