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.
Here's how election week unfolded. All times Eastern.
Nov 06, 2020, 3:59 AM EST
Biden chips away at Trump's lead in Pennsylvania
Biden continued to chip away at Trump's lead in Pennsylvania early Friday morning, with the two candidates now separated by just 18,229 votes
As of 3 a.m. ET, Trump has 3,286,171 votes in the Keystone State -- 49.5% -- while Biden has 3,267,942 -- 49.2% -- with 95% of the expected vote reporting. There are some 160,000 ballots left to be counted in Pennsylvania, and Biden needs about 56% of the outstanding votes to win the state.
Trump flipped the blue state red on his path to the White House in 2016. He won Pennsylvania's 20 Electoral College votes, defeating Hillary Clinton there by 44,292 ballots.
Prior to that year, Pennsylvania had voted for Democratic presidential candidates in six consecutive elections.
-ABC News' Adam Kelsey and Chad Murray
Nov 06, 2020, 3:26 AM EST
Trump's lead in Georgia dwindles to just 665 votes
Trump's lead in Georgia dwindled to just 665 votes early Friday morning.
As of 3 a.m. ET, Trump has 2,448,183 votes while Biden isn't far behind with 2,447,518.
Sixteen Electoral College votes are up for grabs in Georgia, a longtime Republican stronghold. Voters in the Deep South state haven't swung for a Democratic presidential candidate since Bill Clinton in 1992.
Nov 06, 2020, 12:45 AM EST
Trump campaign files lawsuit in Nevada
The Trump campaign has finally filed a lawsuit in Nevada, almost 12 hours after holding a bizarre press conference Thursday morning that included claims without any evidence whatsoever.
The lawsuit includes complaints they've already put before the courts and that were unsuccessful, like trying to get the signature matching verification machines thrown out in Clark County and trying to stop the count until they had more "meaningful access" to ballot counting.
This lawsuit was brought before the federal district court, against Nevada Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske.
The lawsuit also reiterates the new claims former acting Director of National Intelligence Ric Grenell and former Republican Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt made Thursday morning.
“Irregularities have plagued the election in Clark County, including lax procedures for authenticating mail ballots and over 3,000 instances of ineligible individuals casting ballots. Ballots have even been cast on behalf of deceased voters. Moreover, the public has often been prohibited from observing the processing of mail ballots, resulting in much of their work being done in the shadows without public accountability," the lawsuit alleges.
Overall, there is no evidence of any of these claims.
-ABC News' Cheyenne Haslett
Nov 05, 2020, 11:28 PM EST
Trump campaign, Nevada GOP ask Attorney General Barr to investigate voting in state
The Trump campaign and the Nevada GOP -- citing unfounded allegations regarding potential voter fraud -- Thursday evening requested Attorney General Bill Barr investigate unclear violations of federal law.
The party has identified what they allege are 3,062 individuals "who appear to have improperly cast mail ballots in the election."
Attorney General William Barr meets with members of the St. Louis Police Department, in St. Louis, Oct. 15, 2020.
Pool/Reuters
Any official body can make this kind of request, known as a "criminal referral," essentially a notice to the Justice Department or FBI alerting federal officials of a potential federal crime. But the notice in recent years has been increasingly utilized by partisan actors seeking to cast a cloud of suspicion over their political enemies. The bar to make a criminal referral is very low.
In order for the federal government to get involved, there must be suspected violations of federal law, as states are responsible for overseeing elections.
They have not provided any identifiable information that can be verified.
Clark County Registrar of Voters Joe Gloria speaks to the news media about the process of vote tallying during a press conference at Clark County Election Department on Nov. 5, 2020, in North Las Vegas.
Ronda Churchill/AFP via Getty Images
When asked Thursday night by ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos if he was aware of any instances of voter fraud in the state, Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford responded, "None."
"In fact, what we heard from our county registrar down in Clark County, for example, is that the only instance they've seen of voter fraud was a Trump supporter trying to vote twice," Ford said. "At the end of the day, we’re looking out for it -- if you do it, we're going to prosecute you."
-ABC News' Katherine Faulders and Alexander Mallin
