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.
In the battleground state of Pennsylvania where votes are still being counted, the Trump campaign will host a press conference in Philadelphia at 3:30 p.m. ET.
Attending the press conference will be Eric Trump, his wife Lara Trump, former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi and senior campaign adviser Corey Lewandowski.
-ABC News' Terrance Smith
Sources tell ABC News that Trump's top campaign advisers are huddled at the campaign offices outside of Washington, D.C., Wednesday afternoon plotting a path forward. Among the campaign advisers there are White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and Senior Advisor Jared Kushner.
Sources say the teams have spent the day in meetings and conducting calls with staff.
As of now, it is unclear if Trump will make any public appearance Wednesday.
-ABC News' John Satucci and Katherine Faulders
As the count continues across the country, top Department of Homeland Security officials are urging patience and vigilance.
Chris Krebs, the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (CISA) tweeted a photo of his socks that say, "#TrustedInfo2020."
“Patience is the name of the game and look to your state and local election officials for updates,” he said.
Tuesday night, a senior CISA official said that the environment is ripe for foreign actors to spread disinformation and urged Americans to be on the lookout. The FBI and DHS issued guidance in September.
-ABC News' Luke Barr
Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs appeared on a local Fox new station Wednesday to debunk concerns that ballots were being invalidated because permanent markers, such as Sharpies, were used to fill them out.
Her response came after Matt Schlapp tweeted that voters in GOP precincts were given Sharpies at the polling place, causing ballots to be invalidated.
Hobbs assured that those ballots filled out with Sharpies at the polls "are being counted."
"I can assure voters that nobody in a polling place -- a trained employed polling place worker -- is not going to give you a pen to mark your ballot that is going to invalidate your ballot. They knew what they were doing and those ballots are being counted," Hobbs said.
Hobbs also said that people who filled out their ballots at home using a Sharpie can also feel confident their vote will count.
"We have ways to address ballots that have stray marks or things that are going to interfere with the tabulator being able to read them," Hobbs said. "There are adjudication boards that are looking at some of these ballots right now to determine the intent of the voter and make sure that their votes are able to be counted."
Additionally, the Maricopa County Elections Department posted a video to Twitter Tuesday clarifying to voters that the use of Sharpies was approved in the county.
According to the video, "Sharpies are safe to use."
Bleed-through from a Sharpie is not an issue because the columns on the ballot are offset from one another, the video explains.
"It's the fastest drying ink and works best on the tabulation equipment," the video says.
--ABC News' Allison Pecorin
