Georgia sees record amount of early voting - report
The day is not over, but the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Georgia has seen a record amount of early voting on the first day polls have been open:
More than 200,000 voters have cast ballots in Georgia during the first day of in-person early voting according to state elections officials, shattering the state's record. #gapol https://t.co/mrjIq41dx2
— Greg Bluestein (@bluestein) October 15, 2024This is not necessarily indicative of how the swing state, where many polls have shown Donald Trump with a narrow lead, will end up voting in November.
Key events Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature
Biden spoke a short while ago on behalf of Harris in Philadelphia.
He said of Trump that he used to hide is racism, but that now it is “out front”.
“He has the same ideas on race as the 1930s. Trump’s ideas on economy are from the ‘20s. Trump’s ideas on women are from the ‘50s. Folks, this is 2024, we can’t go back.”
Biden: "He has the same ideas on race as the 1930s. Trump's ideas on economy are from the '20s. Trump's ideas on women are from the '50s. Folks, this is 2024 -- we can't go back." pic.twitter.com/DGXpMEJMpM
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 15, 2024Donald Trump is expected to hold a rally shortly in Atlanta, Georgia. We will bring you any key developments from that live.
Harris was asked why people “are acting like this is going to be a free and fair election,” given the events of 6 January 2020 –and leading up to it – and the conservative-leaning Supreme Court.
She said, “So it will be a free and fair election if we, the American people, stand up for that.”
Harris was asked by a caller about Trump saying he would use a law from 1798 to carry out mass deportations.
She responded: “So you’ve hit on a really important point and expressed it, I think so well, which is he is achieving his intended effect to make you scared. He is running full time on a campaign that is about instilling fear, not about optimism, not about the future, but about fear. And so this is yet another example.”
Charlamagne tha God said to Harris: “I had a politician tell me once that if you’re running for a national election, it’s bad electoral strategy to say you are going to do things for Black people, which is why a lot of politicians don’t speak directly to their plans for Black people.”
Harris responded: “I don’t know that that’s true. I think that what is true is that I am running to be president for everybody, but I’m clear-eyed about the history and the disparities that exist for specific communities, and I’m not going to shy away from that. It doesn’t mean that my policies aren’t going to benefit everybody, because they are –everything I just talked about will benefit everybody.”
Harris was asked about her stance on reparations, too.
She said, “It has to be studied. There’s no question about that, and I’ve been very clear about that position.”
Harris, in that response on her town hall, also pointed out that Donald Trump is selling bibles for $60 (£46).
“Donald Trump and his followers spend full time trying to suggest that the measure of the strength of a leader is based on who you beat down, which is absolutely contrary to the church,” she said. “Where our church, and my church, is about saying true leadership, the measure of that is based on who you lift up and right. And then he’s selling $60 bibles or tennis shoes and trying to play people as though that makes him more understanding of the Black community. Come on.”
In her interview with Charlamagne tha God on Tuesday, Kamala Harris was asked whether she had engaged enough with the Black church.
Harris said that allegations she had not engaged with the Black church “comes from the Trump team … they are trying to disconnect me from the people I have worked with and that I’m from,” she said.
“I grew up in the Black church. I grew up attending 23rd Avenue Church of God in Oakland, California. That’s church. My pastor is Amos C Brown, of Third Baptist Church in San Francisco, California. I have, throughout my career and as vice-president and recently, been actively engaged in the church and church leaders, not only so we can share in fellowship, but so we can share in what we can do together that is about supporting the community,” she said.
Here is a bit more on the record early voting numbers in Georgia.
Voters in Georgia turned out in record numbers as the battleground state opened early voting for the 5 November presidential election between Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump, state officials said on Tuesday.
At least 252,000 voters had cast ballots at early-voting sites as of 4pm ET (8pm GMT), nearly double the 136,000 who participated in the first day of early voting in the 2020 election, said Gabriel Sterling, Georgia’s No2 election official. “Spectacular turnout,” he wrote on social media.
Early voting, either in person or by mail, has become increasingly popular with US voters. Nearly one in seven voters cast their ballots ahead of election day in 2020, according to the University of Florida’s Election Lab. However, many Republicans opposed the dramatic expansion of mail voting that year, saying it was less secure than in-person voting, and Trump cited false claims of mail ballot fraud as he sought unsuccessfully to overturn his defeat byJoe Biden in 2020.
Some Republicans continue to insist that voters should be able to cast their ballots only in person on election day, though party officials are encouraging supporters to vote ahead of time.
Nationwide, 5.5 million Americans have already voted this year, according to Election Lab. By contrast, 27 million people had cast their ballots at this point in the 2020 election as voters sought to avoid crowded polling places during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Like some other states, Georgia has tightened its mail-in voting laws since then, requiring voters who want to cast an absentee ballot to provide proof of identity and limiting the number of places they can deposit their ballots.
Georgia, with 16 electoral college votes, is one of the seven competitive battleground states expected to play a decisive role in deciding the election.
Harris defends record as a prosecutor as she attempts to shore up support with black voters
Kamala Harris defended her record as a prosecutor and pledged to decriminalize marijuana as president in Detroit on Tuesday, as she aims to shore up support among Black men in an interview with radio host Charlamagne tha God.
Charlamagne, a Black comedian and author who hosts radio program The Breakfast Club, is known for his blunt interviews of celebrities.
Although he is a Harris supporter, he has been critical of her and Joe Biden in the past and called Democrats “cowards” for ineffectively prosecuting a case against Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. One of his first questions was asking Harris to address a common rumour – that she disproportionately locked up Black men over her more than a dozen years as San Francisco’s district attorney.
Harris said she was “one of the most progressive prosecutors” on marijuana cases, and would work to decriminalise it, because she knows how that has hurt certain populations, especially Black men.
English (US)