(WJW) – America will decide the future of the U.S. House, Senate, and the presidency in six days on November 3.
2.2 million people in Ohio have cast their ballot early, according to the Secretary of State’s office.
69.5 million have voted early across the nation.
That’s more than half the total number of people who voted in 2016.
Early voting in Ohio runs through Nov. 2.
9:55 p.m.:
BULLHEAD CITY, Ariz. (AP) — Joe Biden is focusing on COVID-19 in the final days of the election campaign, while President Donald Trump breezily promises to “vanquish the virus” but would rather talk about just about anything else. Biden said Wednesday he is “not running on the false promises of being able to end this pandemic by flipping a switch” but will prioritize science if elected. He said Trump’s handling of the pandemic is an “insult” to its victims. Meanwhile, Trump continued using the campaign’s last few days to keep up a whirlwind schedule focusing on economic growth and other achievements he claims for his first four years.
8:40 p.m.:
(AP)– Joe Biden is getting a boost from Oprah Winfrey in the final days of the presidential campaign.
The Democratic nominee made a surprise appearance Wednesday on a virtual get-out-the-vote event hosted by Winfrey that focused on voters in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Minnesota and Ohio.
While President Donald Trump won all but Minnesota in 2016, Democrats are increasingly optimistic Biden can win at least Michigan and Pennsylvania back, and he’s making a play for Ohio as well.
During the event, Biden spoke to Mildred Madison, a 94-year-old Michigan resident who drove over 600 miles to cast her vote in person after her absentee ballot never arrived.
7:45 p.m.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court will allow absentee ballots in North Carolina to be received and counted up to 9 days after Election Day, in a win for Democrats. The justices on Wednesday refused to disturb a decision by the State Board of Elections to lengthen the period from three to nine days, pushing back the deadline to Nov. 12. The board’s decision was part of a legal settlement with a union-affiliated group. Under the Supreme Court’s order, mailed ballots postmarked on or before Election Day must be received by 5 p.m. on Nov. 12 in order to be counted.
7:15 p.m.
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan’s Democratic governor and top elections official are defending the integrity of the election amid continued attacks from President Donald Trump. They say results may take longer in close contests due to a surge in absentee voting in the battleground state but every valid ballot will be counted. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer encouraged people to take advantage of their right to cast an absentee ballot for any reason to reduce the risk of exposure to the coronavirus. She echoed calls that those who already have a ballot hand deliver it to their clerk or put it in a secure drop box instead of mailing it in.
6 p.m.
President Donald Trump continues to campaign ahead of Election Day. On Wednesday, he held a “Make America Great Again” rally in Phoenix, Arizona. Hundreds gathered at the Goodyear Airport to see him speak.
5:20 p.m.
(AP)– A spokesperson for President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign says the revelation that Miles Taylor is “Anonymous” is the “least impressive, lamest political ‘reveal’ of all time.”
Miles Taylor, a former chief of staff at the Department of Homeland Security, revealed himself Wednesday to be the senior White House administration official known as “Anonymous” who wrote a scathing New York Times op-ed about Trump and a subsequent book, “A Warning.” As “Anonymous,” he claimed to be part of a “resistance” working “from within” to thwart Trump’s “worst inclinations.”
Taylor has been an outspoken critic of Trump’s in recent months and has a contributor contract on CNN.
White House chief of staff Mark Meadows says, “I’ve seen more exciting reveals in Scooby-Doo episodes. What a monumental embarrassment.”
Campaign spokesperson Hogan Gidley says he worked with DHS officials during his tenure at the White House and “even I had to research who Miles Taylor was.” Hogan points out that Taylor lied to Anderson Cooper on CNN in August when he denied being “Anonymous.”
4:30 p.m.
(AP)– Miles Taylor, a former Department of Homeland Security chief of staff, has announced that he is “Anonymous,” the senior White House administration official who claimed to be part of a “resistance” working “from within” to thwart President Donald Trump’s “worst inclinations.”
Taylor, an outspoken Trump critic, tweeted Wednesday that he wrote the 2018 op-ed in The New York Times and a subsequent book. Anonymous’ identity had been hidden until now.
Taylor writes in a statement six days before the election that he is a Republican and wanted Trump to succeed.
But he writes that, “too often in times of crisis, I saw Donald Trump prove he is a man without character, and his personal defects have resulted in leadership failures so significant that they can be measured in lost American lives.”
Taylor, who served as DHS chief of staff from 2017 to 2019, has already endorsed Democrat Joe Biden in the presidential race and created a group for former administration officials who are now public critics of the president.
He has accused Trump of using DHS for “political benefit” by focusing on issues that would help his campaign at the expense of more pressing matters.
3 p.m.
ATLANTA (AP) — Millions of mailed ballots have yet to be returned in key battleground states just days before the presidential election. That’s according to data collected by The Associated Press.
Officials warn that time is running out for voters who want to avoid a polling place on Election Day. AP research shows that at least 35 million mail ballots had been returned or accepted as of early Wednesday.
But millions more remain outstanding in Pennsylvania, Florida and other states. Election officials urge voters who have not returned their ballots to avoid the Postal Service and instead use drop boxes or deliver ballots directly to local election offices.
2:30 p.m..
WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Biden will join forces with his old boss, former President Barack Obama, for a rally in Michigan on Saturday.
The Biden campaign announced the rally on Wednesday but hasn’t said where it will be held. Metro Detroit is the Democratic base of the state, with a prominent Black population in the city along with growing nonwhite populations. Democrats also made gains among suburban white voters in the 2018 midterms.
President Donald Trump won Michigan by just under 11,000 votes four years ago, making it his closest margin of victory in any state. He won the state through key gains across southwest Michigan in communities where Obama won or lost narrowly. Democratic support in and around Detroit also fell off from 2012 levels when Obama was reelected.
1:30 p.m.
WASHINGTON (AP) — With next week’s election looming, the CEOs of Twitter, Facebook and Google are being scolded by Republicans at a Senate hearing for alleged anti-conservative bias in the companies’ social media platforms. And the CEOs are being put on notice about potential restrictions that may becoming. Some lawmakers are looking to challenge the companies’ long-enjoyed bedrock legal protections for online speech. Sen. Roger Wicker says “the time has come for that free pass to end.” The Mississippi Republican heads the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee and says the laws governing online speech must be updated because “the openness and freedom of the internet are under attack.”
11:30 a.m.
- (WJW) – The Lake County Board of Elections says it has added a second drop box at the property due to the high volume of absentee ballot returns. The boxes are available to drop your ballot 24/7.
- (WJW) – More than 75% of North Carolina’s total 2016 votes have already been cast, according to the state board of elections. 3,631,565 ballots had been cast by Wednesday morning.
10:45 a.m. headlines
- (WJW) – The Dow has fallen 750 points as coronavirus cases spike across the U.S.
- (WJW) – America is averaging more than 70,000 daily coronavirus cases
- (WJW) – Vice President Mike Pence and the Second Lady have tested negative for coronavirus
9:30 a.m. headlines
- (WJW) – Vice President Biden plans to hold a speech later Wednesday after he is briefed by health experts on coronavirus. He’ll spend the day at his home in Delaware.
- (WJW) – The Associated Press reports 25% of all voters are either new voters or people who don’t vote often. The data comes from the firm L2.
6:30 a.m. headlines
(WJW) – President Donald Trump has events planned in Nevada, Arizona, and Florida Wednesday.
The president lost Nevada in 2016 and is working to keep Arizona and Florida red.
Vice President Mike Pence will hold campaign events in Wisconsin, another state that President Trump held in 2016.
Donald Trump Jr. has several rallies planned in Florida.
Eric Trump has campaign stops in Columbus and Tipp City.
Vice President Joe Biden will spend the day at his home in Wilmington, Delaware.
He is meeting with public health experts about the pandemic.
Democratic vice presidential nominee, Sen. Kamala Harris will hold two rallies in Nevada.