Joe Biden takes the steering of the United States

After several days of indefiniteness, Mr Joe Biden wins the President election in the US, something that even the whole world was eagerly looking upon. Biden secured enough votes in the US electoral college and will become the next president of the United States.

After a long and drawn-out counting process exacerbated by a large number of mail-in ballots, the Democratic nominee crossed the 270-vote threshold.

It was a dramatic turn of events from early on election night, when incumbent Donald Trump looked likely to sweep the race, taking the swing state of Florida. Mr Trump’s campaign is still set on a series of legal challenges over alleged irregularities in the electoral process in several states.

As the days wore on, voters looked on as Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina and Nevada continued counting ballots. Pennsylvania put Mr Biden over the 270-vote threshold in the electoral college to win the presidency.

President-elect Biden will address the nation following his election victory at 8pm Eastern Time this evening. His presidential campaign announced that Mr Biden and his wife, Jill, and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff will appear at a drive-in rally outside the convention centre in Wilmington, Delaware.

Kamala Harris – the first US woman Vice President

Meanwhile, Kamala Harris wrote several titles under her name in the record book, as the first black woman elected as vice president of the United States, shattering barriers that have kept men – almost all of them white – entrenched at the highest levels of American politics for more than two centuries.

The 56-year-old California senator, also the first person of South Asian descent elected to the vice presidency, represents the multiculturalism that defines America but is largely absent from Washington’s power centres.

Her black identity has allowed her to speak in personal terms in a year of reckoning over police brutality and systemic racism. As the highest-ranking woman yet elected in American government, her victory gives hope to women who were devastated by Hillary Clinton’s defeat four years ago.

‘A President for all Americans’: Joe Biden

Joe Biden secured enough votes in the US electoral college at 11.25am EST on Saturday to become the 46th president of the United States. The Democratic nominee crossed the 270-vote threshold by winning the state of Pennsylvania after a long and drawn-out counting process exacerbated by a large number of mail-in ballots.

Reacting to his victory, Mr Biden repeated his vow to work for all Americans. “America, I’m honoured that you have chosen me to lead our great country,” the president-elect wrote on Twitter. “The work ahead of us will be hard, but I promise you this: I will be a President for all Americans – whether you voted for me or not.”

Mr Trump, unwilling to accept

However, Mr Trump has refused to accept the election results, continuing to repeat his false claims of voter fraud with mail-in-ballots despite zero evidence of fraudulent ballots. He first claimed to be headed for victory early on election night, tweeting: “We are up BIG, but they are trying to STEAL the Election,” a missive both Facebook and Twitter hid behind labels telling users it was potentially misleading.

In a later speech, he said he would seek the US Supreme Court to stop the vote count for early ballots in key states where he led the race. “We want all voting to stop. We don’t want them to find any ballots at four o’clock in the morning and add them to the list,” he said.