International: Former President Donald Trump won the second battleground state of Georgia on Tuesday, returning its 16 electoral votes to the Republican column. With Trump’s victory in Georgia, the state becomes the first to flip from the 2020 results. According to races called by the Associated Press up to 12:01 pm (IST), 247 electoral votes had gone to Republican candidate Trump and 214 to Democratic Party's Kamala Harris.

At the time the race was called, Trump was leading by 125,000 votes. Almost all advance votes in Georgia had been reported. His lead was larger than what Harris could be expected to make up from the remaining votes in Democratic strongholds. Trump was slightly ahead of his 2020 performance in enough counties to erase the deficit of less than 12,000 votes by which he lost Georgia four years ago.

What happened in 2020?

In 2020, Joe Biden narrowly won Georgia, marking a rare Democratic victory in a state that has otherwise consistently favoured Republicans in every presidential race since 1996. After his loss, Trump tried to overturn his 2020 loss in Georgia, setting off a political and legal struggle that led to his indictment in the state. 

Trump lost Georgia four years ago to Democrat Joe Biden by 11,779 votes — a number that became memorable after he pleaded with Georgia election officials to help him find one more vote than that to overtake Biden’s victory. He was later charged criminally in Georgia in a sweeping racketeering indictment and has pleaded not guilty.

 Trump wins North Carolina

Former President Donald Trump won the battleground state of North Carolina on Tuesday, the Associated Press said at 9.50 am. Trump receives the state's 16 electoral votes after defeating Democratic nominee Kamala Harris.

When the AP declared Trump the winner, he was leading by over 130,000 votes with nearly 90% of the expected votes counted. Compared to the 2020 election, voter turnout was up in many areas that Trump was carrying, but down in many areas that Harris was winning. Trump beat Biden in North Carolina in 2020 by less than 2 percentage points.

Trump also won the state in 2016 and 2020, but Democrats had been optimistic they could reverse previous outcomes with campaign spending, canvassing and Harris rallies.

They also tried to link Trump to embattled Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson. But Trump and running mate JD Vance visited North Carolina often during the fall campaign, pushing a more protectionist economic agenda and promises to crack down on illegal immigration and the southern border.