Joe Biden breaks record for most popular votes earned in an election

Donald Trump has received more votes than he did four years ago, in one of the highest counts of all time. But there’s just one problem.

The fate of the 2020 presidential election remains in flux, but Democratic hopeful Joe Biden has already claimed the record for the most overall votes garnered in a single race.

As of Thursday morning, the two-term former vice president had amassed 71 million votes nationwide, with several states still crunching the numbers, according to ABC News.

Barack Obama held the previous record, racking up 69,498,516 votes during his first White House victory in 2008.

Even Mr Trump has amassed 68 million votes so far, more than he polled in 2016.

Mr Trump’s total places him as the third highest of all-time - behind only Mr Biden and Mr Obama in 2008.

Mr Biden referred to the record during a speech on Wednesday afternoon (local time).

He said they were on track to win more than 70 million votes, more than any ticket in the history of the country.

“I’m proud of our campaign. Only three campaigns in the past have defeated an incumbent president,” he said.

“When it’s finished, God willing, we’ll be the fourth. That’s a major achievement. This is a major achievement. And it’s been a long and difficult campaign.”

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Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has broken a US election record. Picture: Win McNamee/Getty Images/AFP

In the last election cycle, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton logged about 65.8 million votes but lost the all-important Electoral College race to Donald Trump, who notched some 62.9 million votes.

This time around, Mr Trump has so far claimed about 68 million votes, according to ABC News.

But the all-important Electoral College tally remains undecided, with make-or-break states like Georgia, Michigan and Pennsylvania still too close to call.

This article was first published on the New York Post and has been republished here with permission