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

The president-elect emphasized how he would handle the pandemic response.

ByCatherine Thorbecke, Morgan Winsor, Libby Cathey, Adia Robinson, Lauren King, Emily Shapiro, Ivan Pereira, and Marc Nathanson
Last Updated: November 10, 2020, 10:14 AM EST

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.

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.

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.

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Here's how election week unfolded. All times Eastern.
Nov 03, 2020, 7:30 PM EST

House GOP candidate sues to toss ballots in Pa.'s Montgomery County

A Republican congressional candidate in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, filed a lawsuit in federal court Tuesday against local election officials, accusing them of improperly contacting voters to address issues with more than four-dozen returned mail-in ballots ahead of the timetable laid out in state law. 

PHOTO: Election workers check mail-in and absentee ballots for the 2020 General Election at West Chester University, Nov. 3, 2020, in West Chester, Pa.
Election workers check mail-in and absentee ballots for the 2020 General Election at West Chester University, Nov. 3, 2020, in West Chester, Pa.
Matt Slocum/AP

Kathy Barnette, the Republican candidate in the 4th Congressional District race argued that county officials couldn't begin "pre-canvassing" of mail-in absentee ballots -- checking returned ballots for signatures, secrecy envelopes and giving voters an opportunity to recast their vote -- before 7 a.m. Tuesday. 

In response, a judge scheduled a Wednesday morning hearing on the matter. The ballots won't be counted until the matter is resolved -- a move officials in the county are taking voluntarily. 

A Montgomery County election official told ABC News that no votes were pre-canvassed and that the charges are untrue. The official said the ruling only impacts 49 ballots. 

In 2016, Montgomery County went to Hillary Clinton by 93,000 votes. 

-ABC News' Alex Hosenball, Benjamin Siegel and James Hill

Nov 03, 2020, 7:22 PM EST

Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb projected to win reelection

Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb will win reelection in Indiana, ABC News projects.

Indiana Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb participates in a debate, Oct. 27, 2020, in Indianapolis.
Darron Cummings/AP, FILE

Holcomb, a close ally of Vice President Mike Pence, was leading Democratic candidate Dr. Woody Myers by double digits in recent polls.

Nov 03, 2020, 7:17 PM EST

Polling locations in Ga. county to stay open 2 hours after 'technical issue'

All 18 precincts in Spalding County, Georgia, will remain open for an extra two hours after the county experienced what it said was a "county wide technical issue" in the morning.

The precinct closing time has been extended to 9 p.m., per a court order issued by Superior Court Judge W. Fletcher Sams, according to a post by the Spalding County Board of Commissioners.

People line up to vote at the Gwinnett County Fairgrounds, Oct. 30, 2020, in Lawrenceville, Georgia.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Jordan Fuchs, the deputy secretary of state, told ABC News that the extension will not delay results from the state.

Spadling County has a population of just over 66,000, according to the U.S. Census bureau, and is the 37th most populous in a state of 159 counties. It went for Trump in 2016.

Earlier this morning, polling locations across the county experienced a "technical issue" with its poll pads, which check voters in, and provisional ballots had to be delivered to every location, according to a statement from the county. 

In the afternoon, Gabriel Sterling, the implementations manager at the Georgia Secretary of State Office, said that eight of the 18 locations affected in Spalding had since been reset and were "fine." Regardless of whether the locations had been reset, "every location has voters voting right now," Sterling said.

"Voting continues, voting continued at the time, and we feel very comfortable and confident about where we are," Sterling said later.

Separately, hours have been extended at at least three other polling locations across the state. Two locations were extended in Dekalb County, and one in Cobb County. 

-ABC News' Olivia Rubin

Nov 03, 2020, 7:00 PM EST

Polls close in 5 states 

The polls are closing in Georgia, Virginia, Vermont, South Carolina and Florida.

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