Poll workers in Michigan report higher voter turnout than expected, official says
From CNN's Nicki Brown
Detroit residents wait in line to vote on Tuesday. (Sarah Rice/Getty Images)
Poll workers across Michigan are reporting higher voter turnout than expected, said Michigan Department of State spokesperson Jake Rollow.
"We're just hearing from election workers across the state that they're pleasantly surprised by how many people are showing up to vote in person," he said.
Rollow said he still expects all ballots will be counted by 8 p.m. local time on Wednesday, which is within 24 hours of polls closing.
As of 11:30 a.m. local time today, 2,018,929 absentee ballots had been requested in Michigan, and 1,758,987 had been submitted, according to Rollow. As of 12:30 p.m. today, there were 3,666 same-day registrations across the state, he said.
2:34 p.m. ET, November 8, 2022
2 Georgia poll workers removed after social media post show them at the US Capitol on Jan. 6
From CNN's Katie Lobosco and Jason Morris
Voting stickers are laid out on a table at a polling location in Atlanta on Tuesday. (Dustin Chambers/Bloomberg/Getty Images)
A mother and son were removed as poll workers in Johns Creek, Georgia, minutes before polls opened this morning, after a social media post surfaced showing them attending the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.
“I stood up for what’s right today in Washington DC. This election was a sham. Mike Pence is a traitor. I was tear gassed FOUR times. I have pepper spray in my throat. I stormed the Capitol building. And my children have had the best learning experience of their lives,” one Facebook post shared with CNN by state election officials read.
“I am aware that it occurred. That really is a Fulton County internal issue. They have to mitigate the risk the way they see fit given that information,” said Gabriel Sterling, chief operating officer for the Georgia Secretary of State’s office, when asked about it by CNN’s Erin Burnett Tuesday.
“I think it would have been better if they found out earlier potentially and worked with the people, but since it was so last minute and it came to light so late, I leave it to Fulton County. But yes, that did happen earlier this morning,” Sterling said.
The social media post is under “investigation for concern,” Nadine Williams, Fulton County interim director of registration and elections, said at a press conference earlier on Tuesday.
“We decided to remove them until we could complete the investigation,” Williams said.
“We just want to make sure the election is secure,” she added.
Social media posts and a comment made during a poll worker event was brought to the Fulton County board’s attention by a peer. Williams said the secretary of state’s office was consulted on the matter, and the state office agreed that there was a concern.
Williams said she was not at liberty to comment on the nature of the social media post when asked by a reporter, but she confirmed that it included a threat about election security.
“There were some things in there that were not allowed. You cannot take videos or photos in the election. That’s what brought it to our attention,” Williams said.
2:09 p.m. ET, November 8, 2022
These are the states where mail-in ballots must be received or postmarked by Election Day
In eight US states, voters are sent a mail-in ballot automatically. Across the US, more than half of states require that mail-in ballots be received by Election Day. In 19 states, ballots can be counted if they are postmarked on or before Election Day.
1:58 p.m. ET, November 8, 2022
Analysis: Top Senate races in 2022 have seen a staggering amount of spending
Analysis from CNN's Chris Cillizza
The five most expensive Senate races of 2022 have seen nearly $1.3 billion in spending across the primary and general elections, according to OpenSecrets, a staggering sum that speaks to the massive amounts of money flooding the political system.
Leading the way is the Pennsylvania Senate race, where Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman and Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz are squaring off in the general election. All told, nearly $375 million has been spent on the race this cycle, OpenSecrets found.
Here's how the other races in the top five stack up in terms of total spending:
Pennsylvania: $373,605,258
Georgia: $271,351,786
Arizona: $234,577,515
Wisconsin: $205,791,615
Ohio: $202,117,075
Pennsylvania was also the most expensive Senate race of the 2016 cycle, when Republican Pat Toomey was running for reelection. Total spending in that race was around $179 million, according to OpenSecrets — less than half the amount spent on the 2022 contest.
What numbers like these suggest is that attempts — earlier this century — to lessen the impact of money in politics have failed utterly. There is more money than ever before, and it's difficult to track where some of the money, spent by nonprofit groups that aren't required to disclose their donors, comes from.
2:01 p.m. ET, November 8, 2022
37% of active Georgia voters had cast their ballot early, election official says
From CNN's Aditi Sangal
People wait in line for early voting on November 4, in Atlanta. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
Gabriel Sterling, chief operating offer for Georgia's secretary of state's office, says voter turnout across the Peach State has been "steady," although it's hard to "it's always difficult to know in the middle of the day how it's going."
Majority of polling locations have no lines, with average wait time of about two minutes, he told CNN Tuesday. "It's been a very efficient process."
Sterling also pointed to the record number of absentee ballots received in Georgia. It stands at about 234,000 ballots as of this morning, which is up from 2018's record of 213,0000 ballots, he said, adding that it takes a lot of pressure off officials when they start counting.
"We set records for early vote turnout. Between early vote and absentee — and absentee set a new record as of this morning of 234,000 for a midterm. That really takes away pressure off Election Day, because ... when we start today, nearly 37% of all our active voters had already cast a ballot," he said.
Sterling said that new laws passed in Georgia clarified that early in-person votes and absentee votes can be tabulated early, "which will hopefully get us some earlier returns in the 7:15, 7:45 and 8:00 hour from even some of our larger counties."
Watch:
2:07 p.m. ET, November 8, 2022
In photos: Poll workers keep voting lines moving across the US
CNN Digital Photos
Poll workers are keeping Americans voting on Election Day. Take a look at some photos from today showing poll workers keeping poll locations going.
Ron Betz, a poll worker, pulls a provisional ballot for a voter at a polling location on November 8, in Columbus, Ohio. (Andrew Spear/Getty Images)
Poll workers direct voters at a polling place on November 8, in Las Vegas. (John Locher/AP)
An election worker prints a ballot out for a voter on November 8, in Provo, Utah. (George Frey/Getty Images)
Jenny Reyes, a polling station worker, keeps slippery floor dry as voters walk in to cast their ballots on a rainy day in Los Angeles on November 8. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images)
Election workers staff a polling location on November 8, n Detroit. (Sarah Rice/Getty Images)
1:37 p.m. ET, November 8, 2022
Wall Street braces for midterm results but inflation report may be bigger deal
From CNN’s Matt Egan
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in New York on November 7. (Brendan McDermid/Reuters/FIle)
Wall Street is confident the midterm election will lead to gridlock in Washington, but traders say this week’s inflation report may prove to be far more consequential to markets.
Markets have rallied in recent days as investors bet Republicans will take control of at least one chamber of commerce, leading to divided government. Traders typically believe gridlock is good – because it means one party can’t push through legislation that messes things up.
In this case, that means Republicans can’t enact unfunded tax cuts and Democrats can’t push through unfunded spending programs, both of which would worsen inflation and lift interest rates.
“Less government, complete gridlock, will probably benefit the stock market,” Peter Tuchman, a veteran New York Stock Exchange floor trader, told CNN on Tuesday.
If Republicans win control of at least the House of Representatives, markets may have a “muted” reaction because that is widely expected, Goldman Sachs told clients in a report Monday.
Andrew Frankel, co-president of Stuart Frankel, warned that a surprisingly strong night for Democrats that allows them to retain control of both the House and Senate would cause a “meaningful move lower” for stocks.
Multiple NYSE traders told CNN that the midterm election may be overshadowed by Thursday’s consumer price index, an inflation gauge that has become arguably the most important economic metric of the month.
1:38 p.m. ET, November 8, 2022
Official: No indication of fraud after tabulation issue in Arizona's Maricopa County causes social media stir
From CNN's Bob Ortega
Maricopa County, Arizona, officials said that tabulating machines at about a fifth of their 223 voting locations were rejecting ballots as voting got underway on Election Day.
According to county officials, the problem related to passwords being entered too many times, activating built-in security features. By 10 a.m. local time, county officials said the problems were being addressed and that they did not anticipate delays in voting.
“We’ve got about 20% of the locations out there where there’s an issue with the tabulator where some of the ballots, after people have voted them, they try and run them through the tabulator and they’re not going through,” said Bill Gates, chair of the county’s Board of Supervisors.
Gates said the elections division was working to fix the problem, but that in the meantime voters could put ballots that aren’t properly read into a secure box on the tabulator machine.
Gates said that bipartisan teams will bring the ballots to the county’s election center, where they will be counted after the polls close at 7 p.m. local time.
“No one is being disenfranchised. And none of this indicates any fraud or anything of that sort. This is a technical issue,” said Gates.
The tabulator problems blew up on social media and right-wing media after a post showing an election worker in the Phoenix suburb of Anthem explaining the problem to voters. Figures like Donald Trump Jr., among others, reposted tweets raising concerns about problems in Arizona and in some cases suggesting it meant that the election might be “stolen.”
Stephen Richer, the Maricopa County recorder, expressed disappointment rather than surprise at the notion the problems were being misrepresented in such a fashion.
“Obviously, some people will exploit it for that purpose,” Richer said. "We’re very concerned about that.”
A county spokeswoman added that the poll worker featured in the viral video did what they were supposed to. “That poll worker at Anthem was doing their job, providing voters the information they need to participate in this election, and the options they have. He was calm and transparent,” said Megan Gilbertson of the county’s election department.
Hear more from CNN's Sara Sidner:
12:55 p.m. ET, November 8, 2022
NY gubernatorial hopeful says Gov. Hochul isn't running for issues that matter to New Yorkers
From CNN’s Liam Reilly
New York gubernatorial hopeful Rep. Lee Zeldin speaks during an event in Medford, New York, on November 8. (WCBS)
In a public appearance at a political event in Suffolk County, New York gubernatorial hopeful Rep. Lee Zeldin talked about his plans to tackle crime in the state and how his approach differs from that of his competitor, Gov. Kathy Hochul.
Zeldin took a shot at his competitor, saying that her campaign is solely for re-election while he runs on issues.
“It’s really only been in the last few days that, all of a sudden, (Hochul) says that now she has a plan to fight crime,” Zeldin said, according to WCBS. “But, then, she followed it up with trying to ridicule New Yorkers who want to lock up criminals, saying that it’s a conspiracy, that it’s data denying. And she’s kept digging deeper and deeper a hole over the last couple of weeks."
He encouraged young Republicans who might eye public office in the future to stay true to themselves.
“It’s not by us making believe we’re someone else or something else,” Zeldin said. “The reason we’re going to win this race and make history, the reason why we’re going to paint all of Suffolk County red in the House races, the reason why we’re going to paint Suffolk County red in these state legislative races, the reason why we’re going to make history is by all of you being true, all of us being true to exactly what got us involved in the first place."
Zeldin said his ideas will ensure the state government rolls back pro-criminal laws, holds district attorneys responsible if they refuse to enforce the law, and back New Yorkers in law enforcement, he said.
“(New York City Mayor Eric Adams) says that he wants judges to have discretion. He’s right. ... We need district attorneys doing their job, we don’t have a recall in this state — but, what we do have, is the New York State Constitution says that a governor can remove a DA who refuses to enforce the law. I pledge that on the first day that I’m in office, I’m going to tell the Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg that he’s being removed for his refusal to enforce the law.”
