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.
Here's how election week unfolded. All times Eastern.
Nov 03, 2020, 7:47 PM EST
Biden's deputy campaign manager says campaign is in 'a great position'
Kate Bedingfield, Biden's deputy campaign manager, told ABC News' Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos that the campaign is "feeling really good."
Bedingfield said that the campaign has "a lot of different pathways" to the White House and touted the voter turnout in key swing states.
"We're in a great position, George, where we don't have to say here's the one state that we think is going to be the decision maker for us," Bedingfield said.
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.
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.
