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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, 9:08 PM EST

Trump campaign files second suit in Pa.

The Trump campaign has filed a second lawsuit in Pennsylvania. 

PHOTO: Rudy Giuliani, a lawyer for President Donald Trump, speaks during a news conference on legal challenges to vote counting in Pennsylvania, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020, in Philadelphia.
Rudy Giuliani, a lawyer for President Donald Trump, speaks during a news conference on legal challenges to vote counting in Pennsylvania, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020, in Philadelphia. At left are Eric Trump, son of President Trump, and his wife Lara Trump.
Matt Slocum/AP

This suit, filed in state court and naming Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar and all 67 counties in Pennsylvania, alleges that Boockvar illegally extended a deadline for mail-in voters to supply any missing identification requirements from Nov. 9 to Nov. 12.

The suit says Boockvar acted unilaterally and illegally in doing so and that the voter ID deadline must be rolled back to Nov. 9.

If voters with missing proof of identification information were not to provide that information to be processed by Nov. 9, then the ballot could be thrown out.

-ABC News' Matthew Mosk, Benjamin Siegel and Alex Hosenball

Nov 04, 2020, 8:54 PM EST

'We're as divided as we were since 1860': Matthew Dowd

ABC News Chief Political Analyst Matthew Dowd said that he thinks Americans are as divided now as they were in the lead up to the Civil War.

"Well to me we're as divided as we were since 1860. I think that's where we are," he told ABC News Live Prime Anchor Linsey Davis. "As a country, because of how we people have lined up and where they are in this country and the level of frustration and anger in some instances and distrust to each side, that we're as divided as we've been in 160 years."

Dowd added that he thought Democrats should be concerned about the results of this election. 

"They're losing in places they used to win, they're not winning by as big margins as they used to do in blue areas," he said. "This is a divided country. They may end up winning the presidency in this instance and keeping the House, but this thing is on a razor edge in who's got the lead in the country today and it's exceedingly close in every election."

Nov 04, 2020, 8:22 PM EST

Peters projected to keep his Senate seat in Michigan

Democratic Michigan Sen. Gary Peters will win his Michigan Senate race, ABC News projects.

Peters has held the seat since 2014.

Sen. Gary Peters speaks during an event with Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden at Beech Woods Recreation Center, in Southfield, Mich., Oct. 16, 2020.
Carolyn Kaster/AP, FILE

Peters defeated John James, a former Apache combat helicopter pilot in Iraq, who previously ran for the Senate in 2018. During the campaign Peters touted his accomplishments for Michigan and tied James to Trump, while James sought to portray Peters as too liberal for the Rust Belt state.

Nov 04, 2020, 8:16 PM EST

Democrat in Michigan’s 3rd Congressional District race concedes

Attorney Hillary Scholten, the Democrat running in Michigan's 3rd Congressional District to replace retiring Rep. Justin Amash, conceded to Republican candidate Peter Meijer Wednesday.

"We may not have won tonight, but this isn't the end of our fight for a better and bright West Michigan for all," Scholten said in a statement. 

Meijer tweeted that he spoke with Scholten and congratulated her on running a "strong and focused campaign."

"We may differ in approach, but we share common ground in wanting to see West Michigan thrive," he tweeted.

Amash left the Republican Party last year. He also considered running for the Libertarian Party's presidential nomination, but decided against it and ultimately chose to retire from Congress after finishing his current term.

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