US elections: The electoral college is close but the popular vote isn't

The prolonged uncertainty in spite of the clear preference of the public has intensified some Americans' anger at a system in which a minority of people can claim a majority of power

As the presidential race inches agonizingly toward a conclusion, it might be easy to miss the fact that the results are not really close.

With many ballots still left to count in heavily Democratic cities, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. was leading President Trump on Friday by more than 4.1 million votes. Amid all the anxiety over the counts in Pennsylvania and Georgia, and despite Americans’ intense ideological divisions, there was no question that — for the fourth presidential election in a row, and the seventh of the past eight — more people had chosen a Democrat than a