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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.

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, 11:25 AM EST

Pennsylvania officials say they’re approaching 50% of mail-in ballots being counted 

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf said at a news conference Wednesday morning that election officials "are still at work counting the votes” and added “we may not know the results even today." 

“But the most important thing is that we have accurate results, again, even if that takes a little longer than we’re used to," he added. “I will do everything within my power to ensure that the results are fair and that every vote is counted." 

Pennsylvania’s Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar said the state is approaching 50% of the mail-in ballots being counted, but added "there’s still millions of ballots left to be counted."

Boockvar said the state had somewhere between 2.5 and 3 million mail-in ballots cast this year, or about 10 times the number of mail-in ballots than in the previous presidential election.

Nov 04, 2020, 9:21 AM EST

Rubio counters Trump's stance on vote counting

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., took to Twitter Wednesday morning to apparently contradict Trump's stance on counting votes.

"The result of the presidential race will be known after every legally cast vote has been counted," Rubio tweeted.

Rubio is the first Republican senator to publicly react to Trump falsely declaring victory in the presidential election and urging the national vote count to be halted.

-ABC News' Allison Pecorin

Nov 04, 2020, 8:22 AM EST

Georgia's secretary of state expects counting to be done by end of day

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said vote counting in the Peach State will "definitely" be done by the end of the day.

"By midday, we should be pretty much through it. Probably by the end of the day, we'll definitely have it done," Raffensperger told ABC's "Good Morning America" co-anchor Robin Roberts in an interview Wednesday.

"We had a successful election," he added. "Over 4.8 million Georgians voted, which is also a record turnout for a presidential election."

Georgia’s Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger appears on "Good Morning America," Nov. 4, 2020.
ABC News

Once counting is done, Raffensperger said Georgia's election officials will conduct the first statewide audit of paper ballots to help verify the results and "give voters that additional layer of confidence."

"That's very important," he said.

There are 16 electoral votes up for grabs in Georgia, a key battleground state in the race to 270. With 92% of expected vote reporting, ABC News projects Trump currently has a slight lead in Georgia with 50% while Biden has 48%.

Nov 04, 2020, 8:19 AM EST

'Way too early' to call a winner in Pennsylvania, attorney general says

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro said it's still "way too early" to know which presidential candidate will win the 20 electoral votes up for grabs in the Keystone State.

"There's still a lot of vote left," Shapiro told ABC News chief anchor George Stephanopoulos in an interview Wednesday on "Good Morning America."

"Counties are full steam ahead on counting every eligible vote," he added.

With 75% of expected vote reporting, ABC News projects Trump currently has the lead in Pennsylvania with 55% while Biden has 44%.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro appears on "Good Morning America," Nov. 4, 2020.
ABC News

When asked about Trump falsely and prematurely declaring victory, claiming he will go to the Supreme Court to stop vote counting nationwide, Shapiro said, "It doesn't work that way."

"The president doesn't count these votes. The clerks in our communities count these votes," he said. "We're not going to let anything interfere with that process."

"The bottom line is we're going to make sure here in Pennsylvania that we respect the will of the people," he added. "We're going to get an accurate count, it's the law."

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