PHOENIX — After Maricopa County updated results from roughly 70,000 ballots Friday evening, Joe Biden's lead in Arizona over President Donald Trump has slimmed slightly.
Biden now leads Trump in Arizona by 29,861 votes.
After the Maricopa County 7 p.m. ballot count update, Biden's lead has slimmed by over 6,000 votes.
Biden now has 49.72% of the vote in Arizona while Trump has 48.90%.
While the Associated Press called Arizona for Biden at just before 1 a.m. on Wednesday, votes continue to be counted in the state, bringing the race closer.
The Maricopa County Elections Department said it would announce what could be the final major ballot update Saturday morning.
There are about 164,500 ballots left to count across Arizona.
About two hours prior to Maricopa County's 9 a.m. update, Biden had taken the lead in Pennsylvania and Georgia over Trump. The president needs to win both of those states to win reelection, according to current vote counts.
Before Maricopa County's 9 a.m. update, Biden led Trump in Arizona by 47,052 votes, a lead that had narrowed on Wednesday and Thursday and now on Friday.
Maricopa County will continue updates "until all valid ballots are counted," the department announced in an email.
The Associated Press and Fox News have already determined that Biden had enough votes over Trump to win Arizona. NBC News, the decision desk that 12 News is primarily using, has not called the race yet.
According to Maricopa County election officials, 1,931,201 voters cast a ballot, which represents about 74.41% of total eligible voters.
The remaining ballots include:
- 142,000 early ballots left to process and tabulate
- 15,949 provisional ballots left to process
- 5,033 early ballots left to verify
It was not immediately known when the final vote count would be released.
Maricopa County Elections Department spokeswoman Erika Flores said, "We have not had any issues with any of the vote counts. We are continuing to count those votes and continuing with our process. We are making sure that every valid ballot is counted.”
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey issued a statement on Thursday night, as election officials continued to count ballots.
Ducey thanked voters for having patience and said "dramatic changes" to races up and down the ballot "underlines the importance of not jumping to conclusions."
According to Arizona law, the election results have to be certified in 20 days.
You can watch Maricopa County election workers count ballots live here.
You can see the latest results and voter turnout on the Arizona Secretary of State's Office or the Maricopa County Elections Department.
Voters can track their early ballot online at BeBallotReady.Vote.
