EXPLAINER: A day later, what is the US waiting for?

Anxious Americans woke up Wednesday to an election aftermath that has yet to deliver any clear answer. Neither President Donald Trump nor his Democratic rival Joe Biden cleared the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the White House, and the margins are tight in five battleground states.

STILL IN PLAY

Races in Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina and Pennsylvania are still too early to call. The AP called Wisconsin and Michigan, which also had been in play earlier Wednesday, for Biden. Trump's campaign has requested a recount.

WHAT TRUMP SAID

In an extraordinary move, the president issued a middle-of-the-night, premature claims of victory in a statement from the White House, and said he would take the election to the Supreme Court to stop the counting.

WHAT BIDEN SAID

Biden also addressed his supporters in the middle of the night, pleading for their patience while the votes are counted. "It ain't over until every vote is counted, every ballot is counted," Biden said.

The Trump campaign says it has filed lawsuits in Pennsylvania and Michigan, demanding better access for campaign observers to locations where ballots are being processed and counted.

HOW PEOPLE VOTED

AP VoteCast, an expansive survey of voters nationwide, found that 76% of U.S. voters said they knew all along which candidate they would support.