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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, 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

Oct 20, 2020, 3:43 PM EDT

Harris tests negative for COVID-19

Harris underwent testing for COVID-19 today and tested negative, a Harris aide said.

Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris speaks to supporters at a campaign event, Oct. 19, 2020, in Orlando, Fla.
John Raoux/AP

The Biden-Harris campaign has announced the results of the candidates' COVID-19 tests since Trump tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this month.

Harris, who turns 56 today, has a virtual rally this afternoon to kick off the first day of voting in Wisconsin.

-ABC News' Averi Harper

Oct 20, 2020, 2:53 PM EDT

Voting underway in battleground Wisconsin

As early voting officially kicks off in Wisconsin, the state has already seen about four times more absentee ballots cast and five times as many ballots requested as compared with this time last year -- and the start of early in-person voting today is likely to bring in another big wave of voters.

People queue to enter a polling site at the Milwaukee Public Library's Washington Park location in Milwaukee, on the first day of early voting in Wisconsin, Oct. 20, 2020.
Bing Guan/Reuters

Early voting schedules are different in every municipality, but it runs from today through Oct. 30. It's technically early absentee in-person: Voters receive an absentee ballot in their clerks' office, fill it out and hand it back to the clerks.

This morning, just before early in-person voting began, over 1.4 million ballots had been requested and 915,965 returned.

People wait in line to cast their ballots outside Frank P. Zeidler Municipal Building on the first day of in-person early voting for the Nov. 3, 2020 elections in Milwaukee, Wis., on Oct. 20, 2020.
Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP via Getty Images

Some voters in Milwaukee queued up in long lines waiting to enter their polling sites.

-ABC News' Cheyenne Haslett