Ohio's Issue 1 would have made protecting abortion rights harder. Data shows why it failed
Ohio voters have rejected a proposal that would've made it more difficult for voters to amend the state constitution, including one measure set for the November ballot that would guarantee abortion rights in the state.
EXPLAINER: How mailed ballots slow results in Pennsylvania
Counting of mailed ballots in Pennsylvania is drawing renewed scrutiny amid a too-close-to-call U.S. Senate primary between Republicans David McCormick and Dr. Mehmet Oz. Former President Donald Trump blasted the state’s elections procedures on social media, even though there are no indications of any wrongdoing with those ballots other than a printing error that was slowing the tally in one county.
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Report shows big spike in mail ballots during 2020 election
A new report shows fewer than one-third of voters who cast ballots in last year’s U.S. presidential election did so at a polling place on Election Day as the coronavirus pandemic led states to greatly expand mail-in balloting and early voting.
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EXPLAINER: Varying views on how to keep accurate voter rolls
Maintaining accurate voter rolls is a bipartisan concern, but there is little agreement on the best way to do it. Republicans say Democrats are too lax, resulting in bloated voter rolls that undermine confidence and invite fraud. Here is an explanation of how voter rolls are maintained, how states do it differently and the conflicts over this year’s legislative proposals. WHAT ARE VOTER ROLLS AND HOW ARE THEY MAINTAINED? In 2016, New York City’s Board of Elections improperly removed more than 200,000 names from the voter rolls.
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Biden win over Trump in Nevada made official by court
The Nevada Supreme Court made Joe Biden's win in the state official on Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2020, approving the final canvass of the Nov. 3 election. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)LAS VEGAS – The Nevada Supreme Court made Joe Biden’s win in the state official on Tuesday, approving the state's final canvass of the Nov. 3 election. Steve Sisolak results that will deliver six electoral votes from the western U.S. battleground state to Biden. Nevada Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske, a Republican who has avoided the public eye in recent weeks, presented the results to the court. That was up from a turnout of 76.8% during the presidential election in 2016, when Democrat Hillary Clinton carried Nevada by a little under 2.5% over Trump.
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Danville leaders discuss how to use $15 million investment from Caesars Entertainment
DANVILLE, Va. – The city of Danville will soon receive $15 million from the company behind its new casino. The Investing in Danville Committee met virtually on Thursday for the first time since the Caesars Entertainment complex was approved by voters on Election Day. Caesars will pay the city $15 million dollars by the end of the year, which committee member Ann Stratton said is a “historic investment” for Danville. $6 million will go towards a new Danville Police Department headquarters. The remaining $9 million could be spent on anything within the city of Danville.
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Transition or tropics? EPA chief looks at final trips abroad
After months of travel to battleground states before Election Day, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency now is looking at taxpayer-funded trips abroad, including the tropics, in the Trump administration's last weeks. Administrator Andrew Wheeler had been invited next month to Taiwan, a trip with an estimated cost of $45,000, EPA spokesman James Hewitt said Thursday. “Administrator Wheeler remains head of the agency and will continue to advance environmental progress both here and abroad,” Hewitt said. The New York Times, which first reported Wheeler’s travel plans, said Wheeler and other EPA officials were expected to travel by chartered flight to minimize exposure to the coronavirus. Hewitt, the EPA spokesman, did not immediately respond to a question asking whether Wheeler was doing any planning to help the agency transition from one administration to the next.
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How Native American votes help secure Biden's win in Arizona
Native Americans were among the difference-makers who swung the race to Biden in Arizona. That show of force is now translating into leverage for Native Americans seeking more representation in top levels of the federal government. Native voters say they were motivated by many of the same things as other voters. She also was part of a group helping to boost voting among Native Americans. “People need to start paying attention to not only Navajo votes but across the board nationally, Native votes,” Davis said.
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Danville certifies casino results, eagerly awaits first $15 million Caesars payment
DANVILLE, VA. – Danville City Council is moving forward with its plans to bring a Caesars resort and casino to the River City. This comes following an overwhelming “yes” vote to a casino referendum on Election Day. A committee is already working on deciding how to spend the first $15 million from Caesars, which is expected to be paid upfront to the city sometime soon. “We’re going to work closely with them through the permitting process, through the development process, all that kind of stuff. So we’re all kind of working together to make sure things happen as smoothly and quickly as possible," Larking said.
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Poll workers contract virus, but Election Day link unclear
FILE - In this Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, file photo, poll workers assist a voter on Election Day at Frank McCourt High School, on New York's Upper West Side. Poll workers in some states who came in contact with voters on Election Day are now reporting they have tested positive for the coronavirus despite painstaking efforts to secure election sites. In most places, poll workers were required to wear masks. The cases emerged while election workers continued counting thousands of ballots. It's difficult to trace cases back to polling places because the virus manifests in different ways, and some people never get symptoms.
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States cite smooth election, despite Trump's baseless claims
But the election was largely smooth, in large part because 107 million voters that cast their ballots early and took the pressure off Election Day operations. Election experts said the large increase in advance voting — 107 million people voting early in person and by mail — helped take pressure off Election Day operations. Among the many lawsuits filed since Election Day is one in Nevada by the Trump campaign alleging voter fraud. “On Election Day, we didn’t have any reports of anything significant," said Lisa Schaefer, who leads the bipartisan County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania. “The system held up given the extraordinary circumstances that election officials faced,” said Amber McReynolds, who leads the National Vote at Home Institute.
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‘We want to make everybody proud’: Caesars casino overwhelmingly approved by Danville voters
DANVILLE, Va. – Danville voters delivered a big win for Caesars Entertainment’s planned casino on Election Day. The company aims to break ground on the $400 million project next year with a scheduled opening date of 2023. Former Caesars CEO Tony Rodio, who is advising the company on the Danville project, said he’s elated to become part of the Danville community. “2023 can’t come soon enough," said John Mason, who owns the Foxglove boutique shop across Main Street from the planned casino site. It’s a win-win situation for everybody involved.”Caesars confirmed the casino will also have a sportsbook for betting on games.
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EXPLAINER: What is a 'cured' ballot?
Here, Christina A. Cassidy, a reporter for The Associated Press who covers voting and election security, offers some insight into the post-election process for fixing ballots:UNDER WHAT CIRCUMSTANCES CAN A BALLOT BE CURED? In states that lack such a process, ballots with these problems are generally not counted. But a few states do not use signature verification to validate a mail ballot, including Pennsylvania. In a few states, if the problem is identified before Election Day, the voter is sent a replacement ballot. Partisan poll watchers can report concerns to party officials, who can raise objections and file lawsuits.
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Biden expected to speak Friday night in primetime as vote counts continue
There was intense focus on Pennsylvania, where Biden led Trump by more than 27,000 votes, and Nevada, where the Democrat led by about 22,000. Trump stayed in the White House and out of sight, as more results trickled in and expanded Biden’s lead in must-win Pennsylvania. In Pennsylvania, officials were not allowed to begin processing mail-in ballots until Election Day under state law. In Nevada, there were a number of provisional ballots cast by voters who registered on Election Day, and officials had to verify their eligibility. The AP has declared Biden the winner in Arizona and said Thursday that it was monitoring the vote count as it proceeded.
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Analysis: Trump's vote diatribe both shocking, unsurprising
And he had demanded in advance that the results be known on Election Day, which is never a given. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell waited until Friday morning to tweet that “Every legal vote should be counted. All sides must get to observe the process.”Whether that dynamic will continue if fuller election results deliver the presidency to Biden is another key unanswered question. If the vote count goes against him, does he really want to be remembered as the president who burned down the building on his way out the door? ___EDITOR’S NOTE -- Nancy Benac is White House news editor and has covered government and politics for The Associated Press for four decades.
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‘We take this very seriously’: Social media post creates confusion over Virginia’s votes
FINCASTLE, Va. – Some Virginia voters doubted if their votes had been counted on Election Day after a viral, but misleading, social media post. The post claimed some votes were ignored by the Commonwealth based on a section of the Virginia Department of Elections' voter information page. “Different offices across the state are different sizes and have different numbers of staff, which means they move at different paces.”The Virginia Department of Elections also used social media to counter the claims about the ballots. Clark hopes voters understand there is no need to worry about a ballot once it is in the system. “We’ve probably been working anywhere from 10 to 16 hour days at the election office," Clark said.
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False claims of Wisconsin voter fraud rely on wrong numbers
The image Eric Trump shared in his post claimed that there was a huge, inexplicable increase in voter turnout in Wisconsin this year. The image showed voter turnout percentages during presidential elections over the last 20 years in Wisconsin, with voter turnout hitting 89.25% this year. The Wisconsin Elections Commission calculates voter turnout based on the entire voting-age population, not just registered voters. But as of 7 p.m. on Sunday, the Wisconsin Elections Commission reported 3,684,726 registered voters. The Wisconsin Elections Commission received “a lot of calls” about the false rumors, said the state's top elections official Meagan Wolfe.
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EXPLAINER: How much misinformation is kicking around?
Karen Mahabir, fact check and misinformation editor for The Associated Press, says her team of reporters has had no shortage of work since Americans stopped voting late Tuesday. Here, she answers three quick questions about the misinformation landscape at the moment. We know they stepped up all their efforts to curb misinformation, which seems to be working for the most part. They're taking action. ___SOME RECENT AP STORIES ABOUT MISINFORMATION:— Claim that Sharpie pens ruin Arizona ballots misses the mark— Trump and allies spread falsehoods to cast doubt on election— Did social media actually counter election misinformation?
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EXPLAINER: Have election-related protests materialized?
WASHINGTON – Two days after Election Day, protests across the United States are scattered, happening in places from Portland, Oregon and Seattle to Washington, D.C. Similar protests — sometimes about the election, sometimes about racial inequality — took place in at least a half-dozen cities, including Los Angeles, Houston, Pittsburgh, Minneapolis and San Diego. In Portland, demonstrators engaged in what authorities said was widespread violence downtown. Here, Elizabeth Kennedy, deputy Washington bureau chief for The Associated Press, who is leading coverage of election-related protests, breaks down what AP journalists across the United States have been encountering. There was no widespread violence at the polls or in the immediate aftermath.
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Long wait for Hawaii vote spurs call for more voter centers
FILE - In this Nov. 3, 2020, file photo, a long line of people waiting to vote stretches around City Hall on Election Day, in Honolulu. Overall, the state’s vote-by-mail election appears to have been a big success, leading to record numbers of voters participating. The law also gives voters the option to vote in person at voter service centers, where people may also register to vote or get help with casting a ballot. Ma said people waited between two to four hours on Tuesday at the two voter centers on Oahu, an island with about 549,000 registered voters. Another factor was people who view voting in person on Election Day as sacrosanct and something they wanted to do.
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Trump's Election Day surge powered by small-town America
With the race unsettled in several key battlegrounds, Trump's strong Election Day surge may not be enough to overcome a Democratic operation that also turned out its vote. But the tight presidential races and unexpected Democratic losses in congressional races demonstrated the resilient power of Trump’s appeal with rural, white voters and a growing polarization that may outlast his leadership. “But in this election we found it’s not ticking fast enough for the Democrats.”Even as the winner of the White House was unclear, Republicans had victories to celebrate Wednesday and white, rural voters to thank. Trump held one of his final, largest campaign rallies in Butler, drawing an estimated 54,000 people two days before Election Day. State Republicans spent months signing up new GOP registrants in the county — the GOP netted 11,000 voters over Democrats since Trump's 2016 election.
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After judge's order, Postal Service sweep finds 13 ballots
Postal Service inspectors found just 13 ballots — all in Pennsylvania — during an Election Day sweep of mail processing centers ordered by a federal judge. The ballots were found in two separate mail processing facilities and were expedited for delivery to local election offices, according to court records filed Wednesday. U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan in Washington, D.C., had given the Postal Service until Tuesday afternoon to search 27 facilities in several battleground areas for outstanding ballots and immediately deliver any ballots discovered to election offices. Justice Department attorneys representing the Postal Service said they could not meet the judge's order without disrupting the agency's own Election Day operations. Instead, they are expedited directly to the boards of elections,” Postal Service spokesman Dave Partenheimer said.
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Election officials scramble to count ballots in key states
Unlike in previous years, states were contending with an avalanche of mail ballots driven by the global pandemic. Every election, what’s reported on election night are unofficial results, and the counting of votes extends past Election Day. This year, with so many mail ballots and close races in key states, counting every vote was expected to take more time. “These ballots were cast by tens of thousands of Michigan citizens who have the right to have their vote counted. Slowing the process down was the fact that local election officials could not begin processing and scanning ballots ahead of Election Day, as most states did.
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9 photos that prove Election Day 2020 was different than any other in recent years
There’s no doubt that Election Day this year was one for the books. After record-setting early voting, people still showed up in droves on Election Day to cast their ballot. Below are 10 photos -- all from Getty Images -- that give an indication of how different this Election Day looked. (2020 Getty Images)Protesters march through the streets around Black Lives Matter Plaza on Nov. 3 in Washington DC. (2020 Getty Images)Did you feel things were different this year?
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There's no winner in the presidential race. That's OK
WASHINGTON – America woke up Wednesday morning without a winner of the presidential election. Some states, including Florida, began counting absentee ballots days before Election Day — and had definitive results within hours of the polls closing. It just means the country doesn't know who won the presidential election for the time being. And they will prevail.”Vote tabulations routinely continue beyond Election Day, and states largely set the rules for when the count has to end. The U.S. has endured a presidential race without an immediate winner before.
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EXPLAINER: Why AP called North Carolina for Trump
WHY AP CALLED NORTH CAROLINA FOR TRUMPThe Associated Press declared Donald Trump the winner in North Carolina on Friday after concluding there were not enough ballots left to be counted that would allow Joe Biden to overtake his lead. Friday was the deadline for counties in North Carolina to certify their results. Following updates from most counties in the state, Trump was leading by about 73,690 votes, or 1.3 percentage points. But a few individual contests, including North Carolina, remained too early to call. Now that Trump has been declared the winner in North Carolina the only state yet to be called is Georgia, which is conducting a hand tally of the presidential race there.
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Trump sues in 3 states, laying ground for contesting outcome
Every election, results reported on election night are unofficial and the counting of ballots extends past Election Day. The Georgia lawsuit filed in Chatham County essentially asks a judge to ensure the state laws are being followed on absentee ballots. Campaign officials said they were considering peppering a dozen other counties around the state with similar claims around absentee ballots. Trump, addressing supporters at the White House early Wednesday, talked about taking the undecided race to the Supreme Court. Ohio State University election law professor Edward Foley wrote on Twitter Wednesday: “The valid votes will be counted.
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EXPLAINER: Widespread Election Day unrest not materializing
WASHINGTON – Election Day ushered in skirmishes near the White House and relatively minor demonstrations in California and elsewhere on the West Coast, but none of the widespread unrest that some had feared in the hours after the polls began closing around the country. In Washington, D.C., police created a wide security perimeter around the White House, where President Donald Trump watched the election returns and hosted guests. Mostly peaceful protests overtook streets near the White House earlier this year following the killing of George Floyd, who was Black, by a Minneapolis police officer. Hundreds of people gathered in a generally festive mood Tuesday night on a street near the White House that was recently renamed Black Lives Matter Plaza by the city's mayor, who is Black. Seattle police advised residents in a tweet about a pair of marches moving through separate neighborhoods.
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Tennessee mayor dies on Election Day before election results
BENTON, Tenn. – The mayor of a Tennessee town died on Election Day when he was hoping to get reelected. WBIR reports the Mayor of Benton, Jerry Stephens, died at the age of 80. Election officials for Polk County, where Benton is located, said that the race is still considered active. Officials said that if Stephens wins the race, the winners of the two town commissioner seats will appoint a new mayor at their next meeting. According to WBIR, the vice mayor, Joe Jenkins, will serve as mayor until a new one is sworn in.
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EXPLAINER: Postal Service, judge at odds over ballot search
Postal Service says it can't meet a federal judge’s order to sweep processing centers for undelivered mail-in ballots. THE BACKGROUND:U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan's order came after weeks of bruising court decisions for an agency that has become heavily politicized under its new leader, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy. Much of Sullivan’s order hinged on postal data showing roughly 300,000 mail-in ballots in several states had not received scans showing they had been delivered. The Postal Service said it had already conducted rounds of morning checks at all its processing hubs. Further, the agency said has been performing daily reviews of all 220 facilities handling election mail and planned another sweep hours before polling places closed Tuesday.
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Caesars Entertainment ‘incredibly excited’ to begin construction on Danville casino after referendum passes
DANVILLE, Va. – Danville voters made it official on Election Day: A casino will be built in the city. Officials with Caesars Entertainment released a statement Tuesday night shortly after the referendum passed, stating they’re ‘incredibly excited’ to begin construction. [Virginia General Election results for Casino Referendums on Nov. 3, 2020]The casino is projected to bring about 1,300 jobs to the area, as well as money to support economic development in Danville. Read the full statement below:“Caesars Entertainment thanks the voters of Danville for their support of the referendum that will bring Caesars Virginia to Danville. We are pleased to be welcomed into the Danville community and look forward to a long, successful future.”- Tom Reeg, CEO of Caesars Entertainment
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George Floyd’s brother rallies voters on Election Day
Terrence Floyd, brother of George Floyd, waits to speak at a Get Out the Vote Rally outside the Brooklyn Museum, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)NEW YORK – The murmurs spread quickly among the poll workers late Tuesday morning at a Brooklyn neighborhood station: George Floyd’s brother was present. A few came up to Terrence Floyd, whose brother George died at the hands of Minneapolis police, sparking protests for racial justice across the nation. A 42-year-old school bus driver in New York, Terrence is normally a quiet man, deeply attached to his three children. “My administration is fully committed that, for George and his family, justice will be served,” Trump said in remarks from the White House Rose Garden.