On the eve of Election Day, President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden had only hours left to make their closing arguments to voters in a contest both are calling the most important of their lifetime.
With more than 95 million Americans having already cast their ballots -- an early voting record -- time was running out for Trump and Biden to sway uncommitted voters.
Trump had five rallies in four states -- North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin -- as both candidates planned to barnstorm the states they deemed critical in a final full day of campaigning overshadowed by coronavirus cases rising in nearly every election battleground.
Biden went to Ohio and Pennsylvania, closing out the day at a drive-in rally with Lady Gaga in Pittsburgh. His running mate, California Sen. Kamala Harris, is also campaigning in Pennsylvania and finishedd her day at a drive-in rally with John Legend in Philadelphia. Their ticket's top surrogate, former President Barack Obama, campaigned in Georgia and Florida.
Vice President Mike Pence had a pair of rallies in Pennsylvania -- a state Trump won by one point in 2016 and one where a Democratic win this time would leave him with an exceedingly narrow path to victory -- before joining Trump on the trail in Michigan.
Here is how the day is developing. All times Eastern.
Nov 02, 2020, 4:02 PM EST
Trump extends invites to nearly 400 for White House election night event
As coronavirus cases rise across the country on the eve of Election Day, President Trump has invited about 400 people including family, White House staff, campaign aides and top supporters to the White House on election night, sources tell ABC News.
As of now the event is planned to be indoors, sources said.
Helicopter passes over the White House, seen behind a fence and protest posters, the day before the presidential election in Washington, D.C., Nov. 2, 2020.
Erin Scott/Reuters
The original election night plan for Trump was to be at his hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue, but after the District threatened take action if there was a mass gathering -- as coronavirus precautions in place currently restrict crowd sizes -- Trump aides made the move down to the White House.
The president himself has speculated he could still pop by the hotel to visit other supporters.
-ABC News' John Santucci, Katherine Faulders and Will Steakin
Nov 02, 2020, 3:36 PM EST
Federal judge rejects GOP effort to throw out 127K 'drive-thru' votes in Texas
Federal District Judge Andrew Hanen has rejected a Republican effort to invalidate roughly 127,000 drive thru votes cast in Harris County, Texas, saying he believes the plaintiffs who brought the case did not have standing to sue -- a major victory to Democrats and blow to Republicans.
The elections office of Harris County, the most populous county in the state which includes Houston and the surrounding area, argued it got state approval for the voting process back in June amid safety concerns with voting in a pandemic. Republicans, unsuccessfully, argued the Harris County clerk was acting on his own by implementing the practice.
The 127,000 drive-thru votes account for roughly 10% of the total early vote turnout in Harris County, and the ruling ensures the votes will be counted.
Judge Hanen didn't give strong indications during questioning which way he was leaning. While he began the hearing telling the Republican plaintiffs that they have a steep uphill battle to persuade him to invalidate the ballots, he also pressed the counsel for the Harris County clerk to answer what the county would do in if he did rule drive-thru voting is illegal and what that would mean for their plans to continue offering drive-thru voting on Election Day.
-ABC News’ Alexander Mallin
Nov 02, 2020, 3:18 PM EST
Obama expresses hope in flipping Georgia blue at Atlanta rally
Former President Barack Obama took his talents to Georgia Monday afternoon to campaign for Biden and Democratic senate candidates there, telling supporters at a drive-in rally in Atlanta he had one word for them: "Tomorrow."
"Tomorrow, after four years of failure, you have the power to change America. Tomorrow, you can put an end to the politics that tries to divide a nation just to win an election, that tries to stoke conspiracy theories and -- and fear at a time when we need competence and we need hope," Obama began his remarks.
Former US President Barack Obama speaks during a GOTV Voter Mobilization Drive-In Rally in a parking lot at Turner Field the day before the election in Atlanta, Nov. 2, 2020.
Erik S. Lesser/EPA via Shutterstock
"And right here in Georgia, you've got an even bigger power to deliver the change that we need. You can be a state that sends Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to the White House," Obama said, projecting confidence as Democrats sense an opportunity to flip the state.
Obama went on to rail against Trump's handling of COVID-19 and defend the nation's top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci, whom he worked with during the Ebola and H1N1 crises.
"They've already said they're not going to contain the pandemic. Now they want to fire the one person who could actually help them contain the pandemic," Obama said. "So Georgia, if you think they've done a bad job of managing COVID so far, basically what they're telling you now is you ain't seen nothing yet."
Arguing the case to elect Democratic senate candidates in the state, Obama also slammed the leadership of Georgia's incumbent Republican senators.
"If President Trump and your senators had been focused on COVID from the beginning instead of their portfolios or their TV ratings, cases wouldn't be reaching new record highs across the country just this week."
The former president also preemptively discredited Trump for trying to declare victory on election night, making a comparison to how he said Trump prematurely declared victory against the coronavirus pandemic.
"Well, that's just what he did on this virus, and how's that turned out?" Obama said. "America deserves better than this. Georgia, you deserve better than this."
Former President Barack Obama speaks at a rally as he campaigns for Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden, Nov. 2, 2020, at Turner Field in Atlanta.
Brynn Anderson/AP
As Trump paints an apocalyptic-image of America if Biden were elected president on his rally tour, Obama concluded with a message of unity and a reminder to Georgians of the sacrifices made there and across the country to make the United States better for everyone.
"I'm asking you to remember what this country can be Georgia is a better place than it used to be. There used to be a lot of violence and cruelty in this place. And it's a better place because some folks went out there and made sacrifices, Black and white," Obama said. "And America, it's a better place than it used to be. But it can be better now. But you've got to do the work," telling Georgians, "It's all up to you now."
Nov 02, 2020, 2:16 PM EST
SCOTUS rejects request to block Minnesota mask rules at polling places
Justice Neil Gorsuch on behalf of the Supreme Court has denied, without explanation, a request from some Minnesota voters for an injunction against enforcement of mask-wearing rules at polling places across the state.