Judge rejects GOP effort to throw out 127K Texas votes

More than 96 million people have cast their ballots -- an early voting record.

ByLibby Cathey and Lauren King
Last Updated: November 3, 2020, 12:09 PM EST

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.

Top headlines:

Here is how the day is developing. All times Eastern.
Nov 02, 2020, 7:44 PM EST

Absentee ballot rate of return in 11 competitive states

As Americans are urged by election officials to return their absentee ballots as soon as possible, several states have begun reporting the number of mail-in ballots they have received to date. 

Using data collected by the United States Elections Project, ABC News calculated the absentee ballot rate of return for 11 states deemed as competitive, and which also provide complete information on both absentee ballot requests, and the number of ballots returned.

This is the latest data analysis:

ARIZONA -- As of Nov. 2
Absentee ballots requested: 3,448,181
Ballots returned: 2,471,577
Rate of Return: 71.7%

*Arizona does not distinguish between mail ballots returned and early in-person votes.

FLORIDA -- as of Nov. 2
Absentee ballots requested: 6,004,485 
Ballots returned:  4,649,919  
Rate of Return: 77.4%

Katie LaFleur, left, passes out pizza to people waiting in line to vote at the Gwinnett County Fairgrounds, Oct. 30, 2020, in Lawrenceville, Georgia.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

GEORGIA -- as of Oct. 31
Absentee ballots requested: 1,782,653    
Ballots returned:  1,223,123  
Rate of Return: 68.6%

IOWA -- as of Nov. 2
Absentee ballots requested: 1,002,273   
Ballots returned: 955,975
Rate of Return : 95.4%

MICHIGAN -- as of Nov. 2
Absentee ballots requested: 3,318,609  
Ballots returned:  2,841,696 
Rate of Return: 85.6%

Election workers sort absentee ballot envelopes at the Lansing City Clerk's office on Nov. 02, 2020, in Lansing, Michigan, while a ventilation duct helps to circulate air as a COVID-19 protection measure.
John Moore/Getty Images

MINNESOTA -- as of Nov. 2
Absentee ballots requested: 2,055,519 
Early vote: 1,716,675 
Rate of Return: 83.5%*

*Minnesota does not distinguish between mail and in-person ballots on their state reports. Thus, the statistics reported combine all in-person early and mail ballot votes.

NORTH CAROLINA - as of Nov. 2
Absentee ballots requested: 1,455,328   
Ballots returned: 937,895 
Rate of Return: 64.4%

NEW HAMPSHIRE -- as of Oct. 27
Absentee ballots requested: 225,002 
Ballots returned:  181,577  
Rate of Return: 80.7%

NEVADA -- as of Nov. 2
Ballots sent out to active registered voters: 1,768,994  
Ballots returned: 545,399 
Rate of Return: 30.8%

*Note: Every active registered voter in Nevada was automatically mailed a ballot this election. Historically, most Nevadans vote early in person. In 2016, for example, approximately 48% of Nevada active registered voters cast ballots during early voting and about 24% of active voters voted in person on Election Day. It seems that despite the mail ballots going out to all active voters, many are still opting to vote that way (though the mail turnout is much higher than usual -- only about 5% voted via absentee ballots in 2016).

PENNSYLVANIA -- as of Nov. 2
Absentee ballots requested: 3,097,640    
Ballots returned: 2,414,351
Rate of Return: 77.9%

WISCONSIN --as of Nov. 2
Absentee ballots requested: 1,421,390 
Ballots returned: 1,241,690 
Rate of Return: 87.4%

-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos

Nov 02, 2020, 7:10 PM EST

Melania Trump to vote in Palm Beach Tuesday

First lady Melania Trump will vote in Palm Beach Tuesday morning, according to her chief of staff and spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham.

U.S. first lady Melania Trump speaks during a campaign event in Atglen, Pennsylvania, Oct. 27, 2020.
Hannah Mckay/Reuters

The president cast his ballot last month in person in Palm Beach County.

-ABC News' Ben Gittleson

Nov 02, 2020, 7:09 PM EST

Biden, Obama blast Trump at separate campaign events

Biden held his first of two rallies in Pittsburgh, delivering an altered version of his stump speech that focused more forcefully on his pitch to the African American community, and criticism of the president’s treatment of the group.

He expanded his pitch to Black and brown voters, talking about the importance of Black businesses to systemic racism and Trump’s claim that he has been the best president for Black America since Abraham Lincoln.

“Honk if you think his commitment of having done more for the African American community that  Abraham Lincoln is true? Honk your horn,” Biden said and getting silence in return.

“You got it, man, Pittsburgh. Honk if you think it's a bunch of malarkey,” he said and was answered with a chorus of honks.

Biden’s pitch to black voters is one of his lengthier set of remarks about African American issues.

In Miami, former President Barack Obama made another impassioned plea for Americans to head to the polls and made another stinging indictment of Trump's four years in office.

Former President Barack Obama speaks at a drive-in rally as he campaigns for Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden in Miami, Nov. 2, 2020.
Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images

“After four years of failure and division, we have the power to change America. Tomorrow, you can put an end to the politics that tries to pull us apart, just to win the election," he said.

"Florida, you delivered for me twice. And now I'm asking you to deliver for all of us, and elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as the next president and vice president of the United States of America,” he added.

-ABC News' Molly Nagle and John Verhovek

Nov 02, 2020, 6:30 PM EST

When to expect election results in every state

There's a good chance we won't know who won the presidential election on election night.

More people than ever are voting by mail this year due to the pandemic, and mail ballots take longer to count than ballots cast at polling places. But because each state has its own rules for how votes are counted and reported, some will report results sooner than others.

Election workers process mail-in ballots ahead of Election Day in Houston, Texas, Nov. 2, 2020.
Callaghan O'hare/Reuters

Those disparate rules may also make initial returns misleading: The margins in some states may shift toward Democrats as mail ballots -- which are overwhelmingly cast by Democrats -- are counted, while states that release mail ballots first may experience a shift toward Republicans as Election Day votes are tallied.

FiveThirtyEight compiled a complete guide to poll closing times, vote counting and races to watch on election night.

-FiveThirtyEight's Nathaniel Rakich and Elena Mejia

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