Update!

2020 Election: Electoral College Vote Confirms Joe Biden Is Elected 46th President

NBC News reports Joe Biden has been officially elected the 46th President of the United States. His win comes after a contentious race against incumbent President Donald Trump.

By Cydney Contreras Dec 14, 2020 11:00 PMTags
Watch: Joe Biden Wins 2020 U.S. Election: Celebrities React

UPDATE: The Electoral College cast its votes and has officially elected Joe Biden as the 46th president of the United States.

According to NBC News, all 538 electors met in their respective states on Monday, Dec. 14 to cast their votes for president based on the election results that were recently certified by all 50 states. The votes revealed Biden reached the 270 threshold needed to win.

The president elect is expected to address the nation on Monday around 7:30 p.m. ET.

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America has chosen Joe Biden to be the 46th President of the United States.

NBC News projected on Saturday, Nov. 7, that the former Vice President won the 2020 election, beating incumbent President Donald Trump, with 279 electoral votes. Biden is joined in his celebration by Vice President Elect Kamala Harris, who will make history as the first female vice president, as well as the first Black and South Asian American vice president.

"America, I'm honored that you have chosen me to lead our great country," Biden tweeted. "The work ahead of us will be hard, but I promise you this: I will be a President for all Americans — whether you voted for me or not. I will keep the faith that you have placed in me."

Harris tweeted, "This election is about so much more than @JoeBiden or me. It's about the soul of America and our willingness to fight for it. We have a lot of work ahead of us. Let's get started."

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Stars Vote in the 2020 Presidential Election

Harris also shared a video of her calling Biden and telling him, "We did it. We did it, Joe. You're going to be the next President of the United States."

Her husband, Doug Emhoff, posted on Twitter a photo of him embracing his wife, writing, "So proud of you."

Early Wednesday Nov. 4, Biden campaign manager Jen O'Malley Dillon told reporters, "Joe Biden is on track to win this election and he will be the next president of the United States."

Their prediction came true later after found himself pushing ahead in swing states such as Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, Michigan and Wisconsin. And on Saturday, NBC News reported Biden had won Pennsylvania and later, Nevada, giving him more than the necessary 270 electoral votes—and the White House. 

Trump has vowed to challenge the results in court and has said he was victorious if "you count the legal votes." 

After much deliberation, Biden joined the competitive presidential race on April 25, 2019, going up against numerous politicians, including 2016 presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, the now-Vice President Harris and many other leaders.

At the time, Biden explained he felt compelled to throw his hat in the ring, saying in his announcement that this election was a "battle for the soul of this nation."

But in the early days of the campaign, the 77-year-old trailed behind other popular politicians. In February, he came in fourth place in the Iowa caucus and, in New Hampshire's, he found himself in fifth place.

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But the former Delaware senator emerged as a front-runner on Super Tuesday in March. Those primaries earned him a total of 458 delegates, causing Pete Buttigieg, Klobuchar and businessman Michael Bloomberg to drop out of the race. They would go on to endorse their colleague, as the Democratic party rallied behind Biden. 

Not long after Sanders and Warren dropped out of the race, making Biden the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. 

In the months that would follow, Biden took caution amid the coronavirus pandemic and switched to hosting virtual events. And his limited efforts were only bolstered by the announcement of his pick for Vice President

On Tuesday, Aug. 11, the former Vice President finally revealed that he asked the California senator to be his running mate. He said in a statement, written in part, "Her record of accomplishment—fighting tooth and nail for what's right—is why I'm choosing her. There is no door Kamala won't knock on, no stone she'll leave unturned, if it means making life better—for the people."

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Stars Share Why They're Voting

On his virtual election tour, Biden was joined by several of his famous supporters, including Barack Obama and Michelle Obama. The former President and First Lady spoke to the nation about their decision to endorse their friend on multiple occasions, with the Becoming author telling viewers of the Democratic National Convention, "If you take one thing from my words tonight, it is this: if you think things cannot possibly get worse, trust me, they can; and they will if we don't make a change in this election. If we have any hope of ending this chaos, we have got to vote for Joe Biden like our lives depend on it." 

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With the nomination under his belt, Biden went face-to-face with Trump on the debate stage for the first time in September. The second of the three debates was cancelled because of Trump's COVID-19 diagnosis in October and his refusal to virtually participate in the Oct. 15 debate.

The candidates went on to simultaneously hold their own Town Halls in Miami, with Biden's garnering half a million more viewers, according to Variety. The two later came face-to-face for the final debate, moderated by Kristen Welker, on Oct. 22. For the first time ever, the candidate that wasn't speaking for the allotted two minutes had their microphone muted.

Biden will be sworn into office on Jan. 20, 2020, although it's unclear if there will be a physical inauguration held in his honor. 

(NBC News and E! are part of the NBCUniversal family.)

Originally published Saturday, Nov. 7, 2020 at 8:45 a.m. PST