Long voting lines form early in Arizona’s traditional Republican strongholds
From CNN's Bob Ortega
Voters wait to cast their ballots at Burton Barr Central Library on November 3, 2020 in Phoenix, Arizona. Courtney Pedroza/Getty Images
As Election Day voting got underway in Arizona, long lines formed quickly at many polling places in Maricopa County, home to Phoenix and its suburbs.
Polling stations opened at 7 a.m., and by 7:30 there were wait times as long as 45 minutes for voting sites in GOP strongholds such as Glendale, Chandler, Gilbert and Surprise, according to estimates posted on the Maricopa County Recorder’s election site.
Late Monday, Cochise County Recorder Lisa Marra tweeted that her office had received dozens of calls from people demanding to know when their ballots had been counted. Cochise County, stretching from east of Tucson down to the US-Mexico border, also voted for Trump in 2016.
“They know the date we received it,” she wrote. “Wanted to know date and time counted. Because the President said if they didn’t get that info to go vote again tomorrow. Horrible advice for voters. STOP.”
Nearly 2.7 million Arizonans have voted early by mail or in person, representing 62.4% of active registered voters in the state, according to data provided by the Arizona Secretary of State’s office.
10:41 a.m. ET, November 3, 2020
Here's how many New Hampshire absentee ballots have been returned so far
From CNN's Sarah Jorgensen
A volunteer prepares "I Voted" stickers at a polling station at Windham High School, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, in Windham, N.H. Charles Krupa/AP
As of today, a total of 235,834 absentee ballots have been returned to town clerks, according to the latest data from the New Hampshire Secretary of State’s Office.
This means that 54,257 ballots have been returned in the past week.
The total absentee ballot count is nearly one third of the total 2016 voter turnout of 755,850 and is more than three times the amount of absentee ballots returned in that election, 75,305.
There are still 13,824 outstanding absentee ballots that have been requested but not returned, according to the data. Absentee ballots in New Hampshire must be received by 5 p.m. local time today, and they can be returned in person.
10:16 a.m. ET, November 3, 2020
Voting in Michigan today is going "smoothly," secretary of state's office says
From CNN's Annie Grayer
Voters line up before polls open on Election Day at a precinct in Warren, MI, on Nov. 3, 2020. David Goldman/AP
Voting in Michigan today is going “smoothly” so far, Communications and External Affairs Director for the Michigan Secretary of State Jake Rollow told reporters this morning.
Rollow shared that “about a dozen” of the state’s 2,000 reserve poll workers had to be deployed this morning to help staff polling locations in Pontiac and Grand Rapids. Rollow did not specify whether this was because of the pandemic. These workers are meant to be deployed if a poll worker scheduled to work today didn’t show up.
With 3.1 of the 3.5 million absentee ballots requested already returned, Rollow said the state has an 89% return rate, which he said is lower than 2016. In 2016, Rollow reports the state had a 96% return rate as of Election Day.
Rollow said “that’s to be expected” given the fact that there are roughly three times as many absentee ballots this election than in 2016, and the mail has been slow.
10:16 a.m. ET, November 3, 2020
91% of absentee ballots returned in Nebraska
From CNN's Katie Lobosco
A Douglas County Election Commission worker collects early ballots from a ballot drop box at the Commission offices in Omaha, Neb., Saturday, Oct. 31, 2020. Nati Harnik/AP
So far, 510,076 Nebraska absentee ballots have been returned, the Nebraska Secretary of State’s office said Tuesday morning. That’s a 91% return rate.
There are currently 48,382 absentee ballots outstanding. More than 27,000 were received yesterday.
Absentee ballots must be returned via mail or a drop box before polls close today at 8 p.m. local time (that's 9 p.m. ET) in order to be counted.
Absentee ballots are counted first and the results are expected to be posted shortly after the polls close.
10:07 a.m. ET, November 3, 2020
Polling sites in Pennsylvania's Allegheny County are now open after delays
From CNN's Kelly Mena
Pennsylvania's Allegheny County, which includes Pittsburgh, had delayed openings in three election districts, according to a county official.
Amie Downs, communications director for the county said Tuesday morning that the three polling sites that were down earlier today “are all open and operating now.”
Earlier this morning, in an emailed statement, Downs addressed the unopened sites:
“At this time, there are three election districts which have not opened. Elections has staff at each site and is creating a new suitcase with materials so that they can open," she said.
Downs explained to CNN that the “suitcase” has the voting materials. Those materials didn’t make it to these locations, but they are working to fix it. She noted that there are sites in Monroeville, McKeesport and Pittsburgh that remain unopened.
Earlier this morning, Downs also gave an update on the processing of mail-in and absentee ballots saying about 25% of the over 334,000 ballots are “at some stage of processing.”
Some of the ballots are further along in the process.
“Over 13,500 have gone through the declaration review and have had the declaration envelope opened and the secrecy envelopes extracted,” she added.
UPDATE: This post has been updated to reflect that the polling sites are now open.
10:06 a.m. ET, November 3, 2020
Allegheny county in Pennsylvania set to scan first mail-in ballots
From CNN's Kelly Mena
In this Oct. 29, 2020, file photo, a portion of mail-in and absentee ballots that have arrived at the Allegheny County Election Division are kept in a secure area at the Elections warehouse in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Gene J. Puskar/AP
Allegheny county in Pennsylvania, which includes Pittsburgh, will scan its first few thousand mail-in and absentee ballots shortly, according to a county official.
“Approximately 80% ballots at the warehouse are at some stage of the pre-canvassing process. Over 105,000 have had the declaration review and had that first envelope opened, and another 10,000 have now had the secrecy envelope opened and are extracting and flattening the ballots for scanning,” said Amie Downs, Communications Director for Allegheny County, in an email on Tuesday morning.
Downs also noted that the three polling sites that were down earlier in the morning “are all open and operating now.”
She also noted that reports of machines not working correctly have all been addressed, with most of them being due to an operator error.
“Additional reports of needs for additional supplies or items for polling places have been addressed or were provided but poll workers were not aware they already had them,” she added.
9:55 a.m. ET, November 3, 2020
Kayleigh McEnany says the Trump "campaign believes that tonight will be a landslide"
From CNN’s Jason Hoffman
Kayleigh McEnany appeared on Fox News as a Trump 2020 campaign senior adviser, though she was also introduced as White House press secretary, and stuck a highly optimistic tone about the President’s chances for reelection.
“Our campaign believes that tonight will be a landslide,” McEnany said, responding to a quote from Joe Biden’s campaign manager who said under no scenario President Trump will be declared victor on election night. “We believe this will be a landslide and for the Biden campaign to come out and double down on Hillary Clinton's egregious statement that no circumstance should you concede just tells you all you need to know."
McEnany predicted President Trump will carry the battleground states of Nevada and Minnesota, states he is trailing Biden in the polls. She also predicted Trump will hold Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan, states that were crucial to his 2016 victory.
McEnany echoed the President’s criticisms of the Supreme Court decision allowing Pennsylvania to receive ballots up to three days after Election Day, saying she believes the court is “wrong.” However she also said that “this talk of litigation is nothing,” because of her belief of a landslide victory for Trump.
McEnany said the Trump campaign hasn’t engaged on the court case in Texas regarding curbside voting and any further litigation will be decided “on election day and beyond.”
9:56 a.m. ET, November 3, 2020
On Election Day, Trump says he has "a very solid chance of winning"
From CNN's Kevin Liptak
U.S. President Donald Trump greets guests on the South Lawn of the White House after arriving on Marine One in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. Yuri Gripas/Bloomberg/Getty Images
After nearly four years in office, President Trump offered a bleak assessment of the job he wants to be re-elected to in an interview on election day.
“They’ll go, 'Mr. President, tell me: who is the country that's most difficult to deal with? Is it Russia, is it China, is it North Korea?'" Trump said during a morning phone-in to "Fox & Friends," his last appearance on a favorite television show before his fate is decided. “No, by far the most difficult country to deal with is the US. It's not even close.”
About 45 minutes late for the interview, and his voice scratchy after a 17-rally sprint to the finish, Trump did not sound buoyant. He offered himself only a mildly optimistic prognosis for victory — “a very solid chance of winning” — and sounded less-than-enthusiastic about the idea of serving another four years in office.
“The inner workings of the US are very difficult,” he said. “Unless you want to sit there and do nothing, or unless you want to do everything that they want, and we don't want to do that.”
Throughout the campaign, Trump has struggled to articulate why he wants to serve another term. When pressed on his agenda for a second four-year stretch, he has offered only the broadest answers. Instead he has focused on defeating Biden, hoping to avoid the humiliation of being a one-term president, and has basked in the adulation of his rallies.
With the campaigning now over, Trump seemed to look forward with some trepidation. He noted that his relationships with friends from before he was president had changed. They no longer call him “Don,” insisting on using the more formal “Mr. President.”
“They react differently to me now than they used to,” he observed.
Trump called into the same program four years ago, saying then he viewed it as a good luck charm because he’d done the same thing on days of primary elections where he won. But four years later, Trump seemed to view the call-in as a chance to explain how the network’s coverage had changed since he won.
“Somebody said, what's the biggest difference between this and four years ago? And I say, Fox. It's much different,” he said, complaining the network that’s boosted his relentless, often using conspiracy theories, airs too much coverage of his rivals.
Asked if he got emotional when his supporters chanted "we love you" at his final rally, Trump emphasized repeatedly he was only kidding and that he wasn't going to cry.
“You feel the love,” he said. “And it’s so incredible.”
9:38 a.m. ET, November 3, 2020
Biden took his granddaughters to his hometown for the first time today
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden arrives with his granddaughters Finnegan (C) and Natalie in Scranton, Pennsylvania on November 3, 2020. Angela Weiss/AFP/Getty Images
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:
