WASHINGTON − Polls opened in the closest presidential race in memory and the legal challenges aren’t far behind.
Both major parties are battling in court over voter rolls, mail-in ballots, election observers and overseas ballots as polls show an incredibly tight contest between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.
Local governments are on guard for violence, having already seen threats Tuesday morning against polling places in Georgia, including a bomb threat that Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said came from Russia and isn’t credible.
Online hoaxes are proliferating as well. The FBI said Tuesday that a fake news clip reports falsely that the FBI stated that Americans should “vote remotely” due to the high terror threat at polling stations.
Election officials are also watching for the equipment failures and software issues that snarled some local vote counts in prior elections. The Pennsylvania Department of State officially moved the end of voting in Cambria County to 10 p.m. Tuesday because software problems with the county’s voting system prevented voters Tuesday morning from scanning their completed ballots.
Sign-up for Your Vote: Text with the USA TODAY elections team.
Trump has refused to commit to accepting Tuesday’s results, and he and many of his supporters assert that only rampant fraud by non-citizen voters could explain a possible loss.
Presidential election live coverage:Latest updates on Donald Trump vs. Kamala Harris
2024 presidential election:Trump supporters expect election fraud and violence
“So now, every polling booth has hundreds of lawyers standing there,” Trump said Sunday at a rally in Lititz, Pennsylvania. Elections officials say, and studies show, that widespread voter fraud is nonexistent.
Last month, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, said a detailed audit had found just 20 noncitizens of more than 8.2 million registered voters in the swing state.
Follow along as the USA TODAY Network brings you news of legal and logistical challenges facing the pivotal 2024 vote.
A Michigan man was arrested Tuesday and charged with threatening a political-action committee that was raising money for the presidential election, the Justice Department announced.
Christopher Pierce, 46, of Jackson, was charged with sending threatening two emails on Oct. 2 that threatened to injure or kill people associated with the PAC, according to the department.
One message Pierce alleged sent said “you better stop or I promise you this is badly for all of you.” Another message mentioned “trained killers =” and said people associated with the PAC have “targets onyour backs and the backs of your families.”
Pierce is charged with making a threatening interstate communication. If convicted, he faces a maximum of five years in prison.
-Bart Jansen
Georgia judge extends voting 20 minutes in two precincts with delayed openings
A Georgia judge extended voting 20 minutes in two Cobb County precincts because polling places opened late on Tuesday.
At the request of the county election board, Cobb County Superior Judge Ann Harris extended the deadline to vote to 7:20 p.m. at Mount Parran Church of God in Marietta and at Kell High School in Kell.
-Bart Jansen
Philly suburbs not expecting election violence
Election officials and voters in the suburb areas around Philadelphia told USA TODAY they largely expect any violence on Election Day to occur in the city rather than the surrounding suburbs. Still, Montgomery County Election Commissioner Jamila Winder said they are prepared for anything that might happen.
“Like our district attorney said, don’t try anything here in Montgomery County because we’ll be ready for it,” she said, referring to Philadelphia Distric Attorney Larry Kranser’s warning yesterday to anyone who would try to intimidate voters.
-Sarah D. Wire
U.S. Capitol Police stop man with torch
The Capitol Police announced on X, formerly Twitter, that they arrested a man with materials that could be used to start a fire.
“Our officers just arrested a man who was stopped during our screening process at the Capitol Visitor Center (CVC). The man smelled like fuel, had a torch & a flare gun,” their post on X said.
“The CVC is closed for tours for the day, while we investigate. We will provide more information when we can.”
-Ben Adler
FBI: election bomb threats ‘appear to originate from Russian email domains’
The FBI announced Tuesday that bomb threats were made to polling locations in several states, and many of the threats “appear to originate from Russian email domains.”
None of the threats have been determined to be credible so far, the agency said.
“We will continue to work closely with our state and local law enforcement partners to respond to any threats to our elections and to protect our communities as Americans exercise their right to vote,” the FBI said in a statement. “As always, we urge the public to remain vigilant and report suspicious activity to state or local law enforcement, or submit tips to the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI.”
-Bart Jansen
MS state representative wants to change ballot order, upset over Trump placement
Mississippi House Rep. Fred Shanks, R-Brandon, posted on Facebook Tuesday morning that he received complaints about the order of candidates for U.S. president, and he now plans to file a bill to “correct” the order in future elections.
Shanks was referring to the fact that Republican nominee and former President Donald Trump is listed fifth on the Mississippi ballot while Democratic nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris is first.
-Grant McLaughlin
Secretary of State in Mississippi reports election workers not placing ballots in machines
Mississippi Secretary of State’s Office Communications Director Elizabeth Jonson said at about 11 a.m. the office received reports of poll workers at Casey Elementary School in Jackson putting ballots inside boxes instead of voting machines.
Jonson said a poll monitor has been sent to ensure those ballots are counted into the machine and assess the situation further.
Jonson also said the office has received several reports of people campaigning with signs within 150 feet of polling locations. Campaign images or signs cannot be posted anywhere inside a polling location.
“That’s definitely an issue,” Jonson said.
Jonson said despite a few hiccups, Election Day is going smoothly.
“It’s been a good election so far,” Jonson said. “It’s extremely busy. It’s been steady. We’re proud of the turnout. We’ve gotten pictures from across the state of lines wrapped around buildings. So obviously, Mississippians are showing up to vote, which we’re most proud of.”
-Grant McLaughlin, Mississippi Clarion Ledger.
Voting issues reported at three locations in Alabama
At least three Alabama sites reported voting problems Tuesday morning, according to election officials and a civil rights organization.
Two tabulators were broken at the Hawkins Park Recreation Center in Birmingham, delaying voting, according to the ACLU of Alabama said. The organization said one tabulator has been replaced by mid-morning, but officials are unsure if or when the second machine will also be replaced.
In the same county, the Center Point Community Center has also reported that two of its voting machines are broken.
In St. Clair County, voting had been delayed due to misprinted ballots, which were missing a statewide amendment and a local one.
-Victor Hagan
Georgia secretary of state elaborates on Russian bomb threat
In an early afternoon press conference, Raffensperger clarified that a bomb threat from Russia that he described Tuesday morning had affected between five and seven precincts in multiple Georgia counties.
Raffensperger indicated the federal government was involved in identifying the threat, but declined to elaborate further on which law enforcement agencies responded or how he knew the threat came from Russia.
He said the threat was dealt with Tuesday morning and law enforcement was on top of it.
– Aysha Bagchi
Police for Atlanta’s Fulton County responded to polling place threats
The Fulton County Police Department said in a Tuesday statement that it has responded to “multiple calls regarding threats” at polling places since the places opened in the morning.
“We have investigated each of these and found no active threats,” the department said.
Two polling places in Union City, Georgia needed to be closed “for a short duration” due to the threats, but are now open, according to the statement.
The department warned that individuals found to have made threats that are disruptive to the voting process will face charges.
Fulton County is home to Atlanta and is Georgia’s most populous county. It is a major source of Democratic votes in the closely divided swing state.
– Aysha Bagchi
RNC walks back claims on election observer limits at Milwaukee polling places
The Republican National Committee conceded in court Tuesday no elections observers were being restricted at Milwaukee’s polling places, walking back claims it made in a lawsuit filed a day earlier on the eve of the 2024 General Election.
The lawsuit was born out of concerns raised during the early in-person absentee voting period, and sought an “immediate” restraining order prohibiting the commission from imposing “arbitrary” restrictions on the number of observers at polling locations, among other relief.
Kevin M. Scott, a lawyer for the RNC, said during a motion hearing that RNC officials toured the city’s Central Count site Monday night and that he had been in contact with observers “at about 10 different sites” on Tuesday.
“There seems to be no issues.” Scott said. “The issues we believed were present are not present any more.”
-Chris Ramirez
Georgia bomb threat blamed on Russians: Raffensperger
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensberger confirmed Tuesday a bomb threat was made against a polling place, but he said it was of Russian origin and not credible.
“In the interest of public safety, you always check that out,” Raffensperger said.
“They’re up to mischief it seems,” he added, about the Russians. “They don’t want us to a smooth, fair and accurate election.”
Russians were also blamed for a cyber attack against his office’s web site on Oct. 14 called a denial-of-service attack. But Raffensperger said the office added a question about whether each visitor to the web site was a human and it curtailed the attack. Georgia received Russian-origin bomb threat: Secretary of stateGeorgia Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said at a Tuesday morning press conference that there have been “some threats” of Russian origin tied to the election. He later clarified he was speaking about “a bomb threat.”
Raffensperger added that he doesn’t think the threats are viable
“In the interest of public safety, we always check that out, and we’ll just continue to be very responsive when we hear about stuff like that,” Raffensperger said.
Raffensperger likened the threat to a thwarted Oct. 14 cyberattack that appeared to be trying to shut down the state’s website for voters to request absentee ballots. Gabriel Sterling, the chief operating officer for the Secretary of State’s Office, said previously that appeared to be a foreign attack.Raffensperger said he is confident the bomb threat came from Russia, although he didn’t explain how he knows that.
“They’re up to mischief it seems, and they don’t want us to have a smooth, fai,r and accurate election,” Raffensperger said.
“That tells you a little bit about the Russians. They are not our friends. Anyone that thinks they are hasn’t been reading the newspapers,” he added.– Aysha Bagchi
Pennsylvania Democratic AG candidate ready to defend state election results
Eugene DePasquale, the Democratic candidate for Attorney General of Pennsylvania, said he is prepared to represent the state in election litigation if it continues past his potential inauguration. He is on the ballot, running against Republican Dave Sunday.
He said his priorities are, “Number one — make sure whoever the voters wanted to be president that that’s who gets ratified in Pennsylvania,” DePasquale said. He said he and his opponent are friendly and are prepared to accept the results of the election.
He said there is most likely to be litigation if the outcome is close, but if a candidate wins by 3 percentage points or more, litigation becomes less likely. He also said he is not concerned about violence, and praised the poll workers inside Ebenezer Baptist Church in Pittsburgh for their hard work.
“There may be a certain individual who candidates on both sides agree may be the biggest cry baby out there on this issue,” DePasquale said, referring to Donald Trump. “I can’t control whether someone who’s nearly 80 years old still hasn’t grown up yet. That’s not my issue. But I think everyone else will be fine.”
— Erin Mansfield
Polls open until 10 p.m. in Cambria County, Pa.
The Pennsylvania Department of State has officially moved the end of voting in Cambria County to 10 p.m. Tuesday.
The decision was made based on a petition by Cambria County Court because software problems with the county’s voting system prevented voters Tuesday morning from scanning their completed ballots. The polling places have had to move to paper ballots, which has resulted in long lines and many people leaving before casting their votes, the state reported.
As of 11 a.m., the software problem still had not been resolved.
-Patrick O’Shea, Somerset Daily American
No ‘major incidents’ Tuesday morning, top N.C. election official says
North Carolina is a critical and closely watched swing state that Democrats are eager to flip and Republicans are confident they can hold in the 2024 presidential contest.
Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the State Board of Elections, said at a press conference Tuesday morning that the Tar Heel State hasn’t had significant issues thus far, including in the areas struck by Hurricane Helene.
“We have not heard reports of any major incidents at any polling places,” she said. “We also have not heard reports of long lines today, it is a good day to go vote.”
Bell stressed how the initial results are unofficial in the days after the election, but that the bipartisan election officials in all 100 counties “will ensure every eligible ballot is counted.”
— Phillip M. Bailey
‘Smooth sailing’: Georgia secretary of state says average line time is two minutes
“So far, it’s just been smooth sailing, by and large,” Georgia Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said of voting on Election Day in the Peach State at a Tuesday morning press conference.
The average line time in Georgia is currently two minutes and the average check-in on electronic poll pads is taking just 49 seconds, he said.
Georgia already saw huge turnout during its early voting period, which closed Friday, with more than 4 million people casting votes. In 2020, about 2.7 million voters cast ballots during the early voting period.
Raffensperger suggested short wait times in the state were boosting voters’ willingness to make their voices heard.
“It’s just solid, steady, and it’s more than you would think because the lines are moving so quickly – people in and out in less than 10 minutes,” he said Tuesday.
– Aysha Bagchi
Federal judge refuses to block DOJ election monitors in Texas, but observers won’t enter polling places
A federal judge rejected a lawsuit Tuesday from Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who sought to block Justice Department observers from monitoring polling places, but federal officials agreed observers wouldn’t enter voting sites.
The department had announced Friday it would send monitors to 86 jurisdictions in 27 states, including eight counties in Texas, one of which includes Houston, to ensure that voting laws are enforced and all eligible voters have access to ballots.
The counties being monitored are Atacosa, Bexar, Dallas, Frio, Harris, Hays, Palo Pinto and Waller.
Paxton filed the lawsuit arguing that monitors infringe on the state’s “constitutional authority to run free and fair elections.” The lawsuit said Texas law lists who may be present at voting locations and counting stations, and federal authorities aren’t included.
U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk refused to block the monitors.
But Paxton declared victory in the dispute after reaching an agreement with federal officials for observers to remain at least 100 feet outside polling places.
“Texans run Texas elections, and we will not be bullied by the Department of Justice,” Paxton said in a statement.
-Bart Jansen
New Mexico election worker dismissed
In Doña Ana County, New Mexico, County Clerk Amanda Lopez Askin confirmed to several media outlets that a poll worker had been dismissed for comments he made on an online platform, patriots.win.
Alfred Cabrales allegedly said he would be willing to secretly record voters on Election Day.
Lopez Askin, said to a KVIA reporter that while Cabrales’ comments were not illegal, his intention was disturbing.
Patriots.win is an online platform, akin to Reddit, that is devoted to supporting Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump.
Cabrales was posted as an election worker at a northern Doña Ana County polling location. Lopez Askin, according to KVIA, said dismissals of election workers are not uncommon.
This story is developing and more information will be shared when it becomes available.
Reported by the staff at the Las Cruces Sun-News.
Pittsburgh trying to count absentees quickly
Pennsylvania is one of only two swing states, the other being Wisconsin, that doesn’t allow absentee ballots to be opened and counted before Election Day, which increases the likelihood of a long wait for results from the Keystone State, whose 19 Electoral College votes may prove decisive to the presidential election outcome.
But the county surrounding Pittsburgh is trying to count those ballots as quickly as possible.
By 9:15 am, Allegheny County had opened the outer envelopes of about 100,000 absentee ballots, according to county spokesperson Abigail Gardner. Absentee ballots have inner secrecy envelopes that need to be opened in order to get the ballot out and put it in a machine to be counted.Gardner previously told USA TODAY she expected the county to process about 250,000 absentee ballots for the election.
-Erin Mansfield and Ben Adler
FBI warns about fake FBI videos claiming ‘high terror threat’ at polling stations, rigged prison voting
The FBI is warning this morning about a fake news video claiming to be an FBI alert telling Americans to “vote remotely” due to a “high terror threat” at polling stations – and another with false claims of rigged prison inmate voting.
In a statement released to USA TODAY, the FBI said it was made aware of “two instances of its name and insignia being misused in promoting false narratives surrounding the election.”
The first, the FBI said, is a “fabricated news clip purporting to be a terrorist warning issued by the FBI.”That fake news clip reports falsely that the FBI purportedly stated that Americans should “vote remotely” due to the high terror threat at polling stations. “This video is not authentic and does not accurately represent the current threat posture or polling location safety,” the FBI said.
Another fabricated video circulating online contains a fake FBI press release that alleges that the management of five prisons in Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Arizona rigged inmate voting and colluded with a political party. “This video is also not authentic, and its contents are false,” the FBI said.
−Josh Meyer
Georgia judge rejects GOP lawsuit that sought to prevent ballot acceptance during weekend
A county judge in Georgia rejected a last-minute Republican lawsuit that sought to prevent election workers in Fulton County from accepting absentee ballots the weekend before Election Day.
The state election law restricted the hours voters could return absentee ballots to drop boxes. In a lawsuit filed Friday, the Republican National Committee and state Republican Party alleged Fulton County officials were violating the law by accepting the ballots outside regular office hours.
But Fulton County Superior Court Judge Kevin Farmer quoted the law aloud to GOP lawyers during an emergency hearing.
“’Such envelope shall then be securely sealed, and the Elector shall then personally mail or personally deliver same to the board of registrars or absentee ballot clerk,’” Farmer said. “That seems to indicate that personal delivery to the registrar and not to a drop box, is kosher. And more than kosher, lawful.”
Republicans filed a second lawsuit in federal court in Savannah on Sunday, making the same argument against accepting ballots in seven Democratic-leaning counties: Chatham, Clarke, Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton and Gwinnett.
The federal court hadn’t ruled on the argument by late Monday.
−Maya Homan, Savannah Morning News
New voter ID law will be tested in N.C.
North Carolina’s elected leaders have been jousting over election regulations months ahead of the 2024 presidential election, but of all the new rules the state’s voter ID law worries Democrats and their allies the most.
They fear it could be used to deter turnout or throw out votes of core constituencies: the elderly, students, racial minorities and low-income voters.
A lawsuit by North Carolina Republicans, for example, blocked University of North Carolina Chapel Hill students using their mobile digital IDs to vote after the State Board of Elections approved the use.
All voters are still allowed to vote with or without a photo ID, according to the board, but voters who cannot show identification must fill out a form explaining why before casting a provisional ballot that is susceptible to being challenged before the final tally is certified.
Matt Mercer, spokesman for the North Carolina GOP, said the state’s record 4.2 million in-person early voting ballots undercuts “radical” Democrat’s criticisms about the law’s impact.
“We trust the voters of North Carolina and their common sense belief that identification should be required,” he said.
−Phillip M. Bailey
Georgia poll worker charged with bomb threat
A Georgia poll worker was arrested Monday and charged with mailing a letter to the Jones County elections superintendent that threatened poll workers.
Nicholas Wimbish, 25, of Milledgeville, Georgia, was serving as a poll worker on Oct. 16 when he had a verbal fight with a voter, according to prosecutors. Later that day, Wimbish allegedly wrote a letter posing as the voter to the county elections superintendent that said Wimbish and others “will get the treason punishment by firing squad if they fight back” and women would get “rage rape,” according to prosecutors. The handwritten note concluded: “PS boom toy in early vote place, cigar burning, be safe.”
Wimbish is charged with mailing a bomb threat, conveying false information about a bomb threat, mailing a threatening letter and making false statements to the FBI. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison.
−Bart Jansen
RNC sues Milwaukee Election Commission over polling observer rules
The Republican National Committee filed a lawsuit Monday accusing the Election Commission in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, of “arbitrarily” limiting the number of observers during early voting and on Election Day, which officials denied.
The lawsuit argued the city would limit observers to one Republican and one Democrat at polling locations Tuesday, casting “doubt on the administration of our elections” and causing “a lack of voter confidence in our electoral process.”
But the commission’s executive director, Paulina Gutiérrez, said state law allows reasonable limitations on observers. The Republican Party was never denied the presence of an observer during early voting or on Election Day, she said.
−Allison Dirr, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Russia ramps up effort to push fake news, US intelligence agencies say
Russia is ramping up its effort to undermine the legitimacy of the election by spreading fake news stories about how officials in key battleground states are preparing to commit election fraud, U.S. intelligence agencies say.
Although other countries like Iran and China are meddling somewhat in the election as they have in the past, “Russia is the most active threat,” according to a joint statement released Monday night by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).
“Influence actors linked to Russia in particular are manufacturing videos and creating fake articles to undermine the legitimacy of the election, instill fear in voters regarding the election process, and suggest Americans are using violence against each other due to political preferences,” the agencies said. “We anticipate Russian actors will release additional manufactured content with these themes through election day and in the days and weeks after polls close.”
The new warning is the latest in a series of bulletins from the intelligence agencies warning about Russia’s efforts to manipulate public opinion in the U.S. to help elect former President Donald Trump and smear his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris.
—Josh Meyer
Where are the violent groups of the 2020 election?
Threats of political violence, intimidation and insurrection have surged across the online extremist ecosystem in recent weeks, driven by a network of conspiracy theorists, disinformation peddlers and propagandists.
With tensions and rhetoric sky-high, experts who monitor domestic extremists say they’re watching for what many feel is an inevitable violent post-election showdown, possibly along the lines of the Jan. 6 insurrection.
They also note that 2024 is different from 2020.
The pro-Trump groups and communities that helped organize the Jan. 6 Capitol riot remain largely fragmented and have barely been seen in public for years. Trump, while still drawing crowds, does not have a track record post-2020 of organizing mass protests. And, perhaps most crucially, disgruntled members of the far-right have not, so far, gathered on the streets in the same way they did in the run-up to the 2020 election, said Megan Squire, deputy director for data analytics at the Southern Poverty Law Center.
−Will Carless
State-by-state election results
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Thousands of Pennsylvania ballots challenged
Thousands of Pennsylvania ballots have been challenged by questioning the eligibility of overseas voters.
By Saturday, state officials counted more than 3,600 total challenges to overseas ballot applications. These included 1,200 in Bucks County, 350 in York County and 127 in Beaver County.
The challenges came after the dismissal of a federal lawsuit filed by six Republican congressmen who wanted the state to set aside military and overseas ballots for additional vetting. The Bucks County challenges were filed by state GOP Sen. Jarrett Coleman, according to county spokesman Jim O’Malley.
Voting rights groups condemned the challenges, which they said were made by election deniers. Deborah Hinchey, state director of the advocacy group All Voting is Local Pennsylvania, said “these baseless challenges have failed before and the proper checks and balances are in place to make sure they’ll fail again.”
−Bethany Rodgers, The Erie Times-News
Influential bar association leaders put lawyers on notice not to file politically motivated election lawsuits
A group of 125 current and past presidents of the country’s local, state and national bar associations have signed a letter putting lawyers on notice of their professional obligations – including not filing false lawsuits in an effort to overturn an election result they don’t like.
The letter, published Monday night and organized by the American Bar Association’s Task Force for American Democracy, noted that dozens of lawsuits in seven swing states have already been filed this year, including one new lawsuit per day in October, citing news reports.
“Many of these lawsuits aim to tighten ballot rules by purging voter lists and imposing stricter requirements on mail voting, even though there is no evidence of widespread voter fraud,” the letter said. “A baseless lawsuit not only squanders judicial resources but also undermines the public’s trust in our democracy and our profession.”
The letter noted how some 628 legal cases were filed following the 2020 election, alleging fraud or impropriety, “and they were overwhelmingly unsuccessful,” and often filed without legal merit.
“As such, lawsuits must be grounded in fact, supported by law and free from improper motives,” the bar association members said. “This ethical foundation prevents the courts from being misused to sow confusion, pursue a political agenda or harass opponents.”
—Josh Meyer
Election Day violence:How likely is it? Here’s what experts predict.
Trump-aligned group says it’s suing no matter what
A Trump-aligned group that has filed lawsuits in several swing states challenging voter registration lists is already planning to sue over this year’s election results, one of the group’s founders told USA TODAY.
“We feel compelled to file in defense of this beautiful country,” said Marly Hornik, who co-founded United Sovereign Americans in 2023. “We already have signs and numbers coming in of errors inside of the process.”
The organization, which describes itself as nonpartisan, is regularly represented by Bruce Castor, a lawyer for former President Donald Trump in his impeachment trial for the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
Fence around While House:A signal of unease for visitors and voters
Election results:Trump-aligned group is already planning lawsuits
Lawsuits from both the group and Republican organizations suggest widespread voter fraud could be happening – without providing proof that it is.
The claims feed into the false narrative from former President Donald Trump that he didn’t lose the 2020 election, which critics fear is a precursor to claiming similar election theft if he loses again. Numerous counts and audits showed President Joe Biden won the last presidential election. Nearly all of more than 60 lawsuits from Trump allies in the wake of that election failed.
−Aysha Bagshi
For N.C. activists, ‘E-Day’ isn’t the end
Americans eager for the 2024 presidential race to end may not get their wish on Tuesday as Kamala Harris and Donald Trump’s allies are gaming out a prolonged election battle.
The Harris campaign told reporters Monday the country might not know the election result “for several days,” given the different count rules in the seven critical swing states. Few places will be as closely watched as North Carolina, where Trump defeated then-candidate Joe Biden by 73,697 votes, or 1.3%, four years ago, his narrowest victory in any state in 2020.
“No one here actually expects full resolution on E-Day,” Todd Zimmer, co-founder of Down Home Carolina, a progressive-leaning nonprofit group, told USA Today, referring to Election Day.
In a memo provided to USA Today, the group, which focuses on organizing in rural areas, advised its canvassers to be ready to help fix voter’s provisional ballots in case of a recount scenario where those votes could be challenged. He said many activists, whether liberal or conservative, anticipate days or possibly weeks of administrative jockeying and legal maneuvering over election rules.
“It almost seems the foregone conclusion is we expect a recount or some kind of post-election activity to secure the popular vote beyond the vote itself, and that does feel new,” Zimmer said.
−Phillip M. Bailey
Federal judge in Missouri rejects GOP request to bar DOJ monitors from polling sites
A federal judge rejected an attempt Monday by Republican Missouri officials to block election monitors from the Justice Department at polling places in St. Louis on Election Day.
The department had announced Friday that St. Louis was one of 86 jurisdictions in 27 states where federal monitors would be posted to ensure election officials complied with federal voting laws.
The St. Louis monitoring falls under a settlement agreement between the city and the department over compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey and Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft filed a lawsuit Monday to block the federal monitors by arguing they had no permit to enter polling locations. But U.S. District Judge Sarah Pitlyk cited the settlement agreement, which runs through July 11, 2025, to justify the monitors watching for potential irregularities.
“In practical terms, the expected harm is monitoring by two individuals at one polling place to ensure compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, as contemplated by an agreement that has been in place for several years, and as already done at least twice without incident,” Pitlyk wrote.−Bart Jansen