With just a day of campaigning left, the two candidates rally in key states as the bitter presidential race nears an end.
- US President Donald Trump is set to hold five rallies in four states – North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin – on the final day of campaigning.
- His Democratic rival Joe Biden will spend most of the day in Pennsylvania with a stop in Ohio, while former President Barack Obama stumps for him in Georgia and Florida.
- In the final days of campaigning, Trump and his surrogates have continually pushed baseless claims that votes counted after election day are evidence of malfeasance.
- With just one day until election day, more than 95 million US citizens have already voted, far outpacing early voting in any past elections and accounting for 69.2 percent of all votes counted in 2016.
Hello and welcome to Al Jazeera’s continuing coverage of the US elections. This is Farah Najjar, Joseph Stepansky and William Roberts.
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‘Take a breath’: Kamala Harris prepares for election
Joe Biden’s running mate Kamala Harris has just signed off for the night on Twitter, urging voters to get a good night’s sleep.
“Take a breath,” she said. “We got this.”
Facebook to add labels to posts claiming early victory
Facebook says it will add information labels to any posts by candidates claiming “premature victory” in the US election.
The platform will add specific information in top-of-feed notifications and continue showing the latest results in its voting information centre. It will also monitor for voter suppression attempts, and remove offending posts.
“We are monitoring closely and will remove content calling for coordinated harm or interference with anybody’s ability to vote,” the company said.
Twitter, Facebook flag Trump tweet on mail-in ballots
Social media platforms Twitter and Facebook have both flagged a post by US President Donald Trump that called a US Supreme Court decision on voting in Pennsylvania “very dangerous.”
The US Supreme Court last week allowed extended deadlines for receiving mail-in ballots in Tuesday’s election in Pennsylvania and North Carolina, states pivotal to Trump’s re-election chances.
Twitter said the content of Trump’s tweet was “disputed” and “might be misleading”.
Facebook said that voting by mail and voting in person have a “history of trustworthiness” in the US, with voter fraud being extremely rare.
CDC issues advisory for voters to reduce spread of COVID-19 on election day
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued an advisory for voters casting their ballot in the US to help contain the spread of COVID-19.
Voters have been advised to avoid crowded ride-sharing services, buses, or trains when heading to polling stations.
And voters driving their own vehicle to their voting district, are also advised to check the voter line, and join only when the queue is shorter.
When voting, individuals are also advised to keep at least six feet apart from other people.
“Wear a mask around others, and wash your hands before and after voting – or if that’s not possible, use an alcohol-based hand sanitiser with at least 60 percent alcohol.”
Democratic US vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris waves ahead of giving remarks during an event, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on the eve of the November 3 presidential election [Jonathan Ernst/Reuters]
‘Like a rock concert’, Trump rally in Wisconsin draws thousands
Outside a Trump rally in Kenosha, Wisconsin, bumper-to-bumper traffic snaked along an open road winding through empty corn fields before giving way to parking lots full of cars and trucks festooned with Trump and Thin Blue Line flags, Al Jazeera’s Cinnamon Janzer reports.
Tables teem with pro-Trump and anti-Biden merchandise. The road reveals a cluster of shuttle buses loaded with rally goers. Middle-aged male passengers mumble about the poor treatment of the “elegant, smart, beautiful” first lady Melania Trump while an elderly woman wishes Minnesota would rid themselves of “that lady,” referring to Ilhan Omar.
A line of people encircles the Kenosha Regional Airport hours before Trump is scheduled to appear. The growing crowd is clad in hats, blankets, and mittens to stave off cold winds whipping through the open landscape. The ‘Pledge of Allegiance’ barked over loudspeakers.
Inside, a family from Illinois’ offered reasons for making an hour-and-a-half drive north.
“It’s amazing. It’s like a concert,” said Greg Seigpiel, describing the last four years under Trump’s presidency as the best of his life. His wife, Tammi, who voted for Obama in 2008 out of a distaste for McCain, is motivated by “capitalism over socialism.”
College student, Ava, aged 19, is “sick and tired of suppressing my beliefs. I want to be around people who also share the same views as me and the silent majority I feel is coming up.”
Chants of “four more years” began to ring out from the crowd.
Festooned in Trump gear, thousands drove for miles and waited in line for hours to hear President Donald Trump speak at the Kenosha Regional Airport in Kenosha, Wisconsin on November 2, 2020 [Cinnamon Janzer/Al Jazeera]Lady Gaga stumps for Biden at final campaign event in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
American singer and songwriter Lady Gaga campaigned with Joe Biden and Jill Biden in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to increase turnout for Biden in the crucial swing state, Al Jazeera’s Hilary Beaumont reports.
“I’m going to keep this very simple: if you believe in Joe Biden and you haven’t already voted, make a plan to get to the polls tomorrow. Turnout is going to be critical, so get there early,” Gaga said, removing her glitter “VOTE” mask to speak.
“I know you’ve seen the polls, the record number of mail-in and early votes, it’s tempting to feel comfortable and confident and sit back. But now is not a time,” Gaga said.
“Now is a time to show up and vote like this country depends on it, because it does,” she said. The crowd at the outdoor rally cheered and honked their horns. “We all know that this thing may come down to Pennsylvania. We need you.”
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden with Lady Gaga, right, at the University of Pittsburgh [Andrew Harnik/AP Photo]Obama in Miami, criticises Trump for failures, urges votes for Biden
“If there was a Democrat who was behaving this way, the way our current president does, I couldn’t support him,” former President Barack Obama said of Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Miami, Florida.
“If I saw a Democrat who was lying every single day, I mean, the fact-checkers can’t keep up. It’s like over and over again. Yeah, I would say, ‘Well I don’t’,” said Obama who returned to Florida to urge Democrats who have not voted yet to go to the polls on Election Day.
“That’s not the example I want. I don’t trust that person to manage the country’s affairs, because… because it’s violating the values that we try to live by. And these are the values we try to teach our kids,” Obama said.
“They’re not White values. They’re not Black voters. They’re not Latino values, or Asian-American values. They are American values. And we have to reclaim them,” he said.
Former President Barack Obama at a rally in Miami urged Democrats who have not yet cast ballots to vote on Election Day [Lynne Sladky/AP Photo]Trump claims improvement in trade, manufacturing jobs at rally in Michigan. Hits Biden as a ‘globalist’.
“Joe Biden is a globalist who spent 47 years outsourcing your jobs, opening your borders and sacrificing American blood and treasure in endless, ridiculous foreign wars,” Trump told a large crowd of supporters in Traverse City, Michigan.
