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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 04, 2020, 12:21 AM EST

Latest on results timeline from Wisconsin

One of the most decentralized election systems in the country, Wisconsin state officials have repeatedly told ABC News that they expect full statewide results could come in the early hours of Wednesday morning, though everything is reported on a county level.  

In Milwaukee, Wisconsin's largest city, officials expect results at 4 a.m. CT.  

In Milwaukee County, as a whole, results will be an hour later.

In Brown County, clerks office told ABC News that results will come in sometime between 3 a.m. and 7a.m. CT. An estimated 0% of the early vote is currently in with 62% of the expected vote reporting.

-ABC News’ John Santucci, Cheyenne Haslett, Soorin Kim and Kendall Karson

Nov 04, 2020, 12:14 AM EST

Young voters turning out less than expected

Heading into election night, experts had been tracking whether the country could see a major generational shift in the electorate this year. So far, there aren't indications of that in the preliminary national exit polls.

The 18-29 year-olds and 30-44 year-olds make up the same percentage of the electorate as they did in 2016.

Those youngest voters are breaking toward Biden by much more than they did to Hillary Clinton in 2016, but among 30-44 year olds, Biden is only winning by about the same as Clinton. There are no major third-party candidates this year, while 10% of young people voted for a third-party candidate or gave no answer in exit polls. 

An election worker carries absentee ballots for counting at the Lansing city clerk's office on election night, Nov. 3, 2020, in Lansing, Mich.
John Moore/Getty Images

Older voters, over 65, make up a similar percentage of the vote as they did in 2016, making up about 21% in preliminary exit polls compared to 20% in 2016.

There was concern that voting remotely for college kids who were not on campuses this year could be a factor, but after the protests this summer it is a surprising outcome. 

-ABC News Deputy Political Director MaryAlice Parks

Nov 04, 2020, 12:10 AM EST

Biden projected to win Virginia

Biden will win Virginia's 13 electoral votes, ABC News projects, raising his Electoral College standing to 205 votes, while Trump stands at 136.

Nov 04, 2020, 12:09 AM EST

Trump projected to win Ohio

Trump will win Ohio's 18 electoral votes, ABC News projects, raising his Electoral College standing to 136 votes, while Biden stands at 192.

A voter casts her ballot at Mineral Ridge High School, Nov. 3, 2020, in Mineral Ridge, Ohio.
David Dermer/AP

No Republican candidate for president has ever won the election without carrying Ohio.

ABC News projects Trump will win by roughly the same margin as he did in 2016.

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