Washington, November 5: Democratic Party candidate Joe Biden broke a major record, as he has became the "most voted candidate" in a presidential election in the United States. The record was so far held by former President Barack Obama, who had received the highest quantum of votes in the year 2008. Incidentally, Biden went on to serve as the Vice President in the eight years of Obama's presidency.

Obama, in 2008 when he won a landslide mandate with 52.92 percent of the popular votes, had received over 69 million votes. He was up in the election against Republican Party's John McCain, and had ended up winning a total of 69,498,516 votes. Biden Stakes Claim to White House, Says ‘I Will Govern as an American President’.

The number of votes was the highest a presidential candidate ever received in the US. In 2012, Obama failed in breaking his own record even as he won against Mitt Romney with a vote share of 51.1 percent.

Biden, according to the Associated Press tally, has so far received over 72 million votes. The counting of votes is still underway in the United States, as millions of mail-in and absentee ballots are yet to be added in the official total.

With 7,20,62,582 votes, Biden currently holds onto 50.4 percent of the electoral share. Trump trails at 48 percent, with 6,85,95,658 votes.

The candidate winning the popular vote is not guaranteed to win the presidential election. The winner is based on the electoral college votes -- which in turn is determined by the state-wise victories. Biden has so far bagged 264 electoral college votes - and is only six short of reaching the 270-mark. Georgia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Nevada are among the states whose results are yet to be announced.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 05, 2020 10:56 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).