Joe Biden was elected the 46th president of the United States through a campaign that sought to balance promises of a return to civility and bipartisanship with the ambitious proposals of a Democratic Party that has been champing at the bit to enact reforms after four years under President Donald Trump.

WASHINGTON – Northwest elected officials urged calm and stressed the sanctity of the U.S. voting process Friday as Democratic candidate Joe Biden, leading his opponent by more than 4 million total votes amid historic turnout, appeared on the brink of winning the 270 electoral votes needed to reach the White House while incumbent President Donald Trump continued making evidence-free claims about cheating by Democrats.

WASHINGTON – Democrat Joe Biden stood on the cusp of winning the presidency Friday night, three days after Election Day, as the long, exacting work of counting votes widened his lead over President Donald Trump in critical battleground states.

WASHINGTON — Democrat Joe Biden defeated President Donald Trump to become the 46th president of the United States on Saturday, positioning himself to lead a nation gripped by historic pandemic and a confluence of economic and social turmoil.

President Donald Trump's wild and unsupported claims of voter fraud have emerged as a high-stakes Republican loyalty test that illustrates the tug of war likely to define the future of the GOP whether he wins or loses the presidency.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly said there’s one place he wants to determine the outcome of the presidential election: the U.S. Supreme Court. But he may have a difficult time ever getting there.

Pennsylvania’s secretary of state said that almost all votes could be tallied by today. If Joe Biden captures the state, he would win the presidency. Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina are also continuing to count their ballots. Join The Post’s Libby Casey and Rhonda Colin for key updates.

Facebook on Thursday banned a large group called “Stop the Steal” that supporters of President Donald Trump were using to organize protests against the presidential vote count. Some members had called for violence, while many falsely claimed that Democrats are “stealing” the election from Republicans.

U.S. voters went to the polls starkly divided on how they see President Donald Trump’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. But in places where the virus is most rampant now, Trump enjoyed enormous support.

Democrat Joe Biden was pushing closer to the 270 Electoral College votes needed to carry the White House, securing victories in the “blue wall” battlegrounds of Wisconsin and Michigan and narrowing President Donald Trump's path.

 Judges in Georgia and Michigan quickly dismissed Trump campaign lawsuits Thursday, undercutting a campaign legal strategy to attack the integrity of the voting process in states where the result could mean President Donald Trump's defeat.

Police arrested dozens of people in Seattle, Minneapolis and Portland, Oregon overnight during protests demanding a tally of all votes in the US election, and smaller groups backing President Donald Trump returned to tabulation sites in closely contested states to insist counting be halted.

As a wild election day came to a close, it became clear that Joe Biden would probably win the Latino vote in every state.

ATLANTA — The margin between President Donald Trump and Joe Biden in the Southern battleground state of Georgia continued to narrow Thursday as poll workers in mostly Democratic-leaning counties continued tallying absentee ballots.

Joe Biden won the battleground prizes of Michigan and Wisconsin on Wednesday, reclaiming a key part of the “blue wall” that slipped away from Democrats four years ago and dramatically narrowing President Donald Trump's pathway to reelection.

With a bitterly divided America failing to deliver a decisive result for either party, a jittery public awaited clarity Wednesday over the fate of a race that remained too early to call.

Waking up to the news that the winner of the U.S. election might not be known for a while was jarring to a planet weaned on American speediness.

The fate of the United States presidency hung in the balance Wednesday as President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden battled for familiar battleground states — including Michigan and Pennsylvania — that could prove crucial in determining who wins the White House.

Election night’s observances in Spokane County showed the distinction between the two parties’ approaches to the coronavirus pandemic.