The worst fears about a chaotic end to a chaotic campaign failed to materialize on Tuesday as the final day of voting went off with little more than sporadic glitches and confrontations even as the tension over the outcome and aftermath remained undiminished.
The most litigated, disrupted and polarized election in generations came to a close with voters who had not already cast their ballots by mail or in person during early voting trooping to the polls on an Election Day redefined by the coronavirus pandemic.
There were scattered problems and hints of battles still to be fought: The authorities in Michigan sought to hunt down the source of robocalls that warned voters to "stay home.” A federal judge ordered the Postal Service to make an intensive sweep for mail-in ballots that had yet to be delivered. And legal skirmishes broke out in and around Philadelphia as Republicans sought to challenge votes in the critical Democratic stronghold.