Election recap: Trump repeats fraud claims; Harris says swing states will decide it
Editor's note: This page reflects the news on the campaign trail for the 2024 election on Monday, Nov. 4. For the latest news and results from the presidential election, read USA TODAY's live updates of Election Day.
Americans across the country will make their voices heard on Tuesday, choosing between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. The Republican and Democratic nominees have spent months facing off and laying out their campaign promises on issues ranging from health care to immigration and the economy.
On the final full day of campaigning, Trump held rallies in pivotal swing states, starting in North Carolina before heading to Pennsylvania for two campaign stops and wrapping up the day in Michigan.
Harris concluded her campaign in Pennsylvania after holding rallies in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, followed by a concert in Allentown.
Keep up with live coverage from the USA TODAY Network.
Presidential election polls 2024: Latest surveys on Harris vs. Trump before Election Day
Oprah, Lady Gaga join Harris rally in Philadelphia
Kamala Harris' rally in Philadelphia got underway late in the evening with Lady Gaga singing "God Bless America" in front of 30,000 people.
It’s not often that Lady Gaga is the opening act instead of the main attraction.
Seated at a piano, she spoke briefly about the importance of the election. Women will be part of the decision-making on Tuesday, she said, adding, “I am holding in my heart all the tough, tenacious women who made me who I am.”
Gaga said she voted for Harris, “someone who will be a president for all Americans.”
Harris' husband Doug Emhoff spoke next and told the crowd, "My wife cares about what you're going through. She understands what's in your way, and she has concrete plans to help us keep moving forward. Now, isn't that what we want for the next four years?"
Oprah Winfrey was next on stage. She invoked the late John F. Kennedy and the late civil rights leader and Georgia Rep. John Lewis and told prospective voters who might be feeling burnt out that the election was too important to sit out.
"If we don't show up tomorrow, it is entirely possible that we might not have the opportunity to ever cast a ballot again," she said.
- Francesca Chambers and Michael Collins
Trump doubles down on election fraud claims at last rally
Former President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly spread 2020 election misinformation, claimed without evidence that Democrats would try to “cheat” in the 2024 election at his last rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
"When you have open borders, transgender everything, high taxes - very high taxes, they're campaigning on the fact that they're going to raise everybody's taxes - and you have men playing in women's sports, you have to cheat…They have to cheat. They have to cheat. And they do it and they do it very well," Trump said.
He also cast doubt on the accuracy of voting machines in his speech. According to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, states routinely test and certify their voting machines and conduct checks to ensure ballots are properly counted before election results are finalized.
For months, Trump and his allies have tried to sow uncertainty around the security of the 2024 race, which political science and democracy experts said would only increase the risk of political violence in the aftermath of the election.
— Sudiksha Kochi
Trump tells Grand Rapids: 'We're going to blow this thing away'
Donald Trump started his remarks in Grand Rapids, Michigan, by reminiscing about the city, the same place he ended both his 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns.
“I want to say a very special hello to Grand Rapids. It's been a special place,” Trump said.
He also said he thinks he’s in “very good shape” for Election Day.
“You're going to turn out tomorrow, and we're going to blow this thing away. Because, you know, we're leading. We're leading going in by hundreds of thousands of votes, but just pretend we're tied or losing by a little bit, because we want to put on a display tomorrow of unity and everything,” Trump told the crowd.
The final results of the 2024 race won’t be ready on election night. Some key swing states that Trump and Harris are vying for, like Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, aren't permitted to start processing absentee and mail-in ballots until Election Day, which is expected to slow down the count.
- Sudiksha Kochi
'You will decide the outcome,' Harris tells Pennsylvania
Harris told her supporters in Philadelphia on Monday that the swing state's voters would choose the next U.S. president.
"You will decide the outcome of this election, Pennsylvania," she said.
Harris said at the rally, the last one of her campaign: "America is ready for a fresh start, ready for a new way forward."
She pledged to be a president "for all Americans" and told the crowd that "one of the highest forms of patriotism" is to fight for the ideals and promise of America.
"I have always believed in our nation's promise because I have lived it," she said.
Harris said she sees that same promise in the faces of her rallygoers. "We are the promise of America," she declared from outside the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
- Francesca Chambers
Trump escalates rhetoric against migrants, opponent
Donald Trump suggested at his rally in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Monday that Penn State wrestlers should fight against migrants.
“Those Penn State guys. I wanted them to wrestle the migrants . . . I told (Ultimate Fighting Championship President) Dana (White) here to set up your league of champions, unbelievable, best fighters in the world, and a migrant league. At the end, I want the migrant to go against the champion, and I think the migrant might actually win. That's how nasty some of these guys are,” Trump said.
At his previous rally in Reading, Pennsylvania, Trump suggested that Kamala Harris should be in the same ring as boxer Mike Tyson.
“‘Put Mike in the ring with Kamala.’ That will be interesting,” Trump told the crowd.
Trump has previously called his political opponents garbage, scum and enemy from within. Trump's latest comments come as both presidential campaigns have received criticism in recent days for heightened, and at times violent, political rhetoric.
- Sudiksha Kochi and Josh Meyer
Joe Rogan endorses Trump
Joe Rogan, who hosts the podcast “The Joe Rogan Experience,” endorsed Trump in a post on X, formerly Twitter, sharing a video clip of an interview with Elon Musk as part of his announcement.
Musk “makes what I think is the most compelling case for Trump you'll hear, and I agree with him every step of the way,” Rogan wrote on X. “For the record, yes, that's an endorsement of Trump. Enjoy the podcast.”
Trump and Rogan had previously sat down for a nearly three hour interview last month, where the two discussed topics ranging from extraterrestrial aliens to election interference.
“He was great. And he's not a person that does endorsements, but he did an endorsement. So I just want to thank Joe Rogan. That's fantastic,” Trump said at his rally in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Monday.
Harris did not appear on Rogan’s show. He wrote on X that her campaign had reached out to him and offered a date for an interview, but he ended up declining because he would have had to travel to her. “I strongly feel the best way to do it is in the studio in Austin,” he wrote.
- Sudiksha Kochi
Harris stops by Puerto Rican restaurant in Pennsylvania
Vice President Kamala Harris grabbed dinner at Puerto Rican restaurant Monday night after a rally in Pennsylvania.
Harris’ motorcade stopped by Old San Juan Cafe in Reading, where she was greeted by the owner Diana de La Rosa. La Rosa gave the Democratic presidential nominee a tour of the small eatery and helped her place her order, which included cassava and yellow rice.
“I’m very hungry,” Harris said. “I don’t get a chance to eat as often as I like.”
Spotted inside the restaurant during Harris’ visit: Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, D-N.Y., and Reading Mayor Eddie Moran.
Harris’ campaign has been making a push to reach Puerto Rican voters, especially after a comedian called the U.S. territory a “floating island of garbage” at a Donald Trump rally in Madison Square Garden.
–Michael Collins
Trump: 'God saved me in order to save America'
Donald Trump urged his supporters in Pittsburgh to get out and vote, referencing the July assassination attempt where he was shot in the ear by gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks in Butler, Pennsylvania.
“Many people say that God saved me in order to save America,” Trump told the crowd, who burst into cheers.
“And with your help, we will fulfill that extraordinary mission," Trump said. “Together, we're going to fulfill - we're going to save our country. But many, many people have said that. To every citizen across this land, I am asking for the honor of your vote.”
Trump also said he would restore peace in the world and criticized his opponent’s handling of issues, including immigration.
“We do not have to live this way,” he said.
Trump and Harris are both deadlocked in Pennsylvania, a crucial swing state. Both candidates crisscrossed through the state on Monday to court voters before Election Day.
- Sudiksha Kochi
Rapper Will.i.am performs new song 'Yes She Can'
Rapper Will.i.am warmed up the crowd at an election-eve rally for Vice President Kamala Harris in Philadelphia on Monday by performing a new song, “Yes She Can.”
“What is wrong with America? Why can’t we get along in America?” the lyrics ask.
The song goes on to suggest that together Americans can break down barriers and urges them to “register and vote for your life.”
“We could be better than we ever been, we about to have a woman president,” the song concludes, repeating the refrain, “Yes she can!”
– Michael Collins
Harris knocks on doors in last-minute push in Pennsylvania
Searching for any and every possible vote in the critical battleground state of Pennsylvania, Vice President Kamala Harris did a little door-knocking herself Monday night.
Harris was joined by two campaign staff members as she briefly stopped by two homes in Reading, Pennsylvania. At one front door, Harris was greeted by a woman who immediately gave her a hug.
“How are you?” Harris said as the woman introduced the vice president to her husband, Henry. “Hi, Henry. Kamala Harris,” the vice president said. “Very nice to meet you.”
The woman asked Harris how she is doing.
“You know – it’s the day before the election,” Harris said. “I just wanted to come by and ask for your vote.”
“Well, you got my vote already,” the woman said, adding her husband plans to vote Tuesday.
At another home, a man answered and introduced himself as Cole. “Cole, that’s our son’s name!” Harris said as she shook his hand.
The Harris campaign has boasted about dwarfing Trump in the ground game. Over the weekend, more than 90,000 Harris volunteers took part in get-out-the-vote activities, the campaign said, including knocking on more than 3 million doors across the seven battleground states.
- Joey Garrison
Harris: 'Momentum is on our side'
Vice President Kamala Harris said momentum in her campaign will catapult her to the presidency.“Tomorrow is Election Day and the momentum is on our side,” Harris said during her rally in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a key swing state.Harris said that her campaign tapped into the “ambitions, the aspirations and the dreams” of the American people, adding that it’s time for a new generation of leadership in the United States.“I am ready to offer that leadership as the next president of the United States,” Harris said.But she urged those who have not voted to make sure to cast their ballots, saying “we must finish strong.”“Make no mistake, we will win," she said.- Rebecca Morin
Trump says Jill Stein may be one of his 'favorite' politicians
Donald Trump again voiced his liking for Stein, the Green Party’s presidential candidate, at a rally in Pittsburgh, Pa.
“I love the Green Party. Jill Stein…I never met her, but she may be one of my favorite politicians,” Trump told his supporters.
He previously said at a rally in June that he likes Stein “very much.”
Many critics have said that Stein could act as a spoiler for Democrats and help Trump. In a wide-ranging interview with The New York Times last month, Stein dismissed those concerns and said that “those conversations never go anywhere.”
- Sudiksha Kochi
Vance bashes Biden’s garbage comment, calls Harris ‘trash’
Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance in Atlanta on Monday criticized Kamala Harris over a remark made last week by her boss, President Joe Biden. In a video call last Tuesday, Biden had referred to Trump supporters as “garbage.”
The Republican vice-presidential candidate used the moment to knock Harris.
“And I want to ask us not to follow Kamala Harris’ terrible example, because I’m sure that everyone single one of us, all of us gathered here, know somebody planning to vote the wrong way tomorrow,” Vance told the crowd. “... Here in our movement, we love every citizen of this country.”
Vance soon followed this criticism with a bit of his own trash talk.
“In two days, we are going to take out the trash in Washington, D.C., and the trash’s name is Kamala Harris,” he said.
- Savannah Kuchar
Harris campaign touts ‘multiple paths’ to 270 electoral votes
On the eve of Election Day, the Harris campaign said Monday that all seven battleground states remain in play for the Democratic nominee, insisting the vice president doesn’t have to rely on the “blue wall” path for victory.
“We truly believe that we have multiple paths to 270 electoral votes,” Harris campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon said in a call with reporters. “Sometimes when you get to this stage of the race, or even sooner, you often have to close out a pathway, or a state might not be in play. We are not seeing that at all.”
All seven of the top battlegrounds are margin-of-error races, polling has consistently showed.
The clearest path to victory for Harris has long been sweeping the three Rust Belt “blue wall” states that Biden carried in 2020: Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan. Doing so would likely give Harris enough electoral votes to win the election even if she were to lose Arizona, Nevada, Georgia and North Carolina.
But if Harris loses one of the “blue wall” states, she would need to offset the loss with wins among the four Sun Belt states. And Harris would need to win two Sun Belt states if she wins Michigan and Wisconsin, but loses Pennsylvania, which has 19 electoral votes up for grabs.
“We obviously see that the’ blue wall’ has often been the most straightforward path to get to 270, but we equally see favorable results and numbers in all the Sun Belts,” said O’Malley Dillon.
- Joey Garrison
Vance encourages Georgians to vote 10 times ‘the legal way’
Using one of his repeated rally lines, Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance told a crowd of supporters in Atlanta on Monday evening to vote for Trump 10 times – legally.
“Here is the legal way. The legal way to vote ten times is to get your friends to the polls and take yourself to the polls and get nine of your friends and family to go along with you,” Vance said.
Vance noted the Peach State’s tight margin of victory four years ago. In 2020, President Biden won Georgia by less than 12,000 votes. So far, the southern swing state has seen record-breaking early voting turnout.
- Savannah Kuchar
Trump says Harris ‘copied’ his routine on Saturday Night Live
Donald Trump claimed at a rally in Reading, Pa., on Monday that Kamala Harris ‘copied’ his routine on Saturday Night Live after she came onto the show just three days before the Nov. 5 election.
“She uses everything I do. She uses…even Saturday Night Live they copied. They copied. Think of that. Saturday, oh she was great on - they copied my routine, I did it a long time ago, they copied the same routine. I think I did it better, actually. I don’t think - I think anybody could’ve done it. I think anybody could’ve done it better,” Trump said.
During the show, comedian Maya Rudolph, who portrayed Harris, spoke to the real Harris through an empty vanity mirror. The two wore a similar suit and necklace, and Harris offered campaign advice to Rudolph.
In 2015 on “The Tonight Show,” Trump and comedian Jimmy Fallon did something similar. Fallon portrayed Trump, who spoke to the real Republican presidential candidate through a vanity mirror. Both also wore matching suits.
-- Sudiksha Kochi
Georgia Supreme Court cancels late-arriving absentee ballots for Cobb County
The Georgia Supreme Court on Monday canceled any late-arriving absentee ballots that a lower-court judge had ordered be provided to 3,000 Cobb County voters who never received them.
The ACLU and the Southern Poverty Law Center filed the lawsuit after the county in a 2024 battleground state announced it would be mailing thousands of absentee ballots late. Superior Judge Robert Flournoy ordered the county to overnight ballots to voters and allow them to be counted as late as Friday.
But the Republican National Committee appealed the order because it opposes counting votes that arrive after Election Day. The state Supreme Court ruled that all ballots must be received by 7 p.m. on Election Day on Tuesday, as required by state law. The high court ordered county officials to hold on to the late-arriving ballots in a sealed container until further notice from the court.
- Bart Jansen
Rapper Fat Joe to undecided Puerto Rican, Latino voters: ‘Where is your pride?’
Rapper Fat Joe, who is of Puerto Rican and Cuban descent, called on Monday for undecided Latino voters to remember the actions former President Donald Trump has taken against the community – from calling Mexicans “rapists” and “drug dealers” in 2016 to slow response to Puerto Rico after back-to-back hurricanes in 2017.
“Where's your pride?” said Fat Joe, whose real name is Joseph Cartagena, during Vice President Kamala Harris’ rally in Allentown, Pennsylvania. “If you're still out there talking about ‘you might be voting for somebody or you're not decided.’ Where's your pride as a Latino?”
Harris stopped in Allentown, a city in Pennsylvania that has a large Puerto Rican and Latino population, in an appeal to voters in the key swing state.
– Rebecca Morin
Harris campaign bracing for Trump to again prematurely declare victory
Kamala Harris' president campaign on Monday warned that Republican Donald Trump might try to exploit 2024's late-counted votes to prematurely declare he won the election like he did four years ago.
“We all know that it's going to take some time to get election results,” Dana Remus, the Harris campaign’s legal counsel, said in a call Monday with reporters. “We also all know that Trump will likely use this time to allege fraud, spread misinformation and claim premature victory.”
Pennsylvania and Wisconsin don’t allow the pre-canvassing of mail-in ballots until Election Day, meaning the process to count the ballots could drag past Tuesday in these key battleground states.
Jen O’Malley Dillon, chair of the Harris campaign, said it expects near-complete results from North Carolina and Georgia on election night but only partial results from Nevada, Wisconsin, Arizona and Pennsylvania. In Nevada, mail ballots are allowed to be counted if they come in by Nov. 9. And in Pennsylvania, provisional ballots aren’t counted until Nov. 8.
“That's obviously not a sign of fraud. It's just the way it works,” O’Malley Dillon said. “We believe this race is going to be incredibly close. So we may not know the results of this election for several days, but we are very focused on staying calm and confident throughout this period as the process goes through.”
In the 2020 election, Trump falsely declared victory after in-person Election Day returns showed him leading in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan. His leads vanished after mail-in ballots that skewed heavily toward Joe Biden were counted, propelling Biden to victory.
In a May interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, a USA TODAY Network partner, Trump raised doubts about the 2024 election outcome. "If everything's honest, I'd gladly accept the results," Trump said then. "If it's not, you have to fight for the right of the country."
- Joey Garrison
Vance doubles down on anti-Harris message in last rally
Vance kicked off his final campaign stop Monday night by intensifying his criticism of Harris.
“It’s the last day of the campaign, and I think today I’m just gonna say whatever the hell I want to,” Vance said in opening statements to a crowd of supporters in Newtown, Penn.
“This is when I tell you what I really think of Kamala Harris.”
The GOP candidate called his Democratic opponent “a disaster,” adding that she should “go back to San Francisco where you belong.”
Vance later said he did have something nice to say about Harris: a backhanded compliment about her media appearances.
“The one thing I’ll say nice about Kamala Harris is that every single time she gives an interview I think we gain about 50,000 votes,” Vance said.
- Savannah Kuchar
Pennsylvania recount requests could prove ‘vexatious’: expert
Pennsylvania could be headed for a big recount. Or many little ones that a former judge says could prove “vexatious.”
The state is a key battleground where polls show a dead heat between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. State law calls for an automatic recount if the winning margin is less than 0.5%.
The state with 9.1 million voters has more than 9,000 voting precincts. Under a 1927 law, it only takes three voters in a precinct to pay $50 fee to request a recount from the county Court of Common Pleas – regardless of the margin of victory. Precincts are capped at 1,200 voters each, under state law.
After a flurry of precinct recounts since 2020, the law was updated, according to experts at Keep Our Republic, an advocacy group in Pennsylvania. To force a broader county-level recount, the three voters requesting a recount would need to persuade a judge there was fraud or errors with computations on vote totals.
“The bar is higher now if you want a broader recount. But the law itself allows for I think potentially vexatious behavior,” said John Jones, a former federal judge in Pennsylvania and a member of Keep Our Republic's advisory council in the state. “You should watch carefully in the week after the election, because there may be a number of petitions in counties and they would have to be adjudicated by the county court.”
- Bart Jansen
Immigration takes center stage at Trump’s Pennsylvania rally
Donald Trump continued to lean heavily into his anti-immigrant rhetoric at a rally in Reading, Pa., on the eve of Election Day, telling his supporters that Kamala Harris has “eradicated” the southern border.
“They're taking over your towns, your schools, your hospitals,” Trump said, referring to migrants.
He later added that, “The United States is now an occupied country, but it will soon be an occupied country no longer.”
Under President Joe Biden, illegal border crossings reached record highs, averaging more than 2 million per year from 2021 to 2023, according to Customs and Border Protection. But more recently, illegal crossings – or “encounters” – at the southern border fell to the lowest total in nearly four years only months after Biden announced broad restrictions on asylum.
Trump also claimed that migrant crime has been “as vicious as there's ever been.” But data analyzed between 2012 to 2022 found that undocumented immigrants have a homicide conviction rate 14% below that of native-born Americans. Immigrants have a 62% lower homicide rate and undocumented immigrants have a 41% lower total criminal conviction rate than native-born Americans.
- Sudiksha Kochi, Chris Mueller and Terry Collins
Top US cybersecurity official: Election has 'never been more secure'
Top U.S. cybersecurity director Jen Easterly said Monday that the 2024 elections are more secure than ever, and that local, state and federal election officials are on alert and ready to combat any domestic and foreign interference in the democratic process.
“As we head into tomorrow, I can say with great confidence that our election infrastructure has never been more secure and that the election community has never been better prepared to deliver safe, secure, free and fair elections,” Easterly, the director of the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) said in a briefing with reporters.
Easterly and top election security aide Cait Conley acknowledged that there have been “small scale” disturbances, including Russian disinformation videos, severe weather, vandalism to some ballot drop boxes and other incidents that have for the most part already been made public.
But, Easterly said, “At this point, we see no evidence of activity that has the potential to materially impact the outcome of the presidential election.”
CISA officials, in tandem with other officials nationwide, have been conducting hundreds of table-top exercises in recent years to prepare for any eventuality, Easterly said. She said various forms of disruptions are expected to continue on Election Day and beyond.
“It's important to remember that disruptions happen in every election, which is why election officials invest so much into incident response, preparation and contingency plans,” Easterly said.
- Josh Meyer
Spin the numbers: Trump aides express confidence
Election Day is almost here - finally - so it's time for presidential campaigns to spin numbers and predict victory.
The Trump campaign put out a memo Monday claiming that, in battleground states, the women's vote and the urban vote are down (bad for Democrats) and the rural vote is up (good for Republicans).
We'll see when states start counting votes on Tuesday night.
Democrats - who say the numbers overall favor Harris - suspect that Trump is preparing to declare victory before all the key states are called, the better to sow confusion when legal challenges commence.
Trump aides said a premature declaration won't be necessary - the former president is going to win it outright.
"We will declare victory when we are confident that we have the 270 electoral votes that we need," Trump campaign senior adviser Jason Miller told reporters gathered for a Monday rally in Raleigh, N.C. "The numbers show that President Trump is going to win this race."
-David Jackson
Video: RNC official debunks myth about noncitizen voting
Immigrants here illegally aren’t likely to be registered to vote in Pennsylvania because they don’t have drivers licenses or Social Security numbers, an official with the Republican National Committee said in a video first obtained by ProPublica.
Joe Neild made the comments on one of the Republican Party’s election integrity calls. The party holds them often in battleground states to train poll workers and poll watchers. In the video, an unnamed participant asks Neild, “How do you know if they are illegal aliens? How can you spot that?”
“If they’re illegal aliens, they’re not going to be inside the pollbook, because if they’re illegal aliens, they’re not going to be able to register to vote because they’ll need a drivers license number or a Social Security number,” Neild said. He said Pennsylvania requires proof of citizenship in order to get a drivers license.
USA TODAY has reached out to the Republican National Committee for comment. A voicemail left for Neild was not immediately returned.
Brian Hughes, a senior advisor for Trump campaign, told USA TODAY that the party worker was training poll watchers appropriately about what their role is and isn’t. “One of the things you can’t do is become an enforcement mechanism in whether or not someone is a citizen to vote,” Hughes said.
— Erin Mansfield
'F around and find out': Philly DA delivers harsh warning against election interference
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner delivered a stern warning on Monday for anyone who plans to interfere or intimidate voters on Election Day after concerns of "frivolous, bogus, challenges" being brought to eligible voters.
"Everybody in this city is working and has been working for months to make sure that there will be nothing tough about (voting) and nothing to fear in that experience," he said.
Krasner added: "But I also wanna be clear, anybody who thinks it's time to play militia, F around and find out. Anybody who thinks it's time to insult, to deride, to mistreat, to threaten people, F around and find out. We do have the cuffs, we do have the jail cells, we do have the Philly juries, and we do have the state prisons. So if you're going to try and turn an election into some form of coercion, if you're going to try and bully people, bully votes or voters, try to erase votes, try any of that nonsense, we're not playing. F around and find out."
Krasner literally said the letter "F," pronounced "eff," not the actual curse word.
Voters are encouraged to contact the Election Protection hotline, a national, nonpartisan service should they encounter any voting irregularities: 866-OUR-VOTE.
Krasner gave a final message to those intending to disrupt election proceedings: "You can have your fun in a jail cell, because that's what's coming."
-Sam Woodward
When will election results be announced?
Do not expect final results on Election Night.
Election workers have never completed ballot counting on Election Day at any point in the country's history. This year, local and state certification deadlines range from two days to more than a month after Nov. 5.
In recent decades, news outlets have typically called the presidential race late on election night or the morning after, with two notable exceptions. In 2000, a famously close race and legal challenges dragged out the process — things likely to affect this year's cycle. In 2020, a rise in mail-in ballots during the COVID pandemic delayed results.
This year, state laws still in place in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin prohibiting election workers from counting early votes until Election Day are expected to delay results again.
-Rachel Barber
North Carolina sets record turnout in early voting despite hurricane damage
Nearly 4.5 million ballots in North Carolina were cast during early voting that ended Saturday, a new high-water mark above the 3.6 million cast during early voting in 2020, officials said.
Hurricane Helene heavily damaged 25 counties in the western part of the state. But turnout in those counties was 2 percentage points higher than in the rest of the rest, according to the state Board of Elections
Karen Brinson Bell, the executive director of the state board of elections, called the workers and voters in the western counties “an inspiration to us all.”
The turnout included 4.2 million people who voted early in person and about 250,000 absentee ballots.
About 57% of registered voters statewide have cast ballots. Up to another 1.5 million people are expected to vote on Election Day, according to Bob Phillips, the state’s executive director of Common Cause, a voting-rights advocacy group.
“This has been a historic voter turnout for North Carolina,” Phillips said. “We’ve seen a lot of enthusiasm.”
-Bart Jansen
FBI unveils election command post
The FBI has reported some foreign cyber-attacks during early voting in the 2024 election, but officials said it was not a major increase from 2020 as the agency opened its command post to respond to coordinate its response to election threats with other federal agencies, state and local authorities.
“The threat reporting we’re getting in here is not a huge volume increase, but people are more aware of reporting information to the FBI,” James Barnacle, deputy assistant director of the FBI's criminal investigative division, told reporters during a tour Monday. “We have had some foreign malign influence operations and some attempted cyber attacks where adversaries are trying to hit the secretaries of state or state governments or local governments and cause issues with their infrastructure.”
Russia, China and Iran are trying to influence the election, he said. For example, a video circulating in late October falsely portrayed the destruction of ballots in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, which federal officials labeled a Russian hoax.
The FBI election command office has about 80 people from 12 agencies on hand at any time from agencies including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Secret Service; the postal inspection service, the Department of Homeland Security and the Justice Department. The office opened on Friday and will remain open until at least Nov. 9.
“This command post is a little more robust than it’s been in the past,” Barnacle said.
-Bart Jansen
Secret Service prepare Washington and Florida for Election Day
The U.S. Secret Service is working to secure locations in the nation's capital and Palm Beach County, Florida, where Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump will be on election night, respectively.
The agency said it is working with federal, state, and local partners to ensure heightened levels of safety. Fencing and other physical public safety measures will be installed around the White House, National Observatory, and the Palm Beach County Convention Center.
"These enhancements are not in response to any specific issue but are part of wide-ranging public safety preparations for Tuesday's election," a spokesperson for the U.S. Secret Service said in a statement to USA TODAY.
-Rachel Barber
Musk Super PAC argues his $1 million giveaway not a lottery, DA says it’s illegal
Elon Musk's pro-Trump Super PAC picks winners of its $1 million-a-day giveaway based on who would be good spokespeople for its agenda and not registered voters at random, a lawyer for the tech billionaire said in court on Monday.
Chris Gober, a lawyer for Musk’s PAC political action committee made that argument in an effort to persuade a Pennsylvania judge that the giveaway was not an "illegal lottery," as Philadelphia district attorney Lawrence Krasner alleges in a lawsuit seeking to block the payments ahead of Tuesday's U.S. presidential election.
In response, Krasner took the stand to say the $1 million daily giveaways in the seven swing states expected to decide the election were indeed an illegal lottery. He also told Judge Angelo Foglietta that some Pennsylvania residents had been "scammed for their information" and called the giveaway a "grift" aimed at political marketing.
In his initial giveaways, Musk described it as a lottery-like system but changed the public messaging after legal experts – and, reportedly, the Justice Department – raised questions about its legality.
"There is no prize to be won, instead recipients must fulfill contractual obligations to serve as a spokesperson for the PAC," Gober said in the hearing before Foglietta.
The hearing in the key swing state comes just one day before Musk’s favored candidate Trump faces off against Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in a tightly contested race.
?Josh Meyer and Reuters
Few problems with early voting: expert
David Becker, a former Justice Department election lawyer who is now executive director of the Center for Election Innovation and Research, said there were no significant problems with early voting such as voter intimidation or violent confrontations.
“Election officials prepared for anything and everything,” Becker said. “But we saw no real issues.”
With about 80 million early votes cast, Becker said only isolated incidents were reported, such as a man with a machete was reported in Florida.
Mistakes that Becker described as normal included a shortage of staffers to handle mail ballots in Bucks County, Pennsylvania; an estimated 13,000 to 17,000 voters in Erie County, Pennsylvania, not receiving absentee ballots; and about 3,000 voters in Cobb County, Georgia, who didn’t get ballots. In each case, courts granted extra time for voters to receive and then return ballots.
“This is normal,” Becker said. “This has been handled appropriately.”?Bart Jansen
Trump jokes that Joe Biden likes him more than Kamala Harris
Donald Trump at his rally in North Carolina on Monday morning said that Joe Biden said he liked Trump more than Kamala Harris. Minutes later he clarified that the comment was a joke.
“Here’s news it’s breaking today. Sleepy Joe Biden has announced officially that he likes Trump more than he likes Kamala,” Trump said. The crowd roared with cheers.
Later in his speech, Trump said he was “only kidding about Joe.”
“He didn't officially say that,” Trump said. “When I say it's official. No, no, I'm only kidding.”
Biden has made no such announcement. The president endorsed Harris after he stepped out of the 2024 race in July and has been a vocal supporter of Harris’ campaign ever since.
– Karissa Waddick
Nonpartisan election expert warns against Russian disinformation videos
David Becker, director of the nonpartisan Center for Election Innovation and Research, urged voters Monday to be skeptical of any videos that could be Russian disinformation aimed at dividing Americans in the wake of the presidential election.
One recent example is a viral video showing mail ballots destroyed in Pennsylvania, which federal investigators said was a Russian hoax.
"We're going to see a lot of that," Becker warned. "Any videos you see -- vote flipping, people claiming to have committed voter fraud, people claiming that voter fraud was rampant because of what they saw someone else do. Everyone should be wary of any videos or claims made on social media, the Russians are behind a lot of this."
The federal government has been acting quickly to identify which videos were made by Russians to influence the election, he added.
"It's clearly designed to incite anger on the part of supporters of a losing candidate and divide us as a nation and make us hate our fellow Americans."
-Riley Beggin
Trump promises new tariff, this time on Mexico
Donald Trump vowed to immediately enact a 25% tariff on all goods from Mexico during a rally in Raleigh, N.C. on Monday as punishment if the country doesn’t help the U.S. decrease the flow of immigration.
Trump argued the proposal has an “100% chance of working” because if the 25% tariff doesn’t work, he’ll squeeze the country with a 50% or 75% tariff.
If elected, Trump has proposed enacting a variety of other tariffs, which act as taxes on imported goods, including a 60% tariff on Chinese goods and 10% tariffs on goods from around the world.
The policies are designed to bolster U.S. manufacturing, but economists have said the proposals would raise prices on U.S. consumers and reduce economic growth by leading to retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods.
Tariffs on Mexico could have a widespread impact, as Mexico is the No. 1 trading partner for the U.S.
– Karissa Waddick
Senate polling roundup: Democrats retain advantage in toss-up races, though Republicans have edge on retaking chamber
A wave of polling released Monday and over the weekend continue to show Republicans with an edge on retaking the U.S. Senate. Democrats retain an advantage in key battleground states.
The Cook Political Report has named Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin the four toss-up Senate races. All these seats are currently held by Democrats.
Five new polls from Pennsylvania give Democratic Sen. Bob Casey a 1- to 5-point lead in the Keystone State, while one poll indicates the race is tied and one gives GOP challenger David McCormick a 1-point lead.
Two new Michigan polls found the race between former GOP Rep. Mike Rogers and Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin is tied. Four polls gave Slotkin a lead between 2 and 8 percentage points, while one gave Rogers a 1-point lead.
Four new polls from Wisconsin give incumbent Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin a 1- to 6-point lead, while one poll indicates she is tied with GOP challenger Eric Hovde. One poll gives Hovde a 1-point lead.
And in Ohio -- the toss-up state recognized as most likely to flip to Republicans -- one new poll showed Sen. Sherrod Brown's opponent, Bernie Moreno, with a 1-point lead.
Arizona and Nevada are expected to slightly favor Democrats, and new polls indicate that is still the case. In Nevada, three polls say Democratic incumbent Sen. Jacky Rosen has a 2- to 9-point advantage over Republican candidate Sam Brown, while one has the race tied.
In Arizona, where Democratic Rep. Reuben Gallego is running against former TV anchor Kari Lake, four new polls gave Gallego a 2- to 8-point advantage.
To retake control of the chamber, Republicans only need to flip two seats. They've already got one in the bag: West Virginia, as Democrat-turned-independent Sen. Joe Manchin is retiring and a Republican is sure to win his spot.
Democrats are hoping they can make up for potential losses in Ohio and Montana by beating vulnerable Republicans in Florida and Texas. But two new polls from Morning Consult found voters preferred incumbent Republican Sens. Rick Scott in Florida and Ted Cruz in Texas by 3 percentage points each.
You can read more about each of these polls in detail here.
?Riley Beggin
How to follow results on election night
You can follow along with the USA TODAY Network's hub, which will show election results as they are coming in from around the country especially in critical swing states that could determine the outcome of the campaign between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.
It will also feature the dozens of House and Senate races that will also determine who controls Congress.Live results and analysis will also be featured on USATODAY.com, along with our livestream.
For the first time in its history, the Associated Press will also offer a digital livestream of Tuesday night's US presidential election results. The inaugural AP VoteCast broadcast will include expert discussions, live vote counts and electoral map updates every 30 minutes, as well as rallies, and results from over 35 cameras nationwide.
–Josh Meyer
Is New Hampshire in play for Trump?
Republican vice-presidential nominee JD Vance diverged from his usual swing state stops on Sunday to rally support in New Hampshire just two days before the presidential election.
He predicted a Trump victory in the New England state, which has voted Democratic in every presidential election since 2004. Although, Trump did come close to flipping the state with a libertarian reputation in 2016.
“What we’re doing is expanding the map,” Vance said. “I believe in two days; we will turn New Hampshire red.”
But Trump winning New Hampshire is still a long shot. A recent Saint Anselm College survey of New Hampshire voters showed Harris leading Trump by 5 points, 51%-46%.
– Margie Cullen and Karissa Waddick
Trump escalates violent rhetoric toward media at Pennsylvania rally Sunday
Donald Trump said during a Sunday rally in Pennsylvania that a potential assassin would have to shoot through the news media to hit him.
In a wide-ranging speech Sunday morning in which he also repeated unfounded claims about voter fraud, Trump ramped up his rhetoric against journalists. Pointing to the protective glass surrounding him, he said, “To get me, somebody would have to shoot through the fake news. And I don’t mind that so much. I don’t mind that.”
Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said the president's comments weren't about the press, but instead about his own personal safety in light of the two assassination attempts against him earlier this year.
Trump's comments come as both presidential campaigns have received criticism in recent days for heightened, and at times violent, political rhetoric. Last week, Trump suggested that rifles should be trained on former Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., who has endorsed Harris and become one of the former president's most vocal GOP critics.
– Josh Meyer and Karissa Waddick
When will we know the results on Election Day?
Don't expect final results on election night. Local and state certification deadlines range from two days to more than a month after Nov. 5.
An increase in mail-in ballots amid the COVID pandemic delayed results in 2020. It took four days for votes to be counted and for news outlets to call the race for President Joe Biden. In 2016, the race was called for Donald Trump in the early hours of the next morning.
It is unclear how long vote counting will take this year, but legal challenges may also drag out the process of confirming a winner, as they did in the 2000 election.
– Rachel Barber
What time do the polls open and close?
Most states will allow voters to cast their ballots between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. on Election Day. However, polling hours on Nov. 5 will vary by locations.
For example, in some areas of Vermont, polls will open as early as 5 a.m. and in New York, polls will close as late as 9 p.m. Check with your state or local election office or its website to find the correct time to vote in your area.
USA TODAY’s Voter Guide details everything you need to know about making sure your voice is heard in this year’s general election.
– Rachel Barber
What companies are offering Election Day deals?
Rideshare companies Uber and Lyft are offering discounted trips for voters, while Hertz has a car rental deal, should you need some transportation to the polls on Nov. 5.
Some restaurants are also offering freebies, including Krispy Kreme, which will hand out free Original Glazed doughnuts and "I Voted" stickers at participating U.S. locations on Election Day.
If voters are still hungry as they wait for results to roll in, Grubhub+ members will have access to an array of discounted deals and Uber Eats is offering 25% off on Election Night orders.
– Mike Snider and Rachel Barber
Trump reportedly gets FCC 'equal time' after Kamala Harris appears on NBC’s 'SNL'
NBC filed a notice with the Federal Communications Commission saying it would provide former President Donald Trump with "equal time" following a brief appearance by Vice President Kamala Harris on "Saturday Night Live."
Harris appeared on the sketch comedy show Saturday in a skit offering advice in the mirror to comedian Maya Rudolph, who has played Harris in the leadup to the election.
Following her brief appearance, Republican FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr posted on X that it was a "clear and blatant effort to evade the FCC's Equal Time rule." The Trump appointee suggested NBC should offer equal time to "other qualifying campaigns."
In the notice filed Sunday, NBC said Harris appeared "without charge" on "SNL" for 1 minute and 30 seconds. In response, NBC provided Trump airtime Sunday, allowing him to directly address viewers during the NASCAR 2024 Cup playoff race, CNN's Brian Stelter reported.
The FCC's equal time rule requires American radio and television broadcast stations to provide equal access to competing political candidates. The rules do not apply to cable channels or other video content, including podcasts or social media.
-Josh Meyer
Best 'I voted' sticker designs from USA TODAY readers
Have you voted? Did you forget to grab one of those coveted “I Voted” stickers on your way out?
Don’t fear — USA TODAY is here. Inspired by the creativity of “I Voted” stickers from across the country, we invited readers to send in their own designs. Feel free to print your favorite sticker at home with this downloadable template.
-- Karissa Waddick
Trump’s betting lead over Harris shrinks days before election
Former President Donald Trump betting lead over Vice President Kamala Harris nearly collapsed a few days before the election.
U.K. bookmaker Bet 365 had Trump standing at –188 and Harris at +150 one week ago. However, after backlash from a Trump rally speaker’s statement against Puerto Rico and a new poll showing Harris has a chance in red Iowa, Trump is now standing at –138 and Harris at +120.
Other betting odds have similarly tightened.
The betting favorite has only lost twice since 1866, according to the Conversation, a nonprofit news organization.
-- James Powel and Rachel Barber
Latest New York Times/Siena poll shows Trump, Harris deadlocked in key states
With just hours until Election Day, polls are continuing to show a tight presidential race between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump
Swing state polls published by the New York Times and Sienna College on Sunday showed Kamala Harris narrowly ahead in Nevada, North Carolina, Wisconsin and Georgia, while Trump led in Arizona. Meanwhile, in Pennsylvania and Michigan, two pivotal blue wall states, Harris and Trump were locked in a dead heat.
But the results in every state were within the survey’s margin of error of ±3.5%, meaning the leads could be statistical errors and aren’t definite. Both candidates are counting on winning a combination of the seven swing states to get them to 270 electoral votes in the electoral college.
-- Karissa Waddick
Are banks open on election day?
Branches of Bank of America, Truist, PNC, Capital One, Wells Fargo and other banks will be open their regular hours on Tuesday, Nov. 5.
Other banking services, such as ATMs and online banking, should also be available as usual on Election Day.
-- Gabe Hauari
Is election day a federal holiday?
Election Day is not a federal holiday.
Some states do, however, observe Election Day as a holiday. Most state offices will be closed on the date.Twenty-four states, plus the District of Columbia, offer paid time off to vote.
Some states offer time off for voting but with no pay, including Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts and Wisconsin.
-- Olivia Munson
Where do Trump, Harris stand in the polls?
The 2024 race for the White House is set to be neck-and-neck until Election Day. In Real Clear Politics' average of national polls, Trump leads Harris by just 0.1 percentage points, well within the margin of error for each of the surveys included.
It's also close in crucial swing states. For example, Harris leads Trump by 0.3 percentage points in Real Clear Politics' average of Wisconsin polls.
– Marina Pitofsky
Got election questions? Sign up for USA TODAY's On Politics newsletter for breaking news and exclusive analysis.
Donald Trump schedule for Monday
Donald Trump is sweeping across multiple swing states on Monday.
He'll kick off the last full day of campaigning in North Carolina with a rally in Raleigh. In the afternoon, he's holding two Pennsylvania rallies: One in Reading and one in Pittsburgh.
In the evening, Trump will wrap up the day with a stop in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
– Marina Pitofsky
Kamala Harris schedule for Monday
On Monday, Kamala Harris will wrap up the campaign in Pennsylvania by holding rallies in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, followed by a concert in Allentown featuring rapper Fat Joe and a performance by Frankie Negron, both of whom have Puerto Rican heritage.
Campaign officials say the rally aims to mobilize the Latino community in the Keystone State to get out and vote.
? Terry Moseley
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Election 2024 Monday recap: Trump, Harris make final push for votes