US election odds: Joe Biden ahead in polls but Donald Trump could still make a surprise comeback
Joe Biden is currently leading Donald Trump in the US election polls, but the US President still has time to make a surprise comeback.
The election will be decided by a handful of states that could swing for either Mr Trump or Mr Biden.
In 2016, polls put Hillary Clinton ahead of Mr Trump, but he still won thanks to victories in several swing states.
Mr Biden has a 6.7 per cent lead nationally, according to the Real Clear Politics' (RCP) poll aggregator. However, the race is much tighter in key battleground states, which will ultimately decide the result of the election.
Here's what you need to know:
What are the key battleground states?
The key battleground states are Iowa, Georgia, Ohio, North Carolina, Florida, Texas, Arizona, Pennsylvania.
What do the polls say?
A Biden win in Texas, which hasn't voted for a Democratic nominee for president since 1976, would likely end any chance of Mr Trump's re-election.
As of Tuesday, 9.7 million Texans had cast ballots, approaching 90 per cent of the entire 2016 vote - a higher percentage than any state in the country, according to the U.S. Elections Project at the University of Florida. Mr Trump has a 1.2 per cent average lead over Mr Biden in Texas.
In 2016, Mr Trump carried Pennsylvania by only 44,292 votes out of 6.1 million cast. Mr Biden now has a 2.6 per cent lead over him according to RCP.
US Elections 2020: Trump v Biden Final Presidential Debate
The closest states are North Carolina (Trump +0.2 per cent), Georgia (Trump +0.2 per cent), Arizona (Biden +0.9 per cent) and Texas (Trump +1.2 per cent).
Meanwhile, Mr Biden leads Florida by 1.8 per cent, and Pennsylvania by 2.6 per cent on average.
What are the odds?
While Mr Biden is the bookies favourite, Mr Trump does better with bookies than he does with pollsters.
Paddy Power currently puts Mr Biden at 4/7 to win, or a 63.6 per cent chance of winning. Meanwhile, the site puts Mr Trump at 6/4, or a 40 per cent chance of winning.
Despite the odds, betters have been happy to back a surprise Trump victory, with 61 per cent of bets in October being placed on him to win.
What role will mailed voting play in the election result?
More than 97.6 million Americans have already voted in the November 2020 election.
However, only eight states have said they are confident they will have over 98 per cent of votes counted by midday after the election day.
Is it thought Mr Biden's supporters are more likely to post their vote, due to concerns with safety amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Mr Trump has questioned the integrity of voting by mail, saying it would be "inappropriate" to take extra time to count the tens of millions of ballots.
