More than 22 million ballots already cast: US election news

Friday, October 16:

20:35 ET – More than 22 million voters cast ballots already: AP

More than 22 million US voters have cast their ballots already in the US presidential election, the Associated Press is reporting.

That corresponds to 16 percent of all the votes that were cast in 2016, the news agency said.

The high early turnout – propelled partly by the COVID-19 pandemic – is leading election experts to predict that a record 150 million votes may be cast this year and turnout rates could be higher than in any US presidential election since 1908.

19:45 ET – Trump touts ‘economic success’ in Georgia rally

Speaking at a campaign rally in Macon, Georgia, Trump said “we have the most successful economy” in the world.

“Our economy is setting records,” he told the crowd.

19:18 ET – Mnuchin to lead US delegation to Middle East

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin will lead a US delegation travelling to Israel, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from October 17 to 20, the Treasury Department said in a statement.

The visit comes one month after the UAE and Bahrain signed agreements to establish formal ties with Israel, becoming the first Arab states to do so in a quarter of a century, in deals that were denounced by Palestinian leaders.

19:15 ET – New campaign ad lauds ‘Joe Biden’s neighbourhood’

The Democratic Coalition, a group that opposes Donald Trump’s re-election bid, released a new ad in support of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.

The ad plays on an insult Trump campaign adviser Mercedes Schlapp levied against the former vice president this week, saying Biden’s town hall event felt like an episode of popular US kids show, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.

19:00 ET – ‘We’ll always have your back,’ says Biden

Joe Biden hit out at his presidential opponent Donald Trump again on Friday, accusing the president of “fanning the flames of hatred and division” in the US.

During a campaign stop in Detroit, Michigan, Biden also urged people to cast their ballots in the tightly-contested election.

“We’ll always have your back, I promise you,” Biden said. “Don’t let anyone discourage you and tell you your vote doesn’t count, because it does.”

18:30 ET – Trump administration approves relief for California wildfires

President Donald Trump’s administration abruptly reversed course and approved California’s application for disaster relief funds to clean up damage from six recent deadly and destructive blazes that have scorched the state, Governor Gavin Newsom said.

“Just got off the phone with President Trump who has approved our Major Disaster Declaration request. Grateful for his quick response,” Newsom said in a brief statement.

18:20 ET – Biden calls Trump silence on white supremacists ‘stunning’

Joe Biden described Trump’s reluctance to denounce white supremacists as “stunning” in a hard-hitting speech in battleground state of Michigan with 18 days to go until the election.

Standing by the side of the Democratic presidential candidate as he spoke was Governor Gretchen Whitmer, a fierce Trump critic who was recently found to be the target of a well-planned kidnapping plot by a heavily armed right-wing group.

“Make no mistake, that’s who they are, domestic terrorists,” Biden told a group of some 20 guests and reporters in the town of Southfield.

“The failure to condemn these folks is stunning,” he said.

18:00 ET – Georgia vote count surpasses 1 million

More than one million people have already cast their ballots in the US state of Georgia.

Early polling began on October 12 in the state that has historically voted Republican and it will run until October 30.

Republicans have dominated presidential elections for a generation

17:05 ET – Supreme Court to hear Trump bid to exclude noncitizens from census

The United States Supreme Court has agreed to hear oral arguments in President Donald Trump’s attempt to exclude undocumented immigrants from a countrywide population count that determines how congressional seats are allocated.

The country’s top court said it would hear the case on November 30.

17:00 ET – Trump predicts ‘red wave’ of voting in Florida

President Donald Trump is predicting a “red wave” of Republican voting in Florida.

Most polls show a close race in the important battleground state that both the Republican incumbent and Democrat Joe Biden are courting heavily.

“Addressing a campaign rally Friday in Ocala, a city in central Florida, Trump reminded thousands of supporters that “I live here, too.” He recently switched his legal residence from New York.

He said in 18 days “we’re going to win the state of Florida. We’re going to win the White House.” Trump won Florida in 2016.

in Georgia, but Democrat Joe Biden’s 2020 bid for the White House has made this southern GOP stronghold competitive for the first time in nearly 30 years.