As the counting of votes continues and nears completion, Joe Biden is now almost certain to be declared the winner of the presidential election and become the 46th president of the United States. 

Joe Biden currently leads the Electoral College count 253-213.

Six states remain to be awarded to either candidate – Pennsylvania, Arizona, Alaska, Georgia, North Carolina, and Nevada.

President Trump is widely expected to win Alaska and North Carolina, and could very well eke out a victory in Arizona as well, despite the race there having been called for Joe Biden by both Fox News and the Associated Press.

The real problem for President Trump lies in the remainder of the states. Overnight, Joe Biden took over the lead in votes in Pennsylvania and Georgia, and currently is ahead of the president by several thousand votes in each of those states. And Biden has consistently led in Nevada

If Biden ends up winning Pennsylvania, he will have 273 electoral votes, enough to secure the presidency.

If Biden wins Georgia, he will be one electoral vote away from becoming president, having to just win Nevada and Arizona, both states where he’s currently leading and is still expected to win (more so in Nevada than Arizona).

Legal challenges by President Trump’s team to stop the counting and/or throw out ballots have so far not stood up in court.

But the president said Friday morning that the US Supreme Court should have the ultimate say over who is the victor in the election, and will most likely mount a significant legal challenge if Biden is declared the winner, as is almost certain to happen.

The question is when Biden will be declared. It can happen either sometime Friday, and if not, then probably tomorrow.