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Election 2020 updates: Biden warns of 'dark winter,' pushes masks in pandemic plan

PHOTO: President-elect Joe Biden speaks to the media at the Queen Theater after receiving a briefing from the transition COVID-19 advisory board, Nov. 9, 2020, in Wilmington, Delaware.
4:49
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Joe Biden, Kamala Harris deliver 1st message of unity after historic win
By Catherine Thorbecke, Morgan Winsor, Libby Cathey, Adia Robinson, Lauren King, Emily Shapiro, Ivan Pereira, Marc Nathanson
Last Updated: November 4, 2020, 3:33 AM

Joe Biden is set to become the 46th president of the United States, capping a tumultuous and tension-filled campaign during a historic pandemic against President Donald Trump. ABC News characterized Joe Biden as the apparent winner of his home state of Pennsylvania, putting him over the 270 vote threshold needed to capture the presidency.

The hard-fought battle against the president was set against the backdrop of racial unrest and the coronavirus pandemic and bitter divisions among the electorate.

MORE: Joe Biden and Kamala Harris make victory speeches: 'A time to heal'
MORE: What Kamala Harris means to a new generation of Black female leaders

Trump had falsely declared on election night, when he held a lead in several key states, that he won the contest and alleged without evidence, after the count started to swing the other way, that the election was being stolen from him and that fraud had been committed.

MORE: Election 2020: A look at Trump campaign election lawsuits and where they stand
MORE: Trump could make a Biden transition messy: Here's how

Painting the election as a "battle for the soul of the nation," Biden won on a message of unity over division, compassion over anger, and reality over what he called Trump's "wishful thinking" as the coronavirus pandemic cast a heavy shadow over the campaign.

The 2020 election has shattered voting records with votes totaling 147 million and counting, surpassing the 138 million who voted in 2016.

Top headlines:

  • No full intel briefings for Biden yet
  • Barr authorizes investigations of credible allegations of election irregularities
  • Ga. senators blast Republican secretary of state
  • Biden warns of 'dark winter,' pushes masks in COVID plan
  • Biden, Harris meet with COVID-19 advisory board
Here's how election week unfolded. All times Eastern.

Nov 04, 2020 3:33 AM

Trump projected to win Louisiana, Biden to take New Hampshire

Trump will hold onto Louisiana's eight electoral votes and Biden will gain four from taking New Hampshire, ABC News projects, raising Trump’s Electoral College standing to 83 votes and Biden’s to 93.

PHOTO: A poll watcher looks on as clerks check voters in at the Captain Samuel Douglass Academy polling station in Brookline, N.H., Nov. 3, 2020.
Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images
A poll watcher looks on as clerks check voters in at the Captain Samuel Douglass Academy polling station in Brookline, N.H., Nov. 3, 2020.
Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images

Nov 04, 2020 3:28 AM

Tuberville projected to win Alabama Senate seat

Shortly after Democrats picked up a Senate seat in Colorado, they lost another in the South.

In the first Senate seat to flip for Republicans, former Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville will defeat Democratic Sen. Doug Jones for Alabama’s Senate seat, ABC News projects.

MORE: Key Senate races that could tilt the balance of power toward Democrats on Election Day

 
Jones won a special election in 2017 but ultimately lost to Tuberville, who became a close Trump ally as he beat out Jeff Sessions, Trump's first and former attorney general, in the primary earlier this year.


Nov 04, 2020 3:21 AM

New Jersey votes to legalize marijuana

New Jersey has voted to legalize adult-use of recreational marijuana, ABC News projects, becoming the 12th state to do so.

MORE: Bill to decriminalize marijuana at federal level up for House vote next month

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, tweeted that the measure represents "a huge step forward for racial and social justice and our economy."

We did it, New Jersey! Public Question #1 to legalize adult-use marijuana passed overwhelmingly tonight, a huge step forward for racial and social justice and our economy. Thank you to @NJCAN2020 and all the advocates for standing on the right side of history.

— Phil Murphy (@PhilMurphyNJ) November 4, 2020


Nov 04, 2020 3:21 AM

When to expect election results in every state

There’s a good chance we won’t know who won the presidential election on election night.

More people than ever are voting by mail this year due to the pandemic, and mail ballots take longer to count than ballots cast at polling places. But because each state has its own rules for how votes are counted and reported, some will report results sooner than others. Those disparate rules may also make initial returns misleading: The margins in some states may shift toward Democrats as mail ballots -- which are overwhelmingly cast by Democrats -- are counted, while states that release mail ballots first may experience a shift toward Republicans as Election Day votes are tallied.

PHOTO: U.S. Postal Service trays are seen as workers of the Miami-Dade County Elections Department feed mail-in ballots in counting machines during the 2020 presidential election in Miami, Nov. 3, 2020.
Marco Bello/Reuters
U.S. Postal Service trays are seen as workers of the Miami-Dade County Elections Department feed mail-in ballots in counting machines during the 2020 presidential election in Miami, Nov. 3, 2020.
Marco Bello/Reuters

FiveThirtyEight has put together a general picture of how much of the vote we expect to be counted on election night in all 50 states and Washington, D.C.

MORE: When To Expect Election Results In Every State

Nov 05, 2020 3:59 AM

Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar says counting 'ahead of schedule'

Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar told ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos they are "ahead of schedule" and the state has under 1 million ballots left to count.

"We're actually ahead of schedule of where I thought we'd be," she said. "So I've been saying that I thought the overwhelming majority of ballots would be counted by Friday. I now believe that the overwhelming majority of ballots will be counted by tomorrow."

Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar says they are "ahead of schedule," with "under a million" ballots yet to be counted in Pennsylvania."I now believe that the overwhelming majority of ballots will be counted by tomorrow." https://t.co/DA8JdVxU42 #Election2020 pic.twitter.com/Qbzo8wC7Kb

— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) November 5, 2020

Boockvar also said that she thought legal action from Trump would not make a difference in the election results.

"I don't," Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar tells @GStephanopoulos when asked if legal action by the Trump campaign will make a difference."We want to make sure that no voter is disenfranchised .. so we're going to count every vote." https://t.co/DA8JdVxU42 pic.twitter.com/iULkJMQWwo

— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) November 5, 2020

"What we care about here is making sure that every qualified voter -- that their vote counts, that their voices get heard and we want to make sure no voter is disenfranchised when they're a qualified voter," she said. "So we're going to count every vote and, hey, that's what makes our democracy great."


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