Here are the states still in play and what makes them that way

WASHINGTON — A handful of pivotal states remained in play Wednesday in the tightly contested U.S. presidential race. Here, The Associated Press reviews them and examines the reasons why they could still go to either Republican Donald Trump or Democrat Joe Biden:

[Biden captures Wisconsin and Michigan as presidency hinges on extremely tight races in several battleground states]

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GEORGIA: Outstanding ballots left to be counted in counties where Biden has performed well.

THE BACKGROUND: Early Wednesday, Trump prematurely claimed he carried Georgia.

“It’s ... clear that we have won Georgia. We’re up by 2.5%, or 117,000 (votes) with only 7% (of the vote) left” to count, Trump said during an early morning appearance at the White House. He also said he planned to contest the U.S. presidential election before the Supreme Court. It was unclear exactly what legal action he might pursue.

The race is too early to call, as estimated 6% of the vote still remains to be counted. That includes ballots from counties Biden is winning in the Atlanta area.

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NEVADA: The Associated Press has not yet declared a winner in the state of Nevada because it is too early to call the race there between President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden.

THE BACKGROUND: About 75% of the votes are in and Biden leads by less than 8,000 votes.

But there are outstanding ballots left to be counted in the coming days. Under state law, they can still be accepted as long as they were postmarked by the Nov. 3 Election Day. Additionally, many ballots received on Election Day have yet to be tallied.

Trump narrowly lost Nevada in 2016 as the state has trended toward the Democrats in the past decade. The last Republican presidential contender to win the state was George W. Bush in 2004.

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NORTH CAROLINA: Race too early to call, with fewer than 200,000 mail-in ballots left to count.

THE BACKGROUND: Trump prematurely claimed early Wednesday that he won the state.

“We’ve clearly won North Carolina, where we’re up 1.7%, 77,000 votes with only approximately 5% left. They can’t catch us,” he said during an appearance at the White House. Trump also said he planned to contest the U.S. presidential election before the Supreme Court. It was unclear, exactly, what legal action he might pursue.

Though Trump is correct that he held a roughly 76,000-vote lead in the state early Wednesday, the race is too early to call with less than 200,000 mail-in ballots left to count.

As long as those ballots are postmarked by Nov. 3, state election officials have until Nov. 12 to count them. And when it comes to mail ballots, Biden was outperforming Trump. That means the ballots yet to be counted could give Biden a lead.

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PENNSYLVANIA: More than 1 million votes left to be counted.

THE BACKGROUND: Pennsylvania is among a handful of battleground states Trump and Biden are narrowly contesting. Trump, who held a 675,000-vote lead early Wednesday, prematurely declared victory in the state.

“We’re winning Pennsylvania by a tremendous amount. We’re up 690,000 votes in Pennsylvania. These aren’t even close. It’s not like, ‘Oh, it’s close,’” Trump said during an appearance at the White House.

Yet the vast majority of the votes left to be counted there were cast by mail, a form of voting that Biden has carried by a large margin.

Democrats had long considered Pennsylvania a part of their “blue wall” — a trifecta that also includes Wisconsin and Michigan — that for years had served as a bulwark in presidential elections. In 2016, Trump won each by less than a percentage point. Biden, who was born in Scranton, claims favorite-son status in the state.

Trump held a roughly 470,000 vote lead by early Wednesday afternoon. But what appears to be a big lead is misleading. Under state law, election officials couldn’t begin processing mail ballots until the morning of Election Day, and only about 64% of the vote had been counted.