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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.

Top headlines:

Here's how election week unfolded. All times Eastern.
Nov 03, 2020, 11:48 PM EST

Vote counting in Va. stops for the night, will resume Wednesday

Deputy Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Elections Jessica Bowman told ABC News that localities were given deadline to stop processing ballots Tuesday night.

"We gave localities a 11 p.m. cutoff time to stop processing and whatever didn't get done will also resume tomorrow," said Bowman.

Voters cast their ballots under a giant mural at Robious Elementary school on Election Day, in Midlothian, Va., Nov. 3, 2020.
Steve Helber/AP

Bowman told ABC News that the state will have unofficial results Tuesday night, but ballots can come in until noon on Friday. Bowman also advises that absentee precincts will come in Tuesday night and then anything not counted or received will be counted and numbers are to be updated on Friday.

-ABC News' Terrance Smith

Nov 03, 2020, 11:34 PM EST

Pelosi speaks after Democrats projected to keep control of House

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she was "proud" Democrats were able to retain control of the U.S. House of Representatives.

"I'm very, very proud of the fact that tonight, relatively early, we are able to say that we have held the House," she said Tuesday night. 

ABC News projected that Democrats would retain control of the U.S. House of Representatives before 11 p.m.

Pelosi said that this election was about health care.

"Our purpose in this race was to win so that we could protect the affordable care act, and that we could crush the virus, that we could stop the spread of it," she said.

"It is something quite spectacular because the people who helped us win were the people who have been affected by (COVID-19)," the speaker added. "Thousands of those who have been diagnosed or members of their family diagnosed with a pre-existing condition have spoken out, have told their stories. ... Now, we have to win the White House, and we're well on our way to doing that."

Nov 03, 2020, 11:30 PM EST

Ballot counters in Atlanta sent home for the night

The election department sent the ballot counters at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta home at 10:30 p.m., Regina Waller, the Fulton County public affairs manager for elections, told ABC News, despite earlier intentions to complete processing Tuesday night. 

PHOTO: An election worker processes ballots at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Nov. 2, 2020.
An election worker processes ballots at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Nov. 2, 2020.
Megan Varner/Getty Images

Some additional numbers could still come out from the county, but as of now the staff will be back at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday. Earlier there was an issue with a water pipe that delayed the vote count.

Deputy Secretary of State Jordan Fuchs said, "It had no impact on ballots, not a single ballot was damaged."

-ABC News' John Santucci

Nov 03, 2020, 11:17 PM EST

Ga. Senate special election will go to run-off between Loeffler, Warnock

ABC News projects the Georgia Senate special election will go to a run-off, as none of the candidates met the required threshold to win the race, an expected result as 20 candidates competed on the same ballot.

Democrat Rev. Raphael Warnock, the senior pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, where Martin Luther King Jr. served as co-pastor until his death, will be one candidate in the race. Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler will be the other.

Supporters of Sen. Kelly Loeffler attend an election night party on Nov. 03, 2020, in Atlanta.
Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

 

Rep. Doug Collins, who currently serves as Georgia's 9th Congressional District representative, was beaten out by Loeffler. The two have been in a competitive race for months, trying to prove themselves as the most loyal to the president and the most conservative choices on the ballot. 

Collins tweeted that he's congratulated Loeffler and will be supporting her. 

Loeffler was appointed to this seat by Gov. Brian Kemp in late 2019 to replace retiring Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson. 

The runoff will be on Jan. 5.

-ABC News’ Quinn Scanlan

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