Trump supporters protest U.S. election results. (Photo: AP)

Philadelphia, November 7 (RHC)-- As thousands of people are rallying across the United States to celebrate the projected victory of Democrat Joe Biden, some of President Donald Trump’s staunchest supporters are insisting that the presidential contest is not over yet.

Samuel Battle, 19, accused the Democratic Party of trying to steal the election, which has been one of the most divisive in recent memory and which drew record numbers of voters across the country despite the COVID-19 pandemic.  “I don’t think it’s over yet,” said Battle, who was among a small group of vocal Trump backers that had gathered in downtown Philadelphia opposite a much-larger, jubilant crowd celebrating Biden’s projected win.

Hours earlier, the Associated Press said Biden was projected to secure 290 Electoral College votes, clinching his bid for the White House, after a time-consuming vote count that is still under way in some key states.  Philadelphia was key to Biden’s path to victory, with AP saying earlier on Saturday that the former US vice president had secured a win in the battleground state.

Trump has sowed doubt over the U.S. electoral process, accusing Democrats of engaging in widespread voter fraud -- an accusation that experts and elections officials in several states have rejected as baseless.

“The simple fact is this election is far from over,” the Republican president said in a statement shortly after AP made its projection of a Biden victory, pointing to the legal challenges his campaign has filed in several states to dispute the results.

Battle echoed Trump’s claims, saying he believed the final election result would ultimately be decided in the U.S.’s top court.  “We’re just waiting for the Supreme Court to rule on it, and when they do, they’re going to rule in Trump’s favor,” he told reporters, without going into specifics about what exactly the court would be ruling on.

The president’s supporters have also held rallies in Wisconsin, where the Trump campaign has said it intends to demand a recount; in Arizona, where some believe the presidential race remains too close to call, and in Georgia, where election officials also say a recount is going to be ordered.

Several Trump supporters, some of them carrying firearms, also gathered outside the state capitol building in Pennsylvania, which is still counting ballots in the tightly contested race.

Two armed men were arrested earlier this week in Philadelphia, local media reported, after police said they received a tip about an alleged plot to attack a convention centre where votes were being tabulated.