Election 2020 updates: Biden warns of 'dark winter,' pushes masks in pandemic plan

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro has informed the Supreme Court that, contrary to Republican concerns, all of the state's counties have been complying with the Secretary of State's guidance to segregate late-arriving mail ballots. 

"At the time Secretary of the Commonwealth Kathy Boockvar filed her Response in Application to the Republican Party of Pennsylvania’s Emergency Application for Injunction earlier yesterday, 63 of Pennsylvania’s counties had affirmatively confirmed their understanding and intention to follow the Secretary’s October 28, 2020 and November 1, 2020 guidance, as noted in the Response," he wrote. "The Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth has confirmed that the remaining four Pennsylvania counties have similarly confirmed their understanding and intention to follow that guidance. We would appreciate if you would circulate copies of this letter to the Justices of the Court. "

Shapiro seems to suggest that Justice Samuel Alito's order late Friday was not necessary given that the counties were already doing the segregation, notwithstanding the unfounded GOP speculation that they might not have been.

-ABC News Senior Washington Reporter Devin Dwyer

Former President George W. Bush said in a statement that he spoke with Biden and congratulated him on the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.

Bush said in the statement that he also spoke with Kamala Harris, who he congratulated for “her historic election to the vice presidency.”

“Though we have political differences, I know Joe Biden to be a good man, who has won this opportunity to lead and unify our country,” the statement read.

On Sunday, several more world leaders, such as South Korean President Moon Jae-in, the Saudi royal family and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, also congratulated Biden on his apparent win.

Ahead of Election Day in the United States, the biggest question for Iran was the future of the Iran nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. The current Iranian government, led by President Hassan Rouhani and his Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, have indicated they are willing to revive the deal and assemble the current signatories to negotiate a new agreement.

Looking ahead to a Biden administration, Rouhani said Sunday, "the next U.S. administration should use the opportunity to make up for the past mistakes against Iran." 

Iran's semi-official Fars News Agency reported that just the day before, Rouhani expressed hope that the new administration would rejoin the nuclear deal.

Rouhani said the Iranian people faced "economic terrorism" in the past three years and showed "competent resistance and patience."

He said Iran will continue its "patience" and "resistance."

“We hope that conditions alter in a way that those who have imposed sanctions will come to realize that they have moved along a wrong path, and that they will not attain their goals at all as they should take a lesson from this 3-year experience," he continued.

-ABC News' Christine Theodorou

A majority of Puerto Ricans voted Tuesday on a referendum that would admit the island as an official U.S. state, however experts say the issue will not be resolved anytime soon.

This is the sixth time Puerto Ricans had a choice to make on statehood since 1967, but Republican commissioner, Jenniffer González, said she is ready to take this year's referendum results to Congress.

"We're gonna push for this now, but we're gonna push for this in January, as well. ... It doesn't matter who is the president-elect," she told ABC News on Wednesday.

Political scientist and researcher Carlos Vargas Ramos told ABC News he's doubtful that Congress will take up the referendum.

In the 2012 and 2017 referendums, statehood prevailed. But the legitimacy of the results were questioned due to the confusing configuration of the status question and voter turnout.

Vargas Ramos said the referendum was non-binding and turnout is still an issue.

For this year's vote, 1.2 million people out of the island's 2.3 million eligible voters on cast a ballot on the referendum, according to the election commission's website.