As the race reaches one week until Election Day, Kamala Harris is set to deliver her “closing argument” Tuesday night on The Ellipse — in the same spot where Donald Trump rallied 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.
Latest Developments
Oct 29, 6:00 PM
Walz says Harris speech will be ‘spectacular’
Gov. Tim Walz said Tuesday that Harris’ speech at the Ellipse would be “spectacular,” while adding that it isn’t “by chance” that she’s delivering her campaign’s closing message there.
“Vice President is going to give a spectacular speech tonight on the Ellipse, and it’s not by chance that it’s there, because she’s going to highlight the promise of America versus the chaos,” he said at Iron Black Coffee Co. in Columbus, Georgia, where he was meeting with the Educators for Harris-Walz coalition.
-ABC News’ Isabella Murray
Oct 29, 6:27 PM
Maricopa County officials lay out Election Day security plan
Officials in Maricopa County, Arizona, the fourth largest county in the country, said Tuesday they’ve been planning for years to secure polling locations and the tabulation center on Election Day.
The county, which has been at the center of election conspiracy theories and threats since 2020, will have one of the most intense security operations in the country with patrols on horseback and drones for surveillance and security cameras, according to Maricopa County Sheriff Russ Skinner.
Skinner told reporters there haven’t been “a lot of threats” this year but expects to see more as Election Day approaches and in the days after.
“There is no place in politics or this process that criminal activity is allowed and there is zero tolerance that we as public safety will take in relative any type of criminal act or any type of issue that arises,” Skinner said. “We want this to be a safe and secure process.”
During the press conference, Maricopa County Supervisor Bill Gates said that an individual with a hidden camera recently recorded a county training and posted videos and photos of election workers on social media.
“Election workers are off limits, they should be off limits,” Gates said. “They should not be threatened. They should not have their names and images put out there. And I have full confidence we’re not going to see that from this point on.”
Gates added that the county has received over 1 million early ballots and said that for the first time since 2006, there will be a two-page ballot which will mean it will take more time than usual to fill out ballots.
The county has increased the number of voting booths and staff to mitigate long lines at the polls.
-ABC News’ Laura Romero
Oct 29, 5:38 PM
Pennsylvania Puerto Ricans think controversial comments from comedian hurt Trump
Several Puerto Ricans in battleground Pennsylvania say the controversial comments a comedian made about Puerto Ricans at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally over the weekend will hurt the former president in his quest for the White House.
Ramon Martinez, who is a co-owner with his brother and wife of Mofongo, a Dominican/Puerto Rican restaurant in Reading, Pennsylvania, spoke with ABC News’ Terry Moran after the rally where Tony Hinchcliffe made the joke. Martinez said the comments will play a role with the decisions from undecided Latino voters.
“I think that they will take one side when they hear what we heard last night,” Martinez said.
Asked if Hinchcliffe’s comments could hurt Trump, Martinez said “yes, I strongly believe that.”
“Every time they speak, they put down the immigrants, the Latinos. I don’t think that’s the right way to get the Latino vote.”
Moran spoke with the voters ahead of Trump’s Tuesday evening rally in Allentown, Pennsylvania — a town with a significant Puerto Rican population.
-ABC News’ Eric Fayeulle and Terry Moran
Oct 29, 5:01 PM
Supreme Court rejects RFK Jr. appeals to be removed from 2 state ballots
The U.S. Supreme Court denied Tuesday evening Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s request for an injunction ordering the Wisconsin Election Commission to use stickers to cover his name on the state’s presidential ballot.
The court did not elaborate on its decision in a single-sentence order and there were no noted dissents.
The court also denied Kennedy’s appeal that sought to make Michigan reprint election ballots without his name.
The court did not elaborate on the decision, however, Justice Neil Gorsuch, in the sole noted dissent, indicated that he would have granted the injunction.
Gorsuch cited as his rationale the reasons given by several dissenting conservative members of a federal appeals court panel which had earlier weighed the case.
That minority in the appeals court had concluded that denying a federal candidate the ability to withdraw from the ballot may have infringed on his First Amendment rights.
Oct 29, 4:54 PM
Harris to spend election night at Howard University: Sources
Vice President Kamala Harris will spend election night at Howard University, her alma mater, two sources familiar with the planning told ABC News.
Harris graduated from the Washington, D.C., HBCU in 1986.
She used the campus to practice for ABC News’s debate in August and occasionally worked from an office on campus while campaigning during her 2019 bid for the presidency.
-ABC News’ Gabriella Abdul-Hakim
Oct 29, 5:06 PM
Florida election worker fired after ballots fell out of truck
An election worker in Miami-Dade County, Florida, was fired after a sealed bag of ballots fell out of a truck, according to election officials.
The Miami-Dade County Elections Department said in a statement Tuesday that the worker forgot to lock the back of a truck and as they drove off, one sealed bag fell out, containing completed ballots from early voting. Residents who observed the incident in real time recovered the bag and drove the items to a local police station.
Despite the incident occurring due to human error, the employee was terminated, the county officials said. All the ballots were accounted for.
“While unintentional, the Elections Department has a zero tolerance for error and therefore the employee was terminated,” the statement said.
-ABC News’ Laura Romero
Oct 29, 5:15 PM
Biden says he’ll be watching Harris’ speech: ‘It’s her night’
President Joe Biden, during a stop at a local ice cream shop in Maryland, told ABC News’ Justin Gomez he will be tuning into Harris’ speech tonight at the Ellipse.
When asked why he is not attending, Biden responded: “Because it’s for her. Because it’s her night.”
Oct 29, 4:11 PM
A preview of what Harris will say in her Ellipse speech
According to excerpts of Harris’ speech, as prepared for delivery, she will go after Trump for the dark language he has used to describe his political opponents and pitch herself in contrast as someone who will govern for all Americans.
“Donald Trump intends to use the United States military against American citizens who simply disagree with him. People he calls ‘the enemy from within.’ This is not a candidate for president who is thinking about how to make your life better,” she will say.
Harris will describe Trump as “unstable” and “obsessed with revenge.”
“But America, I am here tonight to say: that’s not who we are,” Harris will say.
She will then pivot to her optimistic plan for improving people’s lives.
“I offer a different path. And I ask for your vote. And here is my pledge to you: I pledge to seek common ground and common sense solutions to make your lives better. I am not looking to score political points. I am looking to make progress,” she will say.
-ABC News’ Fritz Farrow, Gabriella Abdul-Hakim and Will McDuffie
Oct 29, 4:11 PM
Jennifer Lopez to campaign with Harris this week
The Harris campaign announced Jennifer Lopez will give remarks in Las Vegas on Thursday. The event will also feature a performance by Maná.
Lopez was one of several Hispanic celebrities to show support for Harris this week after comedian Tony Hinchcliffe called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage” at Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden.
Oct 29, 6:05 PM
North Carolina sees above-average turnout in counties impacted by Helene
Nearly 3.2 million North Carolinians — more than 40% of the state’s registered voters — have voted in the 2024 general election.
Notably, voter turnout in the 25 western North Carolina counties hardest hit by Hurricane Helene is outpacing the overall state turnout rate. The high turnout rate comes as Republican state legislators have raised concerns about voting access in western North Carolina.
Following Helene, the North Carolina State Board of Elections passed a series of measures to expand voting access in the counties impacted by the storm.
Early in-person voting in the state has increased by 2% compared to 2020.
-ABC News’ Peter Charalambous
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