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.
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Macomb County GOP called for supporters to visit vote processing center before skirmish
Before the chaotic protests at a processing facility in Detroit, where poll workers were tallying votes, the Macomb County GOP encouraged supporters on Wednesday morning to stop by the TCF Center in Detroit, urging "all hands on deck!"
"Trained Poll Challengers and or Volunteers willing to be trained needed immediately at TCF Center (Cobo Hall)," the email, which was obtained by ABC News, reads.
The email makes the baseless claim that "questionable" ballots came in at 3 a.m. Wednesday.
ABC News reached out to the Macomb County Republican Party, but has not heard back.
-ABC News' Kendall Karson
Outstanding vote in Ga. from Democrat-leaning counties
According to a Georgia elections official, all of the outstanding vote in Georgia is from Democrat-leaning counties and Biden needs to win 64% of it to overtake Trump.
Right now, Trump has 2,426,104 votes and Biden 2,392,804 votes.
According to a press release from Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, as of 10:15 p.m., there are approximately 90,735 ballots still outstanding.
Trump is currently up by 33,300 votes.
-ABC News' Quinn Scanlan
Trump appears to make up some ground in Arizona
Biden still leads statewide, but in Maricopa County, Arizona, his margin is smaller.
At 9 p.m., Biden was leading Trump 51% - 48% statewide with 1,444,213 votes to the president’s 1,365,040. So far, 86% of the expected absentee vote was in, with 86% overall expected vote in as well.
Arizona's most populous county had about 400,000 votes to process and their most updated release indicated 338,000 are remaining. County officials said they're expecting to release more information at 12:30 a.m. ET/ 10:30 p.m. MT.
In the Senate race, Democrat Mark Kelly still led Sen. Martha McSally 52%-48%. This has narrowed since an earlier update where he led 53%-47%. ABC News has not made a projection this race.
-ABC News’ Meg Cunningham, Allison Pecorin and Jenna Harrison
Trump campaign files second suit in Pa.
The Trump campaign has filed a second lawsuit in Pennsylvania.
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