Brendan McDermid/Reuters
- The Secret Service is set to dispatch extra protection to Joe Biden in preparation for him claiming victory in the presidential election, according to the Washington Post.
- The beefed-up security will be assigned to the Wilmington Convention Center, Delaware, where the Biden campaign is headquartered.
- However, with Trump unlikely to concede if Biden wins, the Secret Service may have to wait until December before treating him as the president-elect.
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The Secret Service is to send Joe Biden extra protection in preparation for the possibility that he will shortly claim victory in the presidential election.
The extra security will be assigned to the Wilmington Convention Center in Delaware, where the Biden campaign is headquartered and where he could potentially make his victory speech today, according to the Independent.
The additional agents will join dozens of Secret Service personnel who are already guarding Biden, reported the Washington Post.
Usually, the president-elect would get full security when they assume the position, the New York Post added.
However, with Trump unlikely to concede if Biden wins, the Secret Service may have to wait until the electoral college meets in December to certify the vote results before officially treating him as the president-elect, The Washington Post reported.
A similar situation occurred in the 2000 election. George Bush and former Vice President Al Gore were locked in a recount over disputed votes in Florida and there was no president-elect for 36 days, according to the Daily Mail.
Until the case eventually went to Supreme Court, the Secret Service provided Al Gore with vice-presidential security and protected George Bush as a candidate, the Daily Mail added.
Secret Service spokesperson, Catherine Milhoan, declined to comment and told The Washington Post that the agency does not publicly share information regarding security planning for the President or presidential candidates.
Biden was leading President Donald Trump in the key swing state of Georgia as of Friday morning. No Democratic presidential nominee had carried Georgia since Bill Clinton in 1992.
Also, early Friday, he was around 18,000 votes behind in Pennsylvania, as ballots continue to be counted.
If Biden wins the state's 20 electoral college votes, he'll surpass the 270 electoral college votes necessary to win the presidency.
Trump still has a path to victory, but it's a tougher one than Biden's, which relies on winning more states.