Biden early votes in Wilmington, expands on health care plan

The former vice president and former second lady Jill Biden early voted in Wilmington, Delaware, this afternoon, and sported masks and “I Voted” stickers when walking out of their polling location. 

On the heels of his remarks on health care, Biden was asked by reporters what he’s learned from the Affordable Care Act when prepping his own health care bill to be ready to send to Congress if elected president. Biden said he has a bill ready and and would work with Republicans.

“And yes, I do have a proposal that relates to how we can improve the Affordable Care Act, beyond what before was before, which Barack and I wanted to do at the time to add a public option, allowing people to keep their private insurance if that's what they choose that they want to do, making it more affordable to get a better plan,” Biden said, adding he believes he can get Republican support for his plan. 

Pressed on why he believes he could gain bipartisan support for the effort, Biden said public support for the bill would push Republicans over the line and earn their votes.

Announcing earlier in remarks that he would be voting today, Biden reminded Americans there are candidates and issues down the ballot that deserve voters’ attention, beyond the presidential race.

“There's a lot of people on that ballot -- not just me but the down ballot as well -- that are going to change things for us, make it better,” Biden said. 
 
-ABC News’ Molly Nagle and and Beatrice Peterson

In the final days of campaigning Biden is keeping his focus on the nation’s response to the coronavirus pandemic and the looming threat to the Affordable Care Act as the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments to determine its fate one week after Election Day.

Biden delivered remarks this afternoon from The Queen Theater in Wilmington, Delaware, on his plans to combat COVID-19 and protect preexisting conditions following a virtual briefing with health experts on the “third wave” of the public health crisis.

Biden took a swipe at Trump’s Omaha rally after hundreds of the president's supporters were stranded Tuesday night for hours in near-freezing weather, waiting for buses to return them from Eppley Airfield hanger to their cars, resulting in some requiring medical attention and being taken to the hospital.

“It's an image that captures President Trump's whole approach to this crisis," Biden said. “He makes a lot of big pronouncements, but they don't hold up. He gets his photo op then he gets out. He leaves everyone else to suffer the consequences of his failure to make a responsible plan.”

Biden also railed about the fact that Republicans are seeking to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, which includes protections for preexisting conditions, amid the pandemic -- characterizing Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s swift confirmation while Americans were already voting in the 2020 election as a “craven abuse of political power.”

“So let's remember exactly what's at stake in this election. If you have diabetes, asthma, cancer or even complications from COVID-19, you're going to lose the protection this law provides,” Biden said.

Biden also acknowledged the pandemic will not be gone even if he’s elected but said he won’t be guided by “wishful thinking” but reason and facts.

Biden is headed to early vote in Wilmington.

Ahead of the vice president's trips to two battleground states Trump narrowly won in 2016, Pence's office announced he tested negative for the coronavirus again today -- as the Trump administration struggles with voter trust on its handling of the pandemic.

Pence will continue traversing the country as an "essential worker," according to the White House, despite five of his aides testing positive for COVID-19 over the weekend and Pence coming into close contact with at least one of those infected individuals. He has rallies this afternoon in Wisconsin and Michigan -- states where Biden leads Trump among likely voters, according to new ABC News/Washington Post polls.

Trump campaign national press secretary Hogan Gidley appearing on CNN this morning said that it wasn't a concern for the vice president to go to Wisconsin -- which had a record number of hospitalizations on Monday -- since his doctors have cleared him for travel.

"The vice president has the best doctors in the world around him. They're obviously contact traced and have come to the conclusion it's fine for him to be out on the campaign trail," Gidley said. "The American people have the right under the First Amendment to peaceably assemble, too."

With millions of absentee ballots still outstanding less than a week until Election Day, state election officials in at least six in critical swing states are revising their message for voters, now urging them to bypass the Postal Service and instead vote in person or hand-deliver their ballots to ensure they are delivered in time to be counted.

Officials in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Florida, Wisconsin, Georgia and Ohio have all put out calls in recent days warning voters about potential postal delays, encouraging voters to use drop boxes or deliver ballots by hand.

"It's now important to return your ballots in person. Don't rely on the mail," Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson told ABC News Live Prime Anchor Linsey Davis on Tuesday, adding the state is still waiting on more than 1 million absentee ballots to be returned.

Mail-in voting is expected to reach unprecedented levels this election cycle due to the health concerns of the novel coronavirus pandemic. But of the 88 million ballots voters requested, only half have been returned so far.

The last-minute push to bypass the Postal Service comes after months of concern from critics about the reliability of the mail in the electoral process, budgetary concerns with the agency and threats to cut services in a presidential election year -- fears that postal officials said were misguided. This summer, though, the post office warned state election officials that voters should send in their ballots no later than Oct. 27th in order to get them in on time in accordance with delivery standards.

The move also comes amid a background of litigation over extending mail-in ballot deadlines past Election Day, which Democrats generally favor and a push by Republicans and the Trump administration to end the process on Nov. 3.

-ABC News' Olivia Rubin, Kendall Karson and  Lucien Bruggeman