What’s happening in the US election in 500 words

Biden formally introduces economic advisers as Trump attacks Republican governors in states he lost.

United States President-elect Joe Biden formally introduced his top economic policy advisers on Tuesday, including his nominee for Treasury Secretary, Janet Yellen.

The announcement comes as Biden prepares to take power amid a reeling economy undercut by the coronavirus pandemic.

“I know times are tough but I want you to know that help is on the way,” Biden said from the Wilmington, Delaware event.

Meanwhile, the Associated Press reported that President Donald Trump has raised $170m since the election as part of an aggressive drive amid his continued, and baseless, allegations of widespread fraud.

According to the fine print, a portion of the donations to support Trump’s attempts to overturn the election go to his newly launched political action committee (PAC) Save America. A portion of each donation is also directed to the Republican National Committee.

On Monday, Wisconsin certified its election results with Biden as the victor following a hand recount in the state’s two largest counties. The state has 10 electoral votes.

By Tuesday, Trump had filed a lawsuit seeking to disqualify about 221,000 ballots in those counties, Dane and Milwaukee, claiming that large batches of absentee mail ballots were illegally cast. Local officials rejected those claims during the recount. The president is challenging procedures that have been in place for years and never been found to be illegal.

In Arizona, state officials also certified their results on Monday as another victory for Biden. Trump swiftly attacked the state’s Republican Governor Doug Ducey, saying he was “rushing to put a Democrat in office” and vowing “Republicans will long remember!”

Ducey, in a string of tweets, defended the voting system in the state, while acknowledging that the certification triggers a five-day window “for any elector to bring a credible challenge to the election results in court”.

In Georgia, Trump has also attacked Republican Governor Brian Kemp, saying on Sunday that he was “ashamed” of endorsing Kemp and on Monday calling Kemp “hapless”.

Georgia certified its vote results, which saw Biden winning by over 12,000 votes, on November 20 after a full hand recount. The Trump campaign has since requested another recount, at the expense of state taxpayers.

Trump is set to visit Georgia over the weekend to support Republican Senate candidates Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue in January runoff elections that will decide which party controls the US Senate.

Biden is currently projected to win 360 electoral votes, well above the 270 threshold needed for victory under the US Electoral College system. Electors are set to cast their votes on December 14 and they will be approved by Congress by January 6.

Trump, who has continued to refuse to concede the race, would need to overturn results in at least three close states to change the overall outcome.

The president received yet another blow to his election challenge on Tuesday, when his Attorney General, William Barr, told the Associated Press the agency has not uncovered widespread fraud that could have turned the election.