Biden fractures foot after fall, will likely be in walking boot 'for several weeks'

Georgia's voting system implementation manager Gabriel Sterling held an afternoon press conference on Zoom to update reporters on the Trump campaign-requested machine recount. He said he had just wrapped an approximately hourlong meeting with the counties that went over the process. 

Counties cannot begin the recount until 9 a.m. Tuesday. They must complete the recount by midnight on Dec. 2.

Sterling said this deadline accounts for Thanksgiving and that several counties, including three of the biggest, Fulton, DeKalb and Clayton counties, have an election on Dec. 1. He said some counties will likely need to work through the weekend. 

Sterling's advice to the counties as they undertake a third  count of the approximately 5 million votes cast in the presidential election was, "slow is smooth, smooth is fast."

"You don't want to rush yourself and cause mistakes and errors that you have to go back and fix, so slow is smooth, smooth is fast because the smoother you do this, the better off you're going to be," he said.

Counties are required to post notice of when they are doing the actual machine re-tabulation on their websites, on their respective election office and by notifying the secretary of state's office. 

Sterling made the important point that while parties are allowed to designate monitors to observe the recount, "ballots cannot be contested in this process."

While doing the recount, counties will need to keep ballots separated by type: absentee by mail ballots, early in person ballots, election day ballots and provisional ballots. Unlike the audit, counties can release results while the recount is still ongoing statewide. 

Asked again if they expect the outcome of the election -- that Joe Biden is the winner -- to change, Sterling said that's not their expectation. 

"Now, the possibility of it changing, you know, it's 2020, you never know," he said. "Crazy things happen but the likelihood is very low. We don't expect it to change, but you never know for certain."

-ABC News' Quinn Scanlan

Following Michigan's board of canvassers certifying the 2020 election results, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson lauded the decision as a win for democracy.

"Today's vote of the State Board of Canvassers to certify Michigan's November election confirms the truth: the election was fair and secure, and the results accurately reflect the will of the voters," she said in a statement.

"Our democracy, like the election officials who administer it, is resilient." she added. "Today it and they survived an unprecedented attack on its integrity."

One of Michigan's top Republicans, House Speaker Lee Chatfield, who met with Trump on Friday, applauded the board for certifying the results, saying that the "democratic process can move forward."

"The Board fulfilled its legal duties today in certifying the results and now our democratic process can move forward. This is America at work," he said.

He also bashed Democrats and the media for pushing "conspiracy theories" about the possibility of the legislature intervening. 

 "I am also glad the conspiracy theories pushed by far too many Democrats and some talking heads in the media for attention and personal or political gain have finally been put to rest," he said. "As we have been saying consistently for weeks, the legislature will uphold the law and respect this result as it works to improve the process for next time."

-ABC News' Kendall Karson and Molly Nagle

Michigan’s board of state canvassers voted Monday to certify the results of the 2020 election, delivering a stinging blow to President Trump.

The canvassing board affirmed Biden’s victory in the key battleground state
with three "aye" votes.

Biden’s lead over Trump was more than 150,000 votes. 

The highly-anticipated vote caps off a dramatic string of events that included unprecedented reversals by one obscure county elections board
and an extraordinary White House meeting, in which Trump personally met with top Republican Michigan lawmakers just days before the board convened.

One Republican member of the state board, Norman Shinkle, a longtime Republican activist from Ingham County who prior to the meeting revealed he was leaning against certifying, voted to abstain.

The other GOP member of the board, Vice Chair Aaron Van Langevelde, joined the two Democratic members of the board. 

“I think any allegations of voter fraud should be taken seriously and investigated. I believe in this case, a post-election
audit should be conducted,” Van Langevelde said. “State law is clear that we do not have that authority and other entities do. This board must respect the authority entrusted to it, and follow the law as written. We must not attempt to exercise power we simply don't have.”

He added, “This board must do its part to uphold the rule of law and comply with our legal duty to certify this election. I will be supporting
the motion.”

-ABC News' Kendall Karson

Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris met virtually Monday afternoon with the U.S. Conference of Mayors, as their transition looks to continue its outreach to local officials who are dealing with the ongoing effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

"You walk the streets of America, where people recognize you and look to you for confidence, look to you for a sense of security that everything's gonna be OK," Harris said. "You are the ones who take the heat on a daily basis. You are recognizable as the leaders of their government and the place where they live, the place where they worship, the place where their children go to school."

Biden then spoke briefly, joking with the mayor of Scranton, Pennsylvania, where he was born, about the town naming a street "Joe Biden Way."  He told the virtual group that he hopes to forge a partnership based on a "strong sense of common purpose" between cities and the federal government.

"As we head into this Thanksgiving, in a very dark point with cases and hospitalizations and deaths spiking, I want you to know that we're here for you and we will listen to you and work with you. And this is the first priority I'm going to have once I'm sworn in," Biden said.

The president-elect then went through his plans to slow the spread of COVID-19, including increased testing capacity, universal masking and discussed the slew of other challenges facing local officials.

He praised mayors for doing the practical -- and not partisan -- work of keeping their citizens safe and noted he has always worked to have a good relationship with local officials from his time as a city councilman, U.S. senator and vice president.

Biden also pledged his support to cities over the next few months noting that director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs Julie Chavez Rodriguez will work with mayors as the point person. 

"Blue cities, red cities, It doesn't matter," Biden said. "They're all-American cities, American communities who deserve the full support of an American president, I promise you that."

"Every mayor deserves a president who is going to be a true partner. And the bottom line is we can't do this without you," he added.

-ABC News' John Verhovek, Molly Nagle and Beatrice Peterson