2024 election updates: With 1 week to go, Harris speaks in Washington, Trump stumps in Pennsylvania

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Last updated: Wednesday, October 30, 2024 3:53AM GMT
Harris speaks in DC as Trump stumps in Pa.
Harris speaks in DC as Trump stumps in Pa.Kamala Harris is urging voters to reject Donald Trump's efforts to sow division and fear, declaring, "It doesn't have to be this way."

As the race reaches one week until Election Day, Kamala Harris delivered her "closing argument" on The Ellipse -- in the same spot where Donald Trump allied his supporters on Jan. 6, 2021, to march on the U.S. Capitol nearby.

Trump tried to preempt Harris's remarks, speaking to reporters Tuesday morning at Mar-a-Lago after declaring he's "the opposite of a Nazi" on Monday night in Georgia. He holds a rally later in Allentown, Pennsylvania, where there is a large population of Puerto Rican Americans.

Kamala Harris will promise to "put country above party and above self" in the closing argument of her presidential campaign. Trump is trying to recast his NYC rally marked by raci
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Oct 29, 2024, 9:56 PM

More than 51 million Americans have voted early

As of 4:40 p.m. ET on Tuesday, more than 51 million Americans have voted early, according to the Election Lab at the University of Florida.

Of the total number of early votes, 26,855,025 were cast in person and 24,573,128 were returned by mail

There is now just one week until Election Day.

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Oct 29, 2024, 10:25 AM GMT

Comedian's disparaging Puerto Rico joke sparks backlash in battleground Pennsylvania

Tony Hinchcliffe's comments about Puerto Rico at Madison Square Garden is being felt in Pennsylvania, a key battleground state home to a significant number of Puerto Rican voters.

Michael Rivera, a Republican raised in Puerto Rico who serves on the Board of Commissioners in Berks County, condemned the joke in a statement to ABC News Monday night, calling it "not only appalling but deeply disrespectful."

"Such comments overlook the value of a people of rich cultural heritage and the significant contributions of Puerto Ricans to the United States," he added.

Rivera said he "appreciate(s) the Trump campaign's decision to distance themselves from (Hinchcliffe's) comments," but he told ABC News that a statement from Trump himself "would go a long way" toward appeasing Puerto Rican voters upset by the joke.

Rivera said he remained committed to voting for Trump, citing his record. However, he said some in his community are considering changing their vote after Hinchcliffe's comment.

-ABC News' Will McDuffie

ABCNews logo
Oct 29, 2024, 9:56 PM GMT

More than 51 million Americans have voted early

As of 4:40 p.m. ET on Tuesday, more than 51 million Americans have voted early, according to the Election Lab at the University of Florida.

Of the total number of early votes, 26,855,025 were cast in person and 24,573,128 were returned by mail

There is now just one week until Election Day.

ABCNews logo
Oct 29, 2024, 12:56 PM GMT

Harris in hot mic moment says her campaign is struggling with male voters

During a stop in Kalamazoo, Michigan, at Trak-Houz Bar & Grill where Vice President Kamala Harris and the state's governor, Gretchen Whitmer, were grabbing a beer, a hot mic caught Harris discussing that her campaign is struggling with male voters.

"So, everyone agrees that we need to move the ground with men," Harris said. She goes on to look around at the cameras, saying, "Oh, we have microphones in here just listening to everything. I didn't realize that. We just told all the family secrets. S---," she said while laughing.

On the record, Harris flat-out rejects that she has any issues with male voters. "It's not what I see in terms of my rallies, in terms of the interactions I'm having with people in communities and on the ground," Harris said at a campaign stop in Philadelphia last week.

"What I am seeing is in equal measure, men and women talking about their concerns about the future of our democracy, talking about the fact that they want a president who leads with optimism and takes on the challenges that we face, whether it be grocery prices or investing in small businesses or home ownership," Harris said at the time.

The vice president's campaign has notably been doing extensive outreach to male voters. The campaign announced on Sunday that they were focusing on outreach during NFL games, 3v3 games and Twitch streams to mobilize and activate fans. They also launched Athletes for Harris, co-chaired by Magic Johnson, and have placed ads on fantasy sports, sports betting and sports news sites in an effort to close the gap with male voters.

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Oct 28, 2024, 10:05 PM GMT

Republicans ask US Supreme Court to block some provisional ballots in Pennsylvania

Republicans on Monday asked the U.S. Supreme Court for an emergency order in Pennsylvania that could result in thousands of votes not being counted in this year's election in the battleground state.

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro carries his mail-in ballot to a dropbox on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024, in Abington, Pa.
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro carries his mail-in ballot to a dropbox on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024, in Abington, Pa.

Just over a week before the election, the court is being asked to step into a dispute over provisional ballots cast by Pennsylvania voters whose mail ballots are rejected for not following technical procedures in state law.

The state's high court ruled 4-3 that elections officials must count provisional ballots cast by voters whose mail-in ballots were voided because they arrived without mandatory secrecy envelopes.

The election fight arrived at the Supreme Court the same day Virginia sought the justices' intervention in a dispute over purging voter registrations.

In their high-court filing, state and national Republicans asked for an order putting the state court ruling on hold or, barring that, requiring the provisional ballots be segregated and not included in the official vote count while the legal fight plays out.