BY: LIBBY CATHEY AND EMILY SHAPIRO, ABC NEWS
(NEW YORK) — With 10 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 54 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.
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 three rallies across battleground states Saturday — in North Carolina, Ohio and Wisconsin.
Biden, maintaining a lead in national polls — his largest of the election, according to FiveThirtyEight’s average — has deployed his top surrogate, former President Barack Obama, to stump for him in Miami Saturday.
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.
Latest headlines:
- Trump votes early in Florida
Here’s how the news is developing today. All times Eastern.
Oct 24, 12:26 pm
Biden says Trump will accept election results: ‘I’m not worried about any coup’
Former Vice President Joe Biden said on the “Pod Save America” podcast that Trump will accept the results of the election and he’s “not worried about any coup.”
“I guarantee you, he’ll accept the results, and he’ll be out in — there’s no one gonna stick with him,” Biden told hosts Dan Pfeiffer and Jon Lovett in an interview taped Friday and posted Saturday morning.
Oct 24, 12:15 pm
Biden: ‘This president cares more about the stock market than he does you’
The election “may come down to Pennsylvania,” former Vice President Joe Biden said at a drive-in event in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
“And I believe in you, I believe in my state,” said Biden, a Scranton native.
Biden then turned to attack President Donald Trump’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Yesterday while he is telling us everything is alright, we saw the highest number — 85,000 new cases in one day,” Biden said.
At a Friday night rally, Trump told his supporters the virus is “going away.”
Biden warned of a “dark winter ahead unless we change our ways.”
“All because this president cares more about the stock market than he does you,” Biden said.
Oct 24, 11:27 am
Biden tests negative for COVID-19
Former Vice President Joe Biden tested negative for COVID-19 on Saturday, marking his 14th negative test since the president announced he was diagnosed.
Oct 24, 10:42 am
Trump votes early in Florida
President Trump voted early at the Palm Beach County Library in West Palm Beach, Florida, Saturday morning as his supporters lined the streets outside holding American flags and Trump signs.
Some Trump supporters were heard shouting, “Four more years!”
The president voted on a paper ballot. No one was in the room with him at the time.
After casting his ballot, Trump briefly spoke to reporters, calling it an “honor to be voting in this great area.”
Trump said his vote was “very secure.”
Asked who he voted for, the president said, “A guy named Trump.”
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