Presidential election results 2020

Poll watchers, as the name implies, are expected to watch or observe what happens at polling places. Their primary job: Help ensure that their party has a fair shot at winning. Both parties do it.

But poll watchers can't interfere in any way with the actual voting process.

They can closely monitor the administration of the election to ensure that votes are counted accurately. And in some states, poll watchers can also challenge an individual voter's right to cast a ballot. Partisan poll watchers, however, must conduct those challenges through official poll workers and cannot stop or otherwise try to interfere with someone trying to vote.

Even if a poll watcher challenges an individual voter – for instance, by arguing that the person's name doesn't appear on the local voting rolls – states often allow that person to cast a "provisional" ballot to be counted later, once his or her right to vote has been verified.

Poll watchers can also help turn out the vote by counting the voters who have cast ballots and helping their respective candidates track which potential supporters haven't yet voted. That helps campaigns mount last-minute Election Day efforts to get those voters to cast their ballots before polls close.

Read more here.

Luzerne County in Northeastern Pennsylvania, which voted for Barack Obama in 2012 but went for President Trump in 2016, has begun processing approximately 52,000 mail-in ballots and expects that number to grow to nearly 60,000 by the time polls close at 8 p.m. ET, according to release from County Manager David Pedri.

He said volunteers were processing approximately 2,000 ballots an hour.

If that pace continues, workers will have processed a little more than one third of the anticipated number of mail-in ballots by 8 p.m. local time.

Pedri said the county was “experiencing great voter turnout at almost every polling place across the County.”

Pedri said there were “a few reported issues” at the county’s 129 polling places this morning, most of which were technical and resolved once diagnosed.

He said voters should anticipate waiting in a line and noted that as long as they were in line by 8 p.m. local time they would be allowed to vote.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said he thinks Ohio will know the results of the presidential election tonight. 

Early ballots will be counted first, DeWine told CNN’s Erin Burnett. 

The governor said he thinks Trump will perform well in rural areas of the state. 

“I think he could exceed even the votes he got the last time,” DeWine said. “…I think the intensity is there. The ground game it seems to me, from what I can observe for the Trump team, you know, has been a lot better than the ground game for the Biden team.” 

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More than 102 million Americans have voted nationwide before the polls opened on Election Day, according to a survey of election officials by CNN, Edison Research, and Catalist.   

These votes represent more than 48% of registered voters nationwide. 22 states and Washington, DC have seen more than half of their registered voters cast ballots already.   

Pre-Election Day voting has skyrocketed nationwide amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. At least seven states, including Texas, Hawaii, Nevada, Washington, Arizona, Montana and Oregon, have surpassed their total turnout from the 2016 general election in recent days.  

In an additional seven states and DC, the pre-election vote represents at least 90% of their 2016 total vote – Utah, New Mexico, North Carolina, Colorado, Georgia, Florida and Tennessee. 

Nationwide, the 102.7 million ballots already cast represents 75% of the more than 136.5 million ballots cast in the 2016 presidential election.   

39 states and Washington, DC have crossed their halfway marks for total 2016 ballots cast, including 14 of CNN’s 16 most competitively-ranked states - Texas, Georgia, North Carolina, Nevada, Florida, Arizona, Colorado, Wisconsin, Maine, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska and Ohio.  

A little less than half of the votes already cast this cycle comes from those 16 key states, which will play a crucial role in determining who wins the presidency this year. 

Some voter information comes from Catalist, a company that provides data, analytics and other services to Democrats, academics and nonprofit issue-advocacy organizations and is giving insights into who is voting before November.   

Here's a breakdown of early voting by state so far:

The biggest county in Iowa, which includes Des Moines, has finished counting all absentee ballots received through Monday, according to a tweet from the Polk County Auditor Jamie Fitzgerald. 

The results from those ballots will be posted shortly after polls close at 10 p.m. ET (9 p.m. CT.)

Polk County went for Hillary Clinton by 11 points in 2016.

The county has more than 300,000 registered voters and more than 136,731 had already voted or sent in an absentee ballot through Saturday.

Of those early voters, 58% were registered Democrats, 23% were registered Republicans, and 19% were not registered with either party.

Iowans still have time to return their absentee ballots. They will be counted as long as they are postmarked by Nov. 2 and arrive by Nov. 9.

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden started his day at his home in Wilmington, Delaware. He attended mass at his Catholic church and spent a brief visit to his son Beau Biden's grave site, also visiting the grave site of his late wife and baby daughter. 

From there, Biden traveled to his old hometown Scranton, Pennsylvania. He stopped by his boyhood home, writing on the wall: "From this house to the White House with the Grace of God, Joe Biden November 3rd, 2020."

Biden has just landed in Philadelphia, where he's making a few stops trying to get out the vote. Then he's going to return to Wilmington. He'll be watching the returns from his home and then move to an election center. 

President Trump left the White House a short time ago and arrived at his campaign headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, according to the press pool traveling with the President.

From the pool:

Trump and Vice President Mike Pence are expected to spend Election Night at the White House.

CNN's Jeff Zeleny reports from Wilmington, Delaware:

As the race for the White House comes to a close, there are several key states that remain a toss-up. CNN’s political correspondents and reporters tell us what races they're watching and why:

CNN Political Correspondent Abby Phillip is watching Arizona:

"This Election Day, I'm looking at the state of Arizona. It is a red state, but this year, it is very much in play. I'm hoping that they're able to count their ballots pretty quickly, so we can have a sense of what's going on in that state. And whether Joe Biden has a shot of flipping a state that Donald Trump won four years ago."

Arizona’s increasingly diverse and suburban electorate has rapidly turned what was once a GOP stronghold into a swing state with 11 electoral votes up for grabs. Polls close in Arizona at 9 p.m. ET.

Read more on Arizona here.

Chief Political Correspondent Dana Bash is watching Pennsylvania:

"On Election Day, I'm going to be watching Pennsylvania like a hawk. It's really critical for both candidates in each path to 270 — that magic number to get the presidency. And it is so close."

Pennsylvania polls close at 8 p.m. ET. It's the largest electoral vote prize of the "blue wall" states with 20 electoral votes up for grabs, and polls have shown it could be the most competitive. Biden and Trump both barnstormed the state in the race's final days, underscoring its importance.

Read more on Pennsylvania here.

Senior Political Reporter Nia-Malika Henderson is watching Georgia

"The state I'm going to be watching most closely on election night is Georgia. Sixteen electoral votes up for grabs. Two open Senate seats as well. Can a Democrat flip that state in the Sun Belt region. So, my eyes are on the Peach State."

Georgia will be the first true battleground of the night, with 16 electoral votes. It’s poll close at 7 p.m. ET. Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Ohio are crucial to the President's narrow path to victory. The Southeastern states are expected to count votes relatively quickly, offering an early window into Trump's chances of winning reelection.

Read more on Georgia here.

Florida’s Secretary of State Laurel Lee said that no voting security issues have been reported in the state so far Tuesday.  

She said at a news conference there may be isolated precincts in two counties – Lake County, in Central Florida, and Lee County, in Southwest Florida — that had “some technology challenges this morning.” But she said these issues will not prevent any voters from casting ballots. 

She also said that “misinformation and disinformation continues to be an active threat,” though she said no new concerning messages had been reported Tuesday.  

Asked by CNN’s Drew Griffin for examples of misinformation, she referenced the previously reported threatening emails sent to voters that were made to appear as though they were sent by the Proud Boys, a far-right group, though she said Iran was determined to be behind those emails. 

“Our databases are secure,” Lee said. 

At the direction of Gov. Ron DeSantis, the Florida National Guard has been mobilized in the state “out of an abundance of caution,” Lee said.  

Lewis McCaleb, a 22-year-old first-time voter in St. Paul, Minnesota, said the death of George Floyd helped spur him to vote this Election Day. 

McCaleb wore a hoodie with the words “We Will Breathe” to his polling location, which he told Broaddus was a form of protest for him. He also wrote the names of Black men and women who have been killed by police on the back of his ballot, Broaddus reported. 

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