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Trump, Biden clash in final debate on COVID-19 response, health care, race

Highlights from the final presidential debate before Election Day.

ByLibby Cathey, Adia Robinson, and Lauren King
Last Updated: November 3, 2020, 9:12 AM EST

President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden, the Democratic nominee, faced off in the final presidential debate of the 2020 election cycle from Belmont University in Nashville on Thursday night, marking the candidates’ last chance to pitch themselves to tens of millions of voters in primetime before Nov. 3.

The stakes were high: Trump needed to make his case as polls show him trailing nationally and in several battleground states key to his reelection hopes. At the same time, Biden had a platform to solidify his lead and avoid any major mistakes with Election Day just 12 days away.

Biden spent the week hunkered down in Wilmington, Delaware, to prepare -- what he's done before other debates -- while Trump had seemingly done less to prepare, telling reporters on Wednesday, "I do prep, I do prep," without elaborating. Earlier this week Trump said that answering journalists' questions is the best kind of preparation.

Thursday's debate was supposed to be the candidates' third matchup but is instead the second of only two presidential debates this election. Trump refused to participate in the second debate when it was moved to a virtual format following his COVID-19 diagnosis. The candidates ultimately participated in dueling town halls instead.

Top headlines:

Here's how the evening unfolded. All times Eastern.
Oct 22, 2020, 5:42 PM EDT

Early voting hits record numbers across the country 

With early voting having kicked off in all 50 states plus Washington, D.C., at least 47 million votes have already been cast in the 2020 general election as early voting data continues to break records across the country.

In 2016, there was a total of 47 million early votes cast, meaning the country has narrowly passed its 2016 early voting data with 12 days still left. 

According to the United States Elections Project, spearheaded by University of Florida's political expert Michael McDonald, as of Thursday at 5 p.m. ET an unprecedented 47,095,528 voters have already cast their ballots and at least 85,133,505 ballots have been requested in early voting states. 

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

TargetSmart, a Democratic firm that collects political data including early voting statistics, reports that 10 million voters who have already voted in the 2020 election did not participate in the 2016 election. Many of these early votes are coming from young voters as well as first time voters with individuals under 30 years old having cast 9.1% of early votes. 

During an earlier press conference, TargetSmart predicted that there will still be an additional 40 million early votes as well as between 60-70 million votes on Election Day. Their prediction allots for at least 150 million ballots cast. In comparison, in the 2016 election, there were 138 million total votes. 

-ABC News' Kelsey Walsh

Oct 22, 2020, 5:26 PM EDT

Candidates to face off at a social distance between plexiglass partitions

Plexiglas partitions were placed on the debate stage next to each candidates' lectern -- already set up at least 12 feet apart -- as a coronavirus precaution for the second and final presidential debate in Nashville.

According to a source familiar with the debates, the partitions were added under the direction of the Cleveland Clinic as part of its responsibility to keep debate participants safe.

A worker cleans newly installed plexiglass shields on the debate stage inside the Curb Event Center ahead of the Presidential Debate at Belmont University, Oct. 21, 2020, in Nashville, Tenn.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Plexiglass became an issue prior to the vice-presidential debate when the two campaigns squabbled over whether to have physical barriers separate the two candidates.

The insistence on barriers was initially met with resistance by Vice President Mike Pence's team, but they were ultimately used.