Some Americans dance, others wield guns at vote-tallying sites as Biden's lead solidifies

PHILADELPHIA (REUTERS) - Supporters of Mr Joe Biden danced in the streets outside a ballot-counting centre in Philadelphia on Friday (Nov 6), while armed backers of President Donald Trump in Phoenix shouted, "Stop the steal" as a third day of post-election ballot counting brought the Democratic former vice-president closer to winning the White House.

In Detroit, several hundred supporters of President Donald Trump, some carrying their guns, raised premature chants of "We won!" outside a counting centre, despite news organisations having called the state for Mr Biden.

But Philadelphia took centre stage as the most populous and ballot-rich city in Pennsylvania - a must-win electoral prize for Mr Trump even as Mr Biden surpassed the president on Friday in the state's vote count.

With 20 electoral votes up for grabs, Pennsylvania was the most consequential of a handful of states where the outcome of Tuesday's election was still too close to call, and many Philadelphians delighted in parading past news cameras playing violins and trombones or dressed in election-themed costumes.

Mr Sean Truppo, a 37-year-old social studies teacher, said he lit fireworks upon awaking to the news that Mr Biden had overtaken Mr Trump, a Republican, in the state's count before putting his 4-year-old daughter in a stroller to join the growing crowds outside the Philadelphia Convention Centre.

"My daughter was born under Trump and I wanted her to witness the end of Trump," he said.

Mr Biden has a 253 to 214 lead in the state-by-state Electoral College vote that determines the winner, according to Edison Research.

Winning Pennsylvania's 20 electoral votes would give Mr Biden the 270 he needs to secure the presidency. He has already won the popular vote by some 4 million votes.

Weary from one of the most bruising presidential races in modern times, millions of Americans have spent three days since polls closed on Tuesday glued to round-the-clock news coverage of the slowing mounting vote tallies, a process prolonged by a record torrent of mail-in ballots.

Many sought distraction from the strain of prolonged uncertainty through work, chores or exercise.

Some Mr Trump supporters, taking a cue from the president himself, insisted there must be something wrong with any count that showed Mr Biden winning, and brought their rifles and handguns with them to rallies outside counting centres in Detroit and Phoenix, Arizona.

Dressed in the Trump-supporter uniform of "Make America Great Again" red baseball hats, some fell to their knees in public prayer.

"It's hard to believe that we all went to bed Tuesday night and Trump was so far ahead and now he's behind," Mr George Vosca, a 72-year-old retired Illinois government employee, said after driving an hour to join a pro-Trump rally outside the Wisconsin State Capitol building in Madison.

His wife, Ms Marcia Vosca, also voted for Mr Trump even as she acknowledged his flaws: "The thing is, he's really a jerk,"Ms Vosca, 64, said of Mr Trump, her husband nodding emphatically in agreement. "But we can all relate to being a jerk."

Pro-Trump rallies organised using the social media hashtag #StopTheSteal were being planned for Saturday in nearly 60 cities across six battleground states, including Michigan and Wisconsin, which were already called for Mr Biden.

Most demonstrations have been peaceful and relatively small, though tensions have sometimes flared. Overnight in New York City, police pushed and shoved protesters, reporters and at least one elected official as they made arrests and tried to move anti-Trump demonstrations out of roadways.

In Detroit, a few anti-racism protesters rallying behind the Black Lives Matter slogan entered an area cordoned off by police for Mr Trump supporters on Friday.

Standing defiantly with fists in the air, Mr Trump supporters, including armed members of militia groups, moved closer, jeering, before police intervened, leading the anti-racism protesters elsewhere.

In Arizona, another closely contested state, a growing crowd of several hundred Mr Trump supporters returned to the counting centre in Phoenix Arizona's capital, where some 90,000 ballots from early voting in Maricopa County remained to be counted as of Friday evening.

Right-wing radio host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who addressed the Phoenix crowd on Thursday, was back briefly on Friday morning to lead a faction of protesters into the street in chants of "Arrest Joe Biden," while others cried out, "Stop the steal."

The size of the crowd grew to as many as 1,000, as sheriff's deputies watched from the sidelines, allowing them to demonstrate across four lanes of traffic.

Among Mr Trump's supporters was Mr Kota Bermudez, a 22-year-old driver for the online retailer Amazon, who braced for disappointment.

"I know he's kind of losing right now, especially in the battleground states," he said. "But I'm hoping that with all the legal things going on and all these mail-in ballots and so forth, whether they're legal or whatnot - I just want this to be a fair and free election."