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

At what was very likely his final campaign stop of the 2020 race, former Vice President Joe Biden spoke with reporters, and gave his outlook on the race in the final hours. 

“Toward the end, I never feel confident. I feel hopeful,” Biden said, addressing reporters outside the Joseph R. Biden Jr. Aquatic Center in Wilmington, Delaware.

Asked what he plans to do if President Trump declares victory tonight, Biden again expressed confidence that the voters will have the final say.

“You heard me use the line today several times. Presidents can't determine what votes counted and not counted. And, you know, voters determine who's president,” he said. “No matter what he does, no matter what he says the votes are going to be counted.” 

Finally, Biden addressed if people can expect to hear him give a speech tonight. 

"There's just so much in play right now and there’s such an overwhelming vote out there," he said. "We'll see. And if there's something to talk about tonight, I'll talk about it. If not, I'll wait till the votes are counted the next day.” 

-ABC News’ John Verhovek

From Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills to Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, police and store owners said they're preparing for Election Day unrest despite authorities coast to coast saying they've received no credible threats.

Some cities were bracing for the type of violence and looting that occurred earlier this year during protests that followed police-involved killings of Black Americans.

Stores along Rodeo Drive were seen with boarded up windows in the waning hours of the presidential election, with the mayor saying the street would be closed to vehicular traffic as an extra precaution.

In New York City, the sound of buzzsaws and hammers drowned out honking cars and sirens as work crews with truckloads of plywood swooped in. Along Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, near Trump Tower, workers spent Monday night boarding up the windows of some of the nation's most expensive stores, including Bergdorf Goodman and Saks Fifth Avene and nearly every shop in Rockefeller Center.

Similar scenes were found in Chicago, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Denver, Philadelphia and St. Paul, Minnesota.

-ABC News’ Bill Hutchinson

U.S. financial markets rose sharply today, achieving their second-biggest Election Day rally after 2008.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 555 points, or 2%, by the time markets closed. The S&P 500 closed up 1.8% and the Nasdaq spiked 1.9%. 

Hopes that there will be a decisive victor soon and not a long, drawn-out battle, helped drive the rally. Many investors said they are bullish on the idea that there will be clarity sooner rather than later.

Sentiments around elections on Wall Street can cause financial markets to swing wildly. Historically, the stock market was closed on Election Day in the U.S. through 1980. 

-ABC News’ Rebecca Jarvis

Vermont Gov. Phil Scott, a moderate Republican, told reporters this afternoon that he voted for Joe Biden for president.

Scott, who is running for reelection against Democratic Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman, is a regular critic of the White House but had not publicly announced his intention to vote for Biden prior to Election Day, though he did say back in August that he wouldn't be voting for Trump. His moderate Northeast counterparts -- Larry Hogan of Maryland and Charlie Baker of Massachusetts -- wrote-in Ronald Reagan and left the presidential spot blank, respectively.

-ABC News’ Adam Kelsey