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.
Here's how election week unfolded. All times Eastern.
Nov 04, 2020, 6:15 PM EST
People chanting, attempting to enter Detroit ballot processing center
A group of people arrived at the TCF center in Detroit on Wednesday, chanting and attempting to get inside, Sgt. Nicole Kirkwood from the Detroit Police Department told ABC News.
The TCF Center in Detroit is the major ballot processing location in Detroit, where ballots are still being counted. ABC News has projected that Joe Biden will win Michigan.
Detroit police escort a poll challenger out after he refused to leave, due to room capacity, at the TCF Center after election day in Detroit, Nov. 4, 2020.
Rebecca Cook/Reuters
For capacity reasons, only a certain number of people are allowed inside the center at once, Kirkwood said. As of now, the challengers are being rotated in and out of the building-- as some exit, others will be allowed in.
It is not clear exactly how many people are at the TCF Center, and it is not clear if they have any official capacity. Kirkwood said there are "no major concerns."
"Everything is manageable. There are people out there chanting, but that's about it," Kirkwood added.
-ABC News' Olivia Rubin
Nov 04, 2020, 6:12 PM EST
Fact check: 2 misleading Postal Service statistics
Two misleading statistics are circulating online blaming the Postal Service for problems with mail-in ballots.
Documents filed by the Postal Service in multiple court cases indicate that more than 300,000 mail-in ballots were processed on their way into a postage facility, but never processed on the way out -- leaving the impression that these ballots remain stacked up in some warehouse, uncounted.
But the Postal Service and outside experts agree that there is no basis to this claim.
In an affidavit filed Wednesday, Kevin Bray, the executive lead for mail processing at the Postal Service, said "there are many reasons that a ballot may not receive a finalization scan."
An election worker opens up a mail-in ballot before it is counted in the 2020 general election at the Dauphin County Administration Building, Nov. 3, 2020, in Harrisburg, Pa.
Julio Cortez/AP
Bray explained that the Postal Service has adopted a set of "extraordinary measures" meant to improve ballot distribution times. Those measures, in part, involve removing ballots from normal processing to speed-up their delivery to election officials.
"This process involves an expedited approach to sorting ballots by (Boards of Election) on our processing equipment," he said, "and thus the ballots receive a first scan and are then removed, or 'held out' from further processing."
The Postal Service has also said in court filings that ballots sometimes stick together, are processed by hand or have illegible bar codes.
The second misleading statistic is that the Postal Service failed to deliver between 5 to 10% of mail-in ballots on time in the days leading up to Election Day.
The figures cited are daily "processing scores" provided to multiple courts pursuant to orders from federal judges -- not on-time delivery standards, as some news outlets have mistakenly reported.
U.S. Postal Service trays are seen as workers of the Miami-Dade County Elections Department feed mail-in ballots in counting machines during the 2020 presidential election in Miami, Nov. 3, 2020.
Marco Bello/Reuters
The "processing scores" are complicated metrics that include several factors, including the time between a piece of mail's first and last processing, but not including transportation days.
These are court-ordered metrics intended to shed light on how timely ballots are being delivered. But many Postal Service offices do not track ballots -- they track First-Class mail, which includes ballots but also other types of mail. The Postal Service has repeatedly cast doubt on the viability of its own figures.
"This data does not produce accurate, reliable information, as it is incomplete, subject to change, and overall, is not an accurate representation of the Postal Service's performance," the Postal Service notes in each of its filings.
-ABC News' Lucien Bruggeman
Nov 04, 2020, 5:45 PM EST
Top House Republicans hope to maintain leadership ranks
While there are already rumblings that some Democrats might not be pleased reelecting Nancy Pelosi as House speaker in the 117th Congress, Republicans seem satisfied with the status quo atop their ranks.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy informed the conference earlier Wednesday that he’s seeking his party’s top post in the House -- remaining as House minority leader. McCarthy has been in the House GOP’s top leadership ranks since the tea party wave of 2010 put them in the majority for the 112th Congress.
The U.S Capitol building is seen on Election Day, Nov. 3, 2020 in Washington DC.
Chris Mcgrath/Getty Images
His No. 2, House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, the Republican most likely to succeed McCarthy atop the GOP conference, has sent a letter to Republicans announcing his intent to seek reelection for the post -- signaling there won’t be a dramatic challenge between the two veteran lawmakers.
Each party will elect their leadership teams later this month.
-ABC News' John Parkinson
Nov 04, 2020, 5:44 PM EST
Trump files suits in Michigan, Pennsylvania
Trump's legal team announced lawsuits in Pennsylvania and Michigan to halt vote counting until courts can enforce rules that permit campaign observers to watch the ballots being opened and counted.
Election ballots are counted at the TCF Center in Detroit, Nov. 4, 2020.
Seth Herald/AFP via Getty Images
"They're not letting our poll watchers watch the polls, not letting them inside," Eric Trump said at a news conference. "They're trying to cheat."
The legal action would not impact the vote tallies in either state, where elections officials are still counting ballots.
Election workers check mail-in and absentee ballots for the 2020 General Election at West Chester University, Nov. 3, 2020, in West Chester, Pa.
Matt Slocum/AP
Myrna Perez, the director of the Brennan Center's Voting Rights and Elections Program, called the suit a "nuisance" saying it is "designed to distract Americans from the counting process."
"The courts are unlikely to take this seriously," Perez said.
The Biden campaign slammed the lawsuits as "pathetic" and "fruitless attempts."
-ABC News' Olivia Rubin, Alex Hosenball, Benjamin Siegel and Matthew Mosk
