By Meg Wagner, Melissa Macaya, Veronica Rocha, Melissa Mahtani and Amanda Wills, CNN
Former Vice President Joe Biden is in his hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania, this morning.
“Welcome home,” Biden said as he stepped off his plane in Scranton with two of his grandchildren, Finnegan and Natalie.
“These are the only two of my grandchildren who have never been to Scranton. So we’re going home!” he told the crowd.
Watch Biden address crowd in Scranton, Pennsylvania:
From CNN's Aditi Sangal
Georgia becoming “a battleground state was not only possible — it was inevitable,” former Georgia gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams says as voters head to the polls on Election Day.
Georgia is a key state to watch this election. It is one of three states in the Southeast — along with Florida and North Carolina — that are all crucial for President Trump's path to 270 electoral votes. The Biden campaign has also dispatched its top surrogates to the state, including former President Barack Obama.
A diversifying electorate, suburban swings in Democrats' favor and a series of close calls there during Trump's presidency are all pointing to the fact that the state is in play, Abrams explained.
“We know heading into this election we have seen dramatic turnout among communities that typically are not at the top of mind for candidates. We have seen them be engaged, be encouraged, and we have seen them turn out,” she told CNN.
She gave the same pitch for Joe Biden and other candidates early in the Democratic primary.
“I had two messages. One, voter suppression is real and we have to have a plan to fight back. Two, Georgia is real. You’ve got to have a plan to fight here,” she said Tuesday. “We were very privileged to know that by the time Joe Biden won the nomination, he had Georgia… on his mind.”
In a message to her fellow Democrats, she said:
“We know that we can win this, but we have to show up, stay in line, and not let our panic overwhelm us. But we also have to be calm and patient when it comes to the results. We may not know tonight, but when we get the answer, I'd rather it be slow and right than fast and wrong.”
Watch the interview:
From CNN's Curt Devine
Nearly 9.1 million Floridians — 9,069,761 to be exact — have already voted, state data updated Tuesday morning shows.
That’s about 95% of the 9.6 million total votes in the 2016 election.
Registered Democrats lead registered Republicans by about 115,000 votes. This is up by about 7,000 votes since Monday, which means Democrats increased their lead against Republicans for two days in row after about two weeks of Republicans chipping into that lead through the early in-person voting.
Nearly 2 million people with no party affiliation have also voted.
Polls close in Florida at 7 p.m. local time.
From CNN's Rosa Flores and Sara Weisfeldt
On the morning of Election Day, some stores were boarded up in Miami's upscale Design District.
In recent days, retailers across the country have stepped up security measures to try to head off any damages to their stores during possible election-related protests.
Tiffany, Saks Fifth Avenue, CVS, Target and Macy's are among the chains that are boarding up some of their stores' windows in preparation.
Take a look at the scene in Miami:
From CNN's Kevin Liptak
President Trump, offering only a mildly confident view of his prospects, said Tuesday he will declare victory "only when there's victory."
"There’s no reason to play games. I look at it as being a very, a very solid chance of winning here. I don’t know how they rate the chances," Trump said on "Fox & Friends" during a morning phone interview. "I think a lot of that has to do with the tremendous crowd size."
Calling in 45 minutes late, with his voice sounding scratchy after a late night rally in Michigan, Trump said he planned further phone calls later today to "very loyal" people and a visit to his campaign headquarters.
"It’s been a great run, an incredible three weeks," Trump said of his final campaign sprint. He called his last stretch of campaigning "emotional" knowing it could be his final time as a candidate.
From CNN's Adrienne Vogt
More than 3 million people in Michigan have already voted, according to the state’s secretary of state, as polls open this morning.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer says that people coming out to the polls “have a sense of optimism.”
“I think this historic turnout is really a testament to that, that people are ready for some change,” she said.
In an interview on CNN’s “New Day,” the governor encouraged patience at the polls.
“Today is just beginning … We anticipate long lines. I've encouraged my fellow Michiganders to dress in layers,” she added. “Wear your mask, and be patient. Let’s give the poll workers some grace. They’re doing an important, tough job today.”
“It's going to take us a little while to count, and that's why I think it's really important that we all prepare to be patient and make sure we get it right,” Whitmer added.
When asked about President Trump targeting her during a campaign rally last night, Whitmer said “that the closing arguments of these two campaigns tell a starkly different vision of America and where we need to be headed.”
“When he targets Dr. Fauci or he targets a sitting governor, it's a dangerous moment. It is anti-American. … These actions to undermine our own democracy are damaging for every single one of us,” she added.
Watch:
From CNN's Kevin Bohn
In-person Election Day voting is underway in America, and election officials throughout the country have put in place a wide variety of preparations to keep both the voters and the poll workers safe as the coronavirus pandemic continues
Here's a look at how some places around the country are keeping voters and poll workers safe during the pandemic:
CNN's Devon Sayers, Erica Hill, Leslie Perrot, Sara Murray, Scott Glover, Sarah Jorgensen and Denise Royal contributed reporting.
From CNN's Jessica Schneider and Laura Jarrett
Shortly after polls opened on Election Day, Republicans in Pennsylvania filed a fresh new lawsuit in federal court challenging the Montgomery County officials' process for handling absentee ballots that arrived before Nov. 3.
The plaintiffs had previewed their concerns in a letter earlier this week, and they are now asking for a court order to stop alleged "pre-canvassing" of these ballots before 7 a.m. local time and stop contacting anyone whose mail-in ballot contains a perceived defect to change their ballot.
They want any ballots changed set aside. However, the number of ballots affected could be quite narrow since the complaint only identifies roughly 1,200 votes that might be defective. As of this morning, roughly 223,000 absentee ballots had been cast in Montgomery County.
Notably, the county, which is just outside Philadelphia, leans Democratic. Clinton won the county in 2016 by 58.9% to 37.4%.
In response, a Montgomery County spokesperson told CNN's Scott Glover:
“The letter from the Montgomery County Republican Committee to Secretary Boockvar is a blatant mischaracterization of our procedures around allowing voters to remedy potential deficiencies with their ballots. The PA Supreme Court’s decision regarding this practice stated it is not a requirement to provide notice and the opportunity to cure ballots, but did not prohibit it. Our process in no way takes the place of the procedures that are followed as part of the canvass of ballots, and at no point prior to canvass is a determination made on whether a ballot will or will not be accepted. We believe in doing whatever we can to afford those who have legally requested and returned a ballot a fair opportunity to have their vote count.”
From CNN’s Jason Hoffman
As he did on Election Day morning 2016, President Trump is calling in for an interview with "Fox & Friends."
The interview was scheduled to start at 7 a.m. ET He began the interview at 7:46 a.m. ET.