- Donald Trump and Joe Biden each need 270 electoral votes to win the presidency.
- CNN projects that Trump won the battleground states of Ohio and Florida; Biden won Minnesota.
- Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin have become increasingly crucial.
- Without basis, the President said he will try to end legitimate tallying efforts and claimed victory in the election.
- Follow updates on the congressional races here.
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Presidential election results 2020
Updated
2:44 PM EST, Mon November 23, 2020
244 Posts
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Our live coverage has moved. Go here for the latest results and news from the election.
Biden takes the lead in Wisconsin
From CNN's Allison Gordon
Election officials count absentee ballots in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, early on November 4.
Results from Milwaukee have flipped Wisconsin to Joe Biden, who has a lead in the state right now, CNN’s Phil Mattingly says.
Earlier, the city of Milwaukee’s absentee ballot information was delivered with a police escort, CNN’s Ryan Young reported.
“When they have those three officers walking with them, you understand the importance of the event,” Young told CNN’s Chris Cuomo.
The election is far from over with millions of votes still outstanding in key states, including in battleground Wisconsin.
CNN Projection: Biden wins Hawaii
Joe Biden will win Hawaii, CNN projects.
There are four electoral votes at stake in Hawaii. It takes 270 electoral votes to win the 2020 presidential election.
Who won in 2016: Former Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton carried the state, and President Trump won the general election.
How Trump's $300 million ground game may have helped narrow the race
From CNN's Josiah RyanRepublican insiders are crediting a $300 million get-out-out the vote effort organized by the Trump campaign and allies for narrowing the gap in many states, CNN’s Ryan Nobles reported early this morning.
“Republicans are talking about… the ground game that the Republican National Committee and the Trump Victory Organization put into place shortly after President Trump was inaugurated,” said Nobles.
Nobles reported on Friday that the campaign had spent more than $300 million on a data and ground operation and less on television and digital advertising in the final leg of the campaign.
“They firmly believe that that ground game was going to be a big part in narrowing the gap, in many of these key states and they’re now saying that we’re seeing that play out in realtime as these votes come,” added Nobles.
Biden campaign manager calls Trump speech "outrageous, unprecedented, and incorrect"
From CNN's MJ Lee
President Donald Trump speaks during election night in the East Room of the White House on November 4.
Joe Biden’s campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon issued a strongly worded statement following President Trump’s White House speech, calling it “outrageous, unprecedented, and incorrect.”
O’Malley Dillon went on to say that “the counting will not stop.”
Vote counting is still underway in key states. Here's what you need to know.
From CNN's Maeve Reston and Stephen Collinson
Workers with the Detroit Department of Elections help process absentee ballots at the Central Counting Board in the TCF Center in Detroit on November 4.
Votes are still being counted in several key states across the US, and no winner has been determined in the presidential election.
If you’re just reading in, here’s what you need to know about the race:
- All eyes on the Midwest: The election is far from over with millions of votes outstanding in key states like Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan — ballots that were cast before Election Day that have yet to be counted. Pennsylvania has counted 39% of the mail-in ballots it has received, according to the state.
- Counting underway in Arizona and Georgia: Joe Biden appears to have made significant gains in Arizona, a state which Trump won in 2016. Georgia appeared at a standstill as officials in Fulton County, which includes Atlanta and its populous suburbs, said they would resume counting at resume at 8 a.m. ET.
- President Trump attempted to claim victory: Donald Trump called for a halt to legitimate vote counting that is underway around the country and sought to mislead his loyal supporters by conflating the legitimate counting of ballots with voting as he falsely claimed Democrats were trying to “steal the election.”
- Biden holds the lead: The Democratic nominee holds the lead in the Electoral College at this stage in the night, 220 to 213. Remember: 270 electoral votes are needed to become president. Speaking to reporters, the former vice president urged them to “Keep the faith, guys. We’re going to win this.”
Longtime Republican election lawyer: "Let all the votes be counted"
From CNN's Leinz Vales
Benjamin Ginsberg, right, prepares to testify before a Senate Rules and Administration Committee hearing in Russell Building titled "Bipartisan Support for Improving U.S. Elections: An Overview from the Presidential Commission on Election Administration," on February 12, 2014.
Benjamin L. Ginsberg, a longtime Republican election lawyer who co-chaired the Presidential Commission on Election Administration, said Wednesday that President Trump should “let all the votes be counted,” following his attacks on legitimate vote counting efforts.
“If you have objections to either the particular ballots or to the process, then you have remedies after the fact from each state individual contests laws or recount laws if the margins are close enough,” Ginsberg told CNN’s Jake Tapper during CNN’s special election coverage.
Hear Ginsberg explain:
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Philadelphia expects another update on mail-in ballots at 9 a.m. ET
From CNN’s Mark MoralesPhiladelphia won’t have an updated number on mail-in ballots until 9 a.m. on Wednesday, said Lisa Deeley, head of the Philadelphia City Commissioners, which is a bipartisan board of elected officials in charge of elections and voter registration.
Election officials are waiting on in-person voting numbers to be reported by some individual precincts and ingested into their system before they can report the number of mail-in ballots, Deeley said.
“That’s just the configuration of our system,” said Deeley, adding that it was a reporting issue, not mechanical.
The delay in in-person results from the field are slowing down the reports, particularly in West Philadelphia, Deeley said
“We are counting, we have been counting, we are going to continue counting until it’s done,” Deeley said. “We’re just waiting for the rest of the in-person results to come in from voting machines.”
Another update with mail-in votes will come at 9 a.m., Deeley said.
As of 1:10 a.m. ET, with 1,598 of 1,703 divisions reporting, former Vice President Joe Biden has received 73.3% of the city’s votes, and President Trump has received 25.67% of the city’s vote.
It's 3 a.m. ET: Here's where things stand in the race to 270.
From CNN's Allison GordonBased on CNN’s current projections, Joe Biden has 220 electoral votes while Donald Trump has 213 electoral votes.
Here’s the latest look at where things stand:
Reminder: Each candidate needs 270 electoral votes to win the presidency.
Arizona's Maricopa County has processed more than 1.4 million early votes so far
From CNN's Kyung LahArizona’s largest county has processed and counted a total of 1,487,624 early votes out of a total of approximately 1.7 million early votes cast, according to the Maricopa County Elections Department.
There are roughly 248,000 outstanding early votes that have been signature verified but not yet fully processed. Election officials will start counting these remaining early votes Wednesday as well as an undetermined number of mail-in ballots that people delivered to voting centers in person that have not been processed in any way.
On Election Day, approximately 167,000 people voted in person at 175 voting centers within the county.
As of 12:40 a.m. local time with 75 voting centers reporting, a total of 74,485 Election Day votes have been counted.
Longtime Republican election lawyer calls Trump's claim a "distressing moment"
From CNN's Josiah Ryan
President Donald Trump speaks during election night in the East Room of the White House in Washington, early on November 4.
Veteran Republican election lawyer Ben Ginsberg expressed dismay at President Trump’s attacks on legitimate vote-counting efforts this morning, saying he had never seen a President behave in such a manner.
“It is a distressing moment for me as a long time Republican to see a call to disenfranchise so many people,” said Ginsberg. “…What the President said tonight is not only unprecedented and it not only lacks any basis in the law, it really is a disservice to all the other men and women who are on the ballot as Republicans today.”
When asked by CNN’s Jake Tapper whether he’d every seen anything like this from a President, he replied, “No. Not even close.”
Hear more from Ben Ginsberg:
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Trump attacks legitimate vote-counting efforts and claims fraud without basis
From CNN's Kevin Liptak
President Trump attacked legitimate vote-counting efforts in remarks from the White House early Wednesday, suggesting attempts to tally all ballots amounted to disenfranchising his supporters.
“Millions and millions of people voted for us,” Trump said in the East Room. “A very sad group of people is trying to disenfranchise that group of people.”
His remarks were laced with misleading statements and outright falsehoods and amounted to an assault on the Democratic process. He insisted that states where vote tallies currently show him leading should be called in his favor, despite significant outstanding votes yet to be counted.
He said he was preparing to declare victory earlier in the evening.
“We were getting ready for a big celebration. We were winning everything. And all of a sudden it was just called off,” he said.
Trump baselessly claimed a fraud was being committed.
“This is a fraud on the American public. This is an embarrassment to our country,” Trump claimed.
“Frankly we did win this election,” he said, despite millions of votes still outstanding.
Saying he would go to the US Supreme Court, Trump said he wanted “all voting to stop.”
Pennsylvania Democratic senator says he thinks Biden will win the battleground state
From CNN's Clare Foran
Sen. Bob Casey gestures while standing with his mother, Ellen Harding Casey, in Scranton, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday, November 3.
Pennsylvania Democratic Sen. Bob Casey projected confidence about Joe Biden’s chance of winning the key battleground state in an interview with CNN early Wednesday morning.
Asked what he thinks Biden’s odds are in the fiercely contested state, Casey said, “I think they’re good. I think he’s going to win. I think it’ll be really close.”
Donald Trump won all three states in 2016, dealing a major blow to Democrats in the last presidential election.
As for the battle for the Senate, where Democrats have hoped to take back control from Republicans, who currently hold the majority, Casey described the fight as “difficult,” and said, “I just hope for the best as we get the final results.”
What we know about the pace of counting in Wisconsin
From CNN's Casey Tolan and Caroline KennyThere are still plenty of uncounted ballots in Wisconsin, and many of the local officials say they’ll wrap up in the next few hours.
Here’s what we know:
Milwaukee County, the state’s most populous, Democratic stronghold:
All in-person, Election Day ballots have been counted, a spokesperson for the county clerk’s office told CNN. The county is still waiting on 169,341 early and mail ballots from the city of Milwaukee, which are expected to be done around 4 a.m. ET. Also outstanding are a total of about 75,000 ballots from four other suburban municipalities within the county – Oak Creek, Franklin, Wauwatosa and West Allis, which are expected to come in before the city of Milwaukee.
Brown County, includes Green Bay:
All municipalities are fully reporting except for Green Bay. Currently, no results from Green Bay are reporting, Brown County Clerk Sandy Juno told CNN. They are not going to report results from Green Bay until they finish the absentee count, then they will report the absentee and the in-person Election Day results together all at once. That will likely be between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. ET. They don’t have a total ballot number for how much is outstanding but it’s about 32,000 absentee plus more in-person.
Waukesha County, Milwaukee suburbs and a typical GOP stronghold:
Waukesha County Clerk Meg Wartman told CNN that all results will likely be reported by 2 a.m. ET, though that time has come and gone already. They are still waiting for about 40,000 absentee votes from Brookfield and New Berlin.
Outagamie County:
Now at 93% of expected vote, despite the problems CNN reported earlier with them having to transfer data from about 13,500 misprinted ballots to new ballots.
Dane County, includes Madison, a Democratic stronghold:
Dane is now completely done counting, according to a tweet from clerk Scott McDonell.
Rock County:
The county is totally done counting, the clerk told CNN.
Biden ally on state of the race: "Still rather be us than them"
From CNN's MJ LeeWe heard Joe Biden say that the campaign feels “good about where we are.” That wasn’t spin. As we head into the early hours of the morning after Election Day, the Biden camp is cautiously optimistic.
As one Biden ally put it – “Still rather be us than them.” Put simply, the Biden campaign still believes they’ve got a more realistic path to 270 at this point than Trump does.
To be clear, this certainly hasn’t panned out to be the anywhere near the best case, sweep scenario that some on team Biden had dared to fantasize about – Florida is gone; Ohio is gone; Texas is gone. All three are states that Biden had made a push for in the end, even knowing that they would be very competitive or reaches.
But as Biden himself said, the campaign is very much still counting on and feeling good about states like Pennsylvania, and counting on the “Blue Wall” states to come through for them. They also believe they are in the game in Georgia – a win there, of course would be huge.
Bottom line: Team Biden believes that they are on track to win this election. It is just anybody’s guess when that official call will actually come.
It's just after 2 a.m. ET: Here's where things stand in the race to 270.
President Trump picked up Iowa and Texas, and Joe Biden carried Rhode Island, CNN projects.
Based on CNN’s current projections, Biden now has 220 electoral votes while Trump has 213 electoral votes.
Here’s the latest look at where things stand:
Reminder: Each candidate needs 270 electoral votes to win the presidency.
The single electoral vote Biden won in Nebraska could be significant
From CNN's Josiah Ryan
The entrance to a polling station at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, in Omaha, Nebraska, on Tuesday.
The single electoral vote Joe Biden captured in Nebraska could be significant as votes from the midwestern states and Pennsylvania come in, said CNN’s John King.
Noting that the one electoral vote is Biden’s only flip on the map from 2016 so far, King pointed out that in a race as close as this one, every vote can be crucial.
CNN’s John King explains why:
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CNN Projection: Biden wins 1 electoral vote in Nebraska, Trump wins total of 4 electoral votes
Joe Biden will win one electoral vote in Nebraska, and President Trump will win an additional vote, giving him total of four out of five votes.
There are five electoral votes at stake in Nebraska. It takes 270 electoral votes to win the 2020 presidential election.
Nebraska allows electoral votes to be split. In Nebraska, two of five electoral votes go to the winner of the statewide vote. One electoral vote goes to the winner in each of Nebraska’s three congressional districts.
Who won in 2016: President Trump carried the state and won the general election.
Twitter labels an early Wednesday morning tweet from Trump as "disputed"
From CNN’s Donie O’SullivanTwitter placed a “disputed” label on a tweet sent just minutes ago by President Trump in which he baselessly claimed, “We are up BIG, but they are trying to STEAL the Election.”
“Some or all of the content shared in this Tweet is disputed and might be misleading about how to participate in an election or another civic process,” the Twitter label reads.
Twitter has also restricted how the tweet can be shared. The same post was also posted to the President’s Facebook page.
In statement, Twitter said, “We placed a warning on a Tweet from @realDonaldTrump for making a potentially misleading claim about an election. This action is in line with our Civic Integrity Policy.”
The same post was also posted to the President’s Facebook page. CNN has reached out to Facebook for comment.
What we know about the pace of counting in Michigan
From CNN's Miguel Marquez and Annie Grayer
An election worker helps to secure ballots at Ford Field on November 3, in Detroit, Michigan.
With many votes still outstanding in Michigan, here is what we know about what type of ballots are still outstanding and how long local officials in some of the biggest counties think it will take to get a completed count.
Michigan is a key state for the presidential candidates and 16 electoral votes are at stake.
Here’s a look at where things stand in some key counties:
- Wayne County: CNN is still waiting for a comprehensive look from the Wayne County Clerk. But Detroit City Deputy Clerk Andre Gilbert told CNN that Detroit, the largest city in Wayne County, will have full unofficial results “probably early morning,” with Election Day votes finishing up soon, and absentee ballots taking longer. Based on the last official report CNN received from Detroit City Clerk Janice Winfrey, there are approximately 92,000 absentee ballots still outstanding in the city of Detroit.
- Macomb County: Macomb County Clerk Fred Miller told CNN that almost all Election Day votes have already been counted, amounting to approximately 190,000 votes. Miller said he is waiting on approximately 250,000 absentee ballot results. Previously, Miller had predicted to CNN that it would take until 7 a.m. Wednesday to get the county fully counted.
- Kent County: Kent County Clerk Elections Director Gerrid Uzarski said “about half” of the county’s 30 jurisdictions are fully reported. He said the biggest chunk of outstanding ballots are absentee ballots. Uzarski estimated that the county would be able to fully report its unofficial results, including mail ballots, by noon Wednesday.
- Oakland County: Oakland County Clerk Lisa Brown told CNN that the county is mostly waiting on absentee ballot results from municipalities that did not participate in the county-wide absentee counting board. Brown reported that 502,000 total ballots have been counted in the county, and 144,000 of those are absentee ballots. Brown told CNN she does not know how many votes are outstanding.
What we know about mail-in ballots in Philadelphia
From CNN's Sara Murray, Meridith Edwards, Kelly Mena, Scott Glover and Mark Morales
A Philadelphia election worker scans ballots for the 2020 general election in the United States at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, on Tuesday in Philadelphia.
Philadelphia was expected to report 30,000 to 40,000 more mail-in ballot numbers between midnight ET and 1 a.m. ET.
CNN’s Mark Morales reported that 76,000 ballots have already been reported.
There were 350,000 total mail-in ballots received by Election Day.
CNN Projection: Biden wins Rhode Island
Joe Biden will win Rhode Island, CNN projects.
There are four electoral votes at stake in Rhode Island. It takes 270 electoral votes to win the 2020 presidential election.
Who won in 2016: Former Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton carried the state, and President Trump won the general election.
Where things stand in the vote counting process in some of Georgia's largest counties
From CNN's Jason Morris and Victor Blackwell
Voters check-in with poll workers to cast their ballots at the Metropolitan Library on November 3, in Atlanta, Georgia.
CNN is on the ground in Georgia, where votes are still being counted in parts of the state. Georgia is a key battleground state and 16 electoral votes are at stake.
Here’s where things stand in some of the state’s largest counties:
Fulton County, state’s largest, home to Atlanta:
- 58% of vote in as of 12:45 a.m. ET.
- Officials say all-person votes have been tabulated and they stopped tabulating absentee/mail-in ballots around 10:30 p.m. and will resume at 8 a.m.
- Some of the in-person early and day-of results are still being uploaded into the system, even though CNN was told they have all been “counted.”
- A county spokesperson told CNN 86,000 absentee ballots have been accounted for.
Dekalb County, large county outside Atlanta:
- DeKalb County plans to process all early in-person votes overnight, but will not resume counting outstanding absentee/mail-in ballots until 11 a.m. Wednesday, according to county spokesperson Erik Burton.
- As of 11:55 p.m. Tuesday, the county had counted 79,643 of 168,646 mail-in votes.
- Six hours after polls closed, the county had reported only 39% of estimated total results.
Gwinnett County, large suburban Atlanta county:
- 78% of vote in as of 12:45 a.m. ET.
- Votes were starting to come in after major delays were blamed on a suspected problem with voting tabulation software that impacted as many as 80,000 ballots.
Cobb County, large suburban Atlanta county
- 79% of vote in as of 12:45 a.m. ET.
Iowa is a key part of Trump's path to 270
From CNN's Eric Bradner
A voter marks his ballot at a polling place in Dennis Wilkening's shed on November 3, in Richland, Iowa.
Iowa, with six electoral votes that President Donald Trump carried easily in 2016, is a key part of Trump’s path to 270 electoral votes.
The shift of White voters and rural and exurban voters in Republicans’ favor allowed Trump to win Iowa in 2016. Polls showed Biden outperforming Hillary Clinton with White voters and older voters helped him close the gap in polls there, with Iowa remaining competitive enough to draw visits from Biden on the final Friday of the race and Trump on Sunday.
In the end, CNN projected a victory for both Trump and Sen. Joni Ernst, who faced a stiff and well-funded challenge from Democrat Theresa Greenfield.
The final Des Moines Register poll from Ann Selzer, the gold-standard pollster in Iowa, showed Trump with a 7 percentage point edge, 48% to 41%. That’s the sort of margin he needs in Iowa in order to stay close in other key Midwestern states that are more favorable for Democrats.
It's 1 a.m. ET. Here's where things stand in the race.
President Trump picked up the battleground state of Florida, and Joe Biden carried Minnesota, CNN projects.
Based on CNN’s current projections, Trump now has 171 electoral votes while Biden has 215 electoral votes.
Here’s the latest look at where things stand:
Reminder: Each candidate needs 270 electoral votes to win the presidency.
Joe Biden: "We're going to have to be patient"
From CNN'S Josiah Ryan
Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks to supporters on Wednesday in Wilmington.
Speaking in Wilmington, Delaware, Democratic nominee Joe Biden projected confidence, saying he was “feeling good,” but urged patience as the votes continued to be counted in several key states across the country.
The former vice president then suggested he had not expected an early result, and asked his supporters to wait patiently as states continue to count and report their votes.
“We knew, because of the unprecedented early vote and the mail-in vote, it was gonna take a while,” Biden continued. “We’re going to have to be patient until… the hard work of tallying votes is finished, and it ain’t over until every vote is counted, everybody ballot is counted.”
CNN Projection: Trump wins Iowa
President Trump will win Iowa, CNN projects.
There are six electoral votes at stake in Iowa. It takes 270 electoral votes to win the 2020 presidential election.
Who won in 2016: President Trump carried the state and won the general election.
CNN’s Wolf Blitzer has more:
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Biden: "It's not my place or Donald Trump's place to declare who has won this election"
From CNN's Leinz Vales
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden along with his wife Jill Biden speaks during election night at the Chase Center in Wilmington, Delaware, early on November 4.
As the presidential election crossed into Wednesday, Joe Biden called on his supporters to be patient as votes continue to be tallied in the fight for the White House.
“It’s not my place or Donald Trump’s place to declare who has won this election,” Biden said to a crowd of supporters in Wilmington, Delaware.
The Democratic contender went on to say that he was optimistic of the outcome of the election, but it “may take a little longer” to know the results of the race.
Hear Biden speak to the crowd:
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CNN Projection: Trump wins Florida
President Trump will win Florida, CNN projects.
There are 29 electoral votes at stake in Florida. It takes 270 electoral votes to win the 2020 presidential election.
Who won in 2016: President Trump carried the Sunshine State and won the general election.
CNN’s John King is at the magic wall:
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Minnesota was one of the Clinton states where Trump made a play in 2020
From CNN's Eric Bradner
Voters wait to cast their votes on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design in Minneapolis.
Minnesota is one of a small number of states that Hillary Clinton won in 2016 where President Donald Trump’s campaign made a serious play. (The others are Nevada and New Hampshire.)
Trump’s near-win there in 2016 buoyed Republicans’ hopes that it would follow Wisconsin, where the GOP’s margins of victory among White working-class voters were enough to overcome Democrats’ performance in cities and suburbs. His campaign hoped that White suburban backlash would follow racial injustice protests over the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd this summer.
That didn’t pan out — CNN projected that Biden would win the state.
CNN Projection: Biden wins Minnesota
Joe Biden will win Minnesota, CNN projects.
There are 10 electoral votes at stake in Minnesota. It takes 270 electoral votes to win the 2020 presidential election.
Who won in 2016: Former Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton carried the state, and President Trump won the general election.
Biden campaign still believes the "blue wall" is clearest path to victory
From CNN's Arlette SaenzThe Biden campaign has long said their easiest path to the nomination hinges on the “blue wall” – Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania – and that is still a belief that stands tonight.
Even as the race remains tight in Florida, the campaign has insisted they do not need it to win. Despite making a last minute trip to Ohio yesterday, the campaign had not indicated it was a necessary part of their path but more of an added benefit if they could pull it off.
Two advisers tonight have also expressed optimism in Arizona, pointing to Latino support in the state – where a win could help their path to the presidency.
Despite not having early calls in these battleground states, advisers still remain hopeful about his standing.
Why Nebraska's 2nd district matters in the race to 270
From CNN's Eric Bradner
Ahmed Morsi brings along his month-old son Omar, while filling his ballot at a polling place in Omaha, Nebraska, on Tuesday.
Nebraska and Maine are the only two states that apportion some of their electoral votes based on how each congressional district votes. That means that while four of Nebraska’s five electoral votes heavily favor the GOP, one of them — awarded to the presidential candidate that wins the Omaha-based 2nd District — is in play. (So is Maine’s 2nd district, which is more competitive than the Democratic-leaning state overall.)
Both the Biden and Trump campaigns have closely watched the two districts, knowing that there are potential outcomes to the race that could leave the candidates nearly tied, struggling to cross the 270 electoral vote threshold.
The Omaha-based district is the sort of suburban territory that has shifted rapidly in Democrats’ favor during Trump’s presidency. Republican Don Bacon won a hotly contested congressional race there in 2018 by 2 percentage points, but that was against a challenger more progressive than Democrats nominated in most close races in midterm elections.
Nevada voting results not expected to begin posting until after 12:30 a.m. ET
From CNN's Erica Hill and Stephanie Becker
A woman enters a voting station on Election Day at Robert E. Lake Elementary School November 3, in Las Vegas.
No voting results can be posted in Nevada until all polling locations have closed, says Jennifer Russell, a spokeswoman for the Nevada Secretary of State’s office.
Russell tells CNN that 13 out of 17 counties are completely done being counted and the plan is for the state to begin posting results around 12:30 a.m. ET.
Those results will include early voting, Election Day voting in the smaller counties and whatever mail ballots they have at the time. Russell says Clark County results will take longer.
Per a court order late this afternoon,Clark County, home to nearly 70% of active voters in the state, extended voting at 30 of its 125 locations by one hour until 8 p.m. PT, thought voters in line at closing would still be allowed to vote as longs as they showed up by the new closing time. Lines here have been steady all day in the county.
Clark County Registrar Joe Gloria spoke a short time ago, and said most of the issues which lead to late openings were technical, the majority being connectivity issues.
He said keeping the locations open later will not impact results, except to say that they will likely come in later. Gloria cautioned the county is still counting mail-in ballots. Voters could drop them off today at all polling locations.
As long as ballots are post-marked by today and received by Nov. 10, they will be counted in the state.
It's just after midnight ET. This is where things stand.
CNN just projected President Trump will win must-have state of Ohio and picked up 18 additional electoral votes. Based on CNN’s current projections, Trump now has 132 electoral college votes while Joe Biden has 205 electoral college votes.
Here’s the latest look at where things stand:
Reminder: Each candidate needs 270 electoral votes to win the presidency.
CNN Projection: Trump wins Ohio
Election workers open and count ballots to be processed at the Franklin County Board of Elections on November 3, in Columbus, Ohio.
President Trump will win Ohio, CNN projects.
There are 18 electoral votes at stake in Ohio. It takes 270 electoral votes to win the 2020 presidential election.
Who won in 2016: President Trump carried the state and won the general election.
CNN’s John King is at the magic wall:
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Virginia has become increasingly Democratic over recent election cycles
From CNN's Gregory Krieg
Voters cast their ballots at the old Stone School, used as a polling station, on election day in Hillsboro, Virginia on Tuesday.
CNN projects Joe Biden will notch a win in Virginia. In 13 of the 14 presidential elections before 2008, Virginia went for the Republican nominee. But Barack Obama’s arrival coincided with a shift in the commonwealth’s electorate, powered by suburban voters with college degrees.
Not quite liberal, Virginia has become increasingly Democratic – in the 2018 midterms, Reps. Jennifer Wexton, Elaine Luria and Abigail Spanberger all flipped GOP seats as the party reclaimed a House majority – and its moderate politics mirror Biden’s.
Virginia was a state in which Trump appeared to have an early lead, but it dissipated as the returns painted a fuller, bluer picture.
CNN Projection: Biden wins Virginia
Joe Biden will win Virginia, CNN projects.
There are 13 electoral votes at stake in Virginia. It takes 270 electoral votes to win the 2020 presidential election.
Who won in 2016: Former Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton carried the state, and President Trump won the general election.
Does tonight feel most like 2016, 2018 or 2020?
From CNN's Josiah RyanAs votes continued to trickle in from across the country late this evening, the presidential race was felt familiar to past elections.
CNN’s Jake Tapper said he was unsure if the results so far were most reminiscent of the presidential contest in 2016 when then-candidate Donald Trump outpaced the polls, or 2016 when Democrats congressional victories took days to solidify.
“I don’t know if this feels like 2016 when Donald Trump pulled this huge upset and surprised everybody, or feels like 2018, where Democrats had a really good night, it just took longer than a night,” said Tapper.
CNN’s Dana Bash, however, presented a third option, saying the results, so far, feel very much like they belong in the year 2020.
“It feels like 2020 because… going into tonight, in most of these battleground states, the candidates were within the margin of error,” she said. “That by definition means it is a close race in all of these states and that is what we’re seeing play out right now.”
Tapper concurred, adding, “it’s a divided country. It’s a close election.”
Where things stand in Michigan and Pennsylvania
From CNN's Leinz Vales
Poll observer Sue Carter stands near a polling place while watching for potential voter intimidation on Tuesday in Lansing, Michigan.
In Michigan and Pennsylvania officials are calling for patience as they deal with a record turnout of voters.
The states make up the “blue wall” that President Trump captured in 2016.
Michigan: “Across the entire state, they’re expecting record turnout,” CNN’s Miguel Marquez said, reporting from Detroit, Michigan. “It is not clear how that will affect the vote count for either candidate. We also know they are still counting.”
“Those absentee ballots are being counted as well,” Marquez added. “We should be seeing some of those votes coming very soon as well.”
Marquez went on to report that officials believe in the “next 24 hours or so we’ll have unofficial result of who will win Michigan.”
Pennsylvania: “There is a lot of outstanding votes in the Keystone State and this will not be a process that moves particularly fast,” Sara Murray said, reporting from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
“We know that there’s a lot of these big counties, Philadelphia County, Bucks County, Chester County … they’ll be counting all night long,” Murray added.
At news conference held by the Pennsylvania secretary of state, Kathy Boockvar, Murray said she told reporters that “we need to stay patient and you also need to be prepared for these vote totals to come through overnight in fits and starts.”
CNN’s Miguel Marquez and Sara Murray walk through the latest:
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Virginia's Fairfax County anticipates more absentee results soon
From CNN's Kristen HolmesVirginia’s Fairfax County estimates they will have their roughly 400,000 absentee ballot results in the next couple of hours, likely before 1 a.m. ET, according to Brian Worthy, a county spokesperson.
CNN’s Pamela Brown has more:
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Here's what the scene is like at Biden HQ in Wilmington, Delaware
From CNN's From Arlette Saenz and Jeff SimonFor the past hour, cars have slowly streamed into the parking lot at the Chase Center in Wilmington, Delaware where Joe Biden’s Election Night event is set to take place.
The set up is similar to past Biden drive-in style events in the Covid-era with attendees arriving in their cars, which are spaced out by red, white and blue traffic cones that have “Biden Harris” bumper stickers on them.
Attendees we’ve spoken to included some state delegates and an older woman who says she’s known Biden for nearly five decades.
One of the attendees said she received an e-mail last night telling her she would be invited to the event and then received a confirmation e-mail tonight around the 9 p.m. ET hour.
The Biden campaign has not provided an update on when the night’s events might begin. The former vice president remains at home watching returns with his family.
Vehicles sit parked at a drive-in election night event for Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden at the Chase Center on November 3, in Wilmington, Delaware.
Chairs sit ready for reporters inside circles marked for social distancing as a Covid-19 precaution in the press area at a drive-in election night event for Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden at the Chase Center.
A supporter attends a drive-in election night event for Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden at the Chase Center.
Watch video from the event:
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CNN Projection: Trump wins Mississippi
President Trump will win Mississippi, CNN projects.
There are six electoral votes at stake in Mississippi. It takes 270 electoral votes to win the 2020 presidential election.
Who won in 2016: President Trump carried the state and won the general election.
Can Biden become only the second Democrat to flip Arizona since 1948?
From CNN's Dan Merica
Voters wait in line outside a polling station, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, in Tempe, Arizona.
Arizona has long been a Republican stronghold, but a growing Latino population and an influx of voters from more liberal areas has Democrats believing they could flip the state with Joe Biden atop the ticket.
Trump carried the state by over 3 percentage points in 2016, but Democrats won one of the state’s Senate seats in 2018 and carried both Maricopa and Pima County, where about 75% of the election’s votes are expected to be cast.
Trump remains markedly popular in the state’s rural areas, so the key to the race will be how big he wins counties like Pinal, Yavapai and Mohave, while Biden looks to boost turnout in Maricopa and Pima.
Arizona represents an insurance policy for Biden. It’s not a must win for the Democrat and a loss would not spell doom for Trump, but a blue Arizona could signify broader changes for Republicans. Polls show the race is narrow: A recent CNN survey found a race within the poll’s margin of sampling error, with Biden at 50% support to Trump’s 46%.
The state is also home to one of the most hotly contested Senate contests between Republican incumbent Martha McSally and Democrat Mark Kelly, who has consistently had a fundraising advantage and a recent CNN poll found the Democrat with a 7 percentage point lead.
It's just after 11 p.m. ET. This is where the race to 270 stands.
CNN has just projected Joe Biden will win California – the biggest prize of the electoral college, with 55 electoral votes.
Based on CNN’s current projections, Biden has 192 electoral college votes, and Trump has 108 electoral college votes.
Reminder: Each candidate needs 270 electoral college votes to win the presidency.
CNN’s Wolf Blitzer has more:
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CNN Projection: Biden wins Washington state
Joe Biden will win Washington, CNN projects.
There are 12 electoral votes at stake in Washington. It takes 270 electoral votes to win the 2020 presidential election.
Who won in 2016: Former Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton carried the state, and President Trump won the general election.
CNN Projection: Biden wins Oregon
Joe Biden will win Oregon, CNN projects.
There are seven electoral votes at stake in Oregon. It takes 270 electoral votes to win the 2020 presidential election.
Who won in 2016: Former Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton carried the state, and President Trump won the general election.
CNN Projection: Biden wins California
Joe Biden will win California, CNN projects.
There are 55 electoral votes at stake in California. It takes 270 electoral votes to win the 2020 presidential election.
Who won in 2016: Former Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton carried the Golden State, and President Trump won the general election.
These are the polls closing at 11 p.m. ET
Here’s where polls are closing at 11 p.m. ET:
- California
- Idaho
- Oregon
- Washington
Follow along here and CNN’s Election Center for full coverage.
There are still a lot more early votes to be counted in Pennsylvania
Written by CNN's Josiah Ryan/Analysis by CNN's David Chalian
Election workers count ballots on November 3 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
President Trump’s early lead in Pennsylvania could shrink as the early vote continues to come in, CNN’s political director David Chalian said tonight.
Chalian said that with 35% of the vote currently in, just 18% of the vote is early vote, a number that is expected to rise to 45%.
“We know that Joe Biden is doing much better in the early vote,” he said “…There’s a ton more early votes still to be counted here and that could benefit Joe Biden in Pennsylvania.”
“We just have to wait to see that early absentee mail vote come in and be counted,” he added.
CNN’s David Chalian explains:
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CNN Projection: Biden wins Illinois
Joe Biden will win Illinois, CNN projects.
There are 20 electoral votes at stake in Illinois. It takes 270 electoral votes to win the 2020 presidential election.
Who won in 2016: Former Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton carried the state, and President Trump won the general election.
Absentee ballots in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, won't be reported until after 5 a.m. ET, officials say
From CNN's Casey TolanMilwaukee officials said that, while tallies of in-person Election Day votes from the city will likely be released within the next hour and a half, all results of early votes won’t be released until early tomorrow morning.
All of the early votes, mail and in-person, will be reported separately in one batch once counting is complete.
The city expects a total of about 169,000 absentee ballots, and as of 7:50 p.m. CT (8:50 p.m. ET), Mayor Tom Barrett said they’ve processed about 103,000 of them – just over 60%. He’s now projecting the count will be done by 4 a.m. CT (5 a.m. ET). Over 100 staffers have committed to stay as long as it takes to finish counting.
After the counting is complete, those results must be reported to Milwaukee County, which makes them public. The county’s elections director Julietta Henry is predicting they will be done by 5 a.m. CT (6 a.m. ET), according to a spokesperson.
Meanwhile, in-person Election Day votes are being counted at individual polling places and results are sent to the county directly for release. That will likely be in the next hour and a half, Barrett said.
Officials don’t know the total number of in-person Election Day votes yet.
Overall, voting went well. “Everything has been very smooth,” city Election Commission executive director Claire Woodall-Vogg said.
CNN Projection: Biden wins New Hampshire
Joe Biden will win New Hampshire, CNN projects.
There are four electoral votes at stake in New Hampshire. It takes 270 electoral votes to win the 2020 presidential election.
Who won in 2016: Former Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton carried the state, and President Trump won the general election.
"We're nowhere close to the finish line," CNN's John King says
Written by CNN's Maureen Chowdhury / Analysis from CNN's John KingDespite President Trump currently leading in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, CNN’s John King warns, “we cannot emphasize enough, we’re nowhere close to the finish line in any of those states.”
“We need to count votes and some of those counts could take until tomorrow,” King said.
In each of the “blue wall” states, a majority of early votes still need to be counted.
CNN’s John King is at the magic wall:
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CNN Projection: Trump wins at least 3 of Nebraska's 5 electoral votes
President Trump will win at least three electoral votes in Nebraska, CNN projects.
There are five total electoral votes at stake in Nebraska. It takes 270 electoral votes to win the 2020 presidential election.
Nebraska allows electoral votes to be split. In Nebraska, two of five electoral votes go to the winner of the statewide vote. One electoral vote goes to the winner in each of Nebraska’s three congressional districts.
Who won in 2016: President Trump carried the state and won the general election.
CNN Projection: Biden wins New Mexico
Joe Biden will win New Mexico, CNN projects.
There are five electoral votes at stake in New Mexico. It takes 270 electoral votes to win the 2020 presidential election.
Who won in 2016: Former Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton carried the state, and President Trump won the general election.
Catch up: Here's where things stand in the House and Senate races
Based on CNN’s current projections, this is how the balance of power in Congress is shaping up:
Democrats have 40 seats in the Senate so far. Republicans have 38. Either side needs 51 seats to have a majority.
In the House, Democrats have 84 seats. Republicans have 119.
You can follow live updates on the congressional race here.
How the huge rise in pre-Election Day voting could affect when we get solid results
From CNN's Marshall Cohen
Diane Spiteri clutches her absentee ballot before dropping it off at the city clerk's office in Warren, Michigan, on October 28.
Because of unprecedented levels of mail-in ballots and early voting due to the coronavirus pandemic, it still may take some time until we get results tonight and final results may look different to what early results are showing.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, supporters of Democratic nominee Joe Biden have shown a strong preference for mail-in voting. Most of President Trump’s supporters said they wanted to vote on Election Day. States count these different types of votes in very different ways.
As a result, in some of the most competitive states – including Texas — early results may look too rosy for former Vice President Joe Biden, before falling back down to earth and becoming more representative of the true outcome. In other states — particularly Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin — Trump could see early leads that slowly narrow as more ballots are counted.
This won’t be a sign of fraud or irregularities. Rather, it’s just a reflection of how states count votes. Some states process early ballots first, and will report those early in the night, while others save them for last.
Here is a breakdown of what to watch for in the pivotal states.
It's just after 10 p.m. ET. This is where the race to 270 stands.
Based on CNN’s current projections, Biden has 89 electoral college votes, and Trump has 72 electoral college votes.
Reminder: Each candidate needs 270 electoral college votes to win the presidency.
Dana Bash: "There is no landslide"
From CNN's Josiah RyanCNN’s Dana Bash said the close race in Florida was an early harbinger that tonight would likely not be the landslide Democrats had hoped for.
“There is no landslide that we are looking at,” she said. “No way given the numbers that we’ve seen particularly when you start the night in Florida when it’s as tight as Florida tends to be.”
Bash went on to explain that the Biden campaign appears to have underperformed with Latino voters because of the Trump campaign’s work to paint Biden as a socialist had been effective.
“I’ll tell you what [the Biden campaign] thinks went wrong is that the Trump attacks have worked,” said Bash. “Calling the Democrats socialist worked with people in that area, in particular.”
CNN’s Abby Phillip concurred, saying turnout among Latino voters will likely be the area of study for Democrats, once the election is settled.
“What is happening in Florida, I can tell you, Democrats are not happy about it,” said Phillip. “At the end of the day, the situation in Miami-Dade is something that in the autopsy of this election they will be looking back at and trying to figure out what went wrong.”
CNN’s Dana Bash, Abby Phillip and Jake Tapper explain:
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Trump campaign blurs the lines between politics and government on White House grounds
From CNN's Jim Acosta and Betsy Klein
Members of the media report outside of the White House in Washington on Tuesday.
On Election Night at the White House, the Trump campaign is running the show inside the White House grounds, even at the President’s election night party — further blurring the lines between political activity and official government business.
Ahead of an expected appearance from President Trump around an election night watch party, the campaign is also setting the guest list – including which journalists can attend.
Rather than inviting the White House press corps, the list was limited to a handful of favored conservative outlets, including Fox News, One America News, Newsmax, Daily Caller, Washington Examiner, JustTheNews.com, and Breitbart. Reporters from Washington Post, Univision, USA Today, and McClatchy were also invited.
As of 9:30 p.m. ET, those reporters have not yet been told when they will be taken inside and are told to expect to see the President.
Members of CNN’s technical staff were part of a production pool to facilitate video transmission.
White House spokesperson Judd Deere defended the event, claiming the White House was merely the venue and not the host. “Just like convention it’s a campaign event. White House is the venue,” Deere said.
The campaign was responsible for that guest list, and not the White House, though the journalists were administered Covid-19 tests by White House doctors.
Former Trump aide Kellyanne Conway said Tuesday that the President is expected to “address the nation later from the East Room,” which is one of the rooms being used for the event.
Approximately 400 people were invited to the White House watch party, though only about 200 to 250 are expected to attend the indoor event, which will be held in the East Wing. And over in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, steps away from the West Wing, the campaign has set up a war room with aides monitoring results. CNN reporter earlier that war room at the White House is being funded by the Trump campaign.
These are the polls closing at 10 p.m. ET
Here’s where polls are closing at 10 p.m. ET:
- Iowa
- Montana
- Nevada
- Utah
Follow along here and CNN’s Election Center for full coverage.
CNN Projection: Trump wins South Carolina
Trump will win South Carolina, CNN projects.
There are nine electoral votes at stake in South Carolina. It takes 270 electoral votes to win the 2020 presidential election.
Who won in 2016: President Trump carried the state and won the general election.
North Carolina may be "the most competitive state" in US politics right now
Written by CNN's Adrienne Vogt/Analysis by CNN's John KingAs Joe Biden’s lead in North Carolina narrows, CNN’s John King said that North Carolina may be the “most competitive” state.
Biden’s lead in the state was based on early voting, which skews Democratic, King explained, while President Trump has encouraged his supporters to vote in person.
Biden is leading in the cities, while Trump is currently getting “shellacked” in the Raleigh-Durham urban area, King said.
Early votes favoring Biden in North Carolina, Election Day votes could benefit Trump
Analysis from CNN's David ChalianJoe Biden is currently leading President Trump in North Carolina with 80% of the estimated vote in, but in some big Democratic counties, it is mostly early votes, CNN’s David Chalian said.
“Of this 80% of the vote that’s in, 90% of it right now in North Carolina statewide is early vote,” he said.
Chalian added that by the end of the night only 75% of the total North Carolina vote could be early vote.
“So, right now, the early vote is helping Joe Biden, but as more Election Day vote comes in North Carolina, Donald Trump may be able to benefit from that,” he said.
As the battleground state of Georgia counts votes, here's where Biden and Trump stand
On-air analysis by CNN's John King / Written by CNN's Aditi SangalAn estimated 45% of votes have been counted in Georgia, with President Trump currently leading by a healthy margin. The majority of votes in the state, however, come from Atlanta and its neighboring suburban areas where Biden seems to have a comfortable lead, CNN’s John King observed.
“The question is what is still to come in this night that’s a little different than previous election nights because of mail-in voting, early in-person voting and election day voting,” King said.
Some background: Georgia is a key state to watch this election. It is one of three states in the Southeast — along with Florida and North Carolina — that are all crucial for President Trump’s path to 270 electoral votes. The Biden campaign has also dispatched its top surrogates to the state, including former President Barack Obama.
Its diversifying electorate, suburban swings in Democrats’ favor and a series of close calls there during Trump’s presidency have put Georgia into play.
Biden is currently leading in Fulton County where Atlanta is located as well as Dekalb County, close to Atlanta.
The vote count is very much in the preliminary stage but based on the reporting so far, Biden also seems to be outperforming Hillary Clinton in 2016. This also stands for Chatham County.
Biden also has a healthy lead so far in Cobb County with about 30% of the vote in, and in Gwinnett County with about 15% votes counted.
Colorado, a projected win for Biden, has turned bluer over the years
From CNN's Gregory Krieg
Election judges verify and count ballots at the Denver Elections Division building on November 3, in Denver, Colorado.
CNN projects Joe Biden will win easily in Colorado, which has been turning bluer and bluer with each passing election cycle.
This year, Democrats not only had the presidential race to excite them, but an opportunity to flip a seat in the Senate, where incumbent Republican Cory Gardner is facing a tough challenge from former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper. It would be a surprise if Gardner holds on to the seat. (Jury’s still out on that one.)
That Biden walked away so quickly with the Centennial State could bode well for him elsewhere. The expectation going into Election Day was that, with full results from the big cities are likely to come in later, the early arrows could point in Republicans’ direction.
But the expectation of, at the least, a “red mirage” has mostly dissipated. Biden is cruising and Hickenlooper looks to be in good shape in his bid to unseat Gardner.
CNN Projection: Trump wins North Dakota
President Trump will win North Dakota, CNN projects.
There are three electoral votes at stake in North Dakota. It takes 270 electoral votes to win the 2020 presidential election.
Who won in 2016: President Trump carried the state and won the general election.
CNN Projection: Biden wins Colorado
Joe Biden will win Colorado, CNN projects.
There are nine electoral votes at stake in Colorado. It takes 270 electoral votes to win the 2020 presidential election.
Who won in 2016: Former Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton carried the state, and President Trump won the general election.
Trump campaign officials concerned about Georgia, Michigan and Wisconsin
From CNN's Jim AcostaTrump campaign officials are concerned about the crucial battleground states of Georgia, Michigan, and Wisconsin — but are feeling better about Florida, a senior Trump adviser said.
“Georgia could be an issue,” the adviser said, pointing to huge vote totals from urban voters in the state. Michigan may be gone, the adviser said. Wisconsin is “TBD,” according to the adviser.
The adviser went on to say North Carolina, so far, looks like a “jump ball.” But the adviser said GOP officials in the state believe Trump will win the state.
The adviser summed up the problem for Trump this way: If Trump loses Georgia, he can’t lose Wisconsin. If he loses both of those states, the President could be in trouble, the adviser said.
Young voters in Midwest are swinging toward Biden, early exit polls show
From CNN’s Ryan Struyk and Grace Sparks
Voters wait in line at a polling center on Election Day, in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Voters under 30 years old across the Midwest are swinging toward Joe Biden, according to preliminary exit polling.
Biden earned support from around 6 in 10 voters under 30 years old in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Trump earned support from about 1 in 3 voters under 30 years old, the early exit polls show.
Hillary Clinton won young voters in all three states by single digits in 2016, while Biden currently leads by significantly more than that.
White voters with a college degree are also shifting slightly toward Biden, according to the early exit polls. Biden captured a double-digit lead with the group in Michigan and Pennsylvania; Clinton didn’t win this group in either state in 2016.
About this year’s exit polls: CNN’s exit polls this year incorporate in-person interviews at early voting locations and telephone interviews to target by-mail voters. Those surveys are in addition to the in-person interviews with voters on Tuesday. In every state where exit poll results are available on election night, there will be a combined result to reflect a complete picture of voters across the country.
Read more about exit polls during a pandemic here.
CNN Projection: Biden wins Connecticut
Joe Biden will win Connecticut, CNN projects.
There are seven electoral votes at stake in Connecticut. It takes 270 electoral votes to win the 2020 presidential election.
Who won in 2016: Former Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton carried the state, and President Trump won the general election.
CNN Projection: Trump wins South Dakota
President Trump will win South Dakota, CNN projects.
There are three electoral votes at stake in South Dakota. It takes 270 electoral votes to win the 2020 presidential election.
Who won in 2016: President Trump carried the state and won the general election.
Here's where the candidates stand in North Carolina
From CNN's Maureen Chowdhury/ Analysis from CNN's John King
Voters walk past campaign signs at the Graham Civic Center polling location in Graham, North Carolina, on Tuesday.
Joe Biden is currently leading President Trump in North Carolina with 78% of the vote from the state in. CNN’s John King says Trump needs to narrow the gap in the following counties:
- Wake County: With 82% of the vote in, in Wake County, Biden leads 65% to 33%. “The question is when we get the rest of it, can the President narrow this gap? He’s not going to win the county, the point is, is he going to get closer?” King said.
- Durham County: “That’s 82 to 17, again Secretary Clinton won this big, too, 80 to 18, President needs to narrow that gap. That is the repudiation of the suburbs there,” King said.
- Mecklenburg County: The most populous county, “this is where the most votes are, Charlotte and the suburbs 68% to 31% when you round it up … Again Joe Biden over performing here.”
Nevada Supreme Court denies Trump campaign request to immediately block early vote counting in Clark County
From CNN's Kara Scannell, Erica Hill and Stephanie BeckerThe Nevada Supreme Court denied an emergency request by the Trump campaign to block early vote counting in Clark County, which includes Las Vegas, based on its use of a signature-matching computer software and rules governing the observation of vote counting.
A seven panel of judges gave the Trump campaign and Nevada Republican Party until Thursday to file additional briefings.
Some background: Earlier Tuesday, the campaign filed an emergency appeal of a district judge order dismissing its lawsuit against the Clark County Registrar alleging GOP observers were not given enough access to all aspects of the ballot counting process — from opening the ballots, to machine and manual signature checking and duplicating spoiled ballots.
Can Biden rebuild the Democratic blue wall in Michigan?
From CNN's Dan Merica
Election workers walk away after emptying out a ballot drop-off box as the sun sets on Election Day at City Hall in Warren, Michigan on Tuesday.
Michigan was the perfect storm for Democrats in 2016 — a surge in rural turnout, White union voters flipping to Donald Trump and depressed turnout among Black voters — leading the President to break through the so-called “blue wall” on his way to an unexpected victory.
Joe Biden needs to take back the state to have almost any shot of winning in 2020 and polls show he is on his way to do that: A CNN survey released in late October found Biden with a 12-percentage point lead in the state.
The former vice president committed his campaign to re-building that blue wall in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Republicans admitted when Biden was nominated that his appeal with White working-class voters made him far more formidable in states like Michigan, and the former vice president has focused his campaign on making that come true.
The Biden campaign is clearly taking nothing for granted in Michigan, however. Former President Barack Obama joined Biden for two events in the state on the final weekend of the campaign, aiming squarely to turnout young and Black voters who stayed home in 2016.
It's just after 9 p.m. ET. This is where the race to 270 stands.
Based on CNN’s current projections, Biden has 73 electoral college votes, and Trump has 48 electoral college votes.
Reminder: Each candidate needs 270 electoral college votes to win the presidency.
CNN Projection: Biden wins New Jersey
Joe Biden will win New Jersey, CNN projects.
There are 14 electoral votes at stake in New Jersey. It takes 270 electoral votes to win the 2020 presidential election.
Who won in 2016: Former Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton carried the state, and President Trump won the general election.
These are the polls closing at 9 p.m. ET
Here’s where polls are closing at 9 p.m. ET:
- Arizona
- Colorado
- Kansas
- Louisiana
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Dakota
- South Dakota
- Texas
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
Follow along here and CNN’s Election Center for full coverage.
This is where each candidate has the lead as of 9 p.m. ET
Based on the votes counted so far, this is where each candidate currently has the lead.
Joe Biden:
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- New Hampshire
- Pennsylvania
- Texas
Donald Trump:
- Florida
- Michigan
- Georgia
- Virginia
It’s still early and these numbers could change as more votes are counted.
CNN Projection: Biden wins New York
Joe Biden will win New York, CNN projects.
There are 29 electoral votes at stake in New York. It takes 270 electoral votes to win the 2020 presidential election.
Who won in 2016: Former Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton carried the state, and President Trump won the general election.
No state is more crucial for either candidate's path to 270 than Pennsylvania
From CNN's Gregory Krieg
Chester County, Pennsylvania election worker Kristina Sladek opens mail-in and absentee ballots for the 2020 General Election in the United States at West Chester University on Tuesday.
By most forecasters’ estimates, there is no state more crucial to either candidates’ path than Pennsylvania, with its 20 electoral votes.
Donald Trump won it in 2016 as he barreled through the Democrats’ “Blue Wall,” taking Michigan and Wisconsin, too. But Joe Biden, who was born in Scranton, maintained a modest lead in most 2020 pre-election polling.
The key for Biden is juicing turnout in Philadelphia, especially among Black and Latino votes, and its surrounding suburbs. For Trump, it’s a trickier proposition. He needs to keep or grow his winning margins in rural parts of the state, mostly in the central and west, and hope his popularity there isn’t overwhelmed by a backlash in suburban areas and urban centers.
Then there is the question of the ballots, which has the potential to turn into a national flashpoint.
Pennsylvania is one of the handful of states that expects to take a while to count all its votes. Expect the early returns to favor Trump, but the race to move in Biden’s direction as mail-in ballot results come in. But that could take some time. Election officials cannot begin processing early ballots until Election Day and some counties might not begin until after the polls close. A few won’t start until Wednesday – meaning there will be no final result out of Pennsylvania tonight.
Here's what the Biden campaign says about the prospects of winning Florida
From CNN's Jeff ZelenyThe Biden campaign is realistic about Florida tonight, with advisers saying the state seems to be moving out of reach. But advisers argue that Florida is unique, not the beginning of a trend.
They are still confident about their standing in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin – and advisers are optimistic about what they are seeing in North Carolina.
But for Biden world, a Trump Florida win ensures one thing: This race will be dramatically close and they do not foresee any type of landslide tonight.
Why Biden needs to overperform in this Florida county
From CNN's Dan Merica
Supporters of presidential candidate Joe Biden try to get the attention of commuters leaving downtown Jacksonville, Florida from an overpass with under three hours before the polls close on Election Day.
No Democratic presidential candidate has won Duval County since fellow Southerner Jimmy Carter carried the Jacksonville area in 1976. Joe Biden is on track to break that streak.
This could be critical to Democrats in Florida because in order to make up for the former vice president underperforming where Hillary Clinton was four years ago in populous Miami-Dade County, he needs formerly red population centers like Duval to tilt his way to have a shot at carrying the state.
The former vice president leads President Donald Trump in the county with 91% of the vote in.
Duval County is central for two key themes playing out in the 2020 general election — the suburbs revolting against a Republican Party led by Trump and the work Democrats have put in to turn out Black voters who did not turn out for Hillary Clinton in 2016. Both have turned the one-time Republican stronghold into the largest swing county in the largest swing state.
“There is an argument to be made it may be the single most important county in the single most important state in the most important election in a century,” Dean Black, chair of the county’s Republican Party, said before Election Day.
Democrats, after losing Duval narrowly in 2016, carried the county in the 2018 general election, leading many in the party to grow more confident that they could do it again this year. The party also has 6% more registered Democrats than Republicans in Duval.
There were signs in October that Trump’s hold on some voters in Duval County was slipping.
After voting for Trump in 2016, Danielle Wade went to the ballot box undecided but eventually voted for Biden.
“Quite frankly, I am just over Trump’s antics,” Wade said. “I don’t believe he will be the cure-all,” she said after voting for Biden, the first Democrat she had ever backed in her 35-year-long life. “But the country needs some relief.”
How the President's campaign turned to "Trump super counties" leading up to Election Day
From CNN's Josiah RyanPresident Trump visited a number of “Trump super counties” in the final days before Election Day to energize the electorate and turn out the vote, said CNN’s John King, pointing to Catawba County in North Carolina where Trump campaigned on Monday.
“The President had a deliberately travel plan,” added King. “He went to certain places where they knew their voters were.”
Joe Biden needs to win in these Ohio areas to take the state
From CNN's Aditi Sangal / Analysis by CNN's John King
People stand in line to vote outside Maranatha Baptist Church on Tuesday in Columbus, Ohio.
For Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden to win the competitive state of Ohio, which leans a little Republican, he needs to “run it up in urban areas,” CNN’s John King said as the votes come in.
“That would be Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, Akron, Toledo and Youngstown,” King said.
- Cuyahoga County, which includes Cleveland: “This has to be [the Democrats’] foundation — largest county in the state. About 11% of the vote when you are all done,” King explained.
- Youngstown: Both Biden and Trump have tried to court the blue collar demographic here. But this could be a test for Biden, King said. Hillary Clinton “just barely won this,” he noted. “One of the things [Biden] says he can do is that unlike Hillary Clinton, he can win Trump voters, he can win blue collar, traditional Democrats, who left the Party to go for Donald Trump.”
- Columbus: “It’s the state capital, it’s unions, it’s African Americans,” King explains.
The suburbs are the big challenge, where the candidates will battle for the American presidency, King said.
“Donald Trump carried the suburbs 2017. That’s why he’s President of the United States. It is part of the coalition Trump put together,” King said. “If Joe Biden can hold Lake County, hold the suburbs west of Cleveland, that’s part of the building blocks, at least get you close.”
CNN Projection: Trump wins West Virginia
President Trump will win West Virginia, CNN projects.
There are five electoral votes at stake in West Virginia. It takes 270 electoral votes to win the 2020 presidential election.
Who won in 2016: President Trump carried the state and won the general election.
No Republican has won the presidency in modern times without winning Ohio
On-air analysis from John King / Written by CNN's Adrienne Vogt
A view of the ballot counting room during the general elections at the Hamilton County Board of Elections, on Tuesday, in Norwood, Ohio.
CNN’s John King underscored that Ohio may be a crucial state for the President to win reelection.
With about a third of the vote in, Biden is ahead in Ohio’s cities and surrounding suburbs, while Trump is ahead in the more rural areas. But King outlined that those rural areas could add up for the Trump campaign.
“We know [Biden is] competitive in Ohio. Win or lose Ohio, there is a lesson in this: that Joe Biden is competitive than Hillary Clinton in these industrial states,” King said.
“No matter how this ends, this tells you that this is a different campaign than we had four years ago, and that Joe Biden is more competitive than Hillary Clinton,” he added.
Early exit polls show a big decrease in support for Biden among Latinos in Florida
From CNN’s Grace Sparks and Ryan StruykAs polls close in Florida, an early exit survey of voters in the state shows a big decrease in support for Democrat Joe Biden among Latinos compared to 2016.
Slightly more than half of the group is backing the former vice president, according to the early exit polls, compared to the 62% that went for Clinton four years ago. President Donald Trump’s support among the group has increased significantly, as well.
Latino voters have also shifted in Georgia. In 2016, Latino voters in the state went for Hillary Clinton by 40 points; they are voting for Joe Biden by around 25 points.
Trump has a small lead among seniors in Florida, garnering just over half of the vote there, a decrease in his performance from in 2016 when he won 57% of the group in Florida.
More than half of independent voters in the Sunshine State are backing Biden, a better performance than Clinton in 2016, when Trump won independents 47% to 43%.
CNN’s exit polls this year incorporate in-person interviews at early voting locations and telephone interviews to target by-mail voters. Those surveys are in addition to the in-person interviews with voters on Tuesday. In every state where exit poll results are available on election night, there will be a combined result to reflect a complete picture of voters across the country.
CNN Projection: Trump wins Tennessee
President Trump will win Tennessee, CNN projects.
There are 11 electoral votes at stake in Tennessee. It takes 270 electoral votes to win the 2020 presidential election.
Who won in 2016: President Trump carried the state and won the general election.
Maine's 2nd is a wild card in the race to 270
From CNN's Gregory Krieg
A woman casts her ballot at the Cross Insurance Center polling location on November 3, in Bangor, Maine.
Maine allocates two of its four electoral votes to the statewide winner – a Democrat in every race since 1988. The other two are split between its two congressional districts.
Maine’s 2nd is the wild card.
Democratic Rep. Jared Golden flipped the district in a tight 2018 contest and is expected to retain it this year. The presidential race, though, is a toss-up.
Though it covers a lot more ground, the 2nd district’s population is smaller than in the 1st, which is home to the state’s biggest city in Portland. Trump won the 2nd in 2016, a victory emblematic of his strength with rural voters.
Maine also presents Democrats with one of their first opportunities of the night to cut into the GOP Senate majority. Incumbent Sen. Susan Collins is in the fight of her political life with Democratic challenger Sara Gideon, who has benefited from a nationwide liberal backlash over Collins’ vote to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in 2018.
Here's why New Hampshire matters if Biden and Trump are neck-and-neck
From CNN's Gregory Krieg
Two women, wearing protective masks due to the Covid-19 virus outbreak, cast their ballots at a polling station at Windham, New Hampshire High School on Tuesday.
Hillary Clinton won New Hampshire in 2016, but it was a very, very close race. In the end, she beat Donald Trump by fewer than 3,000 votes.
New Hampshire has only four electoral votes, but if this race is close and both campaigns are trying to build out scenarios to get them to 270, it could be decisive. It might also be instructive. If Joe Biden and Trump are neck-and-neck as the count takes shape, that could be a promising sign for the President as the campaigns begin to eyeball the Midwestern swing states.
That’s in part because the polls suggest that Biden is the favorite here. Trump’s team has projected confidence, pointing to their ground game.
The state’s most famous newspaper, the New Hampshire Union Leader, with its conservative editorial board, endorsed Biden this time around, after effectively ducking the question in 2016 by throwing its support to Libertarian Gary Johnson.
There’s little evidence that newspaper endorsements in big races like this move many voters, but in battleground states they are often a reflection of where the electorate is – or, on Election Day, where it’s going.
It's just after 8 p.m. ET. This is where the race to 270 stands.
CNN has projected Joe Biden will win Delaware, DC, Maryland, Massachusetts and Vermont.
Donald Trump will win Kentucky and Oklahoma.
Based on these projections, this is where the race to 270 currently stands.
Biden has 30 electoral college votes. Trump has 26 electoral college votes.
Reminder: Each candidate needs 270 electoral college votes to win the presidency.
Nevada's state results delayed by an hour after judge rules to keep some polling locations open later
From CNN's Stephanie Becker and Erica HillNevada state District Court Judge Joe Hardy is extending the hours for about two dozens polling sites in Clark County until 8 p.m. PT.
That will delay the announcement of results in Nevada’s election by an hour. The Trump campaign filed suit in Clark County for the extension.
Earlier in the day there were reports that many of the 125 polling sites in Clark County had to delay their 7 a.m. opening because of technical problems.
Clark County is the home of 70% of all voters in Nevada. It is a heavily Democratic County. No results in any county can be released until the last poll is closed.
Democrats asked for their own list of polling sites to remain open on top of the Republican list. The judge granted that list.
CNN Projection: Trump wins Kentucky
President Trump will win Kentucky, CNN projects.
There are eight electoral votes at stake in Kentucky. It takes 270 electoral votes to win the 2020 presidential election.
Who won in 2016: President Trump carried the state and won the general election.
These are the polls closing at 8 p.m. ET
Here’s where polls are closing at 8 p.m. ET:
- Alabama
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- District of Columbia
- Florida
- Illinois
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- Oklahoma
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- Tennessee
Follow along here and at CNN’s Election Center for full coverage.
CNN Projection: Biden wins Massachusetts
Joe Biden will win Massachusetts, CNN projects.
There are 11 electoral votes at stake in Massachusetts. It takes 270 electoral votes to win the 2020 presidential election.
Who won in 2016: Former Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton carried the state, and President Trump won the general election.
CNN Projection: Biden wins Delaware
Joe Biden will win Delaware, CNN projects.
There are three electoral votes at stake in Delaware. It takes 270 electoral votes to win the 2020 presidential election.
Who won in 2016: Former Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton carried the state, and President Trump won the general election.
CNN Projection: Biden wins DC
Joe Biden will win the District of Columbia, CNN projects.
There are three electoral votes at stake in DC. It takes 270 electoral votes to win the 2020 presidential election.
Who won in 2016: Former Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton carried the district, and President Trump won the general election.
CNN Projection: Biden wins Maryland
Joe Biden will win Maryland, CNN projects.
There are 10 electoral votes at stake in Maryland. It takes 270 electoral votes to win the 2020 presidential election.
Who won in 2016: Former Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton carried the state, and President Trump won the general election.
CNN Projection: Trump wins Oklahoma
Voters wait in line at sunset to cast their ballots for the 2020 U.S. presidential election at Life.Church in Edmond, Oklahoma on Tuesday.
President Trump will win Oklahoma, CNN projects.
There are seven electoral votes at stake in Oklahoma. It takes 270 electoral votes to win the 2020 presidential election.
Who won in 2016: President Trump carried the state and won the general election.
Burst pipe delays absentee ballot processing in Fulton County, Georgia
From CNN’s Nick Valencia and Jason Morris
A worker at the Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections works to process absentee ballots at the State Farm Arena Monday, Nov. 2, in Atlanta.
Absentee ballot processing in Fulton County, Georgia, has been delayed due to a burst pipe, county spokesperson Regina Waller said.
According to Waller, a pipe burst at State Farm Arena above the processing room for all absentee ballots in Fulton County, but no ballots were damaged.
“The matter caused the start of work today to be delayed by four hours,” Waller said.
“The team is prepared to continue working to complete processing of absentee ballots,” Waller added.
3 in 5 Trump voters name economy as most important issue while one-third of Biden voters say racial inequality
From CNN’s Grace SparksTrump voters heavily favored the economy as the most important issue to their vote, with around 3 in 5 saying so, according to early exit polls. The issue of crime and safety followed at a distance for those voters.
One-third of voters who back Joe Biden, meanwhile, said racial inequality was their most important issue, followed by almost 3 in 10 who said it was coronavirus, 1 in 10 who said health care policy, and 1 in 10 who said the economy.
About this year’s exit polls: CNN’s exit polls this year incorporate in-person interviews at early voting locations and telephone interviews to target by-mail voters. Those surveys are in addition to the in-person interviews with voters on Tuesday. In every state where exit poll results are available on election night, there will be a combined result to reflect a complete picture of voters across the country.
To account for the large share of early in-person voters in critical states such as North Carolina, Florida and Texas, Edison Research has spent the past month conducting the same type of in-person interviewing that it does on Election Day at a random selection of early voting locations around eight states.
Read more about exit polls during a pandemic here.
CNN Projection: Biden wins Vermont
Joe Biden will win Vermont, CNN projects.
There are three electoral votes at stake in Vermont. It takes 270 electoral votes to win the 2020 presidential election.
Who won in 2016: Former Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton carried the state, and President Trump won the general election.
A close look at the narrow margins in Florida counties compared to 2016
From CNN's Maureen Chowdhury and Dan MericaAs ballot counts from Florida are quickly coming in, the tight margins for both President Trump and Joe Biden compared to 2016 results are making this a race to watch.
Joe Biden is currently underperforming Hillary Clinton’s 2016 results in Miami-Dade County. “If you’re looking for trouble signs in the Biden campaign, it is right here in Miami-Dade,” CNN’s John King said. Hillary Clinton had a wider margin in the county in 2016 and still lost the state. Biden will have to make it up in other counties, King added.
President Trump is underperforming in Duval County, which includes all of Jacksonville, a population center Trump won in 2016, but swung back to Democrats two years later when the party’s gubernatorial candidate carried the county.
The area around Tampa is also central to a Trump win: The President unexpectedly carried Pinellas County in 2016, a swing that signified it would be a tough night for Democrats.
King said that Trump’s performance among suburban voters will be significant overall.
Democrats are keeping a close eye on Latinos in Florida tonight
From CNN's Dan MericaDeocratic operatives are keeping a close eye on Latino voters tonight in Florida, one of the first states with a significant Latino population to report results.
A key concern for Democrats heading into Election Day was Joe Biden’s ability to court Latinos, a diverse and growing demographic in a number of key states, including Florida, Texas and Arizona. Democratic organizers in those states had raised concerns about Biden’s outreach to Latino voters early in the campaign, leading Biden’s operation to pour manpower and money into turning out Latinos, but the concerns persisted.
The problem is acute in Florida — particularly in populous Miami-Dade County — because of the large number of Cuban and Venezuelan immigrants, two groups that tend to be more conservative than others.
Early results out of Miami-Dade, Florida’s most populous county, show a closer race between Biden and Donald Trump in 2020 than when Clinton faced Trump in 2016.
Trump’s campaign was intensely focused on Miami-Dade County, crafting an entire messaging campaign around painting Biden as a socialist in an attempt to appeal to the county’s Cuban- and Venezuelan-American populations
“If Biden wins Florida with that margin in Dade (and lets assume it gets 1 point or so better with eday), it will be amazing and unprecedented,” said Florida-based Democratic data analyst Matthew Isbell tweeted as the early results from the county came in.
The question for Democrats will be can Biden outperform Clinton in places like Duval and Hillsborough County, two other populous metropolitan centers in the state, to offset him possibly underperforming in the Miami area.
GOP asks for extended polling hours in Clark County, Nevada
From CNN's Stephanie BeckerStatewide results in Nevada’s election could be delayed by at least an hour – to 8 p.m. local time/11 p.m. ET – if a judge rules in favor of the Trump campaign. The campaign filed a lawsuit in Clark County to keep the polls open an additional hour for 22 locations.
There were reports earlier in the day that many of the 125 polling sites in Clark County had to delay their 7 a.m. local openings because of technical problems. Clark County is the home of 70% of all voters in Nevada. It is a heavily Democratic County.
No results in any county can be released until the last poll is closed.
How CNN makes projections (it’s not magic, it’s math)
From CNN's Zachary B. WolfOn election night, CNN’s Wolf Blitzer announces that the network has projected this or that candidate will win a particular race.
The process that leads to Blitzer saying those words is careful and complicated. It involves both real-time results and information from exit polls. CNN, NBC, ABC and CBS work with the polling firm Edison Research in what is known as the National Election Pool for results and exit polling data. Fox News and the Associated Press have a separate arrangement.
CNN’s polling director Jennifer Agiesta explains:
Read here for more from Agiesta and Washington Bureau Chief Sam Feist.
Democrats think they can flip North Carolina. Here is why.
From CNN's Dan Merica
People receive their ballot and instructions at the St. Paul's National Guard Armory on Election Day on November 3, in St. Pauls, North Carolina.
Four years after Hillary Clinton lost North Carolina by over 3 percentage points, Democrats are growing more confident that the state is moving away from its red neighbors to the South and closer to its bluer neighbors to the north.
The reason is demographics: The number of Hispanic and Asian voters is growing; North Carolina’s cities and suburbs are booming with growth from people moving from more liberal northern states; and seniors, a demographic moving away from a Trump-led Republican party, have been flocking to the state’s coast.
All of this is coupled with a troubling trend for Republicans: The state’s reliably conservative rural areas are shrinking.
This has led Democrats to believe North Carolina is in reach for them this year, creating a key chance for Joe Biden and the party to take another state Trump won in 2016. North Carolina’s polls are closing at 7:30 p.m. ET, so if this scenario plays out for Democrats, the state could be an early signal for how the night is going for each party.
The presidential is far from the only competitive race in a state that has seemed to be the center of the political universe for much of the year: The state also has a competitive Senate race between Republican incumbent Thom Tillis and Democrat Cal Cunningham, as well as a less competitive race for governor between incumbent Democrat Roy Cooper and Republican Dan Forest.
Ohio is a must-win for Trump — no Republican has won the presidency without it
From CNN's Eric BradnerAfter Donald Trump’s 8-point win in Ohio in 2016 and GOP Gov. Mike DeWine’s win in 2018, what was once the quintessential swing state appeared to have shifted solidly into Republican hands — part of a long-term realignment that was unlikely to reverse itself anytime soon.
But polls for months showed Joe Biden and Trump locked in a close race. Biden’s campaign invested in the state late, pumping millions of dollars into TV ads in the closing weeks while sending Biden through the eastern portion of the state on a whistle-stop Amtrak tour.
A final indicator that Biden believes it is within reach came Monday morning, when he made a last-minute campaign stop in Cleveland.
Ohio is a must-win for Trump. No Republican has ever won the presidency without winning Ohio. If Trump doesn’t win, it’s almost certainly a fatal blow to his chances of winning re-election. And if the race there is neck-and-neck, it’s a problematic sign for Trump’s performance in other key states, including neighboring Pennsylvania and Michigan and fellow Midwestern battleground Wisconsin.
Pennsylvania secretary of state "pleased" by USPS sweep of all processing facilities
From CNN's Kelly MenaPennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar said that she was pleased with an earlier federal decision mandating the United States Postal Service to sweep certain processing facilities by 3 p.m. ET for election mail.
Update: The US Postal Service said later this evening, however, that it wasn’t able to meet the court ordered deadline.
The postal service had done previous morning sweeps for ballots in recent days, including Tuesday, with personnel reporting data to the court by about 10 a.m.
Postal officials, however, reported to the judge that they were unable to make it happen.
“Given the time constraints set by this Court’s order, and the fact that Postal Inspectors operate on a nationwide basis, Defendants were unable to accelerate the daily review process to run from 12:30pm to 3:00pm without significantly disrupting preexisting activities on the day of the Election,” the Postal Service wrote to the judge.
Around 4 in 5 White voters without a college degree back Trump in Georgia, early exit polls show
From CNN’s Grace SparksPolls have closed in Georgia and an early exit survey of voters there show around 4 in 5 White voters without a college degree went for Donald Trump.
Slightly over half of White voters with a college degree also backed Trump, the early exit polls show. The slim lead marks a big difference from 2016, when Trump won White college graduates in Georgia 69% to 28%.
Trump leads among another key group in Georgia this year, with more than half of seniors backing the President. He won seniors in 2016, 67% to 31%.
Joe Biden leads strongly among voters under the age of 30 in the state, with around 3 in 5 of those voters backing the former vice president.
Voters in Georgia who say they want a candidate who is a strong leader voted strongly for Trump, with around three-quarters of voters doing so. Another three-quarters of voters who want a candidate who can unite the country voted for Biden.
About this year’s exit polls: CNN’s exit polls this year incorporate in-person interviews at early voting locations and telephone interviews to target by-mail voters. Those surveys are in addition to the in-person interviews with voters on Tuesday. In every state where exit poll results are available on election night, there will be a combined result to reflect a complete picture of voters across the country.
To account for the large share of early in-person voters in critical states such as North Carolina, Florida and Texas, Edison Research has spent the past month conducting the same type of in-person interviewing that it does on Election Day at a random selection of early voting locations around eight states.
Read more about exit polls during a pandemic here.
These are the polls closing at 7:30 p.m. ET
Polls are closing in some states tonight. Here’s where polls are closing at 7:30 p.m. ET:
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- West Virginia
Remember: North Carolina’s election results will be delayed by at least 45 minutes after the board of elections extended voting at some locations that were having problems this morning.
Follow along here and see CNN’s Election Center for full coverage.
Biden's path to 270 depends on suburban turnout
From CNN's Eric Bradner
Voters wain in line at the Oakmont United Methodist Church on November 3, in Oakmont, Pennsylvania, a suburban community outside Pittsburgh.
Suburbs are at the center of the 2020 presidential race, with Joe Biden’s path to 270 electoral votes dependent on turning in a stronger performance there than Hillary Clinton did in 2016.
The suburban shift toward Democrats is the biggest change to the political landscape during Donald Trump’s presidency. In 2017, the northern Virginia suburbs handed Democrats a big win in a closely watched governor’s race. Then, in 2018, suburban congressional districts were at the center of a Democratic wave that handed the party control of the US House of Representatives for the first time in eight years.
Trump’s 2016 win was rooted in big margins of victory in working-class suburbs. He has sought to galvanize those voters again by warning that violence that has accompanied protests against racial injustice would spread to the suburbs. However, Biden’s stronger performance in polls among well-educated voters and with White women, in particular, have positioned him to build on Democratic gains in recent years.
Biden team is pointing to 2012 map rather than Clinton's 2016
From CNN's Jeff Zeleny
Joe Biden is not Hillary Clinton.
That is a central thought in the minds of Biden aides as they have been studying data throughout the day – they are seeing far more Democrats (and presumably Biden supporters) turning out in rural areas.
They don’t see blow outs they did four years ago. There’s no doubt that President Trump will carry the rural swaths of so many battleground states, but they believe Biden will hold his own far more than Clinton did.
The entire campaign, comparisons have been drawn to 2016 — but one Biden adviser said this map could be more like 2012, the last time Biden was on a ballot as the vice president, with Barack Obama at the top of the ticket.
Pennsylvania governor calls for patience as polls near close
From CNN's Kelly MenaWith an hour to go until polls close, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf cautioned voters to “remain calm.”
He released a video message calling for patience as every vote is set to be counted in the crucial battleground state.
Polls in the Keystone State are set to close at 8 p.m. ET.
Georgia could offer a window into how Election Night unfolds
From CNN's Eric Bradner
A poll worker waits for voters at the Fox Theater polling location on November 3, in Atlanta.
Georgia is a must-win state for President Donald Trump, and – with a relatively quick vote count expected there —it could offer an early window into how Election Night will unfold.
Like Florida and North Carolina, it’s a state Joe Biden has invested heavily in, and a place where his campaign is bullish. But unlike those states, it has not voted for Democrats in recent presidential elections.
Georgia has long been a Republican stronghold, with the GOP currently controlling every statewide office and the state legislature. Democrats haven’t won a major statewide race in the last two decades, but have had a series of close calls —a 2017 special election for a House seat; the 2018 governor’s race — in Georgia during Trump’s presidency.
This year in Georgia, the stakes are especially high: Two Senate seats are up for grabs in “jungle primaries,” which go to one-on-one runoffs if no candidate finishes above 50% of the vote. Jon Ossoff is challenging Republican Sen. David Perdue, while Rev. Raphael Warnock is the leading Democratic candidate against Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler, GOP Rep. Doug Collins and other contenders in a special election that’s almost certain to head to a runoff.
Biden chose Georgia to deliver what his campaign billed as its closing argument with a speech last Tuesday. His running mate, California Sen. Kamala Harris, campaigned there Sunday. And Biden dispatched former President Barack Obama to Atlanta on Monday. Trump, meanwhile, campaigned in Georgia on Sunday night, underscoring his campaign’s recognition of its competitiveness.
Why Florida is a must-win swing state for Trump
From CNN's Dan Merica
Gissele Riberiro fills out her ballot as she votes at the Legion Park polling place on Tuesday in Miami.
If Donald Trump has any chance of winning the presidency, he can’t stand to lose his home state of Florida.
The President carried the state in 2016 by just over 1 percentage point, but recent polls have found a narrow race in the state, with a series of surveys showing the race between Trump and Joe Biden within the margin of error. Both candidates have blanked the state of late, with both Trump and Biden headlining events in the state on the Thursday before the election.
Florida is a remarkably diverse state with a series of key areas. Trump and his campaign have hopes of cutting into Biden’s expected margin in Miami-Dade and Broward County with a stronger than expected showing with Latinos, particularly Cubans, in South Florida.
The area around Tampa is also central to a Trump win: The President unexpectedly carried Pinellas County in 2016, a swing that signified it would be a tough night for Democrats. And then there was Duval County, which includes all of Jacksonville, a population center Trump won in 2016, but swung back to Democrats two years later when the party’s gubernatorial candidate carried the county.
Turnout will be key for Biden in Florida. A surge of rural voters propelled Trump to victory in 2016, an outpouring that was strengthened by a lack of turnout among Black and Latino voters four years ago. Democrats saw warning signs in early vote numbers from areas with large Black and Latino populations, so the ability for the party to get both key demographics out on Tuesday could prove critical.
CNN’s John King explains:
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Viewers should prepare for a "roller coaster" ride
On-air analysis from Van Jones/Written by CNN's Josiah RyanAs exit polls trickled in early on Election Night, viewers who support either candidate should be prepared for both ups and downs, CNN political commentator Van Jones warned
“We are on a little bit of a roller coaster here, a little bit of a seesaw,” said Jones, acknowledging some of the early exit polls had worried him, while he’d found other data points encouraging.
Former Republican Sen. Rick Santorum, a CNN senior political commentator, expressed the same sentiment moments later, suggesting he had already experienced multiple emotions.
“I’m gonna agree with Van that I was feeling much more confident with these early exits,” he said.
CNN’s Anderson Cooper, who was moderating the exchange, then predicted in jest that both commentators might be “basket cases” by the end of the night.
CNN Projection: Trump wins Indiana
Voters line up on Election Day 2020 to cast their ballots at the Lions Club in Stinesville, Indiana.
President Trump will win Indiana, CNN projects.
There are 11 electoral votes at stake in Indiana. It takes 270 electoral votes to win the 2020 presidential election.
Who won in 2016: President Trump carried the state and won the general election.
These are the polls closing at 7 p.m. ET
Polls are closing in some states voting tonight. Here’s where polls are closing at 7 p.m. ET:
- Georgia
- Indiana
- Kentucky
- South Carolina
- Vermont
- Virginia
Follow along here and CNN’s Election Center for full coverage.
How Joe Biden is settling in to watch the returns
From CNN's Jeff ZelenyDemocratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is now at his home in Wilmington, surrounded by his family, waiting for returns to start coming in at any moment.
For now, a friend says, he’s trying to take in the weight and history of it all,
It’s a day of nostalgia for a man who could be the oldest president ever elected – should he win. His first bid for the presidency came three decades ago when he was the youngest candidate.
He visited his late son Beau’s grave today and went to his boyhood home in Scranton, where he wrote on the wall: “From this house to the White House, with the grace of God.”
Former Vice President Joe Biden, the Democratic presidential nominee, walks arm in arm with his granddaughter Finnegan Biden as they arrive to visit the grave of his son Beau Biden at St. Joseph on the Brandywine Church in Wilmington, Delaware, on Election Day morning.
He loves an election night, a friend says, and this is the biggest of a lifetime of them.
He has a speech prepared – for either outcome – and the transition is already well underway. But he knows that what unfolds over the next few hours will determine if he will deliver that speech or launch that transition.
Trump takes less relaxed approach to Election Day than his predecessors
From CNN's Kevin Liptak
President Donald Trump speaks as he visits his campaign headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, on Tuesday.
Some presidents take a zen-like approach to Election Day, viewing their work as finished as voters vote. Barack Obama played basketball with Scottie Pippen in 2012; George W. Bush worked out on his elliptical trainer in the residence gym.
President Donald Trump has adopted a somewhat less relaxed attitude. He has spent most of the day in his third-floor residence, where televisions are set to election coverage, on the phone and speaking in person to family members and advisers about the current state of play.
He has asked for updates on key battlegrounds, asking how turnout is looking and inquiring what his people on the ground are reporting back to headquarters, people familiar with the matter say.
He has appeared particularly focused on Pennsylvania. “How’s Pennsylvania looking?” he has asked multiple times over the course of the day. He has repeated to his advisers his frustration at a court decision that will allow extended counting of mail-in ballots, saying he believes it will cost him.
Over the last several weeks, Trump has been making similar calls from Air Force One as he conducted his frenzied rally schedule. Aides provided him reams worth of printouts showing polls (public and private), maps, early voting data and more that piled up on his desk.
Advisers have been careful about what data to provide the President. They have largely stuck with only the most positive pieces of information, leaving out anything that might make him angry. Often that meant printing out a favorable opinion column or news article instead of actual numbers or data.
We'll soon start getting results. But remember: Early results can change dramatically.
From CNN's Zachary B. Wolf
Election judge Bonnie Carr of Denver, Colorado pours over a ballot as she prepares them to be counted at the Denver Elections Division Building on November 3, in Denver, Colorado.
Early returns could suggest a strong night for either President Trump or former Vice President Joe Biden.
But this year more than most, it’s important to emphasize that these returns are early. And the mail-in votes, a larger portion of votes in this pandemic year, could prove decisive in each of these states.
Election officials in some Pennsylvania counties won’t even start processing mail-in ballots until Wednesday. Republican-controlled portions of the state legislature objected to changing the rules and processing the vote faster, compounding the problem.
But we’ve seen this in other races in recent years. In Florida in 2018, mail-in votes made the governor’s race tighten substantially in the days after Election Day. In Arizona, another close battleground state, the 2018 Senate race saw a decisive lead change after Election Day and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, a Democrat, won the race.
This phenomenon, known as the “blue shift,” is common in recent US elections and it’s a big reason why Trump, despite election law and common decency to the contrary, has argued that whoever appears to have won on Election Night should be crowned the winner. That’s not the way it works, of course. Ballots in North Carolina and Pennsylvania can arrive in the days after Election Day as long as they have a November 3 postmark.
Trump campaign says they're more confident than in 2016
From CNN’s DJ Judd and Daniella DiazIn a call with reporters, the Trump campaign expressed confidence that Election Day turnout would boost their vote count despite a lead for Democrats among early voters, with campaign manager Bill Stepien pointing to Florida as an auspicious sign for the campaign.
“We, very much are of, we don’t agree with the Biden campaign on very much, but we do agree with their assessment of the way the election, the pre-election day vote has broken down, most notably Florida at nearly a dead heat heading into election day,” Stepien told reporters.
“Where we, where we disagree with the Biden campaign is their view of what is happening on election day. They believe that election, and the makeup of voters who are voting today on Election Day, will resemble those who voted on election day in 2016. Where their theory breaks down, is that the Biden campaign cannibalized their votes, something you’ve heard a lot of over the course of the last week, something we’ve been saying and predicting quite a bit over the last couple of weeks. They simply moved those who traditionally vote on election day to vote early. Congratulations.”
The idea that Democrats are “cannibalizing” their own votes was one they hit hard, and one that they credited to their stronger ground game. “They very much were hoping to slam the door shut on Pennsylvania and Florida and Wisconsin and Arizona before elections, before Election Day even started, that simply hasn’t happened,” Stepien said. “With the lack of a round game on the Biden campaign side, they left a ton of votes on the table. And we are driving turnout today, very much making up whatever advantages Democrats built up heading into Election Day.”
Maine on track for record turnout, top official says
From CNN's Aaron Cooper and Evan McMorris-Santoro
Voters fill out and cast their ballots at the Cross Insurance Center polling location where the entire city votes on November 3, in Bangor, Maine.
It looks like Maine set a record for turnout this year, Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap told CNN.
The previous turnout record was 72%. Before the polls opened on Tuesday morning, more than half of all registered voters in the state had cast mail ballots. The state will not get exact turnout totals for several days when the vote is certified, but Dunlap said everything he has seen suggest this will be a record.
“When I voted this morning in the city of Old Town the line was 50 deep, and at 7:30 in the morning that’s not something I expected in the middle of a snowstorm,” said Dunlap, a Democrat.
Despite concerns about trouble at polling places, there have been no disruptions during the day.
“We were prepared to talk about public safety. We talked with Maine emergency management and the attorney general’s office about how to deal with possible disruptions at the polling stations,” Dunlap said. “We just haven’t seen it. And that’s because we’re a small town. And people know each other and they take care of each other and we don’t see some of the threats to election disruption of election disruption that you’ve heard about in other states.”
Biden voters are much more likely to view US efforts to contain Covid-19 negatively, early exit polls show
From CNN’s Grace SparksVoters who back Joe Biden are much more likely to view US efforts to contain the coronavirus negatively, with around 4 in 5 saying it’s going badly, compared to around 1 in 5 who say it’s going well.
Slightly less than 9 in 10 of Trump backers, however, say the efforts to contain the virus are going well.
Around 5 in 6 Biden voters say wearing a face mask is more of a public health responsibility, while Trump voters are split, with around half who say it’s a public health responsibility and half who say it’s a personal choice.
About this year’s exit polls: To account for the large share of early in-person voters in critical states such as North Carolina, Florida and Texas, Edison Research has spent the past month conducting the same type of in-person interviewing that it does on Election Day at a random selection of early voting locations around eight states.
Read more about exit polls during a pandemic here
Wisconsin county using 20 National Guardsmen to transfer data from misprinted ballots to clean ones
From CNN's Caroline Kenny and Bill Weir
Jackie Lemberger, left, and Maureen Armstrong redo ballots that had a printer error at the Town Center Park on Tuesday, November 3, in Grand Chute, Outagamie County, Wisconsin.
In Outagamie County, Wisconsin, poll workers are working today to transfer votes from around 13,500 misprinted absentee ballots to clean ballots that won’t jam the electronic tabulating machine, the county clerk told CNN.
Outagamie is a county in the central part of the state that includes the city of Appleton.
The Outagamie County Clerk Lori O’Bright told CNN 20 National Guardsmen are on site to assist with the ballot transferring or do whatever else needs to be done.
O’Bright said there is no way to know the exact number of how many ballots were affected. She added the best guess is 13,500 based on information from the printers and 101 different reporting units.
Some background: Last week, the Wisconsin Supreme Court declined to take a case that would tell Outagamie County how to deal with the misprinted ballots. The county had to abide by state law, which doesn’t allow clerks to make any changes to ballots, so the only option is to transfer the data from misprinted ballots to clean ones that can be read by the machines.
In Wisconsin, ballots could not be processed until the polls opened at 7 a.m. local time on Election Day, so poll workers were not able to get a head start on this.
In a release from the Outagamie County clerk’s office after the state Supreme Court denied the petition, the clerk advised that the duplication process will take time and that “it takes approximately four minutes to duplicate a ballot.”
Trump is watching election returns from the White House's East Wing
From CNN's Kaitlan CollinsPresident Donald Trump is watching returns from the East Wing of the White House tonight with his senior staffers and family members by his side, according to the White House communications director.
But Trump’s aides are offering mixed messages on what they expect. Though press secretary Kayleigh McEnany maintained this morning that she’s not worried about litigating the outcome because she’s confident it will be a “landslide,” Alyssa Farah said the White House is expecting some delays in results – “especially in Pennsylvania” – and criticized mail-in voting.
Farah suggested Trump will make a public appearance in some form from the White House tonight regardless of what happens.
“I don’t want to get ahead of anything, but I think you might end up hearing from him tonight.”
Biden campaign urgently working to get more people to the polls in final hours of Florida voting
From CNN's Jeff Zeleny
Yanitza Martinez wears red, white, and blue as she arrives to vote outside of the John F. Kennedy Library during the general election on Tuesday in Hialeah, Florida.
Both sides are seeing tremendous Election Day turnout in key battleground states. That, of course, cuts both ways, considering more Republicans have said they preferred to vote today.
At this hour, the Biden campaign is urgently working to get more people to the polls in several places – Florida chief among them, including in the Miami-Dade area, Jacksonville and the Tampa/St. Petersburg area.
Those are the parts of the state where a surge in turnout after 5 p.m., when more Democrats have historically voted, could provide a much-needed boost for them in Florida.
The Biden campaign does not need Florida to win, but it would make for a smoother evening ahead.
A Biden adviser believes the Southern battlegrounds – Florida, North Carolina and Georgia – present the biggest challenges tonight. They feel much better about the so-called blue wall states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.
How exit polls are measured in early voting
From CNN's Jennifer AgiestaExit polling traditionally involves interviews with a randomly selected sample of voters conducted as those voters leave their polling places. Unlike pre-election polling, where voters can only be identified using screening questions or a history of voting on a voter file, meeting voters where they are ensures that those included in the survey have actually cast their ballots.
To make the 2020 survey more representative, Edison Research has made modifications to the methodology it uses to carry out the exit poll for the National Election Pool, a news consortium made up of CNN, ABC News, CBS News and NBC News.
This year’s exit poll will still include in-person interviews with voters who cast their ballots on Tuesday. To make sure that both interviewers and voters are safe, interviews will be contactless. Voters will pick up paper questionnaires and single-use pencils from a table rather than taking them directly from the interviewer, and disinfecting wipes and hand sanitizer will be available for use by both voters and the interviewers manning the table. Interviewers will be masked, and have been instructed to remain at least 6 feet away the voters they ask to participate.
Those interviews are only one piece of the puzzle this year. The share of voters who cast their ballots before Election Day has been growing for two decades, and will rapidly accelerate in this year’s election. In 2000, absentee and early voting represented about 16% of the total votes cast. In 2016, that figure was over 40%; this year, it is expected to top 60%.
To account for the large share of early in-person voters in critical states such as North Carolina, Florida and Texas, Edison Research has spent the past month conducting the same type of in-person interviewing that it does on Election Day at a random selection of early voting locations around eight states. The consortium first used this procedure to capture the opinions and vote choices of early voters in 2018 in Nevada and Tennessee. Those voters are answering the same questions that voters will be asked on Election Day.
To account for the large number of by-mail voters, as well as early voters in states where in-person early voter interviewing is not possible, the exit polls will also include the results of telephone polls targeted at these voters. Edison Research has conducted such polling for use in exit polls in states with significant shares of absentee and early voters since 2004.
This year, in every state where exit poll results are available on election night, the results of a telephone poll of early and by-mail voters will be incorporated into the results. These voters are also being asked the same questions that will be asked on Election Day.
When all of these pieces are combined, the exit poll results presented on election night will reflect a complete picture of voters all across the country.
Voters split on state of the economy, early exit polls show
From CNN’s Grace SparksWhile the economy is strongly positioned as the most important issue for a plurality of 2020 voters, voters are split as to whether the economy is good or poor, according to early exit polls.
Around half of voters say it is good, while around half say it’s poor.
Around 2 in 5 say they’re better off than they were four years ago; 1 in 5 think they’re worse off, and another 2 in 5 say they’re about the same.
More than half of voters say the coronavirus pandemic has caused them financial hardship.
About this year’s exit polls: To account for the large share of early in-person voters in critical states such as North Carolina, Florida and Texas, Edison Research has spent the past month conducting the same type of in-person interviewing that it does on Election Day at a random selection of early voting locations around eight states.
Read more about exit polls during a pandemic here.
CNN’s David Chalian breaks down the exit polls:
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More than 18,000 new voters registered so far today in Michigan
From CNN's Annie GrayerThe number of same-day voter registrations in Michigan is now 18,822, as of 4:30 p.m., Secretary of State spokesperson Tracy Wimmer told reporters.
The places with the highest numbers were Detroit, Ann Arbor and Grand Rapids.
“It’s quite possible we get up to 25,000 or 30,000” same day voter registrants, Secretary of State Communications and External Affairs Director Jake Rollow said, based on what happened in the March primary, when a wave of new registrations came later in the afternoon.
Some context: This is the first presidential election in Michigan to allow same-day voter registration, after voters passed a ballot initiative in 2018 establishing the practice.
Already, the number of Michiganders who registered today is larger than the number of votes that Donald Trump won the state with in 2016: 10,704 votes.
GOP appeals judge's ruling in Nevada's Clark County on early votes
From CNN's Kara Scannell
In this Oct. 30, 2020 file photo people prepare to vote at a polling place on the final day of early voting, in Las Vegas.
Republicans on Tuesday filed an emergency appeal seeking to overturn a Nevada judge’s ruling rejecting the GOP’s effort to halt early voting counting in Clark County, which includes Las Vegas, based on its use of a signature-matching computer software and rules governing the observation of vote counting.
The Trump campaign and Nevada Republican Party have asked the Nevada Supreme Court to expedite its appeal and prohibit the Clark County registrar from duplicating ballots and authenticate ballots using artificial intelligence until its appeal can be heard.
Lawyers for the Trump campaign sued the clerk claiming that their observers were not given enough access to all aspects of the ballot counting process — from opening the ballots, to machine and manual signature checking and duplicating spoiled ballots.
A Nevada judge denied the GOP challenge to the early voting process in the heavily Democratic county.
“If this last-minute suit were successful, it would require a major change in how [Nevada] processed absentee [ballots] to determine if the signature on the ballot matched the voter’s prior signature on file,” Richard Pildes, a constitutional law professor at New York University and CNN election law analyst, said. “Courts are typically unwilling to let plaintiffs come in the door so late in the day and ask for major changes to a process that’s already well underway.”
Trump voters are strongly voting for the President rather than against Biden, early exit polls show
From CNN’s Grace Sparks
Supporters of President Trump cheer as passing cars honk their horns near a polling location on Election Day, in Houston.
Voters who back President Donald Trump are strongly voting for their candidate rather than against his opponent, with around 4 in 5 saying so, early exit polls show.
Some Joe Biden voters are doing the same, but to a lesser extent. Around two-thirds of Biden voters say they’re voting for their candidate, while around one-third say they are voting against Trump.
One-third of voters want a candidate who is a strong leader, while around one-quarter say they want someone with good judgment. Around 1 in 5 want someone who “cares about people like me,” while another 1 in 5 want someone who can unite the country.
"No matter how you voted today coronavirus is in your community," CNN's John King says
From CNN's Leinz ValesCNN’s John King says President Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic is on the ballot, adding that “no matter where you live and no matter how you voted today coronavirus is in your community.”
“The fall surge now is way in excess of the summer surge,” King said during CNN’s special election coverage.
King cited President Trump’s comments that the United States has “rounded the corner” on the pandemic and the promise of a pending vaccine.
“Dr. Fauci, Dr. Birx, his own people have been critical of him in recent days,” King said. “With the President trying to sell this in states like Wisconsin, especially, hospitalization spike, death record in the final week of the campaign, you just see this going up.”
“Presidential elections are about leadership, the president’s leadership of the pandemic is on the ballot today,” King said. “Joe Biden has a completely different approach. No matter where you lived you have lived this for eight plus months now. How important is it when people people vote?”
Watch the moment:
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Trump will watch results from East Wing with senior staff and family
From CNN's Betsy Klein
President Donald Trump visits his campaign headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, on Tuesday, November 3.
President Trump will be watching election results in the East Wing of the White House this evening, communications director Alyssa Farah said.
Farah said that the White House is expecting some delays in results – “especially in Pennsylvania” – when questioned about absentee and mail-in ballot counting.
“We’re working with state secretaries of state all over the country who are processing these and have plans in place. Our concern from the outset has been mass mail-in voting when our country just hasn’t dealt with this level of it previously. Like I said, we are confident that we’re going to get to the end game, but we could anticipate some delays, especially in Pennsylvania,” she said.
Farah suggested Trump will make a public appearance in some form from the White House this evening, but declined to provide specifics.
She reiterated that Trump will not declare victory before the race is called, as he mentioned this morning during an appearance on Fox News, but said an appearance will happen “when the ballots are in.”
Attendees at Tuesday night’s event at the White House, Farah said, will be tested and subject to temperature checks.
“We’re recommending folks wear masks and we will be spaced,” she added.
What to look for in the exit polls
From CNN's Ryan Struyk
Voters line up outside Vickery Baptist Church waiting to cast their ballots on Election Day in Dallas.
The exit polls will offer us some key clues about whether Donald Trump or Joe Biden are winning over the voters they need to clinch the White House. Here are things to watch for:
The key groups to watch for Trump:
- White voters without a college degree: This group propelled Trump to the presidency four years ago, but now, Biden hopes to narrow the gap. Trump won White voters without a college degree by 31 points in Michigan, 32 points in Pennsylvania and 28 points in Wisconsin. Trump needs to try to hold those margins again.
- White women: Pre-election polls suggest Trump is losing ground with this group, but he needs to stop the bleeding to have a fighting chance. A gaping gender gap could be fatal to Trump’s reelection bid. Trump won White women by 9 points in 2016.
- Independent voters: Independent voters haven’t given either candidate a double-digit advantage in more than 30 years. Could Biden break the streak? Trump narrowly won independent voters by 4 points in 2016, and he’ll need to keep things close with this group to win again.
The key groups to watch for Biden:
- Seniors: Trump won voters over 65 years old by 7 points in 2016, but amid a pandemic that is disproportionately killing older Americans, Biden may win them back in key states like Florida. Plus, Trump won White seniors by 19 points. Can Biden break even?
- Trump-to-Biden voters and former third party voters: How many former Trump voters can Biden convince to cross party lines? In a tight race, even picking off 5-10% of them could make a difference. Plus, almost 6% of voters went third party in 2016. Where will they fall now?
- White voters with a college degree: One of the big surprises of 2016 came when White voters with a college degree backed Trump by 3 points. Polls suggest they will likely go for Biden in 2020, but Biden needs to run up the score, especially among college-educated women.
- Black and Latino voters, especially men: Trump has been pushing to make inroads with Black and Latino men, where even a small shift could help make up losses with other groups. Hillary Clinton won Black men by 69 points and Latino men by 31 points in 2016.
Voters confident votes will be counted accurately, early exit polls show
From CNN’s Grace Sparks
Voters mark their ballots at First Presbyterian Church on Election Day in Stamford, Connecticut.
Voters in the 2020 election are confident that votes will be counted accurately, with slightly less than 9 in 10 who say so. Another 9 in 10 voters report that voting in their state is easy, with those who report it is difficult in the single digits.
More than 9 in 10 voters report they decided on their vote for president before last week, while very few voters decided in the last week.
And more than 1 in 10 were first time voters in 2020, which is relatively stable compared to the makeup of voters in the 2016 election.
CNN’s David Chalian reports:
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Economy most important issue to voters, early exit polls show
From CNN’s Grace SparksThe most important issue to voters in the 2020 election is the economy, with around one-third who chose it, followed by around 1 in 5 for racial inequality and the same who chose coronavirus.
Around 1 in 10 voters say the most important issue to their vote is crime and safety and another 1 in 10 for health care policy.
Over half of voters say that it’s more important to contain the coronavirus than rebuild the economy.
The electorate splits on how well efforts to contain the coronavirus are going, around half of voters who think containing the virus is going well, and the other half who say it’s going badly.
Around two-third of voters in the 2020 election say wearing a face mask in public is more of a public health responsibility than around 3 in 10 who think it’s a personal choice.
Phoenix area could see highest turnout in 40 years, officials say
From CNN's Kyung Lah and Bob Ortega
A school crossing guard stops cars for voters entering a polling station, on Tuesday in Phoenix.
Arizona’s Maricopa County, which is home to Phoenix, is eyeing its highest voter turnout in 40 years.
The county has already seen 115,000 votes today, and is expecting to reach 200,000 in-person votes by the time the polls close, according to Maricopa County Elections Department spokespeople Diana Solorio and Megan Gilbertson.
If Maricopa County hits 200,000 votes, that means they’ll have 80% turnout, when you combine all the early votes, mail votes and Election Day votes. That hasn’t happened in Maricopa County since 1980. (The highest turnout the county has ever reached was 87% in the 1960s, according to Gilbertson.)
So far, Solorio says in-person voting has been very smooth and the call center has seen only “typical complaints,” nothing major.
Maricopa County is the fastest growing county of any county in the US, according to the US Census, and Phoenix is the fifth-largest city in the country.
While GOP strongholds in the county have continued to see a high number of in-person voters, a Democratic source who is in the Democrats’ Arizona “boiler room” says Democrats came into Election Day with strong early turnout in Maricopa County.
“Obviously there will be a big (Republican) turnout today, but I think we will be able to withstand it,” the source said.
In traditionally blue Pima County, which includes Tucson, early vote totals by party registration gave Democrats about a 75,000 vote edge coming into Tuesday, with 195,756 votes to 120,595 for the GOP, according to data provided by the Pima County Recorder’s office.
“The GOP usually has a better turnout by percent,” said Alison Jones, chair of the Pima County Democrats. “Our turnout been much better than normal in early voting.” She said that while she expects Republicans to make up ground at the polls today, “Even if every GOP voter votes for Trump — and we know that’s not the case … we have a clear path with the independent votes to take this state.”
Statewide, in Arizona, Republicans account for 35.2% of registered voters, Democrats for 32.2% and independent and other voters for 31.7%.
Biden campaign believes it will have a sense of the direction things are going in tonight
From CNN's Jeff Zeleny
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden speaks to reporters after a stop at The Warehouse, a community center for teens in East Wilmington, on November 3, in Wilmington, Delaware.
Joe Biden is heading home to his family to watch the returns after stopping at the aquatic center in Wilmington. The question is whether he speaks tonight here outside the Chase Center where he accepted the Democratic nomination for president.
Campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon told reporters earlier today that Biden would address the nation tonight — regardless of outcome. Biden said a few moments ago that it was still to be determined whether he spoke.
The Biden campaign believes it will have a sense of the direction things are going — but are pessimistic on Florida.
“It is a tough lift for us, but people are still voting there,” a campaign official said.
Biden: "There's just so much in play right now"
From CNN's Maegan Vazquez
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden speaks to reporters in Wilmington, Delaware, on November 3.
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden wouldn’t commit to a plan if election results aren’t made clear by the end of Tuesday night, telling reporters in Wilmington, Delaware, that he’ll say something when he’s ready.
“There’s just so much in play right now … We’ll see. If there’s something to talk about tonight, I’ll talk about it. If not, I’ll wait ‘til the votes are counted the next day,” Biden said.
Asked if he plans to respond if President Trump declares a victory before the results are clear, Biden said he doesn’t feel a responsibility to respond, adding, “It depends on what he says and how he says it.”
“Presidents can’t determine what votes counted or not counted and, you know, voters determine who is president,” Biden said. “No matter what he does or what he says, the votes are going to be counted.”
The former vice president also said that he was “superstitious” about predicting an outcome of the election, but said he remained “hopeful,” expressing confidence in “overwhelming” voter turnout among key demographics and key states.
Asked if he was confident that he was on the path to winning, Biden said, “Well, I don’t know.”
“For example … Florida came in and I won, it’s over. Done. If Florida doesn’t come in and, you know, what happens is the early votes occur, and some other states are going to do well, and we’re going to reestablish that blue wall,” Biden said. “I feel good about that.”
Despite his uncertainty, Biden seemed baffled that traditionally red states, like Texas, may be up for grabs tonight.
“It’s just so uncertain,” Biden admitted. “Look, you can’t think of an election in the recent past where so many states are up for grabs. The idea I’m in play in Texas, Georgia, North Carolina, Florida — I mean, come on. Texas?”
More than 12,000 new voters registered today in Michigan
From CNN's Annie Grayer
Voters cast ballots at a polling location in Detroit, Michigan, on Tuesday, November 3.
In Michigan, 12,530 new voters registered as of 2:30 p.m. today, taking advantage of same-day voter registration, according to Secretary of State spokesman Jake Rollow.
In a call with reporters, Rollow said there were lines of people waiting to get registered or to update their registration specifically in two college towns: Ann Arbor, which is home to the University of Michigan, and Grand Rapids, which is near Grand Valley State University. Overall, things are running smoothly across the state, Rollow said.
The state has seen more than 359,000 new voter registrations since August 5, the day after the August primary, which was for state elections.
This is the first presidential election in Michigan to allow same-day voter registration, after voters passed a ballot initiative in 2018 establishing the practice. Already, the number of Michiganders who registered today is larger than President Donald Trump’s margin-of-victory in 2016, which was 10,704 votes.
Some voters in key Pennsylvania suburbs are waiting in line for hours
From CNN's Kate Bolduan, Lauren Moore and Kelly MenaHeavy turnout in competitive suburban Bucks County, Pennsylvania, is creating very long waits at polling places.
Bucks County Commissioner Gene DiGirolamo told CNN he’s heard from voters who spent three to four hours in line. At Bensalem High School, CNN talked to voters who reported spending about 90 minutes waiting to vote. Officials at this voting location say turnout appeared to be double that of typical election years.
Bucks County Public Information Director Larry King said heavy Election Day turnout may be due to fewer than half of the 488,000 registered voters applying for mail-in ballots.
“We did have one polling place where there was a problem with the scanners being able to read ballots. There were some markings on the edge of the ballot that were trimmed a little close, so I think might have held that particularly polling place up a little bit but that to my knowledge has been rectified,” said King.
King said that he himself waited about an hour and a half to vote this morning and that he expects others might be waiting the same amount of time.
Both candidates have visited this crucial county in the northern Philadelphia suburbs. Hillary Clinton barely won this county in 2016.
CNN’s Kate Bolduan reports:
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Georgia state election official says average voting wait time is at 2 minutes
From CNN's Jason Morris
A poll worker helps a voter sign in before voting on November 3 in Taylorsville, Georgia.
Gabriel Sterling, Georgia’s Voting System Implementation Manager, says that the average wait time across the state remains at two minutes.
“Everything has been steady as she goes across the state of Georgia. We are seeing pretty even turnout throughout the day,” Sterling said, updating the press Tuesday afternoon.
Spalding County, located in west central Georgia south of Atlanta, and Morgan County, located in north central Georgia east of Atlanta are both now fully back online after “data set issues” slowed down voting in some locations earlier.
Sterling said that the main technical issue Georgia has seen today is having to clean some of the scanners sometimes.
“When the ballots go through them after a while they just want to clean it to make sure it is registering everything properly. But outside of that it has been steady as she goes pretty much across the state.”
Sterling told CNN on camera that DeKalb County extending hours at two precincts won’t impact the Secretary of State releasing any statewide results when some of the polls close at 7 p.m. ET.
Joe Biden has an air of confidence today
Analysis from CNN's Jeff Zeleny
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden visits Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Election Day, November 3.
Democratic nominee Joe Biden has an air of confidence today, his final day of his third presidential campaign.
He wanted to spend the day on the road — he asked his advisers specifically —to get a sense of something he’s missed during this pandemic campaign. He wanted to see the crowds and hear the chants. It belies a nervous energy that he has heading into the final hours
Democrats are confident, but they also know their decision to campaign carefully in the coronavirus crisis took away a central part of the party’s backbone: traditional field organizing, the get out the vote effort that won the White House for Obama and Biden twice before.
“We have no regrets how we ran this campaign,” a campaign official tells CNN, but adds they will wonder if a virtual campaign was enough until the final votes are counted.
92% of all absentee ballots in Michigan have been returned
From CNN’s Omar Jimenez
Election workers sort absentee ballot envelopes at the Lansing City Clerk's office on November 2 in Lansing, Michigan.
92% of all absentee ballots across Michigan have been returned, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson tweeted Tuesday afternoon.
Absentee counting is “going smoothly & very efficiently” and “precincts are islands of calm,” she noted.
Michiganders can drop off their ballots for the next four hours.
Here’s the tweet:
Harris tells voters in Detroit to “encourage people to stand in line”
From CNN's Jasmine Wright
Sen. Kamala Harris visits Greater Grace Temple polling place on November 3 in Detroit, Michigan.
Sen. Kamala Harris made a surprise stop at Greater Grace Temple polling place on 7 Mile in Detroit, Michigan, a predominantly Black community, to thank voters for staying in line to cast their ballots on Election Day.
“Encourage people to stand in line, I know it may be asking a lot but when we think about what we want for ourselves, for our children, for our families, for our community over the next four years and for the next generation this is probably o.k. to do compared to what we’re going to get in return,” Harris said.
The vice presidential hopeful referred back to the 2016 election results, saying voters can make the difference this time.
With reporting from Deanna Hackney and Vanessa Price
Erie County, Pennsylvania, official says things are going "very well"
From CNN's Meridith EdwardsCarl Anderson, the chairman of Pennsylvania’s Erie County Board of Elections said Tuesday that things were going well for Election Day.
Erie County which is located in northwestern part of the state, had one of the narrowest margins of victory for President Donald Trump in 2016, who won the county by a little over a percentage point.
Amid the smoothness of the day, Anderson noted that the county may even be on track to exceed its goal of processing at least 10,000 mail-in ballots by tonight.
“The word I have asked people for is patience and that seems to be accepted by an overwhelming majority. Very few and very isolated reports of voter intimidation. People have been very respectful,” Anderson added.
Michigan votes will be counted sooner than expected, secretary of state says
From CNN’s Miguel MarquezMichigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson tells CNN she expects the state’s vote will be counted sooner than previously expected, with both day-of and absentee ballot counts expected to be reported soon after polls close tonight.
Benson has previously said it could take up to three days for the state’s vote to be counted.
The secretary of state expects cities and counties statewide will report results at about the same time meaning a so-called “red mirage” may not happen in Michigan.
Benson said there have been no reports of voter intimidation or ballots being challenged in a coordinated fashion across the battleground state. After earlier reports of voters receiving robocalls and text messages with misinformation, Benson said they were “not as widespread as immediately thought.”
“Beyond that, we’re seeing smooth sailing and significantly less problems than we anticipated,” she added.
FBI aware of robocalls telling voters to "stay home and stay safe"
From CNN's Katie Lobosco, Geneva Sands and Alex MarquardtThe FBI is aware of robocalls that are being reported on Election Day that urge voters to “stay home and stay safe.”
“We are aware of reports of robocalls and have no further comment. As a reminder, the FBI encourages the American public to verify any election and voting information they may receive through their local election officials,” the FBI told CNN.
“Robocalls of this nature happen every election and so I think what would be most helpful is repeating that message to the American public that… they happen every election cycle. Be mindful of people that are trying to intimidate you, undermine your confidence, but keep calm, vote on,” according to a senior official with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security agency.
Iowa Secretary of State spokesman Kevin Hall confirmed to CNN that the office has shared information with the FBI regarding a recorded phone call urging Iowans to “stay home and stay safe.”
He did not know how many Iowans have received the call.
The Iowa Secretary of State also forwarded the information to the state’s Division of Intelligence and Fusion Center, which supports law enforcement, according to Hall
CNN has reached out to the FBI for comment.
“USTelecom’s Industry Traceback Group is actively tracing these calls. You’re right, it has been around for a bit,” Brian Weiss, spokesman for USTelecom tell CNN.
CORRECTION: This post has been updated to correct reporting on FBI action with regard to the robocalls.
Minneapolis elections director says voting is going "very smooth"
From CNN’s Taylor Romine
Voters wait to cast their votes on November 3 at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design in Minnesota.
The city of Minneapolis is having a “very smooth” voting day so far with no incidents of equipment malfunction or voter intimidation, said the city’s director of elections.
Minneapolis Elections and Voter Services director Grace Wachlarowicz said that as of noon, an estimated 206,876 ballots have been cast for this election in Minneapolis, with voter turnout hitting around 76%.
In 2016, the city had about 79% voter turnout but with approximately 26,000 less registered voters than in 2020.
Minneapolis is the largest city in Minnesota with a population of at least 435,885 residents in 2019, according to government data.
The wait times within the city are minimal to none, attributed it to the large early voter turnout this year, Wachlarowicz said.
In a typical voting year, approximately 30% of the vote is absentee, while 65 to 70% is in person on election day. This year the numbers are switched, she said, and approximately 65 to 70% of ballots cast so far was done by absentee voting.
While there was a slight slowdown with poll pads uploading absentee data this morning, it was solved before polls opened and didn’t affect voters, according to Wachlarowicz.
There have also been no reports so far of issues with voter intimidation or political clothing in polling places, and mask-wearing has been adhered to in most situations, she continued.
While there are some instances of people not wearing masks, the voter was either provided one or complied with the designated area away from most voters.
Georgia officials still expect statewide reporting by 7 p.m. ET despite two polling locations extending hours
From CNN’s Jason MorrisTwo polling locations in DeKalb County, Georgia, have extended voting past 7 p.m. local time, since both locations were delayed opening on Election Day. Officials say that this should not delay Georgia’s statewide reporting results at 7 p.m. ET.
According to DeKalb County, the two locations are:
According to DeKalb County, this extension was requested, in an abundance of caution, to ensure that all electors at the locations have the required full 12 hours of voting.
Pennsylvania already received more than 80% of mail-in ballots
By Jason Kurtz
Electoral workers process ballots at Northampton County Courthouse on November 3 in Easton, Pennsylvania.
Typically in Pennsylvania, mail-in and absentee ballots are cast at a rate of between 70-80%.
By 3 p.m. ET, the Keystone State was already ahead of pace.
“We already have 81%, and that was with all day today still yet to come,” Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar told CNN’s Erin Burnett, adding “not to mention the late arriving ballots.”
“We are already above average from normally what we would see from absentee ballots being cast,” Boockvar said.
For the 2020 general election, Pennsylvanians requested 3.1 million mail-in ballots.
This means that slightly fewer than 600,000 ballots have yet to be received.
Watch the moment:
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Election night war room at the White House is being funded by Trump campaign
From CNN's Kevin Liptak and Kaitlan CollinsAfter his foray this morning to his campaign headquarters in Virginia, President Trump is expected to remain at the White House for the rest of the day. But he’ll continue to receive regular updates on the state of his re-election effort by officials, some of whom have established a “war room” on the White House campus.
The campaign operation will be based in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building adjacent to the West Wing, an official said.
The “war room” is being funded entirely by the campaign, a spokesman said. Federal rules bar the use of taxpayer resources for political purposes. The President has previously shown little regard for those rules, including when he hosted the final night of the Republican National Convention from the South Lawn.
“Every piece of equipment, including WiFi and computers, was paid for by the campaign, and no White House staff is involved. The arrangement has been approved by White House counsel,” Murtaugh said.
Some background: The last incumbent to spend Election Night at the White House was George W. Bush. His chief strategist Karl Rove set up a workspace in the old family dining room on the state floor with links to campaign headquarters and RNC to provide him updates on the state of the race.
He called it the “bat cave.” During the day and into the evening, Bush popped his head in to receive updates.
When it came time for Bush to address supporters, he traveled to the nearby Ronald Reagan building in Washington, where his campaign was having its election night party.
By contrast, Trump is holding the whole event at the White House. Originally planned for 400 people, the event will occur in the elegant parlors and ballrooms on the state floor of the White House, including the East Room and Grand Foyer.
The actual number of people attending the White House Election Night party could be smaller than 400. One source familiar with the matter said closer to 250 guests were now expected. This source added that all guests will receive a rapid tested for Covid-19 and each guest will receive a testing bracelet.
Whether and when Trump himself appears isn’t clear. He said earlier Tuesday he wasn’t working on either an acceptance or concession speech.
Arizona secretary of state: race could go either way
From CNN's Maureen Chowdhury
Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs speaks with CNN on Tuesday, November 3.
Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs said either candidate has the possibility to win in the state, but adds that Joe Biden does have an edge according to polling.
Hobbs added that she’s seen “so much enthusiasm” this year compared to 2016 and she believes “Arizona could really go either way and I don’t think it belongs to one candidate or the other right now.”
Hobbs said that results of the race will come in later due to early ballots that were turned in within the past few days.
The last time a Democratic presidential candidate won Arizona was in 1996.
Watch the moment:
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Dueling crowds demonstrate political energy in Houston
From CNN's Jason KurtzThe state of Texas hasn’t gone to a Democratic presidential candidate since 1976, but CNN’s Brian Todd spoke to Democratic voters in Houston who are hoping to reverse that trend.
“Enough is enough… I’ve got grandkids and I’m worried about their future and we can’t have no more of that,” voter John Smith told CNN outside of a Houston polling place of the prospect of four more years with President Trump in the White House.
Smith said of Trump, “I think he wants to be King. I really do. I think if he get in there and win again, that he might change the amendments and [create] unlimited terms on the President.”
Despite partisan positions, Todd reported that the crowds gathering are largely peaceful, though passionate, about their respective candidates.
“This place is pulsating with energy. These people are not content to just come out and vote. They want to really engage in the art of dueling rhetoric, dueling campaign speeches, dueling shouting matches,” Todd said, calling the Houston environment “part campaign polling place and part Woodstock.”
CNN’s Brian Todd reports:
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Biden expects more people will vote this year "than any time in American history"
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden speaks to supporters on November 3 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden just spoke moments ago in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, addressing a large crowd on a street that cheered and shouted support at him. Cries of “We love you” and “Uncle Joe” were heard, among others.
Biden told the crowd, “We’re going to have more people vote this year than any time in American history,” saying he’s been told to expect over 150 million people to vote.
He said voters between the ages of 18-30 are turning out in big numbers and understands that “54% of the vote so far is women.”
Biden continued to criticize President Trump, telling the crowd:
He concluded his speech by telling the group that from Philadelphia he’ll be traveling back home to Wilmington, Delaware, where he’ll be for election night.
Watch the moment:
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Colorado surpasses 2016 voter turnout
From CNN’s Claudia Dominguez
An election judge accepts a ballot at a drive-thru ballot drop location in Denver, Colorado on November 3.
At least 2,893,295 Coloradans turned out to the polls as of 10 a.m. local time, Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold said in a virtual news conference on Tuesday.
Griswold said the turnout “is that 76.6% of active registered voters, so that is really high. It’s very exciting.”
Griswold said the state surpassed the 2016 voter turnout this morning.
She detailed voter turnout in the state, saying it included at least 930,452 from registered Democrats, 833,215 from registered Republicans, and 1,088,369 from unaffiliated voters. “So, we’re just seeing continued high voter engagement,” she said.
Griswold added that they expect to report 70 to 80% of the total ballots cast tonight.
Griswold also reminded voters that eligible Coloradans can still register and vote today at any voting center in the state. Coloradans can drop off their ballots at a ballot dropbox or voting center
When asked about voter security the Secretary of State said, “everything is going really well” and that there were no incidents to report. She also added that the state was working with the National Guard to help monitor and protect the election support system.
“I’m in the office right now we are here with the National Guard and our security team monitoring all networks.,” Griswold said.
Griswold also said there were no physical security issues to report other than one incident yesterday that included two men in military clothes filming voters at a drop box and a male with open carry. Griswold said police were dispatched and the incident is being investigated by the Attorney General. She also said there was no major campaign disinformation to report.
Ballots in Colorado have to be received by 7 p.m. local time.
Georgia secretary of state says they're having a "successful" Election Day so far
From CNN’s Jason Morris and Tori Apodaca
Voters check in with poll workers to cast their ballots on November 3 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said Georgia is having a “successful” election day so far.
“Our November action plan was to encourage absentee voting,” Raffensperger said at a news conference Tuesday afternoon.
Raffensperger said that two counties had operation issues that were initiated at the “precinct level.”
“They have addressed those and resolved those,” he added.
The issues were in Spalding County, located in west central Georgia south of Atlanta, and Morgan County, in north central Georgia east of Atlanta.
Gabriel Sterling, Georgia’s Voting System Implementation Manager, described the issues in Spalding and Morgan as “data set issues” in both cases.
“There were 18 polling locations that were affected in Spalding and seven in Morgan. Four of the ones in Morgan have been hard reset and are going fine. The other eight in Spalding did a hard reset and are fine. But let’s make one thing very clear, they were using ballot activation codes. Voting did not stop, it might have slowed down for a second to figure out what to do. This office will work closely with the Spalding elections director,” Sterling told said at the press conference.
“Morgan jumped on it very quickly and used the initial backups that this state had outlined for them to do which was the ballot activation codes. They said there were no real backups in Morgan at all and in Spalding we saw some,” Sterling said.
“We have three teams out there doing the hard resets. It takes about a minute each stop it. It’s still a big county.”
Raffensperger told CNN that Georgia has not had any malware or cybersecurity issues in the state so far, and also told CNN that they have not heard of any legal challenges to any absentee mail ballots as of this afternoon.
Biden’s campaign projects confidence on Election Day briefing call
From CNN’s Sarah Mucha
Democratic nominee Joe Biden arrives at a restaurant in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on November 3.
Democratic nominee Joe Biden’s presidential campaign projected confidence on a public Election Day briefing call, saying “it is clear we are winning.”
Campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon said that they are “confident” about their path to victory and “clear-eyed” on what will come in when. The campaign is staying consistent in its message that it believes the winner will be known tonight.
They emphasized multiple times during the call that they do not need to win Florida and Pennsylvania to get to 270 electoral votes, providing several different pathways to victory.
If the campaign does not win Pennsylvania, they see a path to victory that includes winning Michigan and Wisconsin along with either Florida, North Carolina or Arizona.
Without either Pennsylvania or Florida, their path to victory includes winning Michigan, Wisconsin and either Arizona or North Carolina. That being said, Dillon said they believe Pennsylvania is a place where they are “far ahead.”
Dillon touted that the campaign sent 32 million texts and knocked on 1.3 million doors in the final Get Out the Vote weekend of the election.
In terms of the election process itself, the campaign’s Bob Bauer reported “minimal issues” with voting across the country saying that matters are “proceeding really well.”
Nearly half of registered Iowans voted early, state data shows
From CNN’s Katie Lobosco
Voters participate in early voting in Adel, Iowa, on October 29.
State election data shows at least 996,970 Iowans cast their ballot early, either in person or by mail. That’s about 48% of registered voters and 63% of those that voted in the 2016 election.
Almost 41,000 people across the state voted on Monday.
Registered Democrats made up 45% of the early voters. Registered Republicans made up 33% of early voters and 21% were unaffiliated.
Polls close at 10 p.m. ET (9 p.m. CT.) Absentee ballots can be returned via mail until Nov. 9 as long as they’re postmarked by Nov. 2.
Harris: "Have faith in the American people"
From CNN's Deanna Hackney
Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Kamala Harris speaks with reporters in Detroit, Michigan on Tuesday, November 3.
Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Kamala Harris spoke to reporters as she arrived at Detroit’s airport this afternoon.
“Here we are, back in Detroit — it’s Election Day, I’m so happy to be back here,” Harris said.
The candidate spoke briefly to press and took questions before heading off to local stops.
“I want to remind everybody obviously that the polls close at 8 o’clock tonight,” she said. “The path to the White House and the path to determining who will be the next President of the United States without question runs right through Michigan.”
Sen. Harris took a question on what her message would be to those who are on edge about potential unrest tonight.
“Have faith in the American people. I do strongly believe that we - whoever we vote for - will defend the integrity of our democracy and the peaceful transfer of power. And that there are certain lines that no matter who you vote for, they won’t cross,” she said.
North Carolina results to be delayed after some polling locations have vote extended
From CNN's Dianne Gallagher and Pamela Kirkland
Volunteers search for a voters registration on November 3, 2020 in Fayetteville, North Carolina.
North Carolina’s election results will be delayed by at least 45 minutes after the board of elections extended voting at four locations that were having problems this morning.
The State Board of Elections voted on Tuesday to extend voting at four precincts that opened late on Election Day.
The NCSBE voted 3-2 to extend a polling place in Sampson County, near Fayetteville, for 45 minutes after the precinct experienced printer issues.
The extension means that results statewide will be delayed by at least 45 minutes tonight, holding results until all polls have closed.
The board also voted 3-2 to keep a second Sampson County precinct open for 24 minutes, a Cabarrus County precinct open for 17 minutes, and a Guilford County precinct open for 34 minutes.
Any voter that shows up at theses precincts after 7:30 p.m. ET would vote a provisional ballot.
CNN’s Suzanne Malveaux reports:
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Mayor of Flint, Michigan, reminds residents to rely on credible information and "vote today"
From CNN's Carolyn SungIn response to earlier reports of robocalls targeting Flint voters with misinformation, Sheldon Neeley, Mayor of Flint, Michigan, issued a statement saying:
Earlier, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel flagged via Twitter that a misinformation robocall was targeting Flint voters, telling them that if the line is too long they should leave and come back tomorrow.
She said this was categorically false because voters must be in line by 8 p.m. tonight to have their votes count.
VP Pence is flooding the airwaves in battleground states
From CNN’s Daniella DiazVice President Mike Pence is spending his Election Day flooding the airwaves doing 21 TV and radio interviews at local media outlets in battleground states.
Pence has done local interviews with at least seven local media radio and TV stations to make a last-minute pitch to voters before polls close tonight.
The radio and TV stations he’s interviewed with are in battleground states including Florida, Wisconsin, Ohio, North Carolina, Michigan and Nevada.
A White House official said he’s otherwise spending the day with his family.
A look at Covid-19 safety measures in one of New Hampshire’s busiest polling places
From CNN's Sarah Jorgensen
Voters wait to cast their ballots at New Hampshire’s second largest polling place, Londonderry High School’s gym, on November 3.
In New Hampshire’s second largest polling place in Londonderry High School’s gym, Covid-19 safety was a priority in setting up the location according to officials.
With approximately 15,000 voters expected today — more than 5,000 ballots were cast absentee — state-provided acrylic glass dividers are set up along every step of the check in process, including at the tables where new voters can register.
All of the poll workers are wearing masks, and a cleaning crew is sanitizing booths after voters leave.
There is even an outdoor “accessible” voting area, where voters can drop off absentee ballots and even vote without going inside.
Masks are not required, though they’re highly encouraged. Maskless voters — a minority of voters throughout the day —are diverted to a special row of voting booths closest to the exit.
CNN’s Polo Sandoval reports from Londonderry, New Hampshire:
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No significant voting problems seen in Arizona's Maricopa County so far
From CNN’s Bob Ortega
Voters arrive to a polling location in Sun City, Arizona, on November 3.
As of 11:15 a.m. MT, at least 74,000 people had cast ballots today in Arizona’s Maricopa County, according to the county recorder’s office. Maricopa is home to Phoenix and its suburbs.
County election officials are expecting between 150,000 and 210,000 people to vote in person today, said spokeswoman Megan Gilbertson.
The county has verified 1.7 million early ballots, she said.
The county has been tabulating its early votes since Oct. 20, and will be posting early voting results at 8 p.m. MT, she said. Gilbertson said she couldn’t say whether all or just some of the early votes will be posted at that time.
She said there have been no significant technical problems with today’s voting so far.
Attorneys for the state Democratic and Republican parties also said they haven’t had any reports of major problems.
Connecticut voter turnout near 75%, secretary of state says
From Evan Simko-Bednarski
Voters cast their ballots at First Presbyterian Church in Stamford, Connecticut, on November 3.
Connecticut is experiencing very high voter turnout, Secretary of State Denise Merrill told reporters Tuesday.
Speaking outside a West Hartford polling location, Merrill said that state-wide in-person turnout was approaching 50% of registered voters by midday.
“If you combine that with the 25% of the voters who voted absentee ballot, you’re looking at something like 75% already, and it’s only noon,” Merrill said.
“I think it’s wonderful,” she added. “I can throw away all those speeches I used to make about the apathy of voters.”
Total voter turnout in Connecticut for the 2016 election was 75%, according to Merrill.
“Of course, we have the biggest number of registered voters we’ve ever had,” Merril said, “a couple hundred thousand more than we usually have.”
Merrill said that there had been some delays Tuesday morning caused by a loss of power to a few polling stations, which she attributed to overnight wind storms. She said power had been “quickly restored.”
Enthusiasm to vote on and around college campuses is high this Election Day
From CNN's Rachel JanfazaStudents on and around college campuses across the country are ripe with enthusiasm to vote today. Here’s what some students told us about their states:
Pennsylvania
Students from the University of Pittsburgh, many of whom were eager to cast their ballot before heading to class, lined up around the block at the Oakland Career Center near the campus of University of Pittsburgh this morning, Sophia Shapiro, co-president of the University of Pittsburgh Students for Biden, told CNN.
Arizona
Meanwhile, while the polling site on the campus of Mesa Community College, in Mesa, Arizona didn’t open until 6 a.m. local time, the line of people waiting to vote had already formed by 5:30 a.m. local time, Carla Naranjo, a 21-year-old organizer with Arizona Center for Empowerment (a voting protection agency) told CNN.
The site at Mesa Community College is open to community members and students, Naranjo said, adding that the line was filled with “a good portion of young people.”
Naranjo, a student at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona, voted early in 2020, marking her first time voting in a presidential election.
Virginia
Likewise in Virginia, 20-year-old Ian Waite is tabling on campus at George Mason University in Fairfax County.
Waite, Chairman of the George Mason College Republicans and the College Republicans Federation of Virginia, is voting for the first time in a presidential election and voted Republican up and down the ballot, he told CNN.
Texas
And in Texas, students are voting on campus at the University of Houston, where students, administrators and Harris county officials worked to turn the TDECU Stadium into a polling center for students and community members on Election Day.
33.48% of absentee ballots already processed in Madison, Wisconsin, city clerk says
From CNN's Caroline KennyMaribeth Witzel-Behl, the city clerk in Madison, Wisconsin, tells CNN that as of noon, more than a third of the absentee ballots from across the city have already been processed.
“And then those locations that have processed the least percentage of their absentees are getting additional help dispatched to their locations so they can focus on that,” Witzel-Behl added.
The city clerk’s office also tweeted that 33.48% of absentee ballots have already been processed.
As of Tuesday morning, the city of Madison had 121,207 absentee ballots returned out of 127,900 absentee ballots issued. Voters in Madison can return their absentee ballots to their local polling locations or the city clerk’s office today by 8 p.m. local time.
Witzel-Behl added that she requires poll workers in the city to call in to alert her office when there are lines longer than 10 minutes, and she said she has not received any of those calls yet today.
Witzel-Beh also said there were no problems to flag in Madison. She did say that a few absentee ballots jammed, but they were cleared really quickly, and that is the extent of the issues she has heard about.
Trump indicates that he doesn't have acceptance or concession speech prepared
From CNN's Maegan Vazquez
President Donald Trump visits his campaign headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, on November 3.
President Trump suggested on Tuesday that he does not a have a concession or acceptance speech prepared.
A member of the press asked Trump at the RNC annex in Arlington, Virginia, whether he had written an acceptance or concession speech.
The President responded, “No, I’m not thinking about concession speech or acceptance speech yet.”
“Hopefully we’ll be only doing one of those two and you know, winning is easy. Losing is never easy. Not for me it’s not,” he continued.
Watch:
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Here's the scene outside of the White House this afternoon
From CNN's Maureen Chowdhury and Paul LeBlanc
A fence protecting the White House in Washington, D.C. on Election day.
Federal authorities have put into place “non-scalable” fence around the the perimeter of the White House in preparation for potential civil unrest.
As of this afternoon, peaceful protesters and demonstrators were outside of the fencing near Lafayette Park and St. John’s Church.
Here’s what the scene looked like:
The fencing, the same type that was put up during protests this summer, encompasses the Ellipse and Lafayette Square.
Trump continues to rail against SCOTUS decision in Pennsylvania
From CNN's Jason Hoffman
President Donald Trump speaks from his campaign headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, on November 3.
President Trump again strongly criticized the decision by the Supreme Court to allow Pennsylvania to receive ballots up to three days after Election Day, calling it “a very dangerous decision for our country.”
“I think the ruling on Pennsylvania was an unfortunate one by the Supreme Court because I think we should know what happens on the night. Let people put their ballots in earlier, but you have to have numbers, you can have these things delayed for many days and maybe weeks, you can’t do that,” Trump said during remarks at his campaign headquarters in Virginia on Tuesday.
“And a lot of shenanigans, a lot of bad things happen with ballots when you say ‘oh let’s devote days and days’ and all of a sudden, the ballot count changes,” Trump baselessly added, implying cheating could occur if ballots are counted after Election Day.
However ballots are always counted after Election Day. Per a CNN fact check: “it’s media outlets, not the government, that sometimes — but not always — unofficially project a winner on election night. The outlets do so by making projections based on the incomplete available data, not because they possess certified final totals.”
Last night, Trump said the decision by the Supreme Court “will allow rampant and unchecked cheating and will undermine our entire systems of laws. It will also induce violence in the streets.” Twitter flagged the tweet as misleading.
“I think it’s a very dangerous decision for our country in many ways dangerous, in many ways,” Trump added in his remarks Tuesday.
North Carolina's Cabarrus County tracking down about 50 voters who got the wrong House race ballot
From CNN's Pamela KirklandApproximately 50 voters were given an incorrect ballot when they showed up to vote at Hickory Ridge Middle School in Harrisburg, North Carolina, this morning.
Cabarrus County, which is northeast of Charlotte, has determined the wrong ballots were distributed between 6:30 a.m. ET until just before 7:30 a.m. ET. The ballots distributed at that time did not include the North Carolina 83rd District House race.
The Cabarrus County Board of Elections is encouraging voters who were at that polling place between those times to return to the site and cast a provisional ballot, for the House race only, by 7:30 p.m. ET. If they don’t cast a provisional ballot, their vote will still count. They just won’t have voted for the House race.
Kasia Faryna Thompson, Cabarrus County Director of Communications, says the board is working to track down those voters and at this point, “the board knows who each of the voters are.”
Here's why the rhythm of election night results may be different in 2020
From CNN's Jason Kurtz
CNN's Washington Bureau Chief Sam Feist speaks with Erin Burnett on November 3.
CNN’s Washington Bureau Chief Sam Feist explained how CNN makes projections and why 2020 is different to other years.
“This year’s different than any other year. Everything in the country is different because of [Covid-19,]” Feist said.
One of the biggest changes in 2020’s election rhythm is the massive uptick in mail-in ballots.
“It takes longer to count mail-in ballots. You have to open the envelope, open the outer envelope, check the signature, scan the ballot. It takes a while,” he said.
Certain states, including Florida and North Carolina, have been processing mail-in ballots for weeks, with early counts likely to favor Democratic nominee Joe Biden.
Elsewhere, including Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, mail-in ballots aren’t tabulated until after voting closes, a detail that could favor President Trump initially.
“Those states may favor Donald Trump late into the night, until those mail-in ballots go in, and then the count will even out a little bit,” Feist said.
A look at how CNN makes projections: Wolf Blitzer announces that the network has projected this or that candidate will win a particular race.
The process that leads to Blitzer saying those words is careful and complicated. It involves both real-time results and information from exit polls. CNN, NBC, ABC and CBS work with the polling firm Edison Research in what is known as the National Election Pool for results and exit polling data. Fox News and the Associated Press have a separate arrangement.
For additional details as to how CNN calls a presidential election, read more here.
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USPS ordered to have postal inspectors sweep some facilities by 3 p.m. ET for election mail
From CNN's Paul Murphy and Katelyn Polantz
Volunteers wearing protective masks process absentee ballots for the 2020 Presidential election at the TCF Center in Detroit, Michigan on Nov. 3, 2020.
Judge Emmet Sullivan of the US District Court of the District of Columbia ordered the United States Postal Service to sweep all processing facilities by 3 p.m. ET in a number of states, including some critical battleground state.
The order mandates that USPS postal inspectors “or their designees” must start sweeping the processing facilities by 3:00 p.m. ET.
According to the order, this is,
The sweeps must be conducted in the following USPS districts:
- Central Pennsylvania
- Philadelphia, Detroit
- Colorado/Wyoming
- Atlanta
- Houston
- Alabama
- Northern New England (New Hampshire and Maine)
- Greater South Carolina
- South Florida
- Lakeland (Wisconsin)
- Arizona
Seven battleground states are conducting sweeps and do not allow ballots to arrive after Election Day. They include: Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, Florida, New Hampshire, Arizona, and Maine.
Trump is visiting RNC offices in Virginia: "I feel very good"
From CNN's Kaitlan Collins and Jason Hoffman
President Donald Trump visits his campaign headquarters in Arlington, Virginia on November 3.
President Trump just walked into the bullpen of his campaign headquarters in Virginia to sustained cheers from campaign staff.
“I feel very good,” Trump told reporters.
Trump said his message to America was that “everybody should come together, and success brings us together.”
CNN reported earlier, that Trump huddled with his top campaign staffers in a conference room at the headquarters, a source tells CNN, including Bill Stepien, Justin Clark and several others. They met for about 20 minutes.
Watch Trump address campaign staff at RNC headquarters:
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North Carolina election board to meet this hour to consider extending polls
From CNN’s Dianne Gallagher and Pamela Kirkland
Voters wait in line at a polling location in Durham, North Carolina on Tuesday, November 3.
The North Carolina State Board of Elections says the board will meet at 1 p.m. ET this afternoon to consider extending hours at four voting locations.
The locations are: one polling place in Guilford County, one polling location in Cabarrus County, and two locations in Sampson County.
An extension of hours at even one of these locations would delay the reporting of results statewide.
Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the North Carolina State Board of Elections, said one of the reasons the sites opened late was because of poll workers arriving late.
CNN reported earlier that slight opening delays had been reported in Sampson and Guilford counties.
There was a printer issue at Marks First Missionary Baptist Church in Concord, North Carolina, which is in Cabarrus County. Kasia Faryna Thompson, Cabarrus County Director of Communications, estimates the issue delayed the poll from opening by about 15-20 minutes.
Under state law, the State Board of Elections, by a majority vote, may extend voting hours at a polling place if polls are delayed in opening for more than 15 minutes or are interrupted for more than 15 minutes after opening.
The State Board may extend the closing time by an equal number of minutes.
What are poll watchers and what do they do?
From CNN's Fredreka Schouten
Poll observers watch as citizens receive their ballots to vote at Faith Lutheran Church Celebration Ministry Center on November 3, 2020, in Appleton, Wis.
Poll watchers, as the name implies, are expected to watch or observe what happens at polling places. Their primary job: Help ensure that their party has a fair shot at winning. Both parties do it.
But poll watchers can’t interfere in any way with the actual voting process.
They can closely monitor the administration of the election to ensure that votes are counted accurately. And in some states, poll watchers can also challenge an individual voter’s right to cast a ballot. Partisan poll watchers, however, must conduct those challenges through official poll workers and cannot stop or otherwise try to interfere with someone trying to vote.
Even if a poll watcher challenges an individual voter – for instance, by arguing that the person’s name doesn’t appear on the local voting rolls – states often allow that person to cast a “provisional” ballot to be counted later, once his or her right to vote has been verified.
Poll watchers can also help turn out the vote by counting the voters who have cast ballots and helping their respective candidates track which potential supporters haven’t yet voted. That helps campaigns mount last-minute Election Day efforts to get those voters to cast their ballots before polls close.
Pennsylvania's Luzerne County has begun processing mail-in ballots
From CNN's Scott GloverLuzerne County in Northeastern Pennsylvania, which voted for Barack Obama in 2012 but went for President Trump in 2016, has begun processing approximately 52,000 mail-in ballots and expects that number to grow to nearly 60,000 by the time polls close at 8 p.m. ET, according to release from County Manager David Pedri.
He said volunteers were processing approximately 2,000 ballots an hour.
If that pace continues, workers will have processed a little more than one third of the anticipated number of mail-in ballots by 8 p.m. local time.
Pedri said the county was “experiencing great voter turnout at almost every polling place across the County.”
Pedri said there were “a few reported issues” at the county’s 129 polling places this morning, most of which were technical and resolved once diagnosed.
He said voters should anticipate waiting in a line and noted that as long as they were in line by 8 p.m. local time they would be allowed to vote.
Ohio governor says he thinks Trump “squeaks out” a win in the state
From CNN's Adrienne Vogt
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine speaks with CNN on Tuesday, November 3.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said he thinks Ohio will know the results of the presidential election tonight.
Early ballots will be counted first, DeWine told CNN’s Erin Burnett.
The governor said he thinks Trump will perform well in rural areas of the state.
“I think he could exceed even the votes he got the last time,” DeWine said. “…I think the intensity is there. The ground game it seems to me, from what I can observe for the Trump team, you know, has been a lot better than the ground game for the Biden team.”
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More than 102 million pre-election ballots have been cast
From CNN's Adam Levy, Ethan Cohen, and Liz Stark
Volunteers process absentee ballots at Ramsey County's absentee ballot count center on November 2 in St Paul, Minnesota.
More than 102 million Americans have voted nationwide before the polls opened on Election Day, according to a survey of election officials by CNN, Edison Research, and Catalist.
These votes represent more than 48% of registered voters nationwide. 22 states and Washington, DC have seen more than half of their registered voters cast ballots already.
Pre-Election Day voting has skyrocketed nationwide amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. At least seven states, including Texas, Hawaii, Nevada, Washington, Arizona, Montana and Oregon, have surpassed their total turnout from the 2016 general election in recent days.
In an additional seven states and DC, the pre-election vote represents at least 90% of their 2016 total vote – Utah, New Mexico, North Carolina, Colorado, Georgia, Florida and Tennessee.
Nationwide, the 102.7 million ballots already cast represents 75% of the more than 136.5 million ballots cast in the 2016 presidential election.
39 states and Washington, DC have crossed their halfway marks for total 2016 ballots cast, including 14 of CNN’s 16 most competitively-ranked states - Texas, Georgia, North Carolina, Nevada, Florida, Arizona, Colorado, Wisconsin, Maine, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska and Ohio.
A little less than half of the votes already cast this cycle comes from those 16 key states, which will play a crucial role in determining who wins the presidency this year.
Some voter information comes from Catalist, a company that provides data, analytics and other services to Democrats, academics and nonprofit issue-advocacy organizations and is giving insights into who is voting before November.
Here’s a breakdown of early voting by state so far:
Biggest Iowa county has counted all absentee ballots received before Election Day
From CNN’s Katie LoboscoThe biggest county in Iowa, which includes Des Moines, has finished counting all absentee ballots received through Monday, according to a tweet from the Polk County Auditor Jamie Fitzgerald.
The results from those ballots will be posted shortly after polls close at 10 p.m. ET (9 p.m. CT.)
Polk County went for Hillary Clinton by 11 points in 2016.
The county has more than 300,000 registered voters and more than 136,731 had already voted or sent in an absentee ballot through Saturday.
Of those early voters, 58% were registered Democrats, 23% were registered Republicans, and 19% were not registered with either party.
Iowans still have time to return their absentee ballots. They will be counted as long as they are postmarked by Nov. 2 and arrive by Nov. 9.
Here's where the candidates are today
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden speaks to residents in his old hometown Scranton, Pennsylvania, on November 3.
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden started his day at his home in Wilmington, Delaware. He attended mass at his Catholic church and spent a brief visit to his son Beau Biden’s grave site, also visiting the grave site of his late wife and baby daughter.
From there, Biden traveled to his old hometown Scranton, Pennsylvania. He stopped by his boyhood home, writing on the wall: “From this house to the White House with the Grace of God, Joe Biden November 3rd, 2020.”
Biden has just landed in Philadelphia, where he’s making a few stops trying to get out the vote. Then he’s going to return to Wilmington. He’ll be watching the returns from his home and then move to an election center.
President Trump left the White House a short time ago and arrived at his campaign headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, according to the press pool traveling with the President.
From the pool:
Trump and Vice President Mike Pence are expected to spend Election Night at the White House.
CNN’s Jeff Zeleny reports from Wilmington, Delaware:
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CNN reporters tell us what races they're watching closely tonight
From CNN's Janelle Davis
As the race for the White House comes to a close, there are several key states that remain a toss-up. CNN’s political correspondents and reporters tell us what races they’re watching and why:
CNN Political Correspondent Abby Phillip is watching Arizona:
“This Election Day, I’m looking at the state of Arizona. It is a red state, but this year, it is very much in play. I’m hoping that they’re able to count their ballots pretty quickly, so we can have a sense of what’s going on in that state. And whether Joe Biden has a shot of flipping a state that Donald Trump won four years ago.”
Arizona’s increasingly diverse and suburban electorate has rapidly turned what was once a GOP stronghold into a swing state with 11 electoral votes up for grabs. Polls close in Arizona at 9 p.m. ET.
Read more on Arizona here.
Chief Political Correspondent Dana Bash is watching Pennsylvania:
“On Election Day, I’m going to be watching Pennsylvania like a hawk. It’s really critical for both candidates in each path to 270 — that magic number to get the presidency. And it is so close.”
Pennsylvania polls close at 8 p.m. ET. It’s the largest electoral vote prize of the “blue wall” states with 20 electoral votes up for grabs, and polls have shown it could be the most competitive. Biden and Trump both barnstormed the state in the race’s final days, underscoring its importance.
Read more on Pennsylvania here.
Senior Political Reporter Nia-Malika Henderson is watching Georgia
“The state I’m going to be watching most closely on election night is Georgia. Sixteen electoral votes up for grabs. Two open Senate seats as well. Can a Democrat flip that state in the Sun Belt region. So, my eyes are on the Peach State.”
Georgia will be the first true battleground of the night, with 16 electoral votes. It’s poll close at 7 p.m. ET. Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Ohio are crucial to the President’s narrow path to victory. The Southeastern states are expected to count votes relatively quickly, offering an early window into Trump’s chances of winning reelection.
Read more on Georgia here.
Florida secretary of state says no reported voting security issues
From CNN's Curt Devine
Voters fill out their ballots at a polling place in Miami Beach, Florida, on November 3.
Florida’s Secretary of State Laurel Lee said that no voting security issues have been reported in the state so far Tuesday.
She said at a news conference there may be isolated precincts in two counties – Lake County, in Central Florida, and Lee County, in Southwest Florida — that had “some technology challenges this morning.” But she said these issues will not prevent any voters from casting ballots.
She also said that “misinformation and disinformation continues to be an active threat,” though she said no new concerning messages had been reported Tuesday.
Asked by CNN’s Drew Griffin for examples of misinformation, she referenced the previously reported threatening emails sent to voters that were made to appear as though they were sent by the Proud Boys, a far-right group, though she said Iran was determined to be behind those emails.
“Our databases are secure,” Lee said.
At the direction of Gov. Ron DeSantis, the Florida National Guard has been mobilized in the state “out of an abundance of caution,” Lee said.
This 22-year-old says police violence against Black people prompted him to vote
From CNN's Adrienne Vogt
Lewis McCaleb, a 22-year-old first-time voter, speaks with CNN.
Lewis McCaleb, a 22-year-old first-time voter in St. Paul, Minnesota, said the death of George Floyd helped spur him to vote this Election Day.
McCaleb wore a hoodie with the words “We Will Breathe” to his polling location, which he told Broaddus was a form of protest for him. He also wrote the names of Black men and women who have been killed by police on the back of his ballot, Broaddus reported.
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Democratic leaders confident they will pick up House seats tonight
From CNN's Haley Byrd and Manu Raju
Cheri Bustos speaking during a news conference on Election Day.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and chairwoman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Cheri Bustos, expressed confidence Democrats will expand their House majority tonight.
On a Zoom conference call with reporters, Bustos said the party is “well-positioned to have a good night.”
She declined to predict how many seats Democrats will gain.
“We’re not going to put a number to it,” she said, adding that “you make your own luck going into any election.”
Bustos also said Democratic leaders are preparing for “extended counts and even potential recounts” after Election Day.
On the call, Nancy Pelosi reiterated her advice to Democratic voters:
She said she believes Joe Biden will be inaugurated in January.
Speaker Pelosi holding an Election Day news conference.
However, Pelosi refused to answer CNN’s Manu Raju when asked if she would abide by her promise to only serve as speaker through the end of 2022. In order to secure the votes for speaker in 2019, Pelosi promised she would only serve as speaker for this current Congress and the next Congress, which begins in January.
All of Milwaukee's 173 polling places opened successfully, mayor says
From CNN's Casey Tolan
A voter receives his ballot at a polling station inside the Milwaukee Academy of Chinese Language School on Election Day in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on November 3, 2020.
Officials in the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, say they haven’t received any reports about problems so far, either at polling places or at the city’s absentee ballot counting center.
“No news is good news,” Mayor Tom Barrett said. “We’re off to a great start.”
All of the city’s 173 polling places opened successfully, Barrett added.
At the central count location where volunteers are tallying about 175,000 absentee ballots today, more volunteers showed up than expected, Election Commission executive director Claire Woodall-Vogg said.
“Poll workers turned out in just phenomenal numbers today so we’re confident our polling places are fully staffed,” she said.
As of 10 a.m., there have been no disruptions at the central count location and no valid challenges of absentee ballots by election observers or vote-counters, Woodall-Vogg said.
Barrett noted that the city’s absentee voting numbers “shatters all records” set in previous elections. He reminded Milwaukee voters that they have until 7:30 p.m. to return ballots to the city’s 15 dropboxes and that anyone who is standing in line at the polls at 8 p.m. will be allowed to vote.
Georgia voter: "I was expecting a long line, but it took me less than 5 minutes"
From CNN’s Drew Kann
"Fulton County Board of Health" masks on a table at a polling location for the 2020 Presidential election in College Park, Georgia, U.S., on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020.
Brandon Davis, a 34-year-old truck driver, had anticipated a long wait when he showed up to cast his ballot this morning at the Sandtown Park Recreation Center west of downtown Atlanta in Fulton County. Instead, he was pleasantly surprised by the experience.
Fulton County — Georgia’s largest county, which includes most of the city of Atlanta — has seen some long lines in past elections, including the June primary, when some voters waited eight hours to cast their ballots.
For this election, the county greatly expanded the number of early voting locations and increased its capacity to process absentee ballots, in the hopes of cutting down lines on Election Day.
So far, signs indicate its plan is working: By mid-morning, average wait times across Fulton were under 30 minutes, according to county election officials.
And even if he had run into a long line, Davis said he was willing to wait it out.
“Even if I had to sit out here for six hours, it didn’t matter because we need to vote,” he said. “The fact that I was only here maybe five minutes, that’s just the icing on the cake. Now I get to go enjoy my day and go to work later.”
Pennsylvania official's reminder to voter: "Vote counting is never finished on Election Day"
From CNN's Kelly Mena
Voters wearing protective masks wait in line at a polling location for the 2020 Presidential election in Havertown, Pennsylvania, U.S., on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020.
Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar on Tuesday reminded voters to have patience and that not all vote counting is finished on Election Day.
“Vote counting is never finished on Election Day and if we stop counting ballots on Election Day, we will be disenfranchising all the men and women who serve our country, all the military and civilian overseas voters whose ballots by law must be accepted up to seven days after the election,” she said.
“We are the only ones that can actually declare results of an election or an election count being over,” said Boockvar. “Everyone should have patience.”
White House election night party reduced to 250 attendees
From CNN's Jamie Gangel
A vehicle sits outside the White House on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, in Washington.
The number of people attending today’s White House election night party has been reduced to 250, one source familiar tells CNN.
This source added that all guests will receive a rapid test for Covid-19, and each guest will receive a testing bracelet.
CNN previously reported that as many as 400 people could attend.
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Fences around the White House went up overnight in anticipation of possible unrest
From CNN's Aditi Sangal
Construction workers set up additional fencing near the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Monday, Nov. 2, 2020.
Fences surrounding the White House went up overnight. Authorities say there are no credible threats at the moment, but they want to take precautions for any worse case scenarios that may come about tonight or in the coming days, CNN’s Vivian Salama reports.
Crews worked around the clock to put up non-scalable fences that are eight-feet high and four-feet wide. Each panel is locked together, Salama says, standing on the west side of the White House.
In total, there is 52 acres surrounding the White House are fenced off. Lafayette Park is also fenced off since many protests took place there over the summer over George Floyd’s death. Authorities are trying to keep people as far away from the White House complex as possible, Salama says.
This adds to businesses preparing for possible unrest across the national capital as well as some other areas around the country. Businesses are putting up boards and plywood as a caution against any vandalism that may occur in the event of possible unrest.
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Nebraska election official wants voters to disregard "stay safe and stay home" robocall
From CNN's Paul Murphy and Donie O’SullivanAn election official in Nebraska is warning people to disregard an anonymous robocall telling people to “stay safe and stay home.”
It’s currently unclear who is responsible for the robocall, but when the call is picked up, a robotic voice tells people, “This is a test, stay safe and stay home.”
A CNN employee in the Atlanta area received the call within the past hour.
The number that appears to be calling is, “spoofed.” That means that the entity responsible for the robocall has disguised the real number and is making the number that pops up look like it’s from a local number.
This robocall is nothing new, or specific to Election Day. Users on social media have been complaining about similar robocalls as far back as July.
However, given the fear of voter intimidation on Election Day, some election officials are issuing statements on the call.
Asked about reports that emerged yesterday of robocalls and text messages being sent in Florida and Michigan to suppress the vote, a senior official at the Department of Homeland’s cybersecurity and infrastructure security agency said, “those sorts of things happen every year,” during a background call with reporters.
CNN has reached out to the FBI for comment on the calls.
CNN’s Geneva Sands contributed to this report.
Joe Biden signed the wall of his childhood home on Election Day
From CNN's Sarah Mucha
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden visits his childhood home with his granddaughters in Scranton, Pennsylvania on November 3, 2020.
Joe Biden visited his childhood home in Scranton, Pennsylvania, this morning. While there, he signed one of the living room walls.
“From this house to the White House with the grace of God. Joe Biden 11-3-2020,” he wrote.
Here’s what it looks like:
USPS reports another drop in on-time movement of mail ballots
From CNN’s Paul P Murphy
Election officials begin counting absentee ballots at City Hall on November 03, 2020 in Beloit, Wisconsin.
For the fifth day in a row, the US Postal Service moved fewer ballots on-time in critical battleground states than it did in the previous day, according to new court filings.
Five of the states with low processing scores — Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, New Hampshire and Maine — do not allow ballots to arrive after Election Day.
The continued drops in performance mean ballots are now at significant risk of not arriving to election offices in time to be counted. In more than half of the states, mail-in ballots will not count if they arrive after polls close.
A higher processing score means that a higher percentage of ballots are traveling through the mail system on time.
The Postal Service said that on a national level, it moved fewer ballots on time on Sunday and Monday than on Friday, with the service’s overall processing score dropping from 91% to 90%. Scores have been steadily declining since Wednesday, when USPS reported it moved 97% of ballots on time.
The Postal Service reported that it moved at least 740,864 ballots on Sunday and Monday.
Some critical battlegrounds states are still experiencing a drop in processing scores below 90%.
Just 52% of the Atlanta district’s ballots, and 69% of ballots in wide swaths of North Carolina moved on-time on Sunday and Monday, the USPS reported. The two districts had the lowest processing scores in the US.
Fewer than than 80% of ballots in Pennsylvania and Ohio were moved on time, with Central Pennsylvania and the Ohio Valley sinking into the low 70s. Michigan, Wisconsin, New Hampshire and Maine all had processing scores well below the 90% mark.
These figures do not include ballots being returned through what USPS calls “local turnaround.” That’s the process USPS says some post offices have implemented, where ballots are being delivered directly to local boards of election – they are postmarked, but don’t go through normal mail processing.
USPS has reiterated that the delays are largely due to staffing shortages due to Covid-19.
To fix the issues, USPS has provided “multiple layers of operational oversight,” is coordinating closely with the USPS inspector general, and has been holding daily troubleshooting calls with problem areas.
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Voting lines moving quickly across Georgia, secretary of state's office says
From CNN’s Jason Morris
Voters line up to cast their ballots on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, in Emerson, Ga.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s office told CNN that as of Tuesday morning, there are still 224,773 absentee mail ballots outstanding in the state that have not been returned by voters yet.
Voting continues to move quickly across the state, according to Ari Schaffer, the press secretary for Raffensperger.
As of 10:30 a.m. ET this morning, the average statewide wait time to cast votes is 3 minutes, Schaffer told CNN.
More than 2.5 million mail-in and absentee ballots returned in Pennsylvania
From CNN's Kelly Mena and Sara MurrayPennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar announced on Tuesday that more than 2.5 million mail-in and absentee votes have been returned.
The ballots returned represent more than 81% of the more than 3 million ballots sent out, according to Boockvar.
Polling machines back up in one Georgia County after technical issues
From CNN's Holmes LybrandSpalding County, Georgia, south of Atlanta, has resolved issues with their polling machines.
Earlier, the county reported a system-wide issue with polling machines and posted this message on Facebook:
The issues have now been resolved.
The county updated their Facebook post to say:
Trump won Spalding County with 15,636 votes in 2016, compared to 9,347 votes for Hillary Clinton.
UPDATE: This post has been updated to reflect that the polling machines are back up
Longtime Houston voter says she's "never seen emotion like this before"
From CNN's Adrienne VogtEnthusiasm is high at a Houston polling station as voters line up to cast their ballots, CNN’s Brian Todd reports.
She also discussed how the demographics of the Houston area have changed drastically in the last 50 years.
“When I was growing up here, it was like an overgrown cow town. And now it’s a thriving metropolis, so international, so many different views and ideas,” she told Todd.
Todd reported that there are supporters of President Trump near the voting location chanting with signs and bullhorns. But voter intimidation from anyone “has not been a factor,” he said.
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Long voting lines form early in Arizona’s traditional Republican strongholds
From CNN's Bob Ortega
Voters wait to cast their ballots at Burton Barr Central Library on November 3, 2020 in Phoenix, Arizona.
As Election Day voting got underway in Arizona, long lines formed quickly at many polling places in Maricopa County, home to Phoenix and its suburbs.
Polling stations opened at 7 a.m., and by 7:30 there were wait times as long as 45 minutes for voting sites in GOP strongholds such as Glendale, Chandler, Gilbert and Surprise, according to estimates posted on the Maricopa County Recorder’s election site.
Late Monday, Cochise County Recorder Lisa Marra tweeted that her office had received dozens of calls from people demanding to know when their ballots had been counted. Cochise County, stretching from east of Tucson down to the US-Mexico border, also voted for Trump in 2016.
“They know the date we received it,” she wrote. “Wanted to know date and time counted. Because the President said if they didn’t get that info to go vote again tomorrow. Horrible advice for voters. STOP.”
Nearly 2.7 million Arizonans have voted early by mail or in person, representing 62.4% of active registered voters in the state, according to data provided by the Arizona Secretary of State’s office.
Here's how many New Hampshire absentee ballots have been returned so far
From CNN's Sarah Jorgensen
A volunteer prepares "I Voted" stickers at a polling station at Windham High School, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, in Windham, N.H.
As of today, a total of 235,834 absentee ballots have been returned to town clerks, according to the latest data from the New Hampshire Secretary of State’s Office.
This means that 54,257 ballots have been returned in the past week.
The total absentee ballot count is nearly one third of the total 2016 voter turnout of 755,850 and is more than three times the amount of absentee ballots returned in that election, 75,305.
There are still 13,824 outstanding absentee ballots that have been requested but not returned, according to the data. Absentee ballots in New Hampshire must be received by 5 p.m. local time today, and they can be returned in person.
Voting in Michigan today is going "smoothly," secretary of state's office says
From CNN's Annie Grayer
Voters line up before polls open on Election Day at a precinct in Warren, MI, on Nov. 3, 2020.
Voting in Michigan today is going “smoothly” so far, Communications and External Affairs Director for the Michigan Secretary of State Jake Rollow told reporters this morning.
Rollow shared that “about a dozen” of the state’s 2,000 reserve poll workers had to be deployed this morning to help staff polling locations in Pontiac and Grand Rapids. Rollow did not specify whether this was because of the pandemic. These workers are meant to be deployed if a poll worker scheduled to work today didn’t show up.
With 3.1 of the 3.5 million absentee ballots requested already returned, Rollow said the state has an 89% return rate, which he said is lower than 2016. In 2016, Rollow reports the state had a 96% return rate as of Election Day.
Rollow said “that’s to be expected” given the fact that there are roughly three times as many absentee ballots this election than in 2016, and the mail has been slow.
91% of absentee ballots returned in Nebraska
From CNN's Katie Lobosco
A Douglas County Election Commission worker collects early ballots from a ballot drop box at the Commission offices in Omaha, Neb., Saturday, Oct. 31, 2020.
So far, 510,076 Nebraska absentee ballots have been returned, the Nebraska Secretary of State’s office said Tuesday morning. That’s a 91% return rate.
There are currently 48,382 absentee ballots outstanding. More than 27,000 were received yesterday.
Absentee ballots must be returned via mail or a drop box before polls close today at 8 p.m. local time (that’s 9 p.m. ET) in order to be counted.
Absentee ballots are counted first and the results are expected to be posted shortly after the polls close.
Polling sites in Pennsylvania's Allegheny County are now open after delays
From CNN's Kelly MenaPennsylvania’s Allegheny County, which includes Pittsburgh, had delayed openings in three election districts, according to a county official.
Amie Downs, communications director for the county said Tuesday morning that the three polling sites that were down earlier today “are all open and operating now.”
Earlier this morning, in an emailed statement, Downs addressed the unopened sites:
Downs explained to CNN that the “suitcase” has the voting materials. Those materials didn’t make it to these locations, but they are working to fix it. She noted that there are sites in Monroeville, McKeesport and Pittsburgh that remain unopened.
Earlier this morning, Downs also gave an update on the processing of mail-in and absentee ballots saying about 25% of the over 334,000 ballots are “at some stage of processing.”
Some of the ballots are further along in the process.
“Over 13,500 have gone through the declaration review and have had the declaration envelope opened and the secrecy envelopes extracted,” she added.
UPDATE: This post has been updated to reflect that the polling sites are now open.
Allegheny county in Pennsylvania set to scan first mail-in ballots
From CNN's Kelly Mena
In this Oct. 29, 2020, file photo, a portion of mail-in and absentee ballots that have arrived at the Allegheny County Election Division are kept in a secure area at the Elections warehouse in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Allegheny county in Pennsylvania, which includes Pittsburgh, will scan its first few thousand mail-in and absentee ballots shortly, according to a county official.
Downs also noted that the three polling sites that were down earlier in the morning “are all open and operating now.”
She also noted that reports of machines not working correctly have all been addressed, with most of them being due to an operator error.
“Additional reports of needs for additional supplies or items for polling places have been addressed or were provided but poll workers were not aware they already had them,” she added.
Kayleigh McEnany says the Trump "campaign believes that tonight will be a landslide"
From CNN’s Jason HoffmanKayleigh McEnany appeared on Fox News as a Trump 2020 campaign senior adviser, though she was also introduced as White House press secretary, and stuck a highly optimistic tone about the President’s chances for reelection.
McEnany predicted President Trump will carry the battleground states of Nevada and Minnesota, states he is trailing Biden in the polls. She also predicted Trump will hold Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan, states that were crucial to his 2016 victory.
McEnany echoed the President’s criticisms of the Supreme Court decision allowing Pennsylvania to receive ballots up to three days after Election Day, saying she believes the court is “wrong.” However she also said that “this talk of litigation is nothing,” because of her belief of a landslide victory for Trump.
McEnany said the Trump campaign hasn’t engaged on the court case in Texas regarding curbside voting and any further litigation will be decided “on election day and beyond.”
On Election Day, Trump says he has "a very solid chance of winning"
From CNN's Kevin Liptak
U.S. President Donald Trump greets guests on the South Lawn of the White House after arriving on Marine One in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020.
After nearly four years in office, President Trump offered a bleak assessment of the job he wants to be re-elected to in an interview on election day.
“They’ll go, ‘Mr. President, tell me: who is the country that’s most difficult to deal with? Is it Russia, is it China, is it North Korea?’” Trump said during a morning phone-in to “Fox & Friends,” his last appearance on a favorite television show before his fate is decided. “No, by far the most difficult country to deal with is the US. It’s not even close.”
About 45 minutes late for the interview, and his voice scratchy after a 17-rally sprint to the finish, Trump did not sound buoyant. He offered himself only a mildly optimistic prognosis for victory — “a very solid chance of winning” — and sounded less-than-enthusiastic about the idea of serving another four years in office.
Throughout the campaign, Trump has struggled to articulate why he wants to serve another term. When pressed on his agenda for a second four-year stretch, he has offered only the broadest answers. Instead he has focused on defeating Biden, hoping to avoid the humiliation of being a one-term president, and has basked in the adulation of his rallies.
With the campaigning now over, Trump seemed to look forward with some trepidation. He noted that his relationships with friends from before he was president had changed. They no longer call him “Don,” insisting on using the more formal “Mr. President.”
“They react differently to me now than they used to,” he observed.
Trump called into the same program four years ago, saying then he viewed it as a good luck charm because he’d done the same thing on days of primary elections where he won. But four years later, Trump seemed to view the call-in as a chance to explain how the network’s coverage had changed since he won.
“Somebody said, what’s the biggest difference between this and four years ago? And I say, Fox. It’s much different,” he said, complaining the network that’s boosted his relentless, often using conspiracy theories, airs too much coverage of his rivals.
Asked if he got emotional when his supporters chanted “we love you” at his final rally, Trump emphasized repeatedly he was only kidding and that he wasn’t going to cry.
“You feel the love,” he said. “And it’s so incredible.”
Biden took his granddaughters to his hometown for the first time today
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden arrives with his granddaughters Finnegan (C) and Natalie in Scranton, Pennsylvania on November 3, 2020.
Former Vice President Joe Biden is in his hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania, this morning.
“Welcome home,” Biden said as he stepped off his plane in Scranton with two of his grandchildren, Finnegan and Natalie.
Watch Biden address crowd in Scranton, Pennsylvania:
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Georgia turning into a battleground state "was inevitable," Stacey Abrams says
From CNN's Aditi Sangal
Voters line-up at the Park Tavern polling station to cast their ballots on November 3, 2020 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Georgia becoming “a battleground state was not only possible — it was inevitable,” former Georgia gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams says as voters head to the polls on Election Day.
Georgia is a key state to watch this election. It is one of three states in the Southeast — along with Florida and North Carolina — that are all crucial for President Trump’s path to 270 electoral votes. The Biden campaign has also dispatched its top surrogates to the state, including former President Barack Obama.
A diversifying electorate, suburban swings in Democrats’ favor and a series of close calls there during Trump’s presidency are all pointing to the fact that the state is in play, Abrams explained.
“We know heading into this election we have seen dramatic turnout among communities that typically are not at the top of mind for candidates. We have seen them be engaged, be encouraged, and we have seen them turn out,” she told CNN.
She gave the same pitch for Joe Biden and other candidates early in the Democratic primary.
“I had two messages. One, voter suppression is real and we have to have a plan to fight back. Two, Georgia is real. You’ve got to have a plan to fight here,” she said Tuesday. “We were very privileged to know that by the time Joe Biden won the nomination, he had Georgia… on his mind.”
In a message to her fellow Democrats, she said:
Watch the interview:
More than 9 million people have voted in Florida — 95% of the 2016 total
From CNN's Curt Devine
A voter wears an "I voted" sticker on her Miami tee-shirt as she leaves a polling place at Indian Creek Fire Station #4 in Miami Beach, Fla., on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020.
Nearly 9.1 million Floridians — 9,069,761 to be exact — have already voted, state data updated Tuesday morning shows.
That’s about 95% of the 9.6 million total votes in the 2016 election.
Registered Democrats lead registered Republicans by about 115,000 votes. This is up by about 7,000 votes since Monday, which means Democrats increased their lead against Republicans for two days in row after about two weeks of Republicans chipping into that lead through the early in-person voting.
Nearly 2 million people with no party affiliation have also voted.
Polls close in Florida at 7 p.m. local time.
Some Miami storefronts are boarded up ahead of possible election-related protests
From CNN's Rosa Flores and Sara Weisfeldt
On the morning of Election Day, some stores were boarded up in Miami’s upscale Design District.
In recent days, retailers across the country have stepped up security measures to try to head off any damages to their stores during possible election-related protests.
Tiffany, Saks Fifth Avenue, CVS, Target and Macy’s are among the chains that are boarding up some of their stores’ windows in preparation.
Take a look at the scene in Miami:
President Trump says he will only declare victory "when there's victory"
From CNN's Kevin Liptak
President Trump, offering only a mildly confident view of his prospects, said Tuesday he will declare victory “only when there’s victory.”
Calling in 45 minutes late, with his voice sounding scratchy after a late night rally in Michigan, Trump said he planned further phone calls later today to “very loyal” people and a visit to his campaign headquarters.
“It’s been a great run, an incredible three weeks,” Trump said of his final campaign sprint. He called his last stretch of campaigning “emotional” knowing it could be his final time as a candidate.
Michigan's governor encourages patience at the polls
From CNN's Adrienne Vogt
More than 3 million people in Michigan have already voted, according to the state’s secretary of state, as polls open this morning.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer says that people coming out to the polls “have a sense of optimism.”
In an interview on CNN’s “New Day,” the governor encouraged patience at the polls.
“It’s going to take us a little while to count, and that’s why I think it’s really important that we all prepare to be patient and make sure we get it right,” Whitmer added.
When asked about President Trump targeting her during a campaign rally last night, Whitmer said “that the closing arguments of these two campaigns tell a starkly different vision of America and where we need to be headed.”
“When he targets Dr. Fauci or he targets a sitting governor, it’s a dangerous moment. It is anti-American. … These actions to undermine our own democracy are damaging for every single one of us,” she added.
Watch:
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How polling sites across the country are handling voting during the coronavirus pandemic
From CNN's Kevin Bohn
People line up outside a polling place to vote in the 2020 general election in the United States, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, in Springfield, PA.
In-person Election Day voting is underway in America, and election officials throughout the country have put in place a wide variety of preparations to keep both the voters and the poll workers safe as the coronavirus pandemic continues
Here’s a look at how some places around the country are keeping voters and poll workers safe during the pandemic:
- Masks: In many locations, both voters and poll workers will be expected to wear masks. While many cities and other localities require masks, election officials told CNN they cannot mandate face coverings since people have a right to vote even if they won’t wear one. A lot of polling locations will be offering masks for those that don’t have one. “Voters are required under our statewide mask mandate to wear a mask as well and anybody that shows up that doesn’t have one will be offered, we make those available at every one of our polling locations,” Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose told CNN. “If you show up without a mask you’ll be offered one. If you refuse the mask that we offer you, then we’ll ask you to take advantage of curbside voting which is nothing new.
- Handling maskless voters: Other jurisdictions, such as Nashua, New Hampshire, will have a separate line for maskless people. Londonderry, New Hampshire, has a whole separate area of machines for people who choose not to wear masks. As part of its poll worker training, Washoe County, Nevada, which includes Reno, has posted resources on its site for how to handle a voter without a mask, and how to de-escalate a situation if a voter starts to become heated. Washoe County will also be taking voters’ temperatures at their sites.
- Face shields: Besides wearing masks, some poll workers like those in Broward County, Florida, will also have on face shields. “All election judges must wear provided disposable masks at all times while working. We will supply enough masks for each judge to receive a new mask each day they are assigned to work. Any judges handling ballots, including at our drive-through drop off and pick-up locations, will also be supplied with disposable gloves to wear when assisting voters,” Denver County said on its website.
- Barriers and disinfectants: Some jurisdictions, including Arlington County, Virginia; Denver County, Colorado; and Clark County, are erecting acrylic glass barriers or other partitions to separate election workers from voters. Denver is one of the jurisdictions which will be disinfecting all surfaces voters touch, including the booths.
A polling site in Milwaukee is seen on Election Day.
CNN’s Devon Sayers, Erica Hill, Leslie Perrot, Sara Murray, Scott Glover, Sarah Jorgensen and Denise Royal contributed reporting.
Republicans challenge one Pennsylvania county's process for handling some absentee ballots
From CNN's Jessica Schneider and Laura Jarrett
The Montgomery County, Pa., courthouse is seen, Monday, Oct. 19, 2020, in Norristown, PA.
Shortly after polls opened on Election Day, Republicans in Pennsylvania filed a fresh new lawsuit in federal court challenging the Montgomery County officials’ process for handling absentee ballots that arrived before Nov. 3.
The plaintiffs had previewed their concerns in a letter earlier this week, and they are now asking for a court order to stop alleged “pre-canvassing” of these ballots before 7 a.m. local time and stop contacting anyone whose mail-in ballot contains a perceived defect to change their ballot.
They want any ballots changed set aside. However, the number of ballots affected could be quite narrow since the complaint only identifies roughly 1,200 votes that might be defective. As of this morning, roughly 223,000 absentee ballots had been cast in Montgomery County.
Notably, the county, which is just outside Philadelphia, leans Democratic. Clinton won the county in 2016 by 58.9% to 37.4%.
In response, a Montgomery County spokesperson told CNN’s Scott Glover:
Who you should listen to for trusted voting information, according to a federal election official
From CNN's Aditi Sangal
A polling station in Manhattan, New York, on Election Day.
Ellen Weintraub, with the Federal Election Commission, urged voters to be safe while voting during the coronavirus pandemic and get their voter information only from trusted sources.
“Be safe. Wear your mask. But by all means, if you haven’t voted yet, please, do vote,” she said Tuesday. “We want to have a really strong and vibrant democracy where every citizen’s voice and vote matters. So, please, if you haven’t voted yet, stay safe, but please vote.”
When voters come across information on the internet, Weintraub says, “consider the source.”
“Just because some guy on the internet said something doesn’t make it true. Make sure it’s reputable source before you believe it and share it,” she said.
Here’s a list of trusted sources she recommends.
- Boards of elections
- Secretaries of state’s offices
- Vote.org, which will give you links to your local election officials’ websites
She also urged voters to check their polling station and what the hours are before heading out to cast their ballots.
“A lot of polling stations have moved this year. I know I’ve been voting in the same place for 30 years but this year my polling station moved. So just be careful,” she added. “Make sure that you have your information from the horses mouth, from the election officials.”
Watch more:
Pennsylvania's Allegheny County begins processing absentee ballots — but it's not counting votes yet
From CNN's Kelly Mena and Ellie Kaufman
A portion of mail-in and absentee ballots that have arrived at the Allegheny County Election Division are kept in a secure area at the Elections warehouse in Pittsburgh, Thursday, Oct. 29, 2020.
Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, election officials will begin processing mail-in and absentee ballots this morning, according to Allegheny County Director of Communications Amie Downs.
This process is known as “pre-canvassing” and refers to the process of opening absentee and mail-in envelopes, checking them and getting the ballots ready to be counted. They are not counting absentee and mail-in ballot votes yet.
Downs also said that some polling locations will “be opening a few minutes late as poll workers set up equipment.” She said this happens every year.
“We have had a few reports, as we do each year, of polling places that will be opening a few minutes late as poll workers set up equipment, or because someone was late,” Downs said in an email.
Pittsburgh is in Allegheny County.
Joe Biden goes to church in Delaware on Election Day
US Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden walks with granddaughter Finnegan as he attends church on election day in the Wilmington area on Tuesday, November 3.
Joe Biden, Jill Biden, and two of his grandchildren, Finnegan and Natalie Biden, walked into St. Joseph’s on the Brandywine in Delaware for one last church service on Election Day this morning.
Watch the moment:
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This Ohio county will use paper poll books instead of electronic ones today
From CNN's Ellie Kaufman
People bundled against the cold stand in a slowly moving line to cast early votes at the Franklin County Board of Elections on Friday, Oct. 30, 2020, in Columbus, Ohio.
Franklin County, Ohio, which includes the city of Columbus, will use paper poll books to check voters in today, Franklin County Board of Elections Public Information Officer Aaron Sellers told CNN.
The decision to use paper poll books instead of their electronic poll book system was made at 5:30 a.m. local time, he said, because there was trouble updating the electronic poll book system after yesterday’s early voting concluded, Sellers said.
Early voting ended in the county at 2 p.m. yesterday, but because of long lines, Sellers said they were not finished with voting until about 3:30 p.m. After voting concluded, there was trouble updating the electronic poll book file, Sellers said. “There was an issue where we couldn’t determine that 100 percent of it was downloaded onto poll pads. Because of that, we decided to go with paper poll books,” today, Sellers said.
This decision applies to all of the county’s polling locations, Sellers said.
Poll workers are trained on paper poll books, and contingency plans were made to be able to use paper poll books if needed, he said. Sellers does not anticipate that this will negatively impact voting today. He said it might “slow things down a bit,” but also noted that about 50 percent of registered voters in the county have already voted.
“Up until three or four years ago, that’s what we used to do, we used to have paper poll books,” Sellers said. “We’re going old school I guess.”
The Ohio secretary of state said Franklin County will use paper poll books today “due to the large amount of early voting. This happens occasionally and is something the boards were directed to prepare for,” in a tweet.
More than 100 million ballots were cast before Election Day
From CNN's Adam Levy, Ethan Cohen, and Liz Stark
People wait in line to casts their absentee ballots in person at the Sterling Heights Election Center located in the Senior Center in Sterling Heights, Michigan on Monday, Nov. 2, 2020.
More than 100 million Americans voted nationwide before the polls opened on Election Day, according to a survey of election officials by CNN, Edison Research, and Catalist.
These votes represent more than 47% of registered voters nationwide. Twenty-one states and Washington, DC, have seen more than half of their registered voters cast ballots already.
Pre-Election Day voting has skyrocketed nationwide during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. At least six states, including Texas, Hawaii, Nevada, Washington, Arizona and Montana have surpassed their total turnout from the 2016 general election in recent days.
In an additional seven states, the pre-election vote represents at least 90% of their 2016 total vote – North Carolina, Oregon, Colorado, New Mexico, Georgia, Florida, and Tennessee.
Nationwide, the 100.2 million ballots already cast represents 73% of the more than 136.5 million ballots cast in the 2016 presidential election.
At least 37 states and Washington, DC have crossed their halfway marks for total 2016 ballots cast, including 14 of CNN’s 16 most competitively-ranked states - Texas, Georgia, North Carolina, Nevada, Florida, Arizona, Colorado, Wisconsin, Maine, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska and Ohio
A little less than half of the votes already cast this cycle comes from those 16 key states, which will play a crucial role in determining who wins the presidency this year.
Some voter information comes from Catalist, a company that provides data, analytics and other services to Democrats, academics and nonprofit issue-advocacy organizations and is giving insights into who is voting before November.
What it's like at the only drive-thru polling place open on Election Day in the Houston area
From CNN's Aditi Sangal
Demonstrators stand across the street from the federal courthouse in Houston, Texas, on Monday, before a hearing in federal court involving drive-thru ballots cast in Harris County.
Nine out of 10 drive-thru polling locations will be closed in the Houston-area county on Election Day.
Some background: On Monday, a federal judge had rejected a GOP request to invalidate 127,000 ballots cast in drive-thru early voting. However, he said he would have ruled against allowing such voting on Election Day, adding that voting needed to take place in a “structure.”
In announcing the decision to close most of the drive-thru locations, Harris County Clerk Chris Hollins said on Twitter that he “cannot in good faith encourage voters to cast their votes in tents if that puts their votes at risk.” The location that will remain open is the Toyota Center, which has “walls and a roof” and would fit the judge’s description as a building, a county clerk spokesperson told CNN.
CNN’s Brian Todd is at the only drive-thru polling place that’s still open. He walked through the parking garage of this Toyota Center in Houston to explain what voters can expect.
Watch the moment:
Why the presidential race could come down to Arizona and Pennsylvania
Analysis from CNN's Harry Enten
President Donald Trump speaks at a rally at Wilkes-Barre Scranton International Airport in Avoca, Pennsylvania, on Monday, November 2.
President Trump is trying to stop former Vice President Joe Biden’s pathway to 270 electoral votes. The polls released over the weekend suggest that this will be difficult, but not an impossible task.
Trump’s best path to stop Biden is for there to be a larger than average polling error in Arizona and especially Pennsylvania.
The electoral math is pretty simple. Biden needs to find 38 electoral votes on top of the 232 in the contests that Hillary Clinton won in 2016. He’s likely to win the one from Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District. Remember, the state of Nebraska allocates an electoral vote to the winner of each of its congressional districts.
On top of that, Biden holds clear and significant leads in two states Trump won by less than a point in 2016: Michigan and Wisconsin. A CNN/SSRS poll on Saturday put Biden up 12 points in Michigan among likely voters, while Biden led in Wisconsin by 8 points in a CNN/SSRS poll and 11 points in a New York Times/Siena College poll released Sunday.
Those two states are worth a combined 26 electoral votes. Add in Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District, you get Biden to 259 electoral votes.
This means Biden needs to get 11 more electoral votes. Other polls released on Saturday and Sunday from individual states worth at least 11 electoral votes suggest he will have options to choose from.
The hardest lift is probably in Florida. A New York Times/Siena College poll has Biden and Trump separated by 3 points, while an ABC News/Washington Post poll has the race within 2 points. Although the nominal leader in both was different, the polls combined indicate what has become clear for weeks. Florida and its 29 electoral votes are too close to call with perhaps a slight edge to Biden.
Biden could also get to 270 electoral votes with North Carolina and its 15 electoral votes. A CNN/SSRS poll had Biden up by 6 points there yesterday, while the polling average puts the race closer to a 3 point edge. This is a race that Biden is favored to win, though one where an average sized polling error (about 3 points in competitive presidential races dating back to 1972) would be enough for Trump to emerge victorious.
If Trump is able to take both Florida and North Carolina (along with Georgia which has similar polling to Florida), then you can begin to see how Trump could pull it off.
He would need to win in Arizona and Pennsylvania. Is that possible? Yes. Will it be easy? No.
Read the full analysis here
Watch John King break down latest Electoral College numbers:
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How the huge rise in pre-Election Day voting could affect when we get solid results
From CNN's Marshall Cohen
A poll worker collects vote-by-mail ballots at a drive-thru system set up in the parking lot of the Leon County Supervisor of Elections Office in Tallahassee, Florida, on Monday, November 2.
Early results that pop up shortly after the polls close might look very different from the final outcome, because of unprecedented levels of mail-in ballots and early voting due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, supporters of Democratic nominee Joe Biden have shown a strong preference for mail-in voting. Most of President Trump’s supporters say they want to vote on Election Day. States count these different types of votes in very different ways.
As a result, in some of the most competitive states— including Florida and Texas — early results may look too rosy for former Vice President Joe Biden, before falling back down to earth and becoming more representative of the true outcome. In other states — particularly Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin — Trump could see early leads that slowly narrow as more ballots are counted.
This won’t be a sign of fraud or irregularities. Rather, it’s just a reflection of how states count votes. Some states process early ballots first, and will report those early in the night, while others save them for last.
Read more about what to watch for in the pivotal states here
Ohio secretary of state: "Every legally cast ballot will be counted"
From CNN's Devon M. SayersThe Republican secretary of state of Ohio said that all legally cast ballots will be counted in “an election unlike we have ever seen before.”
In an election-eve message to Ohio voters, Secretary of State Frank LaRose quoted President Lincoln saying that “elections belong to the people.”
Ohio has seen a record level of early and absentee ballots, some 3.4 million out of the 8 million registered voters.
The Secretary reaffirmed that all votes will be counted, “the foundation of our government and our way of life relies on the confidence of votes,” Sec LaRose said.
Watch the full video:
Get ready for tonight, and personalize your election night experience with CNN's My Election
Today Americans will choose a president, members of Congress, governors and a host of local officials. To help you follow the races that are most important to you and your community, we developed a tool called My Election.
My Election allows you to select races to follow prior to election night. When results begin to come in on Nov. 3, the races you’ve selected will be conveniently available in the My Election drawer, which can be opened anywhere in CNN’s Election Center.
Here’s how to get started:
- Go to the CNN Election Center and open My Election.
- Create or sign in to your CNN account so you can save races you follow. Learn more about data privacy.
- Search for a race by typing a candidate’s name, a state, or a type of race such as “President,” “Senate,” or “House.” Then, click “Follow” to save that race.
- On election night you’ll be able to discover and follow races from all over CNN’s website and Election Center.
- Once results begin to come in, your saved races will automatically update.
- Not sure which races to follow? CNN Collections offer suggestions from CNN’s top political anchors, analysts and contributors. Select “Follow” to instantly add that collection’s races to your list of favorites with one click. We’ll automatically ignore any races that you’ve already followed.
Learn more here
It's Election Day. Here are key things to know for tonight.
From CNN's Zachary B. Wolf
First, have you voted? If not, make your plan and go vote now. Many states allow same-day registration. For rules in your state, check CNN’s voter guide here.
Here are key things to know for tonight:
How long will election night last?: Who knows! CNN won’t project a winner of a state until polls in that state close (and maybe much later if things are tight).
When do polls close?: Polls close at various times starting at 7 p.m. ET on the East Coast. The last polls will close at 1 a.m. ET in Alaska.
When do the polls close in key battleground states?
- 7 p.m. ET — Georgia, which is interesting at the presidential and Senate levels. Kentucky and South Carolina have key Senate races.
- 7:30 p.m. ET — North Carolina and Ohio. There’s a tight Senate race in North Carolina.
- 8 p.m. ET — Florida and Pennsylvania. Maine has a key Senate race.
- 9 p.m. ET — Arizona, Michigan, Minnesota, Texas and Wisconsin. There are also key Senate races in Arizona, Michigan, Colorado and Texas.
- 10 p.m. ET — Iowa and Nevada
When will we know the winner? This is an impossible question to answer, because we don’t know how all the early voting will affect different states’ ability to report results quickly.
Many, many more millions of Americans have voted early in person or by mail this year than usual because of the pandemic, so it could take more time to count those ballots, particularly in a few key battleground states (ahem, Pennsylvania).
What do we know about how the vote will come in on election night?
We have some educated guesses.
- We might know some states early. A very large proportion of Americans are voting early and in most states, election officials can tee up those ballots to generate results quickly after polls close. So in contested states like Florida and Texas, we may have a very good idea early in the night how things will go.
- It might take some states many days. In Pennsylvania, for instance, election officials can’t do anything with early ballots until Election Day. Some counties won’t even pick them up until the day after Election Day.
Read more here.
How to stay safe while voting in person during the pandemic
From CNN's Sandee LaMotte
An early voter waits in line to cast a ballot at the Franklin County Board of Elections in Columbus, Ohio.
Voting in person is a cherished right for many Americans — and for people concerned that their ballot might be lost in the mail, delivering their mail-in or absentee ballot may be their preferred option this year.
Standing in long lines at the polling center with people who may or may not be wearing masks, often inside buildings without good ventilation, certainly raises your risk of catching Covid-19.
But there are things you can do to reduce risk if you vote in person:
- Check your polling station: What’s the level of protection that will be in place at your assigned polling station? You should know in advance, for example: If you’ll be spending the majority of your wait standing outside or If masks are required of both voters and poll workers. You also want to vote at a location that has a separate point of entry and exit to minimize crowds forming in the space. Any time spent indoors should be minimized. The safest locations will be school gymnasiums, community recreation centers, convention centers and large parking lots, according to the Brennan Center and the Infectious Diseases Society of America guidelines.
- Vote at less busy times of the day: Even though people are still working from home, most people are likely to vote before or after work or at lunch time. If you can aim for mid-morning or early to mid-afternoon, you may encounter fewer lines. You may also encounter fewer people if you vote early in the window of opportunity your state provides for early voting. Stay in touch with local friends on Facebook or a neighborhood site like Nextdoor. People will often post updates about crowds at different times of the day, which can be used to plan your trip.
- Carefully choose your mask: Be picky about your mask. Studies have shown that cotton masks with two or three layers of fabric are more protective than single-ply masks or bandanas. In fact, a recent study found bandanas and gaiter masks to be least effective in protection.
- Vote alone: Unless you have a disability that requires assistance, vote alone, experts say. This is not the year to bring your children or other non-voting family members to the voting location.
- Come prepared: Along with that highly protective mask, you should definitely bring tissues and hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol or disinfecting wipes, the CDC says.
Read more here.
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