As the race reaches one week until Election Day, Kamala Harris delivered her "closing argument" on The Ellipse -- in the same spot where Donald Trump rallied his supporters on Jan. 6, 2021, to march on the U.S. Capitol nearby.
Trump tried to preempt Harris's remarks, speaking to reporters Tuesday morning at Mar-a-Lago after declaring he's "the opposite of a Nazi" on Monday night in Georgia. He holds a rally later in Allentown, Pennsylvania, where there is a large population of Puerto Rican Americans.
As of 11:59 p.m. ET on Tuesday, more than 53 million Americans have voted early, according to the Election Lab at the University of Florida.
Of the total number of early votes, 27,765,237 were cast in person and 25,686,627 were returned by mail
There is now just one week until Election Day.
Voters make selections at their voting booths inside an early voting site on Oct. 17, 2024 in Hendersonville, N.C.
Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images
Oct 29, 2024, 5:52 PM EDT
Walz says Harris speech will be 'spectacular'
Gov. Tim Walz said Tuesday that Harris' speech at the Ellipse would be "spectacular," while adding that it isn't "by chance" that she's delivering her campaign's closing message there.
Democratic vice presidential nominee and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz campaigns during a get-out-the-vote rally in Savannah, Georgia, Oct. 29, 2024.
Erik S Lesser/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
"Vice President is going to give a spectacular speech tonight on the Ellipse, and it's not by chance that it's there, because she's going to highlight the promise of America versus the chaos," he said at Iron Black Coffee Co. in Columbus, Georgia, where he was meeting with the Educators for Harris-Walz coalition.
-ABC News' Isabella Murray
Oct 29, 2024, 6:27 PM EDT
Maricopa County officials lay out Election Day security plan
Officials in Maricopa County, Arizona, the fourth largest county in the country, said Tuesday they’ve been planning for years to secure polling locations and the tabulation center on Election Day.
The county, which has been at the center of election conspiracy theories and threats since 2020, will have one of the most intense security operations in the country with patrols on horseback and drones for surveillance and security cameras, according to Maricopa County Sheriff Russ Skinner.
Skinner told reporters there haven’t been "a lot of threats" this year but expects to see more as Election Day approaches and in the days after.
An election worker verifies a stack of 2024 General Election ballots before they are processed with a tabulation machine at the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center (MCTEC) in Phoenix, Ariz., on Oct. 23, 2024.
Olivier Touron/AFP via Getty Images
"There is no place in politics or this process that criminal activity is allowed and there is zero tolerance that we as public safety will take in relative any type of criminal act or any type of issue that arises," Skinner said. "We want this to be a safe and secure process."
During the press conference, Maricopa County Supervisor Bill Gates said that an individual with a hidden camera recently recorded a county training and posted videos and photos of election workers on social media.
"Election workers are off limits, they should be off limits," Gates said. "They should not be threatened. They should not have their names and images put out there. And I have full confidence we're not going to see that from this point on."
Gates added that the county has received over 1 million early ballots and said that for the first time since 2006, there will be a two-page ballot which will mean it will take more time than usual to fill out ballots.
The county has increased the number of voting booths and staff to mitigate long lines at the polls.
-ABC News' Laura Romero
Oct 29, 2024, 5:33 PM EDT
Pennsylvania Puerto Ricans think controversial comments from comedian hurt Trump
Several Puerto Ricans in battleground Pennsylvania say the controversial comments a comedian made about Puerto Ricans at Trump's Madison Square Garden rally over the weekend will hurt the former president in his quest for the White House.
Ramon Martinez, who is a co-owner with his brother and wife of Mofongo, a Dominican/Puerto Rican restaurant in Reading, Pennsylvania, spoke with ABC News' Terry Moran after the rally where Tony Hinchcliffe made the joke. Martinez said the comments will play a role with the decisions from undecided Latino voters.
ABC News' Terry Moran spoke with Ramon Martinez, who is a co-owner with his brother and wife of Mofongo, a Dominican/Puerto Rican restaurant in Reading, Pennsylvania.
Eric Feyeuelle/ABC News
"I think that they will take one side when they hear what we heard last night," Martinez said.
Asked if Hinchcliffe's comments could hurt Trump, Martinez said "yes, I strongly believe that."
"Every time they speak, they put down the immigrants, the Latinos. I don't think that's the right way to get the Latino vote."
Moran spoke with the voters ahead of Trump’s Tuesday evening rally in Allentown, Pennsylvania -- a town with a significant Puerto Rican population.
-ABC News' Eric Fayeulle and Terry Moran
Oct 29, 2024, 5:01 PM EDT
Supreme Court rejects RFK Jr. appeals to be removed from 2 state ballots
The U.S. Supreme Court denied Tuesday evening Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s request for an injunction ordering the Wisconsin Election Commission to use stickers to cover his name on the state's presidential ballot.
The court did not elaborate on its decision in a single-sentence order and there were no noted dissents.
The court also denied Kennedy's appeal that sought to make Michigan reprint election ballots without his name.
The court did not elaborate on the decision, however, Justice Neil Gorsuch, in the sole noted dissent, indicated that he would have granted the injunction.
Gorsuch cited as his rationale the reasons given by several dissenting conservative members of a federal appeals court panel which had earlier weighed the case.
That minority in the appeals court had concluded that denying a federal candidate the ability to withdraw from the ballot may have infringed on his First Amendment rights.
