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Election 2020 updates: Biden warns of 'dark winter,' pushes masks in COVID 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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Here's how election week unfolded. All times Eastern.
Nov 03, 2020, 5:38 AM EST

ABC News interactive election map

Forecast if Trump or Biden will win the 2020 presidential election with ABC News' interactive election map.

Also, check out the final 2020 presidential election forecast, Senate forecast and House forecast from FiveThirtyEight.

Nov 03, 2020, 5:04 AM EST

Polls open in Vermont and close in Guam 

Polls are opening in Vermont and closing in Guam.

San Francisco Department of Elections worker Michael Suenkel checks an envelope of a voter before it is placed in a ballot box at the Chase Center drop-off location in San Francisco, Calif., Nov. 2, 2020, ahead of Election Day.
Jeff Chiu/AP

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