New top story from Time: Follow 2020 Election Results Live: First Polls Closing After Calmer Than Expected Voting

With voting underway from Miami to Honolulu, Americans went to the polls today not just to decide who will occupy the White House for the next four years but also to pick the next Congress, governors in 11 states and thousands of state and local leaders who will set trash pick-up schedules, utility rates and school curricula.

The flexing of the United States’ democratic might, coming amid a pandemic of epic proportions, seemed one of the most resolute rejections of a difficult year rocked by coronavirus, the ensuing economic collapse and a reckoning on racial justice.

With TK ballots already banked before the sun rose over polling locations in all 50 states, the day was set to be one for the history books. Despite the challenges of conducting an election in the middle of a medical criss, the mettle of America met the moment.

The marquee race of the day, of course, was President Donald Trump’s re-election bid against former Vice President Joe Biden. Polls showed Trump opening the day at a deficit against his Democratic challenger. But as the two men matched insult for invective, the country was left with the choice of two white men in their 70s as the steward of a diverse nation. Trump pledged to continue his norm-shattering while Biden promised to return to a more staid version of America. Trump pledged to break the mold. Biden cast himself as a transitional figure.

Down-ballot, both parties faced crossroads of their own. The Senate was very much in play as Democrats looked to oust Republican incumbents in North Carolina, Georgia, Maine, Colorado, Arizona and Iowa. Democrats had all but conceded a loss for Sen. Doug Jones in Alabama.

Democrats were expected to keep their majority in the House, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was expected to hold her gavel come January. The question for them, though, was how the party would manage a rowdy Democratic caucus where some were agitating for change.

Election experts have stressed the importance of patience when waiting for the official vote count of all the races. Candidates do not determine who wins the election—regardless of what they may say. The final results are determined by state and local election officials.

Americans have relied more heavily on absentee and mail-in-voting this election because of the coronavirus pandemic, which has made voting access an even bigger issue than normal. Democrats and Republicans have already filed hundreds of election-related lawsuits over whose votes count and how hard it is to access the polls.

Early voting trends suggest that turnout and enthusiasm will be high. Some states, like Hawaii and Texas, surpassed their total vote count from 2016 even before Election Day.

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Polls Start Closing After Orderly Day of Balloting

Polls have now closed in Georgia, South Carolina and Kentucky — three states where costly Senate races may determine which party controls the chamber next year. Polls have also closed in Indiana, Vermont and Virginia, where Democrats were heavily favored to keep Sen. Mark Warner in his seat.

The first wave of numbers will tell the world less about specific races than the fact that they’re coming in so orderly. After an election season marred by worries of pandemic delays, corrupted technology and foreign influence, the biggest problems of the day seemed to have been high levels of participation and long lines.

There were, of course, scattered instances of equipment malfunction and software glitches. The Department of Homeland Security is investigating shady robocalls that urged people to stay home and stay safe.

But, to this point, it seems like Americans took this election seriously and prepared for those eventualities. An early snow squall in New Hampshire did more to delay Granite Staters from casting their ballots than the feared efforts at voter intimidation or suppression that kept some local elections officials up at night.

Still, this is 2020. It’s best not to toast America until the very last ballots are cast with Alaska, where polls close at 1 a.m. Eastern.