At 1.50 am ET FOX News announced Donald Trump as winner of the presidential election – a little bit more than 30 minutes later Trump came to the stage of his election party in the Convention Center of Palm Beach.
Donald Trump was accompanied by his wife Melania and his son Barron, his vice president JD Vance and his whole family with all his children and their children.
Trump thanked the millions of Americans and promised he will fight with all his power to make America great again. He called it the greatest victory of the US history, he said, winning not only the electoral votes but also the popular vote is “very nice”.
“America has given us an unprecedented powerful mandate with winning the Senate and the House of Representatives at the same election”, Trump proclaimed.
First he thanked for more than 20 minutes all members of his family, especially his wife Melania and his vice president JD Vance. JD Vance spoke for a few minutes and called it “the greatest political comeback in American history” which will be now, by the words of JD Vance, followed “by the greatest economical comeback of our history!”
Then Trump started his speech with: “We have to make America to be the greatest country of the world, we will seal up our borders…” But then he interrupted his speech again to thank all members of his team for more than 20 minutes again. And then he said: “We have a new star, a new political star is born: ELON !” He praised Elon Musk for winning his election in Pennsylvania: “He is a super-genius and we have to protect all our geniuses!”
“Most of all I want to thank the millions of hard working Americans who showed up for this historic victory – we will thank you with a special policy. Today the American people regained control of this country!” Trump proclaimed.
“We will begin reducing taxes, we will have the most oil of the world more than Saudi Arabia, we are better than every other country in the world!”, Trump continued, “everybody voted for me: Adrian-American, Asian-American, Latin-American even Muslim-American!”
Trump stated: “We have done 900 rallies in this campaign, I don t want to stop with the rallies. God saved my life for a reason. The reason was that I will have to save my country. This is the most important job in the world – I will govern by a simple model. Promises are promises – I will keep all of them. It is time to put the divisions of the last years away – we will have a success in bringing our people together. We have to put our country first – we will heal this country!”
“I will not let you down – America s future will be better than ever before – we will be building the greatest nation of the world. God bless you!”
LIVE: Now it’s official: FOX News is announcing Donald Trump as next President and securing his victory – Trump will get up to 309 electoral votes, much more than the 270 electoral votes needed
Now it s official: FOX News has announced that Donald Trump wins the presidential election with more than 270 electoral votes and will be the next US president.
US LIVE prognoses that Donald Trump will win up 312 electoral votes in total. He will be winning ALL seven swing states including Arizona and Nevada and Alaska.
In addition the Republican Party will also win the majority in Congress AND in the Senate. Donald Trump will be able to reign the United States with nearly absolute power with the Senate and the Congress on his side.
Trump wins ALL seven swing states – and is reaching more than 270 electoral votes
Donald Trump is only few moments away from winning the presidential Election. He is actually on the way of winning ALL seven swing states.
He wins North Carolina with 50,6 – 47,6, Georgia with 50,7 – 48,4 %, the “Blue States” of Pennsylvania with 51,2 – 47,7 %, Wisconsin with 50,8 – 47,6, and Michigan with 51,3 – 46,9, and he seems to win the swing states in the west with Arizona (49, 8 – 49,3) and it looks also that he wins Nevada (he is leading there with more than 70 % after the first vote counting of 5 %).
It looks like Donald Trump is only few moments short of a sweeping election victory that nobody – maybe even he himself – had expected in this size.
Donald Trump is on the way to his big election party in the Convention Center in Palm Beach for his victory speech. He will accompanied by Elon Musk.
The results of the swing states are stabilizing in these night hours – so the triumph for Trump is pretty sure. Elon Musk already tweeted on X: “Game – set – victory!”
Kamala Harris already cancelled her speech at her election party in her university and is sending all her fans home. She will wait til tomorrow til her defeat is definite.
In contrast in Palm Beach more than 2.000 Trump fans are celebrating, dancing and cheering. Now everybody is waiting for Trump – and Trump-fans are celebrating in all US-cities in big numbers. From Miami to Nashville, from Palm Beach to News York.
Trump is on the way to 312 electoral votes – a sweeping victory – after declaring him the winner in Pennsylvania Trump is with 267 electoral votes only 3 votes short of winning the “magical” 270 electoral votes
Donald Trump is on the way to a sweeping election victory in this night. FOX called Pennsylvania as a Trump victory. And he is leading in all seven swing states and probably in the state of Alaska.
Trump is on the way to win – if he really wins Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and maybe even Wisconsin
11:15 pm ET – Donald Trump is on his way to win this dramatic election: He is leading in five of the crucial swing states of Georgia (50,8 % – 48,4 %), North Carolina (50,8 – 47,8), Pennsylvania (50,7 – 48,3) and now even with very small margins in Wisconsin (49,5 – 48.8) and Arizona (49,6 – 49,5). Kamala Harris has only the lead in Michigan
10:10 pm ET – Trump takes the lead in Pennsylvania – if he wins Pennsylvania Trump is on the way to the presidency
At 10:11 pm on the East Coast the sensation is under way: The lead in the crucial battleground state of Pennsylvania changes from Kamala Harris to Donald Trump.
Trump has now a lead with 50,5 % in Pennsylvania, Harris drops to 48,8 %. If Trump can keep this lead he is on the way to more than 270 electoral votes and to the White House.
10:00 pm – ET – Trump leads 195 – 117 by Fox and 162 – 81 by CNN – but all swing states too close to call: Trump leads in Georgia, North Carolina, Harris leads in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan. But NYT already says: Trump will win the Election !
All swing states are too close to call: Trump leads in Georgia and North Carolina with around 52 % with half the votes counted – two just-win states for him. Harris still leads in the three “blue wall states” she has to win to reach 270 votes. But the advantage in Pennsylvania – the crucial battleground state – becomes smaller and smaller. Richt now she leads Pennsylvania only with 51,3 %
9:00 pm ET – Arizona closes and all swing states too close to call. Trump is on the way of winning Georgia and North Carolina, his must-win swing states. Harris is leading in Pennsylvania and Michigan, but only after the first counted votes
Donald Trump is on the way of winning two crucial swing states in this Election night: He is leading with 53,0 % in Georgia and with also 53,0 % in North Carolina.
Kamala Harris is leading in the very early votes in Pennsylvania and Michigan. But her advantage is melting. In Pennsylvania the lead for Harris shrinks from 75 % to 63 % right now. And in Michigan her lead shrieked from 65 % to only 53 % right now.
So a win for Trump in Michigan seems possible right now and would be crucial for his way to 270 electoral votes and his victory.
Right now Trump has 178 electoral votes regarding to Fox and 154 votes in the counting of CNN – Kamala Harris has 113 in the counting of Fox, and only 30 in the counting of CNN.
8:00 pm ET – Trump wins Florida with more than 54 %, he leads in Georgia – and now polls in Pennsylvania are closing and Harris is leading in the first votes
Donald Trump is the big winner in the crucial state of Florida with 30 Votes. CNN has already declared him as winner with more than 54 % in the moment.
Trump wins til now 90 electoral votes compared with 27 of Kamala Harris. But this is all exactly like the expert awaited the results – no surprises.
The first surprise is the clear lead Trump has in Georgia with more than 55 % and the small advantage Kamala Harris has in North Carolina with 51 % of the first votes.
6:20 pm ET – Polls closed in Florida and Georgia – and Trump leads in both states. Trump wins Indiana and Kentucky (19 votes), Harris Vermont (3 votes)
Donald Trump wins the first two states in this election – as expected he gets the electoral votes of Kentucky and Indiana, 19 votes all together. Harris has the 3 votes of Vermont first.
A few minutes ago the polls closed in Florida and in the b battleground state of Georgia. Trump is leading in Florida in the first vote counts with more than 53 %. In Georgia Trump is leading after the first vote counts with up tp 60 %, but this is only the beginning of the counting in Georgia – there is a long way to go.
First results from small rural counties in Indiana and Kentucky: Trump is leading with more than 60 % but he is a little bit weaker than four years ago
The polls in Kentucky and Indiana have already closed at 6:00 pm ET. The first rural counties bring clear advantages for Trump. In Kentucky Trump is leading with 65,9 % against Harris with 32,9 %. In Indiana Trump has in the first – mostly rural votes – 62,5 % and Harris is distant second with 36,4 %.
But Trump is a little bit weaker in his results than in the year 2020 – these are alarming signals for the Trump camp.
First Exit Poll: Democracy is the most important issue with 35 % at this election, followed by the Economy
Surprising results in the first exit poll by CNN: In the finish of this campaign the issue “DEMOCRACY” became the most important issue for voters with 35 %.
The economy is only second with 31 %, Abortion is number 3 with 14 % (and more than 20 % with women) and immigration lost very much appeal, is only number 4 with 11 %.
Voters like Harris because she has “Good judgement” (35 %) and “cares about people” (39 %. Trump is favored because he has “the ability to lead the country” (41 %) and “can bring change” (39 %).
5:00 pm ET – How they will win: Harris has 226 electoral votes fix, Trump has 219. Harris has to win additionally the three “blue states” of Michigan, Wisconsin and especially Pennsylvania
The two candidates have a big number of electoral votes already in their pocket:
The experts count for Kamala Harris 226 “secured” electoral votes. To reach the necessary number of 270 electoral votes she has to win the three “blue states” of Wisconsin (10 votes), Michigan (15 votes) and especially Pennsylvania (19 votes) which would bringt her exactly and sharp to the necessary 270 votes. If she wins Nevada, maybe Georgia or Iowa additional she would be very clear on the victory path
Trump on his side has only 219 votes “secure” – so he has to win at least 5 of the 7 battleground states: Arizona, Georgia, North Dakota and additionally Nevada and one of the “blue states” – either Michigan or especially Pennsylvania with 19 votes.
4:05 pm ET – First time more than 158 million votes – 83 million early votes already in – Trump has a small lead in early voting
Enormous lines of voters in front of the polling stations with waiting times up to more than two hours especially in the battleground states of Georgia and Pennsylvania.
More than 160 million vote might be expected – that would even be more than at the last election with a record voting for Joe Biden.
83 million early votes – nearly half of all votes to be counted – are already in and Donald Trump has a small lead in the early voting. It seems like the Republicans could manage a higher voter turn out than the Democrats
3:40 pm ET – Security fears at shops and at Mc Donald – National Guard in alarm – Will there be violence in the Election Night ?
Enormous lines of voters in front of the polling stations with waiting times up to more than two hours especially in the battleground states of Georgia and Pennsylvania.
There are bomb threats already in Georgia and all over the US, some polling stations had to be evacuated. In the Capitol one man was arrested in the visitor center when he had torches and a gun with him.
A lot of shops – especially in Washington DC – are barricading their windows against violent unrest in the night. Some McDonalds restaurant also have started barricading their windows against violent demonstrations.
3:25 pm ET – Kamala Harris is holding her Election party at her former university in Howard – Trump has his Election party in the Convention Center in Palm Beach with Elon Musk personally attending
The Election Party of Kamala Harris will be at her former Alma Mater, Howard University. Trump is holding his Election Party at the media viewing center, the Convention Center in Palm Beach with more than thousand journalists and Trump fans in attendance. Elon Musk, the famous Trump supporter is expected to show up personally.
2:05 pm ET – Another way that Trump is very ‘on line’
Many Americans will urge voters to stay in line and wait to vote today. Or will they say stay “on” line?
The slight variation — on vs. in — is a regional difference. The vast majority of Americans say “stay in line,” while those from the broader New York area often say “stay on line.”
“For much of the last several decades … on line has been viewed as peculiar to New York City (and the Hudson Valley),” according to Merriam-Webster.
The difference is clearest on the Republican ticket.
Trump, a native New Yorker, urged Republicans on Tuesday to, “Stay on Line. Do not let them move you. STAY ON LINE AND VOTE!” The presidential candidate has also used “in line.”
His running mate, Sen. JD Vance, a Republican who was born in Ohio, pressed people to, “Get in line, stay in line, and VOTE.”
2:02 pm ET – Netanyahu chooses US Election Day to fire rival Yoav Gallant
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long been rumored to be weighing the sacking of Gallant, the defense minister and his political rival. The two have clashed over Netanyahu’s handling of the multi-front war in Gaza and Lebanon.
Netanyahu fired Gallant once before in March 2023, months before Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the current conflict. Biden administration officials expressed concern to Netanyahu over his decision at the time.
The move then was spurred by Gallant’s criticism of the Netanyahu government’s contentious plan to overhaul the judiciary. Netanyahu reversed the decision weeks later.
The White House on Tuesday had no immediate reaction to Netanyahu’s move to oust Gallant once again.
1:55 pm – ET – Police have arrested a man trying to enter the US Capitol with a torch and flare gun
U.S. Capitol Police say the man was stopped Tuesday during a security screening at the Capitol Visitor Center. Authorities say he smelled of fuel and was carrying the flare gun and torch.
Officials have canceled public tours of the Capitol for the remainder of the day.
Police say they are still investigating.
The arrest comes as authorities are on heightened alert for security issues around the nation’s capital and have increased patrols in areas downtown and near the White House around Election Day. Nearly four years ago, a mob of Donald Trump’s supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
2:52 pm ET – Clemson’s Dabo Swinney lost a game last weekend, but not his right to vote
They take college football very seriously in Clemson, South Carolina.
But no, they did not take away Tigers coach Dabo Swinney’s right to vote just because his team lost to Louisville last week.
Let’s explain: Dabo Swinney’s given first name is William. Dabo Swinney went to vote on Tuesday. The state of South Carolina said William Swinney had already voted.
“I’m like, ‘Dang, they done voted me out of the state. Lost a game. … They done shipped me off,’” Swinney said.
Here was the issue: Dabo’s oldest son, also named William, voted last week.
They counted William Jr. as William Sr. Hence, the confusion.
Dabo Swinney got to submit a paper ballot and there will be a hearing on Friday to clear it up.
“It was quite an experience this morning,” the coach said. “Me and Will, our two votes will count on Friday.”
Democrats defend Michigan’s open Senate seat, a rare opportunity for Republicans
Michigan voters are deciding between Democratic U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin and Republican former congressman Mike Rogers in a tight U.S. Senate battleground contest that could sway the balance of federal power.
Slotkin had a clear head start, but as Republicans became more confident about Donald Trump’s presidential prospects in Michigan, the contest drew more attention from funders who believed Rogers had a good chance of becoming the first Republican to win a U.S. Senate seat in the state in 30 years.
The race could determine whether Democrats continue to hold their slim majority in the Senate, where they’re defending more seats than Republicans in this election.
? Read more about Michigan’s Senate race
How much does Tony Hinchcliffe have riding on this election?
Only a slice of America knew Tony Hinchcliffe before he took the stage at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally in late October.
But what the comic said that night — namely calling Puerto Rico a “ floating island of garbage ” — not only made him known nationwide but also thrust him into the core of presidential politics.
While the Trump campaign attempted to distance itself from the joke, the Republican candidate never apologized, allowing Harris to take full advantage. Democrats cite that joke, and its aftermath, as the turning point in their effort to win over late-deciding voters.
Harris pressed this advantage on Monday, using precious time in her final day on the campaign trail to rally in Allentown, Pennsylvania, a city with a large Puerto Rican community, and to drive over an hour to Reading to visit a Puerto Rican restaurant.
Hinchcliffe, in the immediate aftermath of the joke, accused Democrats of having “no sense of humor” and wrote that he “made fun of everyone.” He hasn’t tweeted since.
If Trump loses and Hinchcliffe’s joke is a turning point, his appearance could go down as the most influential comedy set of all time.
In some states, there’s an Election Day music soundtrack
There’s one way to make a long line at a polling place seem like it’s moving a bit faster: Play music.
In four battleground states — Arizona, North Carolina, Georgia and Pennsylvania — the non-partisan group Joy to the Polls has DJs and performers out and about, helping voters pass the time.
In Arizona this morning, voters at one location stood in line (and, yes, a few tapped their feet) to the sounds of Queen, Arrested Development, Freddie Jackson and more.
Part of the group’s mantra: “You bring the vote, we bring the music!”
Election day voting is going mostly smoothly with some scattered issues
Election Day voting unfolded largely smoothly across the nation Tuesday but with scattered reports of extreme weather, ballot printing errors and technical problems causing delays.
Most of the hiccups occurring by mid-day were “largely expected routine and planned-for events,” said Cait Conley, senior adviser to the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, in a press briefing. She said the agency was not currently tracking any national, significant incidents impacting election security.
Helping voting run relatively smoothly on Election Day was the fact that tens of millions of Americans had already cast their ballots. Those included record numbers of voters in Georgia, North Carolina and other battleground states that could decide the winner.
? Read more about how Election Day is going so far
Trump refuses to say how he voted on Florida’s abortion ballot measure
Asked about the measure, which would keep the state’s six-week restriction in place, he avoided answering by simply saying he’d done “a great job bringing it back to the states.”
The second time, he snapped at a reporter, saying: “You should stop talking about it.”
Trump had previously indicated he would back the measure, but then changed his mind, saying he would vote against it.
The abortion measure would prevent lawmakers from passing any law that penalizes, prohibits, delays or restricts abortion until fetal viability, which doctors say is sometime after 21 weeks. If it’s rejected, the state’s current abortion law would stand.
Voters in Butler recall assassination attempt on Trump as they head to the polls
In the small county seat of Butler, Pennsylvania, voter turnout was brisk at city center precincts, just a few miles from where Trump survived an assassination attempt on July 13.
Voters and an elections official said the process was going smoothly.
Several voters were about evenly split between Trump and Harris, even as surrounding neighborhoods and countryside were overwhelmingly marked with Trump signs and flags, some depicting a photo of him raising his fist in the moments after the shooting.
Elizabeth Nanni said she voted for Harris, saying the candidate is “infinitely smarter “ than her opponent, though she voted Republican in some down-ballot races.
Like others, she said Butler still feels the trauma of July 13.
“We’re not used to having people shot and killed in Butler,” she said. “Hopefully that will be the first and last time anything like that happens here.”
Louis Fell, who voted for Trump, said he didn’t think the shooting changed anyone’s decision about whom to vote for, but it affected the community.
“I feel more connected to the whole thing. We’re not just a small town in the middle of nowhere,” he said.
What is a provisional ballot?
A provisional ballot is used to ensure every registered voter can cast a ballot in an election. The unique kind of ballot is cast when there are questions about a voter’s registration status, whether they don’t have photo identification in a state that requires it, or, in some cases, if the voter made an error on their mail-in ballot. The Help America Vote Act of 2002 guaranteesaccess to a provisional ballot.
According to MIT’s Election Lab, how exactly provisional ballots are handled varies from each state, but they’re segregated from traditionally cast ballots on Election Day so each ballot’s status can be determined. According to the Election Administration and Voting Survey compiled by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, roughly 700,000 provisional ballots were cast in federal elections in 2022, and around 550,000 were counted.
Last week, the United States Supreme Court rejectedan emergency appeal from Republicans that could have led to thousands of provisional ballots not being counted in Pennsylvania. The ruling will let voters cast a provisional ballot on Election Day if their mail-in ballot is to be rejected for a garden-variety error.
Beyoncé channels Pamela Anderson for ‘BEYWATCH’ video, asks viewers to vote
In a new video posted early Election Day, Beyoncécosplays as Pamela Anderson in the television program “Baywatch” — red one-piece swimsuit and all — and asks viewers to vote.
In the two-and-a-half minute clip, set to most of “Bodyguard,” a cut from her 2024 country album “Cowboy Carter,” Beyoncé channels the blonde bombshell before concluding with a simple message, written in white text: “Happy Beylloween,” followed by “Vote.”
At a rally for Donald Trump in Pittsburgh on Monday night, the former president spoke dismissively about Beyoncé’s appearance at a Kamala Harris rally in Houston last month, drawing boos for the megastar from his supporters.
“Beyoncé would come in. Everyone’s expecting a couple of songs. There were no songs. There was no happiness,” Trump said.
She did not perform — unlike in 2016, when she performed at a presidential campaign rally for Hillary Clinton in Cleveland — but she endorsed the vice president and gave a moving speech.
“I’m not here as a celebrity, I’m not here as a politician. I’m here as a mother,” Beyoncé said. “A mother who cares deeply about the world my children and all of our children live in, a world where we have the freedom to control our bodies, a world where we’re not divided.”
The Harris campaign has taken on Beyonce’s track “Freedom,” a cut from her landmark 2016 album “Lemonade,” as its anthem.
Man arrested in upstate New York for threatening to burn down a polling site
A man was arrested in upstate New York on Tuesday for threatening to burn down a polling site after he was told his registration wasn’t current, police said.
The man went to vote in the town of Fowler near the Canadian border around 6:30 a.m., New York State Police said in a news release.
The man, who had previously been convicted of a felony, was told he was ineligible to vote because he had not re-registered after being released from prison.
The man became irate and began threatening to return with a gun or to burn the place down, police said.
The man fled but was later picked up by state police and brought to the station for questioning. Charges against him were pending.
Trump is suggesting he won’t challenge the results of the election — as long as it’s fair
“If it’s a fair election, I’d be the first one to acknowledge,” the results, Trump said, though what meets that definition wasn’t clear.
Speaking to reporters after voting in Florida, Trump said that he had no plans to tell his supporters to refrain from violence should he lose.
“I don’t have to tell them,” because they “are not violent people,” he said.
Trump planned to visit a nearby campaign office to thank those working on his behalf.
Trump says paper ballots and 1-day voting should be the norm
“I’m hearing in Pennsylvania they won’t have an answer ’til two or three days from now,” Trump said. “I think it’s an absolute outrage if that’s the case.”
Trump says he will have “a very special group of people” at Mar-a-Lago and a few thousand people at a nearby convention center to watch the election results.
“It looks like we have a very substantial lead,” he said without elaborating on whether he has a plan on when to declare victory.
Brian Williams’ election night streamcast on Amazon has been forced to change plans
Tara Palmeri, a reporter with Puck, had been assigned by Amazon to cover Donald Trump’s election night event at Mar-a-Lago in Florida. But she was denied a credential to get in, according to Trump campaign manager Chris LaCivita, who described her as a “gossip columnist” in a post on the social platform X.
Instead, Amazon will fly Palmeri to its California studio, where she will be on-set with the former NBC News anchor Williams, who is hosting the streaming service’s first-ever election night live coverage. The change was first reported by the Status news website.
Amazon said Palmeri will be replaced at Trump’s Florida headquarters by New York Post reporter Lydia Moynihan.
Voter Voice: ‘Without him, things in Florida might not happen’
In Palm Beach, Florida, Marilyn Falotico said she believes Trump is the president who will deliver best for the Sunshine State and the rest of the country.
“Without him, things in Florida might not happen,” Falotico said.
Falotico says the country she’s living in “is not the country I was born into, so I’m voting for America.”
Trump says ‘I feel very confident’ after casting his ballot
“It seems that the conservatives are voting very powerfully,” Trump told reporters in Palm Beach, Florida.
“It looks like Republicans have shown up in force,” he said.
Asked if he had any regrets about his campaign, Trump responded, “I can’t think of any.”
After software problems, voting hours will be extended in a Pennsylvania county
A Pennsylvania state judge on Tuesday ordered polls to remain open for two extra hours in Cambria County, which sought the extension after a software malfunction affected ballot-scanning machines.
County officials said the problem caused some voter confusion, with some leaving without casting a ballot, as well as long lines at some locations. They stressed, along with state officials, that no one was being turned away from the polls and all ballots would be counted.
Trump says ‘I feel very confident’ after casting his ballot
“It seems that the conservatives are voting very powerfully,” Trump told reporters in Palm Beach, Florida.
“It looks like Republicans have shown up in force,” he said.
Asked if he had any regrets about his campaign, Trump responded, “I can’t think of any.”
The Trumps cast their ballots in Palm Beach
Trump has cast his ballot in Palm Beach, Florida and says his latest presidential campaign was the best yet.
“I ran a great campaign. I think it was maybe the best of the three. We did great in the first one. We did much better in the second one but something happened. I would say this is the best campaign we’ve run,” he said, standing next to his wife, Melania Trump.
Biden is laying low at the White House on Election Day
He has no public appearances on his schedule and his press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, won’t be holding her typical daily briefing on Tuesday.
Biden made his final campaign appearance on Saturday when he delivered a speech to laborers on behalf of the Harris-Walz campaign in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
He hasn’t taken a question from reporters since gaggling at an event in Baltimore last Tuesday. Later that same day, Biden created an uproar in remarks to Latino activists when he responded to racist comments at a Trump rally made by the comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who referred to the U.S. island territory of Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage.”
Biden, according to a transcript prepared by the official White House stenographers, told the Latino group on a Tuesday evening video call, “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters — his — his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American.”
The transcript released by the White House press office, however, rendered the quote with an apostrophe, reading “supporter’s” rather than “supporters,” which aides said pointed to Biden criticizing Hinchcliffe, not the millions of Americans who are supporting Trump for president.
Pick a politician … and a puppy?
In Arizona, puppies hit the polls on Election Day.
Joe Casados of the Arizona Humane Society went to the polls with Daphne, a 10-week-old puppy available for adoption.
“We know that voting can be a stressful time for a lot of people. We also want to celebrate everyone doing their civic duty and coming out to vote,” Casados said. “So, we thought what better way than bringing some puppies out to the polls to give someone a little reward and a little serotonin boost just for coming out today and voting.”
Casados said voters thanked them for bringing the puppies.
“I think everyone is very excited whenever they get a chance to see a puppy,” Casados said.
Voter Voice: ‘I’m over this whole election like I’m sure the rest of America is’
Voter fatigue is a real thing for some at the polls today.
Ky Thompson, who voted in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, said she’s happy that the election cycle is ending.
“It was a good fight between both parties and hopefully we don’t get any whining like we’ve been getting the last couple years, depending on who wins or who loses in this,” Thompson said. “I’m just over it today. I’m over this whole election like I’m sure the rest of America is.”
She did not reveal her presidential choice.
“If you’re taking care of yourself the way you should be taking care of yourself, not too much of what goes on should affect you too, too, too, too much,” she said, smiling.
Harris looking forward to an election night party at her alma mater
“The first office I ever ran for was freshman class representative at Howard University,” Harris recalled in her Tuesday interview with the Big Tigger Morning Show on V-103 in Atlanta. “And to go back tonight to Howard University, my beloved alma mater, and be able to hopefully … recognize this day for what it is — really it’s full circle for me.”
Howard, located in the nation’s capital, is part of a network of historically Black colleges and universities founded before 1964 for African American students.
If she wins, Harris will be the first HBCU alum to serve as president.
After software problems, voting hours will be extended in a Pennsylvania county
A Pennsylvania state judge on Tuesday ordered polls to remain open for two extra hours in Cambria County, which sought the extension after a software malfunction affected ballot-scanning machines.
County officials say the problem caused voter confusion, with some people leaving without casting a ballot, as well as long lines at some locations. They stressed, though, that no one was being turned away from the polls and all ballots would be counted, as did state officials.
Massachusetts Democrat Elizabeth Warren seeks third term in US Senate against challenger John Deaton
Democratic U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren is hoping to brush back a challenge from Republican John Deaton on Tuesday as she seeks a third term representing Massachusetts.
Deaton, an attorney who moved to the state from Rhode Island earlier this year, tried to portray the former Harvard Law School professor as out of touch with ordinary Bay State residents.
Warren cast herself as a champion for an embattled middle class and a critic of regulations benefitting the wealthy. Warren has remained popular in the state despite coming in third in Massachusetts in her 2020 bid for president.
Warren first burst onto the national scene during the 2008 financial crisis with calls for tougher consumer safeguards, resulting in the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. She has gone on to become one of her party’s most prominent liberal voices.
? Read more about the Massachusetts Senate race
Voter Voice: ‘I got my sticker. I’m showing that off today’
Geoff Grace has a tremor, and filling out the little circles on his Wisconsin ballot was a difficult task.
But he got it done — with some help from his mother — and got a round of applause from poll workers for getting through the process when his ballot was deposited.
“They were very nice and accommodating for that,” Grace said. “And I got my sticker. I’m showing that off today.”
Grace voted for Harris. “I strongly believe a woman should have a chance at being president,” he said.
Where are the voters who could decide the presidential election?
When you hear the term bellwether, you might think about states in the presidential election that always vote with the White House winner. The true meaning of a bellwether is an indicator of a trend. For that, you need to think about counties.
Across the seven main battleground states in 2024, there are 10 counties — out of more than 500 — that voted for Trump in 2016 and then flipped to Biden in 2020. Most are small and home to relatively few voters, with Arizona’s Maricopa a notable exception. So it’s not likely they’ll swing an entire state all by themselves.
What these counties probably will do is provide an early indication of which candidate is performing best among the swing voters likely to decide a closely contested race. It doesn’t take much for a flip. For example, the difference in Wisconsin, during both 2016 and 2020, was only about 20,000 votes.
? Read more about the states that might matter the most on Election Day
An Alabama county is printing emergency ballots after discovering a missing page
St. Clair County Probate Judge Andrew Weathington said the problem was discovered Tuesday morning when packs of sealed ballots were opened at polling places and many were found to be missing the back page, which contains proposed constitutional amendments.
He said it appeared to be a printing error.
The proposed ballots were proofed before printing and were correct, he added. The Alabama Secretary of State’s Office confirmed emergency ballots are being printed.
The ACLU of Alabama has asked the St. Clair probate office to extend voting hours by the number of hours it takes to get new ballots, a spokesman for the organization said. Weathington said he is seeking legal guidance from the Alabama secretary of state and the county attorney.
Alabama voters are deciding local constitutional amendments and one statewide amendment. The statewide amendment relates to allowing a local school board to sell land, located in another Alabama county, to a developer. Voters in the county were also voting on a local amendment related to local school board governance.
Florida’s voter information website is experiencing issues
Florida voters turning to a state-run website to check their voter registration status were getting an error message Tuesday morning.
A spokesperson for Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd confirmed the state’s online Voter Information Lookup tool was experiencing technical issues but did not answer questions about what was causing the problem.
“We’re working to resolve it,” spokesperson Mark Ard said. “We’re providing alternative websites and locations for voters to find their voter information, their precinct.”
Floridians can check their voter registration status and find their polling place by going to their county supervisor of elections website.
Foreign election interference issues quiet so far
Cait Conley, senior adviser to the director of the Cybersecurity Infrastructure and Security Agency, said during a briefing that “we are not currently tracking any national level, significant incidents impacting the security of our election infrastructure. We are tracking instances of extreme weather and other temporary infrastructure disruption to certain areas of the country, but these are largely expected routine and planned for events.”
Conley said CISA, the FBI and intelligence communities did anticipate that foreign actors would try to influence the election later today and in the following weeks.
Nancy Mace tries to cement her hold on her US House seat in South Carolina
South Carolina Republican U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace is trying to cement her hold on her seat in a state that doesn’t mind sending people back to Congress for decades.
There have been questions over whether Mace’s attention-seeking personality and brashness and willingness to buck her party’s establishment could be a liability. But so far, she’s been embraced by her coastal 1st District.
Mace flipped the seat back to Republicans in 2020 after a stunning upset of incumbent Democratic Rep. Joe Cunningham. She fought off a GOP challenger endorsed by former President Donald Trump in 2022 and breezed to a surprisingly easy win — this time with Trump’s backing — in the 2024 Republican primary without a runoff.
Her fellow Republicans in the South Carolina General Assembly also did her a favor by redrawing the districtand sending traditional Democratic precincts in and around downtown Charleston to the state’s only majority-minority district. Under the old map in 2020, Mace won less than 51% of the vote. With the new maps in 2022 she received more than 56%.
Mace’s Democratic challenger as voting ends Tuesday is businessman and former International African American Museum CEO Michael Moore. His campaign has struggled to gain momentum and Mace has barely acknowledged he’s in the race.
? Read more about the South Carolina House race
Why you hear about Dixville Notch every presidential election
It’s practically an Election Day tradition now. The news media gathers in tiny Dixville Notch, New Hampshire, a picturesque town near the Canadian border, to watch the first voters cast their ballots at midnight.
Dixville Notch started its tradition in 1960. Neil Tillotson, who owned the town’s Balsams Grand Resort Hotel, heard about midnight voting from an Associated Press reporter, his son Tom told CBS News. The elder petitioned the legislature to let the community create its own voting precinct.
Even though two other towns had midnight voting — including one that opened early for railroad workers — Dixville Notch was the only one with a hotel that made it convenient for reporters and photographers to file, with phone lines and a dark room. The first polling place was inside Tillotson’s resort.
Per the tradition, AP reporter Nick Perry was on hand when a half-dozen voters cast their ballots at the polling place, which has moved to the living room of the Tillotson home. He documented the scene, and made sure not to miss that the polling place featured “ a couple of very friendly dogs.”
NFL, NBA facilities in use on Election Day
There are no NFL or NBA games today. Plenty of fans will be going to stadiums anyway.
At least 17 NFL and NBA facilities are either polling locations or ballot drop-off stations. Some teams even offered voters personalized “I Voted” stickers with team logos.
Tuesdays aren’t game days in the NFL.
The NBA, for the third consecutive year, isn’t playing any games on Election Day to support “civic engagement,” the league said. And players from all 30 NBA teams wore warm-up shirts with a simple message Monday night: “Vote,” they said.
Giuliani ordered to appear in court after missing deadline to turn over possessions
U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman issued the order late Monday after lawyers for Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Wandrea “Shaye” Moss — two former Georgia election workers who were awarded a $148 million defamation judgment — reported to the court that Rudy Giuliani cleared out his Manhattan apartment weeks before the Oct. 29 deadline to surrender his possessions.
Lawyers for Freeman and Moss say Giuliani has not yet surrendered any of the items that he was ordered to turn over — including his $5 million New York apartment, a 1980 Mercedes once owned by movie star Lauren Bacall and a variety of other belongings including sports memorabilia.
Giuliani spokesperson Ted Goodman said Tuesday that Giuliani has made his property available and accused Freeman and Moss’ lawyers of deception and attempting to “further bully and intimidate Mayor Giuliani until he is rendered penniless and homeless.”
Giuliani was ordered to pay the former election workers for falsely accusing them of ballot fraud during the 2020 presidential election, as part of Donald Trump’s unfounded claims that the election was stolen from him:
1:00 pm ET – Beyoncé channels Pamela Anderson for ‘BAYWATCH’ video, asks viewers to vote
In a new video posted early Election Day, Beyoncé cosplays as Pamela Anderson in the television program “Baywatch” — red one-piece swimsuit and all — and asks viewers to vote.
In the two-and-a-half minute clip, set to most of “Bodyguard,” a cut from her 2024 country album “Cowboy Carter,” Beyoncé channels the blonde bombshell before concluding with a simple message, written in white text: “Happy Beyween,” followed by “Vote.”
At a rally for Donald Trump in Pittsburgh on Monday night, the former president spoke dismissively about Beyoncé’s appearance at a Kamala Harris rally in Houston last month, drawing boos for the megastar from his supporters.
“Beyoncé would come in. Everyone’s expecting a couple of songs. There were no songs. There was no happiness,” Trump said.
She did not perform — unlike in 2016, when she performed at a presidential campaign rally for Hillary Clinton in Cleveland — but she endorsed the vice president and gave a moving speech.
“I’m not here as a celebrity, I’m not here as a politician. I’m here as a mother,” Beyoncé said. “A mother who cares deeply about the world my children and all of our children live in, a world where we have the freedom to control our bodies, a world where we’re not divided.”
The Harris campaign has taken on Beyonce’s track “Freedom,” a cut from her landmark 2016 album “Lemonade,” as its anthem.
12:55 pm ET – Man arrested in upstate New York for threatening to burn down a polling site
A man was arrested in upstate New York on Tuesday for threatening to burn down a polling site after he was told his registration wasn’t current, police said.
The man went to vote in the town of Fowler near the Canadian border around 6:30 a.m., New York State Police said in a news release.
The man, who had previously been convicted of a felony, was told he was ineligible to vote because he had not re-registered after being released from prison.
The man became irate and began threatening to return with a gun or to burn the place down, police said.
The man fled but was later picked up by state police and brought to the station for questioning. Charges against him were pending.
12:50 pm ET – Trump is suggesting he won’t challenge the results of the election — as long as it’s fair
“If it’s a fair election, I’d be the first one to acknowledge,” the results, Trump said, though what meets that definition wasn’t clear.
Speaking to reporters after voting in Florida, Trump said that he had no plans to tell his supporters to refrain from violence should he lose.
“I don’t have to tell them,” because they “are not violent people,” he said.
Trump planned to visit a nearby campaign office to thank those working on his behalf.
Trump says paper ballots and 1-day voting should be the norm
“I’m hearing in Pennsylvania they won’t have an answer ’til two or three days from now,” Trump said. “I think it’s an absolute outrage if that’s the case.”
Trump says he will have “a very special group of people” at Mar-a-Lago and a few thousand people at a nearby convention center to watch the election results.
“It looks like we have a very substantial lead,” he said without elaborating on whether he has a plan on when to declare victory.
12:47 pm ET -Brian Williams’ election night streamcast on Amazon has been forced to change plans
Tara Palmeri, a reporter with Puck, had been assigned by Amazon to cover Donald Trump’s election night event at Mar-a-Lago in Florida. But she was denied a credential to get in, according to Trump campaign manager Chris LaCivita, who described her as a “gossip columnist” in a post on the social platform X.
Instead, Amazon will fly Palmeri to its California studio, where she will be on-set with the former NBC News anchor Williams, who is hosting the streaming service’s first-ever election night live coverage. The change was first reported by the Status news website.
Amazon said Palmeri will be replaced at Trump’s Florida headquarters by New York Post reporter Lydia Moynihan.
12:45 pm ET – Voter Voice: ‘Without him, things in Florida might not happen’
In Palm Beach, Florida, Marilyn Falotico said she believes Trump is the president who will deliver best for the Sunshine State and the rest of the country.
“Without him, things in Florida might not happen,” Falotico said.
Falotico says the country she’s living in “is not the country I was born into, so I’m voting for America.”
12: 40 pm ET – Trump says ‘I feel very confident’ after casting his ballot
“It seems that the conservatives are voting very powerfully,” Trump told reporters in Palm Beach, Florida.
“It looks like Republicans have shown up in force,” he said.
Asked if he had any regrets about his campaign, Trump responded, “I can’t think of any.”
12:35 pm ET – After software problems, voting hours will be extended in a Pennsylvania county
A Pennsylvania state judge on Tuesday ordered polls to remain open for two extra hours in Cambria County, which sought the extension after a software malfunction affected ballot-scanning machines.
County officials said the problem caused some voter confusion, with some leaving without casting a ballot, as well as long lines at some locations. They stressed, along with state officials, that no one was being turned away from the polls and all ballots would be counted.
12:32 pm ET – Trump says ‘I feel very confident’ after casting his ballot
“It seems that the conservatives are voting very powerfully,” Trump told reporters in Palm Beach, Florida.
“It looks like Republicans have shown up in force,” he said.
Asked if he had any regrets about his campaign, Trump responded, “I can’t think of any.”
12:00 pm ET – The Trumps cast their ballots in Palm Beach
Trump has cast his ballot in Palm Beach, Florida and says his latest presidential campaign was the best yet.
“I ran a great campaign. I think it was maybe the best of the three. We did great in the first one. We did much better in the second one but something happened. I would say this is the best campaign we’ve run,” he said, standing next to his wife, Melania Trump.
11:58 am ET – Biden is laying low at the White House on Election Day
He has no public appearances on his schedule and his press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, won’t be holding her typical daily briefing on Tuesday.
Biden made his final campaign appearance on Saturday when he delivered a speech to laborers on behalf of the Harris-Walz campaign in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
He hasn’t taken a question from reporters since gaggling at an event in Baltimore last Tuesday. Later that same day, Biden created an uproar in remarks to Latino activists when he responded to racist comments at a Trump rally made by the comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who referred to the U.S. island territory of Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage.”
Biden, according to a transcript prepared by the official White House stenographers, told the Latino group on a Tuesday evening video call, “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters — his — his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American.”
The transcript released by the White House press office, however, rendered the quote with an apostrophe, reading “supporter’s” rather than “supporters,” which aides said pointed to Biden criticizing Hinchcliffe, not the millions of Americans who are supporting Trump for president.
1:56 pm ET – Pick a politician … and a puppy?
In Arizona, puppies hit the polls on Election Day.
Joe Casados of the Arizona Humane Society went to the polls with Daphne, a 10-week-old puppy available for adoption.
“We know that voting can be a stressful time for a lot of people. We also want to celebrate everyone doing their civic duty and coming out to vote,” Casados said. “So, we thought what better way than bringing some puppies out to the polls to give someone a little reward and a little serotonin boost just for coming out today and voting.”
Casados said voters thanked them for bringing the puppies.
“I think everyone is very excited whenever they get a chance to see a puppy,” Casados said.
Voter Voice: ‘I’m over this whole election like I’m sure the rest of America is’
Voter fatigue is a real thing for some at the polls today.
Ky Thompson, who voted in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, said she’s happy that the election cycle is ending.
“It was a good fight between both parties and hopefully we don’t get any whining like we’ve been getting the last couple years, depending on who wins or who loses in this,” Thompson said. “I’m just over it today. I’m over this whole election like I’m sure the rest of America is.”
She did not reveal her presidential choice.
“If you’re taking care of yourself the way you should be taking care of yourself, not too much of what goes on should affect you too, too, too, too much,” she said, smiling.
11:50 am ET – Harris looking forward to an election night party at her alma mater
“The first office I ever ran for was freshman class representative at Howard University,” Harris recalled in her Tuesday interview with the Big Tigger Morning Show on V-103 in Atlanta. “And to go back tonight to Howard University, my beloved alma mater, and be able to hopefully … recognize this day for what it is — really it’s full circle for me.”
Howard, located in the nation’s capital, is part of a network of historically Black colleges and universities founded before 1964 for African American students.
If she wins, Harris will be the first HBCU alum to serve as president.
11:48 am ET – After software problems, voting hours will be extended in a Pennsylvania county
A Pennsylvania state judge on Tuesday ordered polls to remain open for two extra hours in Cambria County, which sought the extension after a software malfunction affected ballot-scanning machines.
County officials say the problem caused voter confusion, with some people leaving without casting a ballot, as well as long lines at some locations. They stressed, though, that no one was being turned away from the polls and all ballots would be counted, as did state officials.
11:45 am ET – Massachusetts Democrat Elizabeth Warren seeks third term in US Senate against challenger John Deaton
Democratic U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren is hoping to brush back a challenge from Republican John Deaton on Tuesday as she seeks a third term representing Massachusetts.
Deaton, an attorney who moved to the state from Rhode Island earlier this year, tried to portray the former Harvard Law School professor as out of touch with ordinary Bay State residents.
Warren cast herself as a champion for an embattled middle class and a critic of regulations benefitting the wealthy. Warren has remained popular in the state despite coming in third in Massachusetts in her 2020 bid for president.
Warren first burst onto the national scene during the 2008 financial crisis with calls for tougher consumer safeguards, resulting in the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. She has gone on to become one of her party’s most prominent liberal voices.
? Read more about the Massachusetts Senate race
Voter Voice: ‘I got my sticker. I’m showing that off today’
Geoff Grace has a tremor, and filling out the little circles on his Wisconsin ballot was a difficult task.
But he got it done — with some help from his mother — and got a round of applause from poll workers for getting through the process when his ballot was deposited.
“They were very nice and accommodating for that,” Grace said. “And I got my sticker. I’m showing that off today.”
Grace voted for Harris. “I strongly believe a woman should have a chance at being president,” he said.
11:35 am ET – Where are the voters who could decide the presidential election?
When you hear the term bellwether, you might think about states in the presidential election that always vote with the White House winner. The true meaning of a bellwether is an indicator of a trend. For that, you need to think about counties.
Across the seven main battleground states in 2024, there are 10 counties — out of more than 500 — that voted for Trump in 2016 and then flipped to Biden in 2020. Most are small and home to relatively few voters, with Arizona’s Maricopa a notable exception. So it’s not likely they’ll swing an entire state all by themselves.
What these counties probably will do is provide an early indication of which candidate is performing best among the swing voters likely to decide a closely contested race. It doesn’t take much for a flip. For example, the difference in Wisconsin, during both 2016 and 2020, was only about 20,000 votes.
? Read more about the states that might matter the most on Election Day
11:25 am ET – An Alabama county is printing emergency ballots after discovering a missing page
St. Clair County Probate Judge Andrew Weathington said the problem was discovered Tuesday morning when packs of sealed ballots were opened at polling places and many were found to be missing the back page, which contains proposed constitutional amendments.
He said it appeared to be a printing error.
The proposed ballots were proofed before printing and were correct, he added. The Alabama Secretary of State’s Office confirmed emergency ballots are being printed.
The ACLU of Alabama has asked the St. Clair probate office to extend voting hours by the number of hours it takes to get new ballots, a spokesman for the organization said. Weathington said he is seeking legal guidance from the Alabama secretary of state and the county attorney.
Alabama voters are deciding local constitutional amendments and one statewide amendment. The statewide amendment relates to allowing a local school board to sell land, located in another Alabama county, to a developer. Voters in the county were also voting on a local amendment related to local school board governance.
11:15 am ET – Florida’s voter information website is experiencing issues
Florida voters turning to a state-run website to check their voter registration status were getting an error message Tuesday morning.
A spokesperson for Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd confirmed the state’s online Voter Information Lookup tool was experiencing technical issues but did not answer questions about what was causing the problem.
“We’re working to resolve it,” spokesperson Mark Ard said. “We’re providing alternative websites and locations for voters to find their voter information, their precinct.”
Floridians can check their voter registration status and find their polling place by going to their county supervisor of elections website.
Foreign election interference issues quiet so far
Cait Conley, senior adviser to the director of the Cybersecurity Infrastructure and Security Agency, said during a briefing that “we are not currently tracking any national level, significant incidents impacting the security of our election infrastructure. We are tracking instances of extreme weather and other temporary infrastructure disruption to certain areas of the country, but these are largely expected routine and planned for events.”
Conley said CISA, the FBI and intelligence communities did anticipate that foreign actors would try to influence the election later today and in the following weeks.
Nancy Mace tries to cement her hold on her US House seat in South Carolina
South Carolina Republican U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace is trying to cement her hold on her seat in a state that doesn’t mind sending people back to Congress for decades.
There have been questions over whether Mace’s attention-seeking personality and brashness and willingness to buck her party’s establishment could be a liability. But so far, she’s been embraced by her coastal 1st District.
Mace flipped the seat back to Republicans in 2020 after a stunning upset of incumbent Democratic Rep. Joe Cunningham. She fought off a GOP challenger endorsed by former President Donald Trump in 2022 and breezed to a surprisingly easy win — this time with Trump’s backing — in the 2024 Republican primary without a runoff.
Her fellow Republicans in the South Carolina General Assembly also did her a favor by redrawing the districtand sending traditional Democratic precincts in and around downtown Charleston to the state’s only majority-minority district. Under the old map in 2020, Mace won less than 51% of the vote. With the new maps in 2022 she received more than 56%.
Mace’s Democratic challenger as voting ends Tuesday is businessman and former International African American Museum CEO Michael Moore. His campaign has struggled to gain momentum and Mace has barely acknowledged he’s in the race.
? Read more about the South Carolina House race
Why you hear about Dixville Notch every presidential election
It’s practically an Election Day tradition now. The news media gathers in tiny Dixville Notch, New Hampshire, a picturesque town near the Canadian border, to watch the first voters cast their ballots at midnight.
Dixville Notch started its tradition in 1960. Neil Tillotson, who owned the town’s Balsams Grand Resort Hotel, heard about midnight voting from an Associated Press reporter, his son Tom told CBS News. The elder petitioned the legislature to let the community create its own voting precinct.
Even though two other towns had midnight voting — including one that opened early for railroad workers — Dixville Notch was the only one with a hotel that made it convenient for reporters and photographers to file, with phone lines and a dark room. The first polling place was inside Tillotson’s resort.
Per the tradition, AP reporter Nick Perry was on hand when a half-dozen voters cast their ballots at the polling place, which has moved to the living room of the Tillotson home. He documented the scene, and made sure not to miss that the polling place featured “ a couple of very friendly dogs.”
NFL, NBA facilities in use on Election Day
There are no NFL or NBA games today. Plenty of fans will be going to stadiums anyway.
At least 17 NFL and NBA facilities are either polling locations or ballot drop-off stations. Some teams even offered voters personalized “I Voted” stickers with team logos.
Tuesdays aren’t game days in the NFL.
The NBA, for the third consecutive year, isn’t playing any games on Election Day to support “civic engagement,” the league said. And players from all 30 NBA teams wore warm-up shirts with a simple message Monday night: “Vote,” they said.
Giuliani ordered to appear in court after missing deadline to turn over possessions
U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman issued the order late Monday after lawyers for Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Wandrea “Shaye” Moss — two former Georgia election workers who were awarded a $148 million defamation judgment — reported to the court that Rudy Giuliani cleared out his Manhattan apartment weeks before the Oct. 29 deadline to surrender his possessions.
Lawyers for Freeman and Moss say Giuliani has not yet surrendered any of the items that he was ordered to turn over — including his $5 million New York apartment, a 1980 Mercedes once owned by movie star Lauren Bacall and a variety of other belongings including sports memorabilia.
Giuliani spokesperson Ted Goodman said Tuesday that Giuliani has made his property available and accused Freeman and Moss’ lawyers of deception and attempting to “further bully and intimidate Mayor Giuliani until he is rendered penniless and homeless.”
Giuliani was ordered to pay the former election workers for falsely accusing them of ballot fraud during the 2020 presidential election, as part of Donald Trump’s unfounded claims that the election was stolen from him.
Harris campaign stresses patience as votes are tallied
The seven battleground states have varying rules on when votes are counted, so it is expected to take some time before all votes are tallied in the key states that are expected to decide the razor-tight race.
“We’re going to be patient,” Harris campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon said during a Tuesday appearance on MSNBC. “We’re going to be very focused on what’s happening in the early part of the night. But we know some of our bigger battleground states are not going to be fully tallied until later in the night or early in the morning.”
O’Malley Dillon was hopeful that early turnout in Georgia and North Carolina was a positive sign for the Harris campaign.
By the time early voting in North Carolina had ended on Saturday, over 4.4 million voters — or nearly 57% of all registered voters in the state — had cast their ballots. It was particularly robust in the 25 western counties affected by Hurricane Helene and was even stronger at 59% of registered voters.
Georgia meanwhile saw more than 4 million voters cast early ballots, a record-breaking number for the state.
Voter Voice: Harris is ‘going to go out and get the ball’ on Social Security
Atlanta audio-visual technician Mark Butler wasn’t working on Tuesday and planned to watch election coverage after he cast his ballot in the morning.
He said he voted for Harris.
“What matters to me is Social Security,” Butler said. “I think she’s going to go out and get the ball on that one.”
Butler, a lifelong Atlanta resident, said he’s fully aware of the weight Georgia will likely carry in deciding who wins the White House.
“It’s very important. We’re a swing state, probably one of the most important swing states,” he said.
Democrats hope to flip a reliably Republican Louisiana congressional seat with new boundaries
In a critical election year, Democrats are looking to flip a once reliably Republican Louisiana congressional seat, where political boundaries were recently redrawn to form the state’s second mostly Black congressional district.
With five people on the ballot for Louisiana’s Sixth Congressional District, Democrats have thrown their support behind longtime politician Cleo Fields, 61. The state senator has been involved in state politics for three decades and served two terms in Congress after being elected in 1992.
Across the aisle, Republicans are looking to preserve the seat, especially in an election year where the GOP is trying to hold on to their majority in the U.S. House. The only Republican on the ballot is former state lawmaker Elbert Guillory, 80.
For nearly 50 years, only one Democrat has won the seat in Louisiana’s 6th Congressional District. But the district’s boundaries have recently been recrafted.
? Read more about Louisiana’s House race
Migrant caravan starts walking in southern Mexico
Some 2,500 migrants from at least a dozen countries have started walking in southern Mexico, hoping Mexican authorities will allow them to eventually reach the U.S. border.
The caravan departed on U.S. Election Day after a tight race that frequently put immigration at its center.
Those walking voiced more immediate concerns than U.S. politics like safety for their families and job opportunities.
Groups of several hundred to several thousand migrants moving together en masse has become more common in recent years.
In October 2020, a caravan that formed in Honduras ahead of the U.S. election was stopped by authorities in Guatemala. In October 2018, ahead of U.S. midterms, another caravan that started in Honduras grew to about 7,000 and eventually reached the U.S. border.
In recent years, caravans haven’t made it out of southern Mexico.
FBI warns of fabricated videos misusing its name and insignia
A news clip that purports to come from the FBI tells voters that they should vote remotely because of a high terror threat at polling stations.
But the FBI said that the clip is bogus, did not come from the bureau and does not accurately represent concerns about safety at polling locations.
Also false is a video depicting a fabricated FBI press release claiming that the management of prisons in several key battleground states rigged inmate voting and colluded with one of the political parties.
The FBI did not identify anyone who it thought might be responsible for the manufactured videos. Over the past two weeks, the agency has blamed Russian influence actors for a variety of manufactured internet postings and videos officials say were released as part of a broader disinformation campaign.
Puerto Rico will also vote on new House delegate and statehood
Voters in Puerto Rico will elect a new resident commissioner, the island’s representative with limited voting powers in the U.S. House. The outgoing resident commissioner, Jenniffer González of the pro-statehood New Progressive Party, is running for governor.
There’s another item on the ballot that involves Congress: statehood. Voters will be asked for a seventh time about Puerto Rico’s political status. The nonbinding referendum offers three options: statehood, independence and independence with free association, under which issues like foreign affairs, U.S. citizenship and use of the U.S. dollar would be negotiated. Regardless of the outcome, a change in status requires approval from Congress.
Nearly 2 million voters are eligible to participate in Tuesday’s election, although it remains to be seen how many people will do so. Voter apathy has dominated recent elections.
The post office is open today, but it may be too late to send your mail-in ballot
The U.S. Postal Service is open as usual on Election Day, but before voters drop their ballots in they should check their state’s deadlines.
Some states require mail-in ballots to arrive byElection Day. Others only require ballots to be postmarked by Election Day. And some states, too, allow mail-in ballots to be dropped off in ballot boxes or at polling places through Election Day.
Voters should check their state election websites to determine the deadlines.
Vance casts his ballot in Ohio
Republican Vice Presidential candidate JD Vance voted in Cincinnati this morning.
“Look, I feel good. You never know until you know, but I feel good about this race,” Vance said after he and his wife cast their ballots.
Vance said he would depart for Palm Beach, Florida, later today to be with Donald Trump as results come in.
Trump and Harris are on the ballot in Puerto Rico. But it’s symbolic
As a presidential campaign that engendered fury on the island over a comedian’s incendiary remarks at a Trump rally culminates, Puerto Ricans can support Harris or Trump in a symbolic vote if they wish. While Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens, those on the island are not allowed to vote in U.S. presidential elections.
The election is still consequential, as voters will elect a new governor. If Jenniffer González of the pro-statehood New Progressive Party wins, it will mark the first time in the island’s history that the party secures three consecutive terms.
If Juan Dalmau, who is running for Puerto Rico’s Independence Party and Citizen Victory Movement, wins, it will be the first win for a candidate not representing either of the two main parties that have dominated the island’s politics for decades. Voters also will be asked for a seventh time about Puerto Rico’s political status.
Nearly 2 million voters in Puerto Rico are eligible to participate in Tuesday’s election, though it remains to be seen how many will do so. Voter apathy has dominated recent elections
