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, 6:51 PM EDT
Transition teams met with both candidates' reps: Sources
Federal agency transition members met with representatives from both the Harris and Trump campaigns, sources with knowledge of the meetings confirmed to ABC News.
Up until now, the Trump team has been very reticent to conduct any formal meetings with Biden White House staff and had blown past ethics and funding agreement deadlines.
A spokesperson for the White House confirmed the meeting, which took place in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.
"The ATDC has been meeting regularly for months to prepare for a transition, and the meeting this week included representatives from both transition teams," the spokesperson said in a statement. "The meeting focused on post-election readiness to ensure agencies and the transition teams are ready to execute responsibly and efficiently."
-ABC News' MaryAlice Parks, Katherin Faulders and Justin Gomez
Oct 29, 2024, 6:35 PM EDT
Pennsylvania officials 'bracing' for onslaught of litigation
In the battleground state of Pennsylvania, election officials have been preparing for months for millions of residents to cast their highly anticipated votes.
But those election officials have also quietly been preparing for another possibility: an onslaught of litigation that could flood the courts on Election Day and beyond.
"We are the biggest swing county in the biggest swing state, so we are very conscious of the fact that we have a lot of eyes on us," Bob Harvie, the Democratic vice chair of the Bucks County Board of Commissioners, said in an interview with ABC News.
Bucks County -- a Philadelphia suburb that former Trump narrowly lost by less than a percentage point in 2016 and by about 5% in 2020 -- has been sued 11 times since the 2020 election, according to Harvie.
Now they are "bracing" for a repeat, he said.
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.
