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Election 2020 updates: Trump delivers shorter speech in chilly Pennsylvania

Trump holds a rally in Pennsylvania while Biden is prepping for their debate.

ByLibby Cathey
Last Updated: October 21, 2020, 9:09 AM EDT

With 14 days to go until Election Day, and President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden racing toward Nov. 3, voters are turning out in record numbers to cast their ballots early.

Roughly 35 million Americans have already voted in the 2020 election, reflecting an extraordinary level of participation and interest despite unprecedented barriers brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.

In the final weeks of campaigning, the president remains on defense as his approval rating drags. He's hosting rallies this week mostly in states he won in 2016 including Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia.

Biden, maintaining a nationwide lead in polls -- his largest lead of the election, according to FiveThirtyEight's average -- has no public events on his schedule this week so far ahead of Thursday's final presidential debate with Trump. Staying off the trail ahead of debates is a pattern for the former vice president.

Polls indicate a huge pre-Election-Day edge for Biden and a sizable Trump advantage among those who plan to vote on Nov. 3 itself. Trump has sowed doubt in the mail-in ballot process -- and imminent election results -- for months.

The rhetoric between candidates is expected to heat up ahead of their second and final showdown in Nashville.

All 50 states plus Washington, D.C., currently have some form of early voting underway. Check out FiveThirtyEight’s guide to voting during the COVID-19 pandemic here.

Latest headlines

Here is how the day is unfolding. All times Eastern.
Oct 20, 2020, 5:20 PM EDT

Trump to campaign in Pennsylvania without Melania

Struggling in the polls in battleground Pennsylvania and targeting the votes of suburban women, Trump had hoped for an assist from his wife Melania Trump at a rally this evening, but a "lingering cough" from her recent bout with the coronavirus scuttled the plan, according to the first lady's spokeswoman.

Instead, the president will make the trip to the northeastern Pennsylvania city of Erie without her, part of an attempt to defend his narrow win in Pennsylvania in 2016. Fewer than 2,000 votes separated him from his Democratic opponent, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Four years earlier, then-President Barack Obama won the state by nearly 17%.

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump on stage after the first presidential debate between Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, Sept. 29, 2020, in Cleveland.
Win Mcnamee/Getty Images

Recent polls have shown former Biden with a clear lead in Pennsylvania. In a Quinnipiac poll released Oct. 7, the Democratic nominee led by 13% among likely voters. A poll from Monmouth University published the day prior showed a similar lead, with Biden up 12% among registered voters. FiveThirtyEight's Pennsylvania polling average shows Biden leading by 6.4%.

-ABC News’ Jordyn Phelps and Ben Gittleson

Oct 20, 2020, 4:50 PM EDT

Biden tests negative for COVID-19

Biden underwent testing for COVID-19 today and tested negative, his campaign said.

Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden waves as he arrives at The Queen theatre in Wilmington, Del., Oct. 19, 2020.
Carolyn Kaster/AP

This is Biden's twelfth negative test the campaign has announced since Trump tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this month.

-ABC News' Molly Nagle

Oct 20, 2020, 4:37 PM EDT

Former Trump fundraiser pleads guilty to illegal lobbying

Former Republican National Committee finance co-chair and top Trump campaign fundraiser Elliott Broidy pleaded guilty today to conspiring to violate foreign lobbying laws.

Elliott Broidy poses for a photo at an event in New York, Feb. 27, 2008.
David Karp/AP, FILE

Prosecutors said during the plea hearing Broidy agreed to take an $8 million retainer from Jho Low, a Malaysian fugitive, in exchange for asking the administration to drop its investigation into the theft of billions from a Malaysian government investment fund. The effort was ultimately unsuccessful.

Broidy must forfeit $6 million dollars as part of the plea agreement. 

-ABC News' Aaron Katersky

Oct 20, 2020, 4:23 PM EDT

Florida's Latino voters being bombarded with right-wing misinformation, advocates say

Misinformation and conspiracy theories swirling around the 2020 presidential race are reaching an "alarming" number of Latino voters in Florida through Spanish language social media sites, advocacy groups and elected officials said.

"Official ballot drop box" signs are seen at Westchester Regional Library in Miami, Florida on October 19, 2020.
Eva Marie Uzcategui/AFP via Getty Images

The experts voiced concern that the barrage of misleading messages about Biden and the coronavirus, often containing right-wing conspiracy theories, could swing the vote in the state, where Latinos account for 17% of registered voters, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of Florida state government data.

Advocates pointed to Republicans and Trump as some of the sources of disinformation flooding Latinos' social media feeds, but the full picture regarding the origins of the information was not immediately clear.

-ABC News' Laura Romero