With six days until Election Day, and President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden racing toward Nov. 3, more than 71 million Americans have voted early so far -- a record.
The president continues an aggressive, defensive campaign as polls show him trailing nationally and in several battleground states key to his reelection hopes. He has back-to-back rallies in Arizona Wednesday.
Sen. Kamala Harris, the Democratic vice-presidential nominee, is also in Arizona making stops in Tucson and Phoenix. Biden will deliver remarks on his plan to beat COVID-19 from Wilmington, Delaware.
Vice President Mike Pence, meanwhile, has campaign rallies in the battleground states of Wisconsin and Michigan.
Here is how the day is developing. All times Eastern.
Oct 28, 2020, 8:47 PM EDT
Trump wraps up Goodyear, Arizona, rally
After relentlessly downplaying the virus at recent rallies this week, disparaging testing, and complaining about the media's continued coverage of the worst pandemic in a century that continues to surge -- Trump at his Goodyear, Arizona, rally appeared to pull back those comments a bit.
The president did not mention the word "COVID," as he has been, often repeating it multiple times seemingly exasperated by having to discuss the virus.
President Donald Trump arrives for a campaign rally at Phoenix Goodyear Airport, Oct. 28, 2020, in Goodyear, Ariz.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Trump also didn't explicitly say "we are rounding the turn" or try to uses testing as an excuse for the surging cases. But the president did continue to claim he's done "a great job we've done in fighting the China virus," and claimed he was "immune" while sharing a fist-bump on stage with Sen. Rand Paul. The immunity duration after contracting COVID-19 remains unknown, according to experts.
-ABC News' Will Steakin
Oct 28, 2020, 8:02 PM EDT
How DC officials perform signature verifications
ABC News Live got an exclusive look at how election officials in Washington, D.C., perform signature verifications before mail-in ballots are counted.
Trained staff manually inspect each handwritten script and visually compare it to an electronic version associated with the voter's driver's license or other official record.
The Supreme Court has denied a GOP request to block a six-day extension of the mail ballot deadline in North Carolina which was imposed by the state board of elections.
The decision was 5-3, with Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh joining the liberal justices. Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch would have granted an emergency injunction.
"Such last-minute changes by largely unaccountable bodies invite confusion, risk altering election outcomes, and in the process threaten voter confidence in the results," Gorsuch wrote in the dissent.
Justice Amy Coney Barrett took no part in the decision, the court said, because "of the need for a prompt resolution and because she has not had time to fully review the parties’ filings."
-ABC News Senior Washington Reporter Devin Dwyer
Oct 28, 2020, 7:46 PM EDT
Some National Guardsmen to be called up to help at polling places
National Guardsmen will be called up in some states on Election Day as election workers or to facilitate the opening of polling places to help make up for shortfalls of poll workers as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Voters won't know that they are National Guardsmen, however because they're being called to active duty to serve as state government employees helping out on Election Day, so they won't be wearing uniforms or carrying weapons.
Behind the scenes, National Guard cyber units have helped with the security of state computer systems and will be able to help out state IT teams if there are issues on Election Day.
Wisconsin and Tennessee will have National Guardsmen helping out at polling centers. In Wisconsin they'll be working as poll workers and helping with cleaning and providing sanitary supplies to the locations. Guardsmen in Tennessee are not allowed to serve as poll workers, so they'll be facilitating the opening of polling centers.
Nebraska's Maj. Gen. Daryl Bohac reiterated that guardsmen helping out as poll workers will essentially be civilians and if there's a need for security assistance because of violence or a threat of violence, they'll be calling 911 for law enforcement assistance, just like any other civilian.
In Washington state, "the biggest thing they're looking at is potential intrusion into the system. So looking at firewalls, looking at the status of the Vote Washington system," said Brig. Gen. Gent Welsh, Washington's Assistant Adjutant General. "Looking for anomalies in the system, basically typical network hygiene that you would usually expect to see anywhere and in a company, or even in the military."
Election workers verify signatures on returned ballots at the King County Elections office, Oct. 20, 2020, in Renton, Wash.
Elaine Thompson/AP
Washington state is a vote-by-mail state, so on Election Day, Welsh said five guardsmen will be part of the team ensuring that the tabulation of votes is safe. They've been there for the past month preparing for Election Day and they'll remain on duty for four to five days after that to ensure the system's security. Welsh said cyber teams first started working on assessing vulnerabilities to the state's systems. "Most all of it is done over the shoulder of the Secretary of State teams, their own IT staff, teach them how to do these things as well. But again, just another extra set of eyes," he said.
In Tennessee, 30 Guardsmen have been providing "subject matter expertise" ensuring the counties have a "very robust support system" as they upgrade their software and assist with "the basic protocols of insurance," said Maj. Gen. Jeff Holmes, Tennessee's adjutant general. He said that six or seven counties had asked for specific assistance.
Wisconsin's assistant adjutant general, Brig. Gen. Robyn Blader, also added that, "the extent of Wisconsin National Guard's role in the November election, is still being determined."
