Pennsylvania, Michigan Could Tip Election

The result of the 2020 presidential election remains up in the air as of Wednesday morning -- and it could hinge on the outcome in three key states: Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Biden so far stands at 238 electoral votes and Trump at 213. The winner needs at least 270.

Multiple routes to victory remain open for both candidates and results in other contested states still counting ballots -- such as Georgia and North Carolina -- could shift those paths. But as Americans wait for answers, The Associated Press reports the results largely hang on those three battlegrounds, all of which are still counting ballots.

Poll analysis site FiveThirtyEight says Biden's "easiest path to victory" is through the three states.

President Donald Trump carried all three states in 2016, but Democratic nominee Joe Biden was favored to win them in 2020 going into Election Day. Before then, they were all considered potential tipping points in the race, according to FiveThirtyEight.

As the election outcome remains unclear, here's when results are could come in for the three states.

Michigan:

Electoral votes: 16

When results are expected: Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said she expects to "have a very clear picture if not a final picture" of the outcome by Wednesday night, according to The New York Times.

More than 1 million ballots remain to be counted in Michigan as of early Wednesday, and The Associated Press has said the race between Trump and Biden is too close to call in the state.

Biden pulled ahead in the state Wednesday morning, and the AP reports many of the uncounted votes were mail-in ballots from heavily Democratic areas.

Trump narrowly carried Michigan in 2016 with 47.5% of the vote compared to Democrat Hillary Clinton's 47.3%, per Ballotpedia. It was the first time the state picked a Republican for president since 1988, when George H.W. Bush beat Democrat Michael Dukakis.

Pennsylvania

Electoral votes: 20

When results are expected: Most votes are expected to be counted by Friday, officials tell The New York Times.

Election officials in Pennsylvania couldn't start counting votes until 7 a.m. Tuesday, according to FiveThirtyEight, and Nov. 6 is the deadline for most mailed ballots to arrive.

So far, results have favored Trump, but the remaining votes are expected to favor Biden, per The New York Times.

About 1 million mail ballots still need to be counted in Pennsylvania, Gov. Tom Wolf said on Twitter early Wednesday.

"What's most important is that we have accurate results and that every vote is counted, even if that takes a little longer," Wolf said Tuesday night, according to the AP. "So I'm urging Pennsylvania to just to remain calm, be patient, stay united on election night and in the days ahead."

Pennsylvania, where Biden spent 10 years of his childhood, was the state FiveThirtyEight said was most likely to tip the election, with a 36.5% chance. On Tuesday, it called Pennsylvania the "most tenuous" of the three states.

Trump scraped by in the state in 2016 with 48.2% of the vote, according to Ballotpedia. It was the first election in which Pennsylvania was won by a Republican since 1988.

Wisconsin

Electoral votes: 10

When results are expected: Officials tell The New York Times absentee ballots should be counted Wednesday morning, and FiveThirtyEight says full results should be in sometime Wednesday.

The race is "razor-thin" in Wisconsin as of Wednesday morning, according to the AP. Nearly all votes have been counted and Biden is ahead by "less than three-tenths of a percentage point."

Regardless of who wins the state, its electoral votes won't be enough to put one candidate over the edge, according to AP.

Trump narrowly won in Wisconsin in 2016, claiming 47.2% of the vote compared to Clinton's 46.5%, per Ballotpedia. It was the first election since 1984 -- when President Ronald Reagan defeated Democrat Walter Mondale -- that the state went for a Republican.

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