🔴 LIVE UPDATES: Election 2024 across the CSRA and beyond

Nov. 9, 2024

7:05 p.m.: South Carolina sees record turnout during election

1. The South Carolina Election Commission announced the Palmetto State broke the record for voter turnout during the 2024 general election.
2. Around 2,557,000 people voted in the 2024 general election, suring the previous record of 2,533,00 people reported during the 2020 general election.
3. “South Carolina’s historic turnout reflects the deep commitment and ion of our voters and the increased accessibility made possible by our new early voting process,” said Howie Knapp, SEC Executive Director. “We commend the over 2.5 million South Carolinians who exercised their right to vote and engaged actively in our democracy.”
4. During the 2024 general election, 108,000 people voted absentee, 1,472,000 voted during early voting, and 977,000 voted on Election Day.

3:25 p.m.: FBI thwarts Iranian plan to assassinate Trump

1. The Justice Department charged a man with involvement in an Iranian government plot to plan the assassination of Donald Trump ahead of this week’s presidential election.
2. Farhad Shakeri allegedly was told by Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard this past September to assemble a plan within seven days.
3. Shakeri is at large and remains in Iran. Two other men were arrested Friday.
4. “There are few actors in the world that pose as grave a threat to the national security of the United States as does Iran,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.
5. Read the full story

1:31 p.m.: University employee’s rant gets him suspended

1. A University of Oregon employee is on leave after posting an offensive reaction to the results of the election, according to officials.
2. The Ducks’ Fraternity and Sorority Life Assistant Director Leonard Serrato posted that rant, mocking Trump ers, on his Instagram story.
3. “You can literally go f*** yourself if you voted for Donald Trump. If you are so sad about your groceries being expensive, get a better f****** paying job. Do better for yourself. Get a f****** education. Because you’re f****** stupid. And I hope you go jump off of a f****** bridge.”
4. He has since been placed on paid istrative leave, and the video is no longer online.
5. » Read the full story

1:26 p.m.: Judge cancels court deadlines in Trump’s 2020 election case

1. The judge overseeing Donald Trump’s 2020 election interference case canceled any remaining court deadlines Friday while prosecutors assess the “the appropriate course going forward” in light of the Republican’s presidential victory.
2. Special Counsel Jack Smith charged Trump last year with plotting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and illegally hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
3. But Smith’s team has been evaluating how to wind down the two federal cases before the president-elect takes office because of longstanding Justice Department policy that says sitting presidents cannot be prosecuted.
4. » Read the full story

11:57 a.m.: Trump boosted his level of among Catholic voters

1. Among several blocs of religious voters, including his loyal evangelical base, Donald Trump fared roughly as well in his victory over Kamala Harris as he did in his loss to Joe Biden four years ago. One notable difference: He did better this year among Catholic voters, according to AP VoteCast, a survey of more than 120,000 voters.
2. » Read the full story

11:41 a.m.: Trump 2.0 will alter global climate fighting efforts.

1. Global efforts to fight climate change stumbled but survived the last time Donald Trump was elected president and withdrew the United States from an international climate agreement. Other countries, states, cities and businesses picked up some of the slack.
2. » Read the full story

11:27 a.m.: Leonard Leo says there’s no rush to replace Alito and Thomas

1. Trump’s election could give him a chance to nominate up to two more Supreme Court justices if Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas retire, but a prominent conservative legal activist says there’s no rush.
2. » Read the full story

11:17 a.m.: Trump rebuilds ‘blue wall’ with red bricks

1. Republicans landed historic victories in Pennsylvania this week, winning the battleground state’s valuable presidential electoral votes, posting a two-seat gain in its U.S. House delegation and sweeping all four statewide offices on the ballot, including a U.S. Senate seat.
2. The strong performance means Donald Trump has won Pennsylvania in two out of three tries, after Republicans had lost six straight presidential elections there.
3. » Read the full story

11:00 a.m.: Jeffries predicts a closely divided House

1. Hakeem Jeffries, who leads the House Democratic Caucus, is preparing for another narrowly divided Congress, no matter which party wins the majority.
2. In an interview on New York’s Spectrum News, Jeffries insisted that Democrats “still have a pathway to taking back the majority” if the party can flip a series of seats in Arizona, Oregon and California where votes are still being counted.
3. » Read the full story

10:49 a.m.: House Democratic leader says party should be ‘proud’ of Biden istration

1. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who has led the House caucus through an election where Democrats have not suffered the same degree of loss as their counterparts in presidential and Senate races, said Friday that his party should be “proud” of the legislative accomplishments of the Biden istration.
2. » Read the full story

10:45 a.m.: Democrats retain control of Pennsylvania’s House

1. Democrats retained majority control of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives on Friday by holding onto a Johnstown area district, giving them just enough votes to keep the speakership and determine the chamber’s voting agenda.
2. The win by incumbent Rep. Frank Burns is the final House race to be called in a year when none of the 203 districts are changing hands.
3. » Read the full story

10:20 a.m.: How Donald Trump built a winning 2024 coalition

1. Big shifts within small groups and small shifts within big groups helped propel Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
2. The Republican candidate won by holding onto his traditional coalition — white voters, voters without a college degree and older voters — while making crucial gains among younger voters and Black and Hispanic men, according to AP VoteCast, a far-reaching survey of more than 120,000 voters nationwide.
3. » Read the full story

10:10 a.m.: Borrowers hoping for student loan forgiveness in limbo

1. Savannah Britt owes about $27,000 on loans she took out to attend college at Rutgers University, a debt she was hoping to see reduced by President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness efforts.
2. » Read the full story

10:06 a.m.: A Decision Desk update on Maine’s House race

1. Maine’s secretary of state says this race is headed to ranked choice counting, as neither candidate won 50% of the vote among all ballots cast. That process will take place next week in the state capital of Augusta.
2. » Read the full story

9:52 a.m.: The view from an Israeli settlement named after Trump

1. Israeli residents of “Trump Heights” are welcoming the election of their namesake, hoping Donald Trump’s return to the U.S. presidency will breathe new life into this tiny, remote settlement in the central Golan Heights.
2. » Read the full story

9:28 a.m.: How Trump went from diminished ex-president to victor

1. As he bid farewell to Washington in January 2021, deeply unpopular and diminished, Donald Trump was already hinting at a comeback.
2. » Read the full story

9:23 a.m.: Judge strikes down program shielding immigrant spouses from deportation

1. A federal judge on Thursday struck down a Biden istration policy that aimed to ease a path to citizenship for some undocumented immigrants who are married to U.S. citizens.
2. The program, lauded as one of the biggest presidential actions to help immigrant families in years, allowed undocumented spouses and stepchildren of U.S. citizens to apply for a green card without first having to leave the country.
3. » Read the full story

8:52 a.m.: Hungary’s Orbán predicts Trump will end for Ukraine

1. Donald Trump’s biggest European fan, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, is predicting that his istration will cease providing to Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s full-scale invasion.
2. Orbán’s comments were a signal that Trump’s election could drive a wedge among EU leaders on the question of the war.
3. » Read the full story

8:42 a.m.: Fed Chair Jerome Powell on interest-rate policy

1. For now, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said Thursday, nothing is changing. “In the near term, the election will have no effects” on interest-rate policy, he said.
2. At this point, Powell said it’s still not clear what the policies will be after Trump returns to the White House.
3. » Read the full story

8:31 a.m.: Turkey’s president praises Trump

1. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan praised Donald Trump over his election victory and expressed optimism for stronger relations between Turkey and the United States during his second term.
2. In comments made late Thursday, Erdogan also voiced hope that conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine could come to an end through collaboration with Trump.
3. » Read the full story

8:18 a.m.: How does ranked choice voting work?

1. As Maine election officials say a key congressional race needs to go to ranked choice counting, you may ask — how does that work?
2. The uncommon system of voting could be central to which party controls the U.S. House.
3. » Read the full story

8:08 a.m.: Maine race must go to ranked choice counting

1. Maine election officials say a pivotal congressional race in the state must go to ranked choice counting to determine a winner.
2. Maine Democratic Rep. Jared Golden, a moderate known for defying his party, led by a thin margin over Republican Austin Theriault on Friday in a race that was still too early to call days after voting ended.
3. » Read the full story

6:37 a.m.: Election night TV viewers decline sharply

1. Nielsen says 42.3 million people watched election night returns between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump on Tuesday night.
2. That’s down sharply from the 56.9 million who watched in 2020 and the 71.4 million who tuned in on election night 2016, Nielsen said.
3. The NFL’s conference championship games were watched by more people.
4. » Read the full story

6:03 a.m.: Who is Susie Wiles, Trump’s chief of staff?

1. With her selection as President-elect Donald Trump ‘s incoming White House chief of staff, veteran Florida political strategist Susie Wiles moves from a behind-the-scenes role as campaign co-chair.
2. Now she’ll have the high-profile position of the president’s closest adviser and counsel.
3. Wiles will be the first woman to step into the powerful role of White House chief of staff.
4. » Read the full story

5:09 a.m.: Updates on races in Nevada and Arizona

1. Nevada: The late updates Thursday in Clark and Washoe counties in Nevada didn’t add many votes to the tally in the races for president and U.S. Senate. The deadline for mail ballots to arrive and be counted is Saturday. With tens of thousands of ballots potentially still left to count in the state’s two biggest counties, the races are too early to call.
2. Arizona: Another day of vote counting in Arizona added tens of thousands of votes to the tally on Thursday, but there remain hundreds of thousands of ballots left to count — including nearly half a million in Maricopa County. Officials there are still working their way through advance votes that arrived in October. The races for president and U.S. Senate remain too early to call.

5:01 a.m.: GOP picks up more key House seats

1. Republican leaders projected confidence they’ll keep control of the U.S. House as more races were decided in their favor.
2. Still, Democrats insist they still see a path toward the majority and sought assurances every vote will be counted.
3. The GOP picked up two more hard-fought seats in Pennsylvania. Democrats notched another win in New York, defeating a third Republican incumbent in that state.
4. Both parties in the House huddled privately on conference calls to assess the political landscape.
5. » Read the full story

9:04 p.m.: Voters say yes to education sales tax across CSRA counties

1. This week, voters on both sides of the river said yes to renewing penny sales taxes that benefit our public schools.
2. This means more projects and renovations are in our future for several of our oldest schools that desperately need a facelift.
3. Where the money will go and how it will be used depends on the county:
4. In Richmond County, renovations at several schools across the district are on the table.
5. In Columbia County, renovations and more classrooms are the focus.
6. In Aiken County, district leaders say they’re estimating to pour about $285 million into the district.
7. » Read the full story

7:55 p.m.: Putin congratulates Trump on his election victory

1. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday congratulated Donald Trump on his election victory.
2. In Putin’s first public comment on the U.S. vote, he praised Trump’s courage during the July assassination attempt.
3. “His behavior at the moment of an attempt on his life left an impression on me. He turned out to be a brave man,” Putin said.
4. “He manifested himself in the very correct way, bravely as a man,” he added.
5. Putin also said that what Trump has said “about the desire to restore relations with Russia, to help end the Ukrainian crisis, in my opinion, deserves attention at least.”
6. » Read the full story

6:47 p.m.: Ga. transgender community fears future under Trump

Voters in Georgia are still voicing their opinions about former President Donald Trump returning to the White House.

1. One group particularly worried about their health care coverage under the Trump istration is the transgender community.
2. During his campaign, Trump said he would “get transgender insanity out of our schools” and keep men out of women’s sports. He also said he’d ask Congress to a bill banning gender-affirming care for minors.
3. “We will continue to fight for access to health care for everyone, including our transgender family and loved ones,” Georgia Equality Executive Director Jeff Graham said.
4. Danielle Bonanno, a trans woman who runs the LGBTQ+ recovery center Inclusive Recovery Athens, says she’s actually telling people to get their travel documents in order so they can flee the country if they need to.
5. » Read the full story

5:58 p.m.: Trump names campaign manager as chief of staff

1. President-elect Donald Trump has named Susie Wiles, the manager of his victorious campaign, as his White House chief of staff.
2. Wiles is widely credited within and outside Trump’s inner circle for running what was, by far, his most disciplined and well-executed campaign. She largely avoided the spotlight.
3. “Susie is tough, smart, innovative, and is universally ired and respected. Susie will continue to work tirelessly to Make America Great Again,” Trump said in a statement.
4. » Read the full story

5:31 p.m.: Some late ballots will be counted in one Georgia County

1. Certain voters in Georgia’s third-largest county who received their absentee ballots late will have their votes counted as long as their ballots were postmarked by Election Day and are received by Friday.
2. Cobb County didn’t mail out absentee ballots to some 3,400 voters who had requested them until late last week.
3. Georgia law says absentee ballots must be received by the close of polls on Election Day. But a judge in a lower court ruled late last week that the ballots at issue could be counted if they’re postmarked by Tuesday and received by this Friday.
4. The Georgia Supreme Court on Monday issued an order staying that ruling. The high court on Wednesday then asked the parties whether they were still interested in pursuing the appeal.
5. The state and national Republican parties withdrew the appeal, so the high court lifted the stay, restoring the lower court’s ruling.

3:35 p.m.: In Georgia, both parties heed lessons from 2024 election

1. Georgia was again among the most important states on the map for both presidential contenders this year.
2. In 2020, it went blue for the first time in decades, and many Republicans wondered over the last four years if Georgia was truly a swing state. Many of Trump’s most ardent ers felt vindicated after the results went final Tuesday night.
3. Now Republicans in the Peach State are celebrating.
4. “It was a great win. It was a historic win, but he earned it too, that man worked his tail off,” said Georgia Republican Lt. Gov. Burt Jones. “I am surprised about the overwhelming victory that he had. I mean, he won all swing states. He won the popular vote.”
5. Meanwhile, Democrats are reflecting on what they did wrong.
6. “I think it’s a wake-up call for us Democrats to retool, to refine our message,” said state Sen. Jason Esteves, D-Atlanta. “As a party, we need to take that back. We have to do a lot of listening now and learn from it and retool because we have big elections coming up in ‘26.”
7. » Read the full story

2:14 p.m.: Rural Ga. voters played a big role helping Trump

1. Early voting data from Landmark Communications shows Donald Trump’s wide margin was solidified by his appeal in rural Georgia.
2. In rural counties, more than 180,000 Georgians voted in 2024 who didn’t vote in 2020.
3. Meanwhile, there was little to no shift in preference or turnout in the counties surrounding Atlanta.
4. Data shows Kamala Harris’ ability to motivate Black voters in Georgia was not as successful as President Joe Biden’s race in 2020.
5. “I think that the democratic operatives may do less work trying to get celebrity entertainment and more talking about the economy and kitchen table issues,” said analyst Mark Rountree.
6. » Read the full story

11:26 a.m.: Biden says to expect ‘peaceful transfer of power’

1. President Joe Biden has begun delivering remarks to the nation in what is his first appearance on camera following Donald Trump’s decisive victory over Kamala Harris.
2. He says he spoke with Donald Trump and assured him that he would direct his istration to ensure a “peaceful and orderly transition,” because that’s what the people deserve.
3. The president is subtly nodding to how Trump, in 2020, refused to accept he lost the election. Trump was reelected this week.
4. Biden says there will be a “peaceful transfer of power.”
5. Biden says defeat does not mean Democrats are defeated.
6. “America endures,” he said. “We’re going to be OK, but we need to stay engaged.”
7. » Read the full story

11:14 a.m.: 10 richest people got a record $64B richer from Trump’s win

1. The world’s top 10 richest people got a record $64 billion richer after Trump’s reelection, according to Bloomberg’s Billionaire Index.
2. Bloomberg says it’s the biggest daily increase of wealth it’s seen since the index started in 2012.
3. The biggest gainer was Elon Musk.
4. Musk, the world’s richest person and one of Trump’s most outspoken and dedicated ers, saw his wealth jump $26.5 billion to $290 billion Wednesday.
5. » Read the full story

10:59 a.m.: Harris allies blame Biden for vice president’s big loss

1. Joe Biden’s name wasn’t on the ballot, but history will likely Kamala Harris’ resounding defeat as his loss, too.
2. Some of the vice president’s backers are expressing frustration that Biden’s decision to seek reelection until this summer all but sealed his party’s loss of the White House.
3. “The biggest onus of this loss is on President Biden,” said Andrew Yang, who ran against Biden in 2020 for the Democratic nomination and endorsed Harris’ unsuccessful run. “If he had stepped down in January instead of July, we may be in a very different place.”
4. Some high-ranking Democrats, including three advisers to the Harris campaign, expressed deep frustration with Biden for failing to recognize earlier in the election cycle that he was not up to the challenge.
5. » Read the full story

10:05 a.m.: How 5 key demographic groups voted in 2024

1. Donald Trump won the presidency after holding tight to his core base of voters and slightly expanding his coalition to include several groups that have traditionally been part of the Democratic base.
2. That finding comes from AP VoteCast, a sweeping survey of more than 120,000 voters nationwide that shows what issues mattered to voters in this election.
3. Trump picked up a small but significant share of Black and Hispanic voters and made narrow gains with men and women.
4. Trump succeeded in locking down his traditionally older, white base of voters, and he slightly expanded his margins with other groups.
5. » Read the full story

10 a.m.: European leaders look to defense self-reliance

1. Around 50 European leaders at a summit called for a stronger defense posture that no longer depends on Washington as they gave a guarded welcome to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.
2. “He was elected by the American people. He will defend the American interests,” French President Emmanuel Macron said at the European Political Community summit in Hungary.
3. “The question is whether we are willing to defend the European interest. It is the only question. It is our priority,” Macron said.
4. There are concerns, too, that the robust military aid Ukraine has enjoyed under President Joe Biden will be cut under Trump.
5. » Read the full story

9:45 a.m.: Photos of the world’s front pages

1. From to Kenya, Pakistan to Britain and many places in between — take a look at how the U.S. election has resonated on the front pages of the world’s newspapers.

9:09 a.m.: Fed set to reduce cut interest rates again amid post-election uncertainty

1. Federal Reserve officials are poised to reduce their key interest rate for a second straight time.
2. It’s in response to a steady slowdown of inflation pressures that exasperated many Americans and contributed to Donald Trump’s presidential election victory.
3. The Fed has long guarded its status as an independent institution able to make difficult decisions about borrowing rates, free from political interference.
4. Yet during his previous term, Donald Trump publicly attacked Chair Jerome Powell after the Fed raised rates.
5. » Read the full story

9:06 a.m.: Vote gap between 2020 and 2024 fuels false election narratives

1. Less than 24 hours after Donald Trump was elected the 47th president of the United States, social media s began pushing two conflicting narratives to suggest election fraud.
2. One revives false claims by Trump that the 2020 vote was stolen from him and the other questions how Kamala Harris could have received so many fewer votes in 2024 than Joe Biden in 2020.
3. Both narratives hinge on a supposed 20 million vote gap between Harris and Biden.
4. » Read the full story

8:49 a.m.: Bernie Sanders calls for reckoning in Democratic Party

1. Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders did not mince words in a scathing statement.
2. “It should come as no great surprise that a Democratic Party which has abandoned working class people would find that the working class has abandoned them,” said Sanders, Vermont’s senior senator.
3. “First, it was the white working class, and now it is Latino and Black workers as well,” Sanders said.
4. He singled out wealth inequality, a slipping standard of living in the U.S., a lack of full health care guarantees and for Israel’s recent military campaigns as problems Democrats need to focus on.

8:41 a.m.: Vatican hopes Trump will help end wars

1. “At the start of his mandate, we wish him much wisdom because this is the main virtue of rulers according to the Bible,” Cardinal Pietro Parolin said on the sidelines of a Rome conference on Thursday.
2. While acknowledging no one had a “magic wand” to end wars in Ukraine and Gaza, Parolin said the Holy See hoped Trump “can indeed be an element of détente and pacification in the current conflicts that are bleeding the world.”
3. Parolin also said he hoped Trump would work to end polarization in the U.S., including over abortion.

7:56 a.m.: Dalai Lama congratulates Trump on victory

1. “I have long ired the United States of America as the champion of democracy, freedom and the rule of law,” the Tibetan spiritual leader said in a message to Trump.
2. “The Tibetan people and I have been honored to have received the of respective U.S. Presidents and the American people, in our endeavor to protect and preserve our ancient Buddhist culture — a culture of peace, non-violence and comion that has the potential to benefit humanity as a whole,” he said.

7:32 a.m.: Turkey’s president speaks with Trump

1. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan conveyed his hopes in a call for strengthened cooperation between their two countries during Trump’s new term in office, according to a statement from the Turkish president’s office.

6:35 a.m.: Trump’s presidential transition starts now

1. Donald Trump’s impending return to the White House means he’ll want to stand up an entirely new istration from the one that served under President Joe Biden.
2. His team is also pledging that the second won’t look much like the first one Trump established after his 2016 victory.
3. The president-elect now has a 75-day transition period to build out his team before Inauguration Day arrives on Jan. 20.
4. One top item on the to-do list: filling around 4,000 government positions with political appointees.

6 a.m.: Updates on the last two presidential races left to be called

1. Arizona: Officials in Arizona’s Maricopa County said late Wednesday they’ve got more than 700,000 ballots left to count, which means the races for president and senate were too early to call. In all, AP estimates there are at least a million ballots to be added to the results in Arizona. County election officials are expected to firm up those numbers on Thursday.
2. Nevada: AP estimated late Wednesday evening that there are more than 200,000 ballots left to count in Nevada — including more than 130,000 in Clark County. Given the narrow margins in the races for president and U.S. Senate, both are too early to call. The AP will further review results released by Nevada election officials on Thursday.

5:11 a.m.: Biden will deliver a Rose Garden address at 11 a.m.

1. Remarks to the nation will be Biden’s first appearance on camera in the aftermath of Trump’s decisive victory over Harris, according to AP.

5:01 a.m.: How Trump spent his first day as president-elect

1. Donald Trump spent his first day as president-elect receiving congratulatory phone calls from his defeated opponent, world leaders and President Joe Biden as he began the process of turning his election victory into a government.
2. Trump was keeping a low profile, staying out of the public eye after addressing ers in Florida during the wee hours of Wednesday morning.
3. » Read the full story

10:22 p.m.: Control of House hangs in balance

1. The U.S. House majority hung in the balance Wednesday, teetering between Republican control that would usher in a new era of unified GOP governance in Washington or a flip to Democrats as a last line of resistance to a Trump second-term White House agenda.
2. A few individual seats, or even a single one, will determine the outcome. Final tallies will take a while, likely pushing the decision into next week — or beyond.
3. After Republicans swept into the majority in the U.S. Senate by picking up seats in West Virginia, Ohio and Montana, House Speaker Mike Johnson predicted his chamber would fall in line next.
4. “Republicans are poised to have unified government in the White House, Senate and House,” Johnson said Wednesday.
5. » Read the full story

9 p.m.: Expert offers early analysis on Trump’s 2024 win

1. After Donald Trump’s victory came into clear view on Wednesday morning, some experts began offering early analysis on how he won.
2. Professor and Director of Political Management at George Washington University Todd Belt said he believes much of the 2024 presidential election came down to the fact that voters wanted someone who was different, who was not tied to the current istration.
3. “This was a change election. And Donald Trump didn’t have to do much to be the change candidate. He just had to not be the incumbent candidate,” said Belt. “And once the Democrats decided that Joe Biden wasn’t going to be their nominee anymore and Kamala Harris stepped in, she was still tethered to the istration.”
4. » Read the full story

7:58 p.m.: Pence reacts to Trump’s win after declining to endorse him

1. Former Vice President Mike Pence congratulated Donald Trump for winning a second term in office, writing yet another awkward chapter in the relationship between the president-elect and his former running mate.
2. “The American people have spoken and Karen and I send our sincere congratulations to President-Elect Donald Trump and his family on his election as 47th President of the United States,” Pence wrote on behalf of him and his wife.
3. The former vice president also congratulated Ohio Sen. JD Vance, who ran in place of Pence as Trump’s running mate.
4. » Read the full story

7:13 p.m.: Harris will certify Trump’s presidential win

1. Donald Trump’s presidential win is going to be certified in Congress in January by the candidate he beat, Vice President Kamala Harris.
2. Under the Constitution, the vice president is the head of the Senate, and it’s the role of the Senate president to declare the result of a White House election.
3. That happens Jan. 6.
4. Under normal circumstances, the vote-tallying procedure performed by the vice president is a mere formality and it’s the final step in the complicated technical process of electing a new istration.
5. But this nearly didn’t happen four years ago.
6. » Read the full story

4:45 p.m.: Harris tells backers to accept election results, keep fighting

1. Kamala Harris said Wednesday that “we must accept the results of this election” as she encouraged ers to continue fighting for their vision of the country after her loss to Donald Trump.
2. The Democratic vice president said the battle would continue “in the voting booth, in the courts and in the public square.”
3. “Sometimes the fight takes a while,” she said. “That doesn’t mean we won’t win.”
4. Harris delivered her remarks at Howard University, her alma mater and one of the country’s most prominent historically Black schools.
5. “While I concede this election, I do not concede the fight that fueled this campaign,” Harris said.
6. » Read the full story

3:55 p.m.: Ga. Gov. Brian Kemp reacts to Donald Trump’s White House win

1. Despite former quarrels, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp congratulated Donald Trump on Wednesday for his victory in the 2024 election.
2. Georgia, one of seven noted swing states, went red for Trump in the 2024 election after turning blue in 2020.
3. “Congratulations to President-Elect Donald Trump,” Kemp wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “We look forward to working together to put hardworking Americans first and get our country back on track.”
4. » Read the full story

3:09 p.m.: Biden calls Trump to congratulate him on election win

1. President Joe Biden has called President-elect Trump to congratulate him on his election victory.
2. Beiden also invited him to the White House to discuss the transition.
3. The White House said staff would coordinate a date “in the near future.” Biden plans to address the nation on the election results, which will have sharp implications for his legacy on Thursday.
4. Biden also spoke with Vice President Harris to congratulate her on her campaign.

2:46 p.m.: Special counsel’s cases against Trump melt away with election

1. Special counsel Jack Smith is evaluating how to wind down the two federal cases against Donald Trump before he takes office in light of longstanding Justice Department protocol that says sitting presidents cannot be prosecuted.
2. Smith charged Trump last year with plotting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and illegally hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
3. But Trump’s election defeat of Kamala Harris means that he can no longer face prosecution in accordance with a decades-old Justice Department legal opinion.
4. » Read the full story

2:25 p.m.: Harris calls Trump to congratulate him on election victory

1. Kamala Harris called President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday to concede the election and congratulate him on his victory, according to a senior adviser to the vice president.
2. The aide, who declined to be identified discussing a private conversation, said Harris talked about the need for a peaceful transfer of power.
3. The Trump campaign confirmed the conversation.
4. “President Donald J. Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris spoke by phone earlier today where she congratulated him on his historic victory. President Trump acknowledged Vice President Harris on her strength, professionalism and tenacity throughout the campaign, and both leaders agreed on the importance of unifying the country,” said Steven Cheung, Trump campaign communications director.
5. Harris will give a public concession speech at 4 p.m.
6. » Read the full story

1:05 p.m.: Trump wins Michigan in another swing state victory

1. Donald Trump has added Michigan to the states he carried in this year’s presidential election, according to The Associated Press.
2. » Read the full story

12:25 p.m.: Harris expected to concede in 4 p.m. speech

1. Vice President Kamala Harris will deliver remarks at Howard University in Washington, D.C., at 4 p.m.
2. That’s when she’s expected to concede to Donald Trump.

11:59 a.m.: Republicans take Senate majority; House too close to call

1. Republicans have taken control of the U.S. Senate and are fighting to keep their majority in the U.S. House, which would produce a full sweep of GOP power in Congress alongside President-elect Donald Trump in the White House.
2. A unified Republican grip on Washington would set the course for Trump’s agenda.
3. Or if Democrats wrest control of the House, it would provide an almost certain backstop, with veto power over the White House.
4. Trump, speaking early Wednesday at his election night party in Florida, said the results delivered an “unprecedented and powerful mandate” for Republicans.
5. He called the Senate rout “incredible.”
6. » Read the full story

11:37 a.m.: Stocks and bitcoin jump after Trump’s victory

1. The U.S. stock market, Elon Musk’s Tesla, banks and bitcoin are all storming higher Wednesday as investors bet on what Donald Trump’s return to the White House will mean for the economy and world.
2. Among the losers the market sees: the Mexican peso, solar-power companies and potentially anyone worried about higher inflation.
3. The S&P 500 was up by 1.8% in morning trading and on track to top its all-time high set last month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1,315 points, or 3.1%, as of 10:10 a.m. Eastern time, while the Nasdaq composite was 2.1% higher.
4. “The markets are scrambling to figure out what happens next, but for the time being, the market is pricing in a higher growth and higher inflation outlook,” said Peter Esho of Esho Capital.
5. » Read the full story

11:31 a.m.: S.C. political leaders react to Trump victory

1. » Gov. Henry McMaster: “Congratulations to @realDonaldTrump and @JDVance on their decisive victory. I look forward to working together to build a brighter future for our people, help South Carolina continue to prosper, and ultimately make America great again!”
2. » Sen. Lindsey Graham: “We have a lot to do and a short time to do it. Well done, Mr. President. See you on the golf course!”
3. » Sen. Tim Scott: “Congratulations to the next President of the United States, Donald J. Trump!”
4. » Drew McKissick, S.C. Republican chairman: “South Carolina is Trump country. We carried the state by 18 points for Donald Trump, helping candidates win up and down the ballot.”

11:23 a.m.: South Carolina is one of several states to ban voting by noncitizens

1. South Carolinians approved a constitutional amendment Tuesday declaring that only U.S. citizens can vote.
2. Similar measures also ed in Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Wisconsin – all referred to the ballot by Republican-led legislatures.
3. A 1996 U.S. law prohibits noncitizens from voting in federal elections, and many states already have similar laws.
4. But Republicans have emphasized the potential of noncitizens voting after an influx of immigrants at the U.S.-Mexican border. Though noncitizen voting historically has been rare, voter roll reviews before the election flagged potential noncitizens ed in several states.
5. Some municipalities in California, Maryland, Vermont and Washington, D.C., allow noncitizens to vote in certain local elections.
6. » Read the full story

11:05 a.m.: Former President Bush congratulates Trump

1. In a statement, former President George W. Bush said he and his wife, Laura, “ our fellow citizens in praying for the success of our new leaders at all levels of government.”
2. Some top former Republican officials, including Bush’s vice president, Dick Cheney, had endorsed Harris. But Bush remained neutral.
3. Bush also thanked “President Biden and Vice President Harris for their service to our country.”
4. “The strong turnout in this election is a sign of the health of our republic and the strength of our democratic institutions,” said Bush, who called the election a “free, fair, safe, and secure election.”

10:45 a.m.: A look behind Trump’s decisive victory in a deeply divided nation

1. Donald Trump exposed a fundamental weakness within the Democratic base and beat back concerns about becoming the first U.S. president with a felony conviction.
2. Trump won over frustrated voters with bold promises that his fiery brand of America-first economic populism and conservative culture would make their lives better.
3. He will be tested immediately, however, and there are reasons to believe his plans for mass deportations and huge tariffs may hurt the very people who enabled his victory.
4. Still, he is set to enter the White House on Jan. 20, 2025, from an undisputed position of strength. With votes still being counted, he could become the first Republican in two decades to win the popular vote.
5. » Read the full story

10:43 a.m.: Votes still being tabulated in Burke County sheriff’s race

1. Burke County election officials tell News 12 they’re still counting ballots in the race between Sheriff Alfonzo Williams and write-in candidate Brad Capitosti.
2. Counting write-in votes is a long and laborious process that must be done by hand.
3. » Read the full story

7:54 a.m.: What are Trump’s sweeping plans for a second istration?

1. Donald Trump has promised sweeping action in a second istration.
2. The former president and now president-elect often skipped over details but through more than a year of policy pronouncements and written statements outlined a wide-ranging agenda that blends traditional conservative approaches to taxes, regulation and cultural issues with a more populist bent on trade and a shift in America’s international role.
3. Trump’s agenda also would scale back federal government efforts on civil rights and expand presidential powers.
4. » Read the full story

7:29 a.m.: Congressman Rick W. Allen issues statement on Trump’s election

1. Congressman Rick W. Allen (GA-12) issued the following statement upon President Donald J. Trump’s election to serve as president of the United States:
2. ”Over the last four years, our nation has faced crisis after crisis under the Biden-Harris istration. From historic inflation and the rising cost of living to an unprecedented border crisis and chaos on the world stage, the American people have made it clear without a shadow of a doubt that they are ready for a new direction. Under President Donald Trump and Vice President-Elect JD Vance’s leadership, we will tackle each of these self-inflicted crises head on. We will reclaim American energy dominance to lower costs for families, we will rein in runaway government spending, we will secure our border, we will stop the flow of deadly narcotics into our country, and we will restore peace through strength. I look forward to working alongside President Trump to make America great once again and return to the prosperity we experienced just four years ago. It’s time to get to work!”

5:39 a.m.: The Associated Press announces Trump is elected

1. Donald Trump was elected the 47th president of the United States on Wednesday, an extraordinary comeback for a former president who refused to accept defeat four years ago, sparked a violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, was convicted of felony charges and survived two assassination attempts.
2. With a win in Wisconsin, Trump cleared the 270 electoral votes needed to clinch the presidency.
3. The victory validates his bare-knuckle approach to politics. He attacked his Democratic rival, Kamala Harris, in deeply personal — often misogynistic and racist — as he pushed an apocalyptic picture of a country overrun by violent migrants.
4. The coarse rhetoric, paired with an image of hypermasculinity, resonated with angry voters — particularly men — in a deeply polarized nation. As president, he’s vowed to pursue an agenda centered on dramatically reshaping the federal government and retribution against his perceived enemies.

5:33 a.m.: CBS News and CNN project Trump to win 2024 presidential election

1. CBS News projects former President Donald Trump will win the presidency, defeating Vice President Kamala Harris to become the 47th president of the United States.
2. A CBS News projection for Trump in Wisconsin put him over the finish line early Wednesday morning, after earlier projections for Trump winning the battleground states of North Carolina, Georgia and Pennsylvania.
3. CBS News estimates Trump will sur the winning electoral vote threshold of 270 by 6 votes, for a total of 276 so far. Votes were still being counted in several other states.
4. Donald Trump will return to the White House, CNN projects, in a moment of historic consequence for American democracy.

2:32 a.m.: Trump wins Pennsylvania, leaving him 3 electoral votes away from victory

1. Donald Trump won Pennsylvania early Wednesday, putting him just four electoral votes shy of defeating Kamala Harris to win the White House.
2. A win in Alaska or any of the outstanding battleground states — Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona or Nevada — would send the Republican former president back to the Oval Office.
3. Pennsylvania, a part of the once-reliable Democratic stronghold known as the “blue wall” with Michigan and Wisconsin, was carried by Trump when he first won the White House in 2016 and then flipped back to Democrats in 2020. Trump also flipped Georgia, which had voted for Democrats four years ago, and retained the closely contested state of North Carolina.
4. » Read the full story

1:02 a.m.: Harris watch party breaks up for the night

1. The crowd at Kamala Harris’ watch party at her alma mater, Howard University in Washington, began to file out after midnight Wednesday.
2. Harris did not speak at the party.
3. Cedric Richmond, co-chair of the Harris campaign, spoke instead, telling the crowd there were still votes to count and states to be called.
4. “We will continue overnight to fight to make sure that every vote is counted. That every voice has spoken,” he said. “So you won’t hear from the vice president tonight, but you will hear from her tomorrow. She will be back here tomorrow.”
5. Donald Trump was expected to speak early Wednesday from an event in Florida.
6. » Read the full story

12:38 a.m.: Trump wins Georgia vote

1. CBS News early Wednesday called the Georgia vote in favor of Donald Trump.
2. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger earlier had said Trump had an “insurmountable lead” against Vice President Kamala Harris in the Peach State, and it was up to his office to crunch the numbers.

12:20 a.m.: Winner unknown so far in Burke County sheriff’s race

1. Burke County Sheriff Alfonzo Williams was on the ballot Tuesday, but it’s unclear whether he won reelection.
2. That’s because the Democrat is in a race against Republican write-in candidate Brad Capitosti.
3. Counting ballots in a write-in campaign is a labor-intensive process done by hand.
4. » Read the full story

11:30 p.m.: Trump wins North Carolina, narrowing Harris’ path to victory

1. Donald Trump won the battleground state of North Carolina on Tuesday, fending off a challenge from Kamala Harris, who was looking to flip the state and expand her pathways to 270 electoral votes.
2. The former Republican president had made stops to the state in each of the last three days of the campaign to deprive Harris of the pickup, as a divided America made its decision in a stark choice for the nation’s future Tuesday.
3. The Democratic vice president’s campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon told staff in a memo that the “blue wall” of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin was now the Democrat’s “clearest path” to victory, according to a copy obtained by The Associated Press.
4. » Read the full story

11:09 p.m.: Columbia County voters select a new coroner

1. Voters on Tuesday decided on a new coroner for Columbia County.
2. After Vernon Collins retired in 2023, Keith Cox was appointed interim coroner. He’s not running for election, though.
3. Republican Terry Norman won the job Tuesday with 65.6% of the votes vs. Democrat Helene Bratton’s 34.4%.

11:06 p.m.: Marijuana legalization fails in Florida

1. A costly campaign to legalize recreational marijuana in Florida failed Tuesday as voters in dozens of states weighed more than 140 measures appearing on the ballot alongside races for president and top state offices.
2. Florida was one of several states deciding high-profile marijuana measures and was among 10 states considering amendments related to abortion or reproductive rights. About two dozen measures are focused on future elections, including several specifically barring noncitizens from voting. Other state measures affect wages, taxes, housing and education, including a school choice measure that was defeated in Kentucky.
3. Many of the ballot measures were initiated by citizen petitions that sidestep state legislatures, though others were placed before voters by lawmakers.
4. » Read the full story

11:03 p.m.: Columbia County voters agree to extend school sales tax

1. Columbia County voters on Tuesday approved continuing a 1% sales tax that goes toward schools.
2. The county has had the Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax, or ESPLOST, for 25 years. age will continue the tax, not raise taxes.
3. Approval will extend the tax until 2032.
4. The tax helps pay for construction projects like new schools and classrooms. It also pays for school buses, maintenance, technology and more.
5. The extension of E-SPLOST, coupled with general obligation bonds, will fund renovations and new classrooms, as well as provide additional technology improvements, according to the Columbia County School District.
6. » Read the full story

10:27 p.m.: Augusta U.S. Rep, Rick Allen reacts to reelection

1. U.S. Rep. Rick Allen won reelection in the race for Georgia’s 12th Congressional District.
2. Allen, R-Augusta, defeated Democrat Liz Johnson for the third consecutive time she has tried to unseat him.
3. He won a sixth term representing the Augusta area and counties running south to Vidalia.
4. “I am eternally grateful that the 12th District has placed their trust in me to continue serving as their voice in Washington. It has been the honor of a lifetime to represent our district and state, and I will continue fighting for the issues that matter most to Georgia families,” Allen said Tuesday night.
5. “We have our work cut out for us during the 119th Congress to reverse the many crises created under the Biden-Harris istration. I will be laser-focused over the next two years on working with my House Republican colleagues to reduce inflation and lower costs, secure our border, unleash American energy dominance, Georgia farmers and producers, ensure our veterans receive the quality care they deserve, and rebuild a booming economy that works for all Americans.”
6. » Read the full story

10:15 p.m.: ‘We’ll have everything buttoned up tonight’ in Georgia

1. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said 4 million of Georgia’s 5.2 million votes have already been reported.
2. Raffensperger said the counties that were affected by bomb threats still reported on time.
3. Georgia is “basically done voting” and the state is waiting on absentee and military ballots, the secretary of state said, adding: “We’ll have everything buttoned up tonight.”

10:06 p.m.: Trump and Harris await results with battleground polls closing

1. Polls have closed in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, Arizona, Wisconsin, North Carolina and Nevada, the seven closely fought battlegrounds expected to decide the presidential election.
2. But the results there are too early to call, as balloting continues in other parts of the West.
3. Donald Trump won Florida, a one-time battleground that has shifted heavily to Republicans in recent elections. He also notched early wins in reliably Republican states such as Texas, South Carolina and Indiana, while Kamala Harris took Democratic strongholds like New York, Massachusetts and Illinois.
4. The fate of democracy appeared to be a primary driver for Harris’ ers, a sign that the Democratic nominee’s persistent messaging in her campaign’s closing days accusing Trump of being a fascist may have broken through, according to AP VoteCast.
5. The expansive survey of more than 110,000 voters nationwide also found a country mired in negativity and desperate for change. Trump’s ers were largely focused on immigration and inflation — two issues that the former Republican president has been hammering since the start of his campaign.
6. » Read the full story

10:01 p.m.: How is Georgia handling the national election spotlight?

1. Election workers stayed busy tabulating results Tuesday night after polling locations closed.
2. And there’s a lot of focus on the Peach State.
3. “Georgia in the past was not considered a battleground state, so now that we have an unfortunate label, I think it makes a big difference in how things are perceived in the state of Georgia,” Richmond County Board of Elections Executive Director Travis Doss told News 12. “Prior to 2020, it was a foregone conclusion of how Georgia would go. Now that we know it’s not determined that both candidates are seen as a high percentage, I think that’s what’s caused such a heightened attention on it.”

9:49 p.m.: Mood is energetic at S.C. Republican watch party

1. When South Carolina was called for former President Donald Trump – a big cheer went up inside Tin Roof in Columbia – where many of the state’s Republican leaders and ers were gathering.
2. With that expected result – a lot of the focus is turning to races at the State House.
3. Of course, there are no statewide races in South Carolina this year.
4. But every seat at the State House is on the ballots – and Republicans are focusing on a number of them to try to flip them from Democrats’ control.
5. Republicans have held a supermajority in the House of Representatives since 20-22 – and they are just one seat shy of a supermajority in the Senate right now.
6. South Carolina Republican Chairman Drew McKissick told me he expects Republicans could flip at least four seats in the House of Representatives – and three in the Senate.
7. Here’s what he said gaining that Senate supermajority would mean for Republicans.
8. “That’ll be a great achievement, and it’ll let Republicans be able to overcome Democrats’ filibuster and when it comes to moving legislation in the future, that’s a big achievement,” he said. “And we’ve got a lot of local races around the state that it’ll probably take us around midday tomorrow to figure out who won tonight.”

9:17 p.m.: Florida rejects abortion measure, further limiting access in the South

1. Florida voters rejected an abortion rights amendment and kept in place Gov. Ron DeSantis’ 6-week ban as the initiative failed to reach the required 60% threshold.
2. The measure faced an uphill battle in the deeply red state where Trump, a Florida resident, said during the campaign that he would vote against it.
3. The future legality and availability of abortion hinges not only on ballot measures, as policies could shift depending on who controls Congress and the presidency.
4. » Read the full story

9:11 p.m.: Wilson wins as other incumbents battle to keep S.C. congressional seats

1. Republican Rep. Joe Wilson won reelection to a U.S. House seat representing South Carolina on Tuesday.
2. Wilson has represented the state’s 2nd District, which includes suburban areas around Columbia west and south toward Aiken, since 2001.
3. He is a member of the House Republican Policy Committee and received national attention for shouting “You lie” at then-President Barack Obama during a t address to Congress in his first term.
4. Wilson defeated Democrat David Robinson.
5. » Read the full story

9 p.m.: Update on bomb threats at Georgia polling sites

1. Of the 177 polling places in Fulton County, 32 received bomb threats Tuesday, county Police Chief W. Wade Yates said. Some of the threats were called directly into the locations where voting was happening, while others were called into 911 or received by email, he said.
2. As a result, voting hours were extended at five polling places in Georgia’s Fulton County that were briefly closed because of bomb threats that were determined to be non-credible. Each voting location’s hours have were extended for as long as they were closed. The extensions ranged from 10 minutes at one location to 45 minutes at two locations.
3. Officials, including the FBI, blamed Russi for the threats.
4. Russia was already known to be interfering with the election through a wave of propaganda and misinformation, apparently meant to swing the vote in favor of Donald Trump and otherwise sow distrust in the electoral process.
5. » Read the full story

8:27 p.m.: Fani Willis wins reelection as Fulton County district attorney

1. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, the Georgia prosecutor who brought charges against former President Donald Trump over efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, has won her bid for reelection.
2. Willis, a Democrat, defeated Republican challenger Courtney Kramer, who had interned in the White House counsel’s office during the Trump presidency and is active in GOP organizations.
3. She made headlines just a month into her tenure when she announced in February 2021 that she was investigating whether Trump and others broke any laws while trying to overturn his narrow loss in the state to Democrat Joe Biden.
4. Two and a half years later, after an investigation that included calling dozens of witnesses before a special grand jury, she obtained a sprawling racketeering indictment against Trump and 18 others in August 2023.
5. Four people have pleaded guilty after reaching deals with prosecutors. Trump and the others who remain have all pleaded not guilty to the charges against them.
6. The election interference prosecution has made Willis the target of Republican attacks and investigations. Trump has repeatedly railed against her during public appearances and on social media. And state and federal legislators have opened investigations into how she runs her office.
7. » Read the full story

8:20 p.m.: Marjorie Taylor Greene wins reelection to U.S. House

1. Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene won reelection to a U.S. House seat representing Georgia on Tuesday.
2. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., says she’ll call a vote next week on ousting House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. Rep. Greene, a staunch ally of former President Donald Trump, is forcing her colleagues to choose sides after Democratic leaders announced they’d provide the votes to save the Republican speaker’s job. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)(AP)
3. Greene, 50, won her third term in Congress representing Georgia’s 14th District, which stretches from suburban Atlanta into the state’s heavily Republican northwest corner.
4. Greene largely ignored local issues in her campaign, focusing on her for Donald Trump and opposition to Democratic President Joe Biden.
5. She defeated Shawn Harris, a retired Army general and first-time candidate who referred to Greene as “the most toxic member of Congress” and called for an approach that focused more on the district’s needs.
6. » Read the full story

8:01 p.m.: Donald Trump wins South Carolina

1. Former President Donald Trump won South Carolina on Tuesday, earning its nine electoral votes for the third straight election.
2. South Carolina has not voted for the Democratic nominee for president since 1976, when Democrat Jimmy Carter – the governor of the neighboring state of Georgia – defeated Republican President Gerald Ford throughout the South.
3. Four years ago, Trump won 55% of the vote, matching his performance from 2016.
4. Given the success Republicans have in the state, presidential candidates rarely spend time campaigning there.
5. The Associated Press declared Trump the winner at 8:01 p.m.

6:30 p.m.: Bomb threats continue at Georgia polling sites

1. Even with time short before polls close, bomb threats blamed on Russia continue at Georgia polling locations.
2. DeKalb County election officials said Tuesday evening that bomb threats were reported at several locations, including five active polling places. Sweeps are being done, they said.
3. The threats were reported at:
4. » New Bethel AME Church, 8350 Rockbridge Road, Lithonia
5. » New Life Community Center, 3592 Flat Shoals Road, Decatur
6. » North DeKalb Senior Center, 3393 Malone Drive, Chamblee
7. » Reid H. Cofer Library, 5234 Lavista Road, Tucker
8. » Wesley Chapel Library, 2861 Wesley Chapel Road, Decatur
9. Threats were also reported at Stonecrest, which is not an active polling location, and Salem Panola Library.
10. County officials said the sweeps are a “precautionary measure for the safety of voters and poll workers.” Once each location is cleared, voters can re-enter the facility and cast their ballots, according to election officials.
11. The threats have been happening all day, and officials from the FBI to state elections chief Brad Raffenspergert say Russia is to blame.
12. The nondemocratic country was already known to be interfering with the U.S. election through a wave of propaganda and misinformation, but the threats are a new twist.
13. Russian ruler Vladimir Putin apparently means to swing the vote in favor of Donald Trump and otherwise sow distrust in the electoral process.
14. » Read the full story

4:37 p.m.: Judge upholds weekend acceptance of Ga. absentee ballots

1. A federal judge on Tuesday upheld seven Georgia counties’ extension of election office hours over the weekend to accept hand-delivered absentee ballots.
2. The offices in Democratic-leaning counties stayed open over the weekend to accept the ballots weekend after a judge rejected a Republican lawsuit trying to block the practice.
3. A federal judge on Tuesday agreed with that decision, saying the GOP was attempting to “tip the scales of this election by discriminating against [counties] less likely to vote for their candidate.”
4. The judge – a Trump appointee – chastised the GOP lawyers for bringing the suit and urged them to read “The Boy Who Cried Wolf.”
5. The GOP did not challenge similar weekend ballot acceptance practices in Republican-leaning counties.
6. » Read the full story

3:55 p.m.: Police stop man who ‘smelled like fuel,’ had flare gun at U.S. Capitol

1. Police at the U.S. Capitol arrested a man on Tuesday as he tried to enter the visitor’s center with a flare gun and an apparent fire accelerant.
2. While inspecting his backpack, officers noticed what turned out to be a flare gun and two bottles of accelerant.
3. Police also said he smelled like gasoline.
4. The man told investigators he had papers in his backpack that he intended to deliver to Congress.
5. » Read the full story

3:02 p.m.: FBI agrees Russia is behind threats to voting sites

1. The FBI concurs with Georgia elections chief Brad Raffensperger that bomb threats to some U.S. polling sites are originating in Russia.
2. The FBI did not identify the states in question, but Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said earlier Tuesday that the state’s election process had snuffed out some bomb threats that he said came from Russia.
3. Officials in Fulton County said they received “multiple calls” and the threats forced a brief closure of two polling places. A precinct in Gwinnett County also had to be evacuated.
4. The FBI in Atlanta released this statement:
5. “The FBI is aware of bomb threats to polling locations in several states, including Georgia, many of which appear to originate from Russian email domains. None of the threats have been determined to be credible thus far. Election integrity is among the FBI’s highest priorities. We will continue to work closely with our state and local law enforcement partners to respond to any threats to our elections and to protect our communities as Americans exercise their right to vote. As always, we urge the public to remain vigilant and report suspicious activity to state or local law enforcement or submit tips to the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324) or online at tips.fbi.gov.”
6. Russia was already known to be interfering with the election through a wave of propaganda and misinformation, apparently meant to swing the vote in favor of Donald Trump and otherwise sow distrust in the electoral process.
7. » Read the full story

2:45 p.m.: Overall voting going smoothly in Georgia

1. Georgia elections chief Brad Raffensperger said voting is going smoothly in Georgia despite a few hiccups.
2. He offered an update on voting at 2:30 p.m.
3. Some of the highlights:
4. » More than 700,000 Georgians have voted so far out of 1.1 million expected today.
5. » In Peach County, someone plugged in a space heater and accidentally fried out the county’s election management system. The problem was fixed and didn’t cause any delays, Raffensberger said.

2:31 p.m.: Bomb threat forces evacuation at another Ga. precinct

1. A bomb threat was reported at the Mountain Park Activity Center precinct in Gwinnett County, Ga., on Tuesday afternoon.
2. Police said they evacuated and swept the building and found nothing. Voting has since resumed.
3. Election supervisor Zach Manifold said he intends to file an extension with a judge to keep the precinct open an extra hour.
4. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger says Georgia is behind bomb threats at Georgia polling sites.
5. » Read the full story

12:50 p.m.: Harris appears on Atlanta radio show

1. “The first office I ever ran for was freshman class representative at Howard University,” Kamala Harris recalled in her Tuesday interview with the Big Tigger Morning Show on V-103 in Atlanta. “And to go back tonight to Howard University, my beloved alma mater, and be able to hopefully … recognize this day for what it is — really it’s full circle for me.”
2. Howard, located in the nation’s capital, is part of a network of historically Black colleges and universities founded before 1964 for African American students.
3. If she wins, Harris will be the first HBCU alum to serve as president.
4. » More election coverage

12:49 p.m.: Trumps cast their ballots in Palm Beach

1. Donald Trump has cast his ballot in Palm Beach, Fla., and says his latest presidential campaign was the best yet.
2. “I ran a great campaign. I think it was maybe the best of the three. We did great in the first one. We did much better in the second one but something happened. I would say this is the best campaign we’ve run,” he said, standing next to his wife, Melania Trump.
3. » More election coverage

12:05 p.m.: FBI warns about fake videos making the rounds online

1. The FBI is warning the public to be wary of two false videos circulating on social media with inaccurate election information.
2. The first is a fake news clip telling viewers that the FBI recommends Americans “vote remotely” because of a high terror threat at the polls. The second shows a fake FBI press release saying that five prisons in Georgia, Pennsylvania and Arizona rigged inmate voting in cooperation with a political party.
3. “Election integrity is among our highest priorities, and the FBI is working closely with state and local law enforcement partners to respond to election threats and protect our communities as Americans exercise their right to vote,” the FBI said.
4. » Read the full story

11 a.m.: Ga. elections chief blames Russia for bomb threats at polling sites

1. Two polling locations in Georgia were temporarily evacuated Tuesday morning after they received false bomb threats.
2. The threats, which were deemed to be non-credible, targeted five polls in total, according to Fulton County Director of Registration and Elections Nadine Williams.
3. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said officials believe the bomb threats came from Russia, which authorities have already confirmed is meddling in the election process.
4. “They’re up to mischief, it seems. They don’t want us to have a smooth, fair and accurate election, and if they can get us to fight among ourselves, they can count that as a victory,” Raffensperger said. “That tells you a little bit about the Russians. They’re not our friends. Anyone that thinks they are hasn’t been reading the newspapers.”
5. » Read the full story

10:45 a.m.: Georgia voters waiting an average of 2 minutes

1. The average wait time is two minutes this Election Day at Georgia polling locations, according to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.
2. Gabriel Sterling with Raffensperger’s office said the check-in time was averaging 49 seconds.
3. Raffensperger offered a midmorning update on how the election is going in the hotly contested swing state.
4. “People are having a great voting experience,” Raffensperger said.
5. Raffensperger expects most results from Georgia will be tallied “by the end of the night.”
6. More than 1 million Georgians are expected to vote today, after a record-breaking early voting period that saw more than 4 million Georgians casting their ballots.
7. » Read the full story

10:36 a.m.: Why expert sees Georgia as critical to the outcome of presidential vote

1. National polls are still showing tight projections for each presidential candidate.
2. Political science professor Dr. Lance Hunter says the battle for 270 electoral votes and the keys to the White House will come down to the wire.
3. “Some of the swing states could be decided by one percentage point or fewer,” says Hunter. “So there could be a lot of extremely close elections when we’re thinking of statewide elections for the presidency there. And so, Georgia has 16 electoral votes. It is considered a swing state, and so it certainly will be critical to the outcome.”
4. » Read the full story

10:11 a.m.: Ga. high court says absentee ballots must be returned by Election Day

1. Thousands of voters in Georgia’s third-largest county who received their absentee ballots late will not get an extension to return them, the state’s highest court decided on Monday.
2. Cobb County didn’t mail out absentee ballots to some 3,400 voters who had requested them until late last week. Georgia law says absentee ballots must be received by the close of polls on Election Day.
3. The Georgia Supreme Court ruling means the affected Cobb County residents must vote in person today or bring their absentee ballots to the county elections office by 7 p.m. that day.
4. » Read the full story

9 a.m.: Attorneys general speak out against election violence

1. Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr and all the other attorneys general across the country issued a statement condemning political violence.
2. “Regardless of the outcome of Tuesday’s election, we expect that Americans will respond peacefully and we condemn any acts of violence related to the results,” the statement reads. “A peaceful transfer of power is the highest testament to the rule of law, a tradition that stands at the heart of our nation’s stability.”
3. » Read the full story

8:27 a.m.: Election machines go down briefly at Aiken County polling site

1. Voting machines were out for a few minutes Tuesday morning at one Aiken County voting site as South Carolinians cast ballots in a historic election.
2. The machines at Schofield Middle School had to be reset and were back up and running in a few minutes.
3. » Read the full story

6:31 a.m.: What you need to know as you head to the polls in the CSRA

1. » Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
2. » It’s against the rules to wear a campaign hat or candidate shirt when you go to vote.
3. » You cannot pull out your phone when you’re in front of the voting equipment.
4. » your ID. If you don’t have it, you’ll get a provisional ballot.
5. » More things you’ll need to know

6 a.m.: Before you vote, check out the ballot topics in the CSRA

1. Besides the presidential race, there are all kinds of things on the ballot for elections across the CSRA.
2. They include county candidates, local questions, state questions, legislative candidates and more.
3. Find out what’s on your ballot.
4. » Read the full story

5:30 a.m.: Learn about the three state questions on Georgia ballots

1. Besides playing a major role in electing the 47th president of the United States, Georgia voters are also being asked to decide on three statewide issues.
2. All three of them involve taxes in one way or another.
3. » Read the full story

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