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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Polls open in 3 states
The polls are opening in West Virginia, Ohio and North Carolina.
Polls open in 8 states
The polls are opening in Virginia, New York, New Jersey, Maine, Kentucky, Connecticut, Indiana and New Hampshire.
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.
Polls open in Vermont and close in Guam
Polls are opening in Vermont and closing in Guam.
Biden, Harris meet with COVID-19 advisory board
President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris met with their newly-announced COVID-19 advisory board via Zoom Monday morning at the Queen Theater in Wilmington, Delaware, for a briefing on the coronavirus pandemic -- a signal of Biden’s primary focus as he prepares to take office in 72 days.
"Dealing with the coronavirus pandemic is one of the most important battles our administration will face, and I will be informed by science and by experts," Biden said in the release announcing the board which he says will guide his approach to managing spikes, distributing safe vaccines and protecting at-risk populations.
As previously reported, the team will be led by 3 co-chairs: former Surgeon General, Vivek Murthy, and former Food and Drug Administration commissioner, Dr. David Kessler, along with Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, a professor of medicine at Yale University.
In total, 13 co-chairs and members comprise the board, including former director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), Dr. Rick Bright, who made headlines earlier this year when he resigned from his role at the National Institute of Health and filed a whistleblower complaint over "an abuse of authority or gross mismanagement" at the Department of Health and Human Services on the COVID-19 response.
Aside from their victory speeches Saturday night, this is the first public event for the Biden and Harris since being projected as the winners of the 2020 election.
-ABC News’ Molly Nagle