US elections 2020: This is turning out to be one of those years where nothing comes easy. The United States Presidential elections are another example of the same. The outcome hangs in the balance by Wednesday night as nine states continued to count ballots, including some of the most competitive battleground states where the tally could take days to complete. As per Reuters, Democratic nominee Joe Biden has an edge over Republican President Donald Trump with 264 to 214 electoral votes.  

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Here is how long counting of votes can take: 

Alaska 

Trump has a wide lead and is broadly expected to carry the state. Still, just 47% of the expected vote has been counted, with Trump ahead by 62.9% to 33%. 

Arizona 

Biden has a significant lead, and the Associated Press and Fox News have already called the state for the Democrat. 

With 86% of the expected vote counted, Biden leads with 51.0% against 47.6% for Trump, according to Edison Research. Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs told ABC News that Maricopa County, which includes heavily populated Phoenix, had about 400,000 outstanding ballots to be counted and would release more results on Wednesday at 7 p.m. 

MST (0200 GMT Thursday), and again at 9:30 p.m 

MST (0430 GMT Thursday). 

Georgia 

Trump is holding onto a narrow lead, but several of the large counties around Atlanta that lean Democratic have substantial numbers of ballots still to count. 

With 94% of the expected vote counted, Trump is ahead with 50.0% versus 48.8% for Biden. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said he hoped to have a result by the end of Wednesday. Under Georgia law, if the margin between the candidates is less than or equal to 0.5 percentage point, a candidate may request a recount within two business days following the certification of results. 

Nevada 

Edison Research data shows 86% of the expected vote is in and Biden's lead is just 49.3% to 48.7% for Trump. State officials expect the remaining votes - largely mail-in ballots - to be counted by 9 a.m. 

PST (1700 GMT) on Thursday 

Clark County, the state's largest and home to Las Vegas, has tallied 84% of expected votes so far and Biden is ahead there 52.9% versus 45.4% for Trump. 

North Carolina 

The margin between Trump and Biden is less than 2 percentage points as the president clings to a lead of 50.1% to 48.7% for the Democrat, with 95% of the expected vote counted. The state allows mail-in ballots postmarked by Tuesday to be counted if they are received by November 12. 

On Wednesday morning, the Biden campaign said it expected a final result to take several days, and state officials said later on Wednesday that a full result would not be known until next week. 

Pennsylvania

Of the battleground states, Pennsylvania has the furthest to go in counting votes, and Trump so far maintains a lead. 

With 85% of the expected vote counted, Trump is up 51.7% to 47.1% for Biden. Officials there can accept mailed-in ballots up to three days after the election if they are postmarked by Tuesday. 

About 1 million votes remain to be counted, Governor Tom Wolf, a Democrat, said on Wednesday. If the margin of victory is within half of 1%, state law requires a recount.