US Presidential Election: If Joe Biden wins all the states won by 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and gains Michigan, Wisconsin and Arizona, both he and Donald Trump would end up on 269 votes.
In the US Election 2020, as voters await the results of the presidential race between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden, questions have been raised about the possibility of a tie.
President Trump won a series of key battlegrounds early on Wednesday morning, including Florida, Ohio and Iowa. However Joe Biden picked up a win in Wisconsin while fighting Donald Trump in other battleground states that could prove crucial in determining who wins the White House.
The candidates are battling to secure 270 electoral seats in the House of Representatives. However neither candidate has cleared the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the White House and the margins were tight in several other battleground states.
This has raised a pertinent question as to what happens if there is a tie between the Republican and the Democrat contestant.
US Presidential Election: Why situation of tie can arise
After a flurry of states reported their results during the early hours of Thursday, Biden was on 220 votes, whereas Trump on 213 votes.
The remaining Electoral College votes leave several routes for either candidate to win the election - or for the poll to end in a tie.
If Biden wins all the states won by 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and gains Michigan, Wisconsin and Arizona, both he and Trump would end up on 269 votes.
A tie would also arise if Joe Biden wins everything that Hillary Clinton did, plus Michigan and Pennsylvania - after he won one of Nebraska's five electoral votes.
US Election results: What happens in case of a tie
With there being an even number of electoral votes, this is a possibility.
There are total 538 electoral votes up for grabs, with a fixed number of electors representing each state based roughly on the size of its population.
A draw is possible only at 269 votes each, although its very unlikely.
If no candidate gains a majority of votes in the electoral college, it would be over to the US Congress to decide.
It would be the members of Congress elected in the 2020 elections who would take on this responsibility.
The House of Representatives would vote to decide the president, with each state delegation having one vote - a majority of 26 is needed for a candidate to become president.
The Senate would choose the vice-president, with all 100 senators having a vote.
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