Election 2020 updates: Trump ends long day rushing through final rally in Minnesota
Trump and Biden both campaigned in three Midwestern states Friday.
With four days until Election Day, and President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden racing toward Nov. 3, more than 82 million Americans have already cast their ballots -- an early voting record.
Friday brings both Trump and Biden to Minnesota and Wisconsin, revealing how crucial the states are to both campaigns, with the contest overshadowed by coronavirus cases rising there and in nearly every battleground state.
The president's aggressive, defensive strategy -- visiting states he won in 2016 including a first stop in Michigan this afternoon -- comes as polls show him trailing nationally and in swing states key to his reelection hopes. Vice President Mike Pence returns to Arizona for a pair of rallies in Flagstaff and Tucson.
Biden will see his busiest travel day to date of the general election. With a stop in Iowa, too, it's the first time the former vice president has made plans to campaign in three states in one day for the 2020 cycle. Running mate California Sen. Kamala Harris is in Texas as Democrats play offense and sense an opportunity to snatch the GOP-stronghold for the first time in more than four decades.
Top headlines:
- Trump speaks for just 21 minutes at final rally of the night in Minnesota
- Biden battles noisy Trump supporters during Minnesota rally
- Trump mocks COVID-19 public health precautions at Minnesota rally
- Biden argues Trump’s presidency has hurt jobs in Iowa
- 5 coronavirus cases linked to Trump campaign events in Wisconsin, one case linked to Biden rally
Early vote explosion shows system working, with stress tests ahead
It's happening the way it's supposed to happen. Voters are voting -- smashing records, adjusting behaviors and recalibrating expectations -- in ways that show the nation is many things, but definitely not apathetic.
It's also happening in ways that will stress the systems built to account for it all. More early votes, oddly, will mean reporting out results will take longer in several critical states -- to say nothing of the continuing challenges of participating in and administering an election in the midst of a pandemic.
Amid a flurry of COVID-era campaigning in battleground states, this week brought new high-water marks that suggest turnout records will fall this year.
Nearly as many Texans have voted as in all of 2016, with Georgia, North Carolina, Florida and Arizona are among the states already three-quarters of the way there, according to the United States Elections Project at the University of Florida.
But this week also brought continued uncertainties about the process of voting. The Supreme Court now has nine justices again, and voters in states, including Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Minnesota and North Carolina have a right to be confused about what the law is when it comes to how to vote -- and even what those laws might be on Election Day and beyond.
Layered on top of all of that are the efforts by President Trump to sow doubts about the integrity of the election.
From the local level on up, election officials say they're confident that there will be an accurate -- and, hopefully, promptly tallied -- vote count. But the surge of voting, while good for democracy, figures to make everything more difficult during this most difficult of times for the country.
-ABC News’ Political Director Rick Klein
5 coronavirus cases linked to Trump campaign events in Wisconsin, one case linked to Biden rally
Wisconsin Department of Health Services told ABC News that a total of five cases have been linked to four different Trump rallies over the last three months.
Here's how the cases breakdown: One case from Oshkosh Trump rally on Aug. 17; One case from Mosinee Trump rally on Sept. 17; Two cases from Janesville Trump rally on Oct. 17; One case from Waukesha Trump rally on Oct. 24
In addition, the health department has identified one case linked to a Biden campaign rally in Manitowoc on Sept. 21.
As ABC News has previously reported, in Minnesota, at least 23 cases have been linked to coronavirus outbreaks from three Trump/Pence campaign rallies in September, and North Carolina on Thursday announced that two people who attended a Trump rally in Gaston County on Oct. 21 have tested positive.
However, Wisconsin Health Services Department cautioned that the above cases from Wisconsin "don't necessarily provide a complete picture."
"Because of the sheer volume they’re working with, our contact tracers are conducting abbreviated versions of full interviews and may not capture all details about where an infection was acquired," Wisconsin health department spokesperson Elizabeth Goodsitt told ABC News. "Also, the people below reported other possible exposures, so we can’t say for sure these events were or were not the cause of these cases."
-ABC News' Soorin Kim