It's happening the way it's supposed to happen. Voters are voting -- smashing records, adjusting behaviors and recalibrating expectations -- in ways that show the nation is many things, but definitely not apathetic.

It's also happening in ways that will stress the systems built to account for it all. More early votes, oddly, will mean reporting out results will take longer in several critical states -- to say nothing of the continuing challenges of participating in and administering an election in the midst of a pandemic.

Amid a flurry of COVID-era campaigning in battleground states, this week brought new high-water marks that suggest turnout records will fall this year.

Nearly as many Texans have voted as in all of 2016, with Georgia, North Carolina, Florida and Arizona are among the states already three-quarters of the way there, according to the United States Elections Project at the University of Florida.

But this week also brought continued uncertainties about the process of voting. The Supreme Court now has nine justices again, and voters in states, including Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Minnesota and North Carolina have a right to be confused about what the law is when it comes to how to vote -- and even what those laws might be on Election Day and beyond.

Layered on top of all of that are the efforts by President Trump to sow doubts about the integrity of the election.

From the local level on up, election officials say they're confident that there will be an accurate -- and, hopefully, promptly tallied -- vote count. But the surge of voting, while good for democracy, figures to make everything more difficult during this most difficult of times for the country.

-ABC News’ Political Director Rick Klein

At his stop in St. Paul, Minnesota, former Vice President Joe Biden battled with noise from Trump supporters as he took aim at the president.

Talking over a constant stream of air horns and beeps, the Democratic nominee responded to President Donald Trump's claim at a rally earlier Friday that doctors inflate the number of deaths from COVID-19 to get more money.

"The president of the United States is accusing the medical profession of making up COVID deaths so they make more money," Biden said. "Doctors and nurses go to work every day to save lives. They do their jobs. Donald Trump should stop attacking them and do his job."

Biden addressed the noise three times during his remarks. At one point, he referred to those "ugly folks" blasting horns and attempting to interrupt the event.

"Dr. [Anthony] Fauci called for a mask mandate last week. This isn't a political statement like those ugly folks over there beeping the horns," Biden said. "This is a patriotic duty, for God's sake. Look, in his own words, as I said, the president knew back in January how extremely dangerous and communicable this disease was."

Biden pleaded with voters to keep themselves engaged in the final four days of the race -- once again taking a jab at the loud protesters as he did so.

"Right here in Minnesota, with all of you, in the final days, keep that sense of empowerment. Keep that -- empowerment with you, that sense of optimism, of what we can overcome," he said. "Now look, there's a reason they don't want to hear me, because they know the president doesn't say anything. So they're not used to not hearing anything."

Toward the end of his remarks, Biden pointed to a recent appellate court ruling that absentee ballots received after Election Day cannot be counted, and urged everyone to hand-deliver their ballot rather than mail it.

"So if you want your voice to be heard, drop off your ballot. Don't put it in the mail. Or vote safely in person any day up through Election Day," he said. "But you've got to get it done. And make sure everyone you know votes as well, so they'll not be able to stop us."

-ABC News' Molly Nagle