By LIBBY CATHEY, ABC News
(WASHINGTON) — With 11 days to go until Election Day and President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden racing toward Nov. 3, voters have turned out in record numbers to cast their ballots early.
More than 50 million Americans have already voted in the 2020 election, reflecting an extraordinary level of participation and interest despite unprecedented barriers brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.
The candidates faced off in the final presidential debate of the 2020 election cycle from Belmont University in Nashville Thursday evening — their last chance to pitch themselves to tens of millions of voters in primetime before Nov. 3.
In the final weeks of campaigning, the president has remained on defense as polls show him trailing nationally and in several battleground states key to his reelection hopes. He has two rallies in Florida today.
Biden, maintaining a lead in national polls — his largest of the election, according to FiveThirtyEight’s average — stayed off the trail ahead of the debate, a pattern for the former vice president. On Friday, he’s scheduled to deliver remarks in Wilmington, Delaware, on COVID-19 and the economy.
Polls indicate a huge pre-Election-Day edge for Biden and a sizable Trump advantage among those who plan to vote on Nov. 3. Trump has sowed doubt in the mail-in ballot process — and imminent election results — for months.
All 50 states plus Washington, D.C., have some form of early voting underway. Check out FiveThirtyEight’s guide to voting during the COVID-19 pandemic here.
Here’s how the news is developing Friday. All times Eastern:
Oct 23, 10:10 am
Pence votes in-person in Indiana
Vice President Mike Pence and second lady Karen Pence cast their ballots in-person this morning back home in Indiana.
They were originally scheduled to early vote the week of the vice-presidential debate but that was rescheduled to today.
Afterward, they both gave a thumbs up to the cameras.
When a local reporter asked Pence if there was anything he’d like to say, he answered: “Great honor. And great to be back home again. Thank you.”
Pence has campaign stops today in Ohio and Pennsylvania. He holds two rallies in Florida on Saturday.
-ABC News’ Justin Gomez
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