Joe Biden projected to win presidency as vote counting continues in Centre County
While Democrat Joe Biden has been projected by major media outlets to become the 46th president of the United States, work continues in Centre County to count every ballot.
Biden defeated President Donald Trump after more than three days of uncertainty while counties in battleground states such as Pennsylvania sorted through a surge of mail-in votes that delayed the processing and tabulating of some ballots. Biden, 77, and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris crossed 270 Electoral College votes with a projected win in the Keystone State Saturday afternoon.
“It’s time for America to unite. And to heal,” Biden said in a statement. “With the campaign over, it’s time to put the anger and harsh rhetoric behind us and come together as a nation. There’s nothing we can’t do if we do it together.”
The Centre County board of elections met Saturday morning to continue processing mail-in and provisional ballots cast in the November general election. With about 600 ballots still needing to be processed, Commissioner Michael Pipe said the county is still working to finish the count and remain transparent in the democratic process.
“Regardless of any calls or projections that anybody is making, we are still committed to counting every vote,” Commissioner Michael Pipe said Saturday, following a three-hour board of elections meeting. “We have approximately ... 600 ballots that still need to be processed. For us, that’s important to do. We need to make sure that we are being diligent with every single vote.”
It is unlikely the 600 ballots cast by Centre County voters will impact the results of the presidential election, but Pipe said the county remains focused on “working diligently” to accomplish the task at hand.
“Even though there have been calls, even though there have been projections for who would win the presidency, we have other races we still need to focus on,” he said. “If there’s a recount for any of these races, that would be either automatically or if it’s due to the candidate, we need to have everything ready to do a recount.”
According to most recent unofficial county elections results, 77,394 total ballots have been counted as of Saturday afternoon. Of those, 39,711 are for Biden and 36,041 are for Trump.
Statewide election results report a victory for the Biden-Harris ticket, showing 3,344,182 votes cast for Biden and 3,310,423 votes cast for Trump.
Despite the projected Pennsylvania results giving Biden enough Electoral College votes to secure the presidency, Trump has refused to concede, threatening further legal action on ballot counting.
On Friday, Sen. Jake Corman, R-Benner Township, and House Speaker Bryan Cutler held a press conference in Harrisburg to discuss concerns about election security, integrity and the result certification process. The Republican leaders expressed concern with how the Department of State conducted the general election and claimed it did not adhere to election code, but neither leader said they were aware of any voter fraud or election misconduct.
U.S. Rep. Fred Keller, R-Kreamer, echoed Republican calls for legal action on ballot counting Saturday.
“The citizens of the United States, not media outlets, determine the outcome of elections,” Keller wrote on Twitter. “With recounts and legal challenges expected, we must let the process play out. Count every legal vote.”
United States Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., released a statement Saturday, congratulating Biden and Harris on their projected win.
“I congratulate President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on their victory in this campaign,” Casey wrote. “It’s now time to unite and heal our nation so we can build back better. Coming together as one nation, we can defeat the virus, rebuild our economy for workers and families and provide a brighter future for our children.”
In a statement, Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., congratulated both Trump and Biden on running “hard, spirited campaigns that have inspired record civic engagement,” but said the announcement by the media of the election’s outcome is a projection.
“Given the extremely close result, the American people must be assured that the process is being conducted with integrity,” he wrote. “This means campaign representatives must have meaningful access to observe whether the law is being followed. I strongly encourage all state and local officials to ensure that this happens as the election process is completed.”
This story was originally published November 7, 2020 at 2:23 PM.
