Morning! If you’ve just woken up and you’re catching up on the news, you might feel like you’ve missed out on a lot overnight.

As it stands, current President Donald Trump, the Republican candidate, and his opponent Joe Biden, the Democratic candidate, are neck and neck at the polls – and it’s impossible to call.

Although the polls predicted a huge majority for Biden, now it’s come down to the wire it’s much closer than expected.

With a number of key swing states unable to declare hours after polls closing due to the sheer amount of postal ballots to count, it still could go either way.

Those who have sat through the entire night at Metro.co.uk have summarised the key things you missed while you were getting your beauty sleep.

It wasn’t the landslide win predicted for Biden

Although the polls predicted a landslide for Biden, it certainly hasn’t turned out that way so far as the results begin to emerge.

Trump and Biden have now both claimed to be surging ahead in the election but many swing states are still to be announced.

Making his first appearance of the night, Biden insisted he is ‘on track to win’, sparking an immediate response from Trump who said ‘we are up BIG’ along with an unfounded claim that the Democrats are trying to ‘steal the election’.

Speaking on stage, Biden said he is still in the race to win Georgia after he picked up the first two battleground states of the night, Minnesota and New Hampshire.

Biden spoke to a chorus of honking cars to urge his supporters to ‘keep the faith.’

‘We’re gonna win this,’ Biden said, ‘We feel good about where we are.’

But Trump has been buoyed by early results that show he is outperforming many election predictions, winning the prized battleground state of Florida, and further wins in Kansas, North Dakota and other conservative bastions.

Despite this Biden won California, the nation’s biggest electoral haul, and other predictable victories including Colorado and Virginia, two former battlegrounds that have become Democratic strongholds.

Trump held the key state of Florida

After keen pollsters kept their eyes peeled overnight to see what was going to happen to Florida, around 4.30am the result was finally revealed.

Trump was declared the winner of the election race in Florida – holding it after previously winning the state in 2016.

Considered one of the ‘battleground’ key states needed to retain his presidency, it has handed Trump hope that he could be spending the next four years in the White House.

The state has 29 electoral college votes and is famous for swinging between the Democrats and Republicans.

Before Trump, previous presidents Barack Obama in 2012 and 2008 and George Bush in 2004 won the state.

Biden appears to have flipped Arizona

It appears Biden has stolen the state of Arizona from Trump’s grasp as Fox News has predicted a Democratic win.

If Biden does clinch that win, it will make Biden the first Democrat to win the staunchly Republican Grand Canyon State since Bill Clinton in 1996.

Biden is also only second Democrat to win in Arizona in 70 years.

Arizona was a state hit dramatically by coronavirus due its Governor, Doug Ducey, siding with Trump and not following proper health and safety procedures.

Trump censored on Twitter (again)

Trump was instantly censored by Twitter after he tweeted that he was ‘up big.’

The president tweeted on Tuesday after Joe Biden spoke in Wilmington, Delaware, which led the social media company to censor his account.

Trump said, ‘We are up BIG, but they are trying to STEAL the Election. We will never let them do it. Votes cannot be cast after the Polls are closed!’

Twitter announced in September that it would label or remove posts that prematurely declare a victory in the US election, be it Trump or Joe Biden.

It also announced that it would take down posts that ‘prevent a peaceful transfer of power,’ an action that Trump has not been able to fully commit to when asked repeatedly over the last few weeks.

Twitter has previously added warning labels to many of Trumps tweets, which included misinformation based on QAnon conspiracy theories and mail-in ballots.

The social media giant has taken heat from both the left and the right for its stance on censoring tweets.

Some states have voted to legalise marijuana

Two states have green-lighted recreational weed, it has been projected.

New Jersey and Arizona will let people aged 21 and older use marijuana for personal purposes, having already legalised it for medical reasons, according to voter analysis by NBC News.

Mississippi, Montana and South Dakota also have marijuana legislation on their 2020 ballots, with results in those contests expected later this evening.

History has been made in the LGBT books

And the history books have been hit in the US elections in a number of ways this year.

Sarah McBride has made history after being the first transgender woman to ever be elected as a state senator.

The Democrat, who is a champion for LGBT+ rights and human rights, held the state senate seat for Delaware in the 2020 US election.

Although there are a few transgender politicians who sit in state legislatures, there are currently no openly transgender politicians in a state’s upper chamber.

And the first gay black members of Congress ever have also been elected – Richie Torres and Mondaire Jones in New York.

Richie Torres was announced to have held the safe Democratic position in New York’s 15th District soon after polls closed. He replaced retiring representative José Serrano.

And Mondaire Jones, another Democratic nominee in New York, also joined Torres shortly after, replacing retiring Nita Lowey in the Democratic 17th District.

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US election 2020

Follow our US election live blog for the latest updates throughout election day and night.

Wondering how it all works? Check out our guide to the most Googled questions on the 2020 election which covers everything you need to know about swing states, the electoral college, and everything in between.

• What are this year’s swing states?
• How to watch the US Election in the UK: Start time, channels, and what to expect
• When will the US election result be announced?
• What happens if the US election result is delayed?
• US election results map live: Who is currently in the lead?

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