HOUSTON — The presidential election hinges on the outcome of tight contests in key battleground states including Pennsylvania and Georgia where Democratic candidate Joe Biden took a very slight lead on Friday morning. Winning the electoral votes in Pennsylvania would get Biden to the necessary number of electoral votes to win the presidency, according to most projections. Winning Georgia would give him enough to win, according to The Associated Press.
As of 8:30 a.m. Central time the Associated Press had not yet called either state for either of the candidates, however.
Votes are still being counted in several states, and neither candidate has reached the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the White House, though Biden has the advantage after eclipsing Trump in Wisconsin and Michigan, two crucial Midwestern battleground states, earlier this week.
2020 BALANCE OF POWER: View the 270 electoral vote tracker map
So how many electoral votes do Pennsylvania and Georgia give to the winning candidate? They are big, and they are crucial if President Trump wishes to be reelected.
Georgia gives 16 electoral votes and Pennsylvania gives 20 electoral votes.
ALSO READ: How many electoral votes each state gets
As of 8:30 a.m., the Associated Press has projected 264 electoral votes for Biden and 214 for Trump. This means a projected win from either of these states, or any state, would give Biden the win, according to the AP.
But I saw a different electoral count somewhere else?
It is true some networks, including CBS News and CNN, have not yet given Arizona to Biden.
Here's why you may see different Electoral College numbers in different places: When watching KHOU 11 News or visiting KHOU.com, you may notice the Electoral College count might be different than what you see on various networks. For instance, right now, KHOU has 264 electoral votes for Joe Biden. But many networks have a slightly lower number for Biden. There's an explanation. KHOU 11 is using The Associated Press for results. They have processes in place to handle the influx of votes, counts and results that may differ from how the networks count. See what the current AP count is. The big difference -- the Associated Press has called Arizona for Biden, while most networks have not. Read more about this process here and why other networks/publications may show a different number.
TEGNA Staff and the Associated Press contributed to this report