Candidates prepare for 2nd and final debate
Trump and Biden will face off in a final presidential debate this evening.
With 12 days to go until Election Day, and President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden racing toward Nov. 3, voters have turned out in record numbers to cast their ballots early as the candidates head to Nashville for a final showdown.
More than 45 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.
The candidates face off in the final presidential debate of the 2020 election cycle from Belmont University in Nashville Thursday evening -- their last chance to pitch themselves to tens of millions of voters in primetime before Nov. 3.
In the final weeks of campaigning, the president has remained on defense as polls show him trailing nationally and in several battleground states key to his reelection hopes.
Biden, maintaining a lead in national polls -- his largest of the election, according to FiveThirtyEight's average -- stayed off the trail ahead of the debate, a pattern for the former vice president. The debate offers Biden a platform to solidify his lead so long as he avoids any major mistakes in the homestretch.
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.
All 50 states plus Washington, D.C., have some form of early voting underway. Check out FiveThirtyEight’s guide to voting during the COVID-19 pandemic here.
Latest headlines:
Plexiglass partitions erected for presidential debate
Plexiglas partitions were placed on the debate stage next to each candidates' lectern as a precaution for the second and final presidential debate in Nashville on Thursday.
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.
Record 23,000 volunteer lawyers now helping nation's largest voter protection effort
Officials with the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law said at least 23,000 lawyers are now volunteering to assist with its Election Protection Hotline, a massive increase from prior cycles and the most on record.
It's a 400% increase from prior cycles when roughly 5,000 volunteers were on-call, according to the committee. The hotline is the nation's largest and longest-running independent voter help hotline.
The increase comes amid growing public demand for voter support along with reports of voter suppression, Kristen Clarke, the committee's president and executive director, said in a statement Thursday.
“We have activated a growing network of over 23,000 legal volunteers to help confront the threats that voters and to empower voters with the information they need to ensure that their voices are heard," Clarke said. "By empowering voters, intervening where threats emerge and mounting litigation to address the unlawful barriers that voters have faced during the pandemic, we are fighting to create a level playing field where every voice is heard.”
-ABC News' Devin Dwyer