The results are tight between Donald Trump and Joe Biden.

Between historical participation and voting by mail, counting the ballots takes time.

The Republican camp has launched legal proceedings to challenge the results.

Observers feared this catastrophic scenario.

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The first results of the American presidential election, which pits Donald Trump against Joe Biden, have fallen.

And already observers fear a disaster scenario.

The outgoing president has already claimed to have won the election while the counts are still pending.

The ballot count could stretch in length as turnout reached an all-time high and nearly 100 million Americans voted early.

The results are currently very close, with none of the candidates reaching the majority of the 270 voters needed for a clear victory.

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A legal battle already at work

Donald Trump could engage in a legal battle to contest the results, or even to stop the counting of ballots.

This is already the case in Pennsylvania, where Republicans have launched two separate proceedings in two counties.

There will even be hearings this Wednesday in the courts and lawyers for the Democrats have joined the fight as well.

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The Trump camp considers that the ballots that are counted so late after the vote are necessarily fraudulent, and that we do not really know where they come from.

In reality, it is the votes of the Americans who voted either by mail or in large cities where the counting is longer. 

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And the situation could still last in time.

In Pennsylvania, the decisive state for the changeover of this election, ballots received up to three days after the election can be accepted, as long as they have been sent on election day, ie Tuesday, November 3.

The delay before knowing a final result can thus be extended by three days. 

Towards a Supreme Court decision? 

Once the outcome is known, legal proceedings can proceed to the Supreme Court, the highest legal body in the United States.

The latter has a conservative majority: three judges out of nine were appointed by Donald Trump.

The latest, Amy Coney Barrett, replaces Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died last September. 

Before the start of the elections, Donald Trump had already said: he relies on the Supreme Court to give him his victory in the event of a dispute.

Such a scenario means that the announcement of a final result could take several weeks.