Trump’s Pennsylvania lead shrinks as counties wrap up counts

    President-elect Donald Trump’s margin of victory in Pennsylvania is shrinking as more counties wrap up final tallies.

    An updated count Friday by state election officials shows Trump’s lead shrinking to 49,000 from 71,000 over Democrat Hillary Clinton.

    That puts Trump’s lead at 0.8 percent, down from over 1 percent, out of 6 million votes cast. It’s still shy of Pennsylvania’s 0.5 percent trigger for an automatic statewide recount. Trump’s Pennsylvania victory was crucial to capturing the White House.

    The update comes as Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein spearheads recount efforts in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, states where Trump narrowly beat Clinton.

    • WHYY thanks our sponsors — become a WHYY sponsor

    Trump’s lead in Pennsylvania dropped as counties wrapped up the counting of overseas ballots and settled provisional ballot challenges.

    Some counties are also fielding precinct recount requests, and final counts are outstanding in some places, including Philadelphia.

    WHYY is your source for fact-based, in-depth journalism and information. As a nonprofit organization, we rely on financial support from readers like you. Please give today.

    Want a digest of WHYY’s programs, events & stories? Sign up for our weekly newsletter.

    Together we can reach 100% of WHYY’s fiscal year goal