Donald Trump has released a statement indicating that he will not accept the result of the US election after Joe Biden was projected to win.
The president will finish his term when Joe Biden is inaugurated on January 20th, unless there is a legal battle.
Joe Biden has promised to be a “President for all Americans” after topping the 270 electoral college votes needed for victory over Donald Trump in the US presidential race.
READ MORE: US election 2020: Joe Biden wins US presidential election
The former vice-president was called as the winner of Pennsylvania on Saturday, meaning he has an insurmountable lead in the race for the White House.
Despite this, Mr Trump said in a statement he considers the election “far from over” as he repeated unsubstantiated claims of fraudulent ballots and vowed to press ahead with legal action.
READ MORE: What happens if Donald Trump doesn't concede the US election?
He said: “We all know why Joe Biden is rushing to falsely pose as the winner and why his media allies are trying so hard to help him: they don’t want the truth to be exposed. The simple fact is this election is far from over.
“Joe Biden has not been certified as the winner of any states, let alone any of the highly contested states headed for mandatory recounts, or states where our campaign has valid and legitimate legal challenges that could determine the ultimate victor.
“In Pennsylvania, for example, our legal observers were not permitted meaningful access to watch the counting process. Legal votes decide who is president, not the news media.”
Mr Trump added: “Beginning (on) Monday, our campaign will start prosecuting our case in court to ensure election laws are fully upheld and the rightful winner is seated.
“The American people are entitled to an honest election: that means counting all legal ballots and not counting any illegal ballots.
“This is the only way to ensure the public has full confidence in our election.
“It remains shocking that the Biden campaign refuses to agree with this basic principle and wants ballots counted even if they are fraudulent, manufactured or cast by ineligible or deceased voters.
“Only a party engaged in wrongdoing would unlawfully keep observers out of the count room – and then fight in court to block their access.
“So what is Biden hiding? I will not rest until the American people have the honest vote count they deserve and that democracy demands.”
On Saturday morning, a top election official dismissed Mr Trump’s claims of voter fraud.
Mr Trump posted a number of tweets on Saturday, alleging that “bad things” happened, referring to votes being “illegally received” and insisting he has won “by a lot”.
But Federal Election Commission commissioner Ellen Weintraub said there has been no evidence of voter fraud.
READ MORE: US president election: Politicians congratulate Joe Biden on US election win
Speaking on CNN after Mr Trump’s string of tweets – which were flagged by Twitter as containing information about the election that may be “misleading” – Democrat Ms Weintraub said: “State and local officials, and poll workers throughout the country, really stepped up.
“And there have been very few complaints about how this election has run.
“Very few substantiated complaints, let me put it that way. There is no evidence of any kind of voter fraud.
“There is no evidence of illegal votes being cast.
“In fact, and you don’t have to take my word for it because people throughout the country, non-partisan election experts have come out and hailed this election and how it was run.
“If you want to look at the state of Pennsylvania, which the president seems to be focused on, Senator (Pat) Toomey has come out and said he has seen no evidence of fraud there.
“The Republican leader of the state senate there has also said he has seen no evidence of fraud.”
She added: “There really has been no evidence of fraud. None of the complaints have attached any evidence of fraud.
“Really, we should feel very proud of ourselves.”
Mr Trump said there will be a “big press conference” in Philadelphia on Saturday afternoon UK time, adding on Twitter: “I WON THIS ELECTION, BY A LOT!”
Twitter flagged this tweet, saying official sources may not have called the race when it was tweeted.
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