With Joe Biden on the cusp of 270 electoral votes, it’s time to discuss the political institutions and instruments that the 2020 cycle broke — or demonstrated once again that they were already broken.

• The Iowa caucuses. (Remember that botched count?)
• The supposed importance of the first three nominating contests (Biden lost them all, but he seems headed to the White House).
• The polls (especially of the state battlegrounds).
• The exit polls (they again were a mess).
• All of the Twitter pundits (who didn’t necessarily reflect the views of Democratic primary voters), plus all of the online misinformation.
• And the Commission on Presidential Debates. (Remember when Trump pulled out of the second debate?)
• (There’s also an Electoral College system that doesn’t exactly match the popular vote, but that can only change via a constitutional amendment).

All of these institutions and instruments were created in the 20th century — except Twitter, of course — and they became essential parts to how America practices politics. But they no longer seem fit for our modern times.

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It's coming down to the wire in Pennsylvania, with votes cast in an around Philadelphia key to the election outcome. 

So what's it like on the inside where the votes are being processed? The Philadelphia City Commissioners Office has a surprisingly zen livestream offering a look inside.

SAN ANTONIO — Robert Gonzalez hoped to help Donald Trump get to the White House by waving a large Trump-Pence flag outside a polling site Tuesday. This predominantly Latino city backed Joe Biden, but Trump won the state.

"He's not a career politician," Gonzalez said of Trump. He was saddened that businesses in the Riverwalk downtown — a heavy tourist area — had been boarded up because of the pandemic. Trump would bring economic recovery, he said.

As Americans woke up Wednesday to a still-undecided presidential race, some were stunned by Trump's gains among Latino voters in the battleground states of Texas and Florida, which he won. In Texas, 41 percent to 47 percent of voters backed Trump in several heavily Hispanic border counties in the Rio Grande Valley region, a Democratic stronghold. In Florida, Trump won 45 percent of the vote, an 11-point improvement on his 2016 performance.

But the diverse Latino electorate has a record of backing Republicans in some parts of the country, with some segments commonly identifying with Republican messages about the economy and social and political issues.

Read the story.

The 2020 campaign is down to the last six states. The outcomes in these states will determine which candidate is elected president. Explore the potential remaining paths to the White House with our Road to 270 map. 

Use NBC News' interactive Road to 270 map to chart what paths remain to the presidency for each candidate.

HOUSTON — As polls closed in Texas on Tuesday night, dozens of young liberals crowded onto the patio of a bar in Houston's eclectic Midtown neighborhood, hoping to see history being made.

For weeks, polls showed an unusually tight presidential race in Texas, raising the possibility that Joe Biden might become the first Democrat to win the state since 1976. At Axelrad Beer Garden, voters said they saw the record-setting turnout in left-leaning Harris County as a reason for hope.

"I'm trying not to set my expectations high, so if somehow we flip that will be an exciting surprise," Serma Malik, 36, said.

Then the results started coming in, and the hope faded.

Read more here.

President Trump sounds like a man who knows he's losing, even though it will take time to sort out the final vote counts in key electoral battlegrounds.

Speaking from the White House early Wednesday morning, Trump falsely declared that he was winning. And then he said the election is "a fraud on the American public" and an "embarrassment to our country." In case it wasn't obvious that he is desperately worried, he said he wants state officials to stop counting ballots midstream.

Oh, and he vowed to sue to overturn the results, despite calling himself the winner.

His speech Wednesday will surely be remembered as a low point for both the concept of democracy and the practice of republicanism. For the moment, Trump's tack represents two significant developments in the purgatory-is-hell story of the 2020 election.

Read more here.

After the election drew to a close, several battleground states were left counting mail-in ballots which were submitted in record numbers.

Vote counting in Michigan has been challenged by protesters seeking to stop the count.

Track the vote count progress here. This graphic will update with the latest numbers.

Trump, speaking from the White House around 2:30 a.m. ET Wednesday, made it clear he'd fight in court to aid his re-election, falsely claiming he had already won though no winner had been declared and while millions of ballots were still being counted.

Here’s a breakdown of where Trump and other Republicans are suing, and to what end.