Major news sites project Joe Biden has won the presidency as recounts, ballot questions linger

Major news media outlets projected Saturday that Joe Biden has won the election to become America's 46th president, even as tens of thousands of votes remain to be counted and two potential statewide recounts linger.

The decisions by The Associated Press, CNN, Fox News and The Washington Post means they will likely begin referring to Biden as the president-elect in news copy and on-air.

Just the News has decided to wait until vote counts in several close states like Arizona and Nevada become more complete and recount issues in Wisconsin and Georgia are addressed, or President Trump concedes.

Biden leads the nationwide vote by more than 4 million but a half dozen states either have outstanding votes, ongoing legal disputes or possible recounts. Trump continues to contest the election in several battleground states, including Pennsylvania and Michigan.

Arizona still has 10 percent of the vote to be counted and Biden's lead there has shrunk from more than 100,000 to less than 21,000. Wisconsin and Georgia face possible recounts and Trump has contested Biden's lead in Michigan and Pennsylvania, the latter where Biden's lead is about a half a percentage point.

More than 10 percent of the vote remains outstanding in Nevada as well.

Jenna Ellis, a campaign lawyer for Trump, decried the media outlets' decision.

"Media coordinated efforts are attempting to simply declare Joe Biden the president and ignore the rule of law," Ellis tweeted. "There is no official winner until every legal vote is counted accurately, the states certify results, and all legal challenges are resolved."