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:
Milwaukee to livestream its absentee vote counting
Milwaukee election officials will livestream their tabulation of the county’s absentee ballots, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Local election officials estimate the process could take until 3 or 4 a.m.
Those interested can tune in on YouTube, where three cameras have been set up to live broadcast the whole process.
In Pennsylvania, Philadelphia City Commissioners are similarly broadcasting tabulations.
Biden wraps up a visit to hometown of Scranton
Biden wrapped up an Election Day visit to his hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday.
The former vice president visited his childhood home and church as well as a local carpenters' union and gave his granddaughters a tour of the place he grew up.
He signed the walls of his childhood home during this trip, writing, “From this house to the White House with the grace of God. Joe Biden 11-3-2020.”
He also stopped by the sandwich shop Hanks Hoagies, where supporters flocked Biden.
Earlier in the morning in Delaware, Biden attended church and visited the gravesite of his late son Beau Biden -- at the same cemetery that his first wife and baby daughter were buried in 1972.
After Scranton, Biden is heading to Philadelphia.
-ABC News' John Verhovek.
First lady casts her vote in Florida
First Lady Melania Trump was spotted arriving at the Morton and Barbara Mandel Recreation Center in Palm Beach, Florida, on Tuesday to cast her vote.
The first lady was the only person not wearing a mask at the site, according to pool reports. Melania Trump briefly spoke to the press Tuesday morning, saying she was feeling “great.” When asked why she did not vote with the president ahead of time, she said, "It’s Election Day, so I wanted to come here to vote today for the election."
Polls open in 2 states
The polls are opening in much of Alaska and the State Elections Office opens for accessible voting in Washington.
Biden warns of 'dark winter,' pushes masks in COVID plan
Biden warns of 'dark winter' ahead as he lays out COVID-19 plan, calls for unity on masks
President-elect Joe Biden in his first solo remarks to Americans since his victory speech over the weekend reminded Americans of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic as cases and hospitalizations rise across the country, and said the country is “still facing a very dark winter” before offering his plan to combat it.
"We are ready to get to work addressing the needs of the American people. Today, that work begins," Biden said from The Queen Theater in Wilmington Delaware, following a briefing with his newly-announced COVID-19 advisory board. "It starts with doing everything possible to get the COVID-19 under control, so that we can reopen our businesses safely and sustainably, resume our lives, put this pandemic behind us."
While he praised the announcement from Pfizer Monday morning that the company has a vaccine in trial that looks "90% effective in preventing COVID-19," Biden reminded that even if the vaccine is approved, it will not be widely available for months. He went on to urge all Americans, regardless of whether they voted for him, to "end the politicization of basic responsible public health steps."
"This election is over. It’s time to put aside the partisanship and the rhetoric that’s designed to demonize one another," Biden said, reminding Americans to keep social distancing and wearing a mask.
"Doesn't matter who you voted for, whether you stood, where you stood before election day, doesn't matter your party, your point of view. We can save tens of thousands of lives if everyone would just wear a mask for the next few months. Not Democrat or Republican lives, American lives," he added. "A mask is not a political statement but it is a good way to start pulling the country together."
After pledging to rejoin the World Health Organization on "Day One," Biden also said his advisory board will include experts on global health security, "so that we can restore U.S. global leadership to fight this pandemic" -- in sharp contrast to Trump's isolationist approach to the virus and general policy.