- Voter turnout could reach highest levels in more than a century
- ‘He’s jealous of Covid’s media coverage’: Obama ridicules Trump
- Democrats urge voters to hand-deliver ballots to beat court deadline
6.01am GMT
With six days remaining in the race – once upon a time plenty of time to get an envelope across town or even across a state – elections officials in some states are advising voters not to rely on the US postal service to get their mail-in ballots in on time.
Hand-deliver your ballots, voters are told. Democratic groups – and public figures like former attorney general Eric Holder – have been advising supporters to do the same.
It’s too late to use the mails. Given Supreme Court rulings I urge everyone to now vote in person; early vote or use drop boxes. Protect your health but don’t let the Court and the deliberately crippled Postal Service deprive you of your most precious civil right. Plan your vote.
NEWS: Sec. of State @JocelynBenson advises Michigan voters NOT to rely on USPS at this stage. “Citizens who already have an absentee ballot should sign the back of the envelope and hand-deliver it to their city or township clerk’s office or ballot drop box as soon as possible.” pic.twitter.com/tQ2RueXsmW
US Postal Service on-time delivery times for First-Class Mail have dropped again — now nearly as bad as the worst period this summer. If you are voting absentee and haven’t returned your ballot, experts say drop it off in person. Do not rely on #USPS delivery at this point.
5.35am GMT
Attendees of a late-night Trump rally at the airport in Omaha, Nebraska, have been stranded for a time in the cold at the site because of limited traffic flow on the two-lane road that accesses the private east side of the airport where the rally was held.
A large portion of the crowd, estimated to be in the thousands, remained at the site waiting on buses hours after Trump’s plane had departed, according to reporters on the scene. Outside temps are about at the freezing point.
If you’re waiting on someone who attended the @realDonaldTrump rally in #Omaha, it may be a while until they get on a bus and get out. Traffic along the small roadway to the private side of Eppley Airfield is backed up and buses were having trouble getting through. We saw this: pic.twitter.com/DTRKnH5lkb
President Trump took off in Air Force One 1 hr 20 minutes ago, but thousands of his supporters remain stranded on a dark road outside the rally. “We need at least 30 more buses,” an Omaha police officer just said, shaking his head at the chaotic cluster that is unfolding.
They say they have no estimate for how long clearing the area might take, but to my eye, it could take into the early morning to get folks cleared out.
5.18am GMT
A second night of protests unfolded in Philadelphia last night over the police killing of Walter Wallace Jr.
Related: Philadelphia protesters take to streets for second night after police killing
5.13am GMT
A note to readers hungry for a quick deep dive into election news this morning – our Tuesday round-the-clock blog has just been buttoned up, and is full of rich content from throughout the day, culminating with a summary just now by my colleague Maanvi Singh (@maanvissingh) – check it out!
4.42am GMT
Hello and welcome to our round-the-clock rolling coverage of the 2020 US election. Everyone is looking toward Tuesday, but the election is already happening in a big way, with more than 70m people having voted early so far. That’s more than half of the roughly 130m people who voted for the two major-party candidates in the 2016 election – and we still have six days to go until an election day, when a big vote is also anticipated.
Donald Trump held a trio of rallies yesterday in the midwest, while Joe Biden took a turn through Georgia, an aspirational pickup state for the Democrats. Also out on the campaign trail was Barack Obama, who had this to say about Trump’s constant complaining about the prominence in the headlines of the coronavirus pandemic: “He’s jealous of Covid’s media coverage.”
The policies enacted and investments made by the Administration have equipped researchers, health professionals, and many others with the tools to tackle today’s challenges, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, and have prepared the Nation for whatever the future holds.