2020 US Election

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th October, 2020) More than 30 million Americans have already cast ballots in this year's presidential election, outpacing 2016 early voting by a factor of five, just as Democratic challenger Joe Biden and President Donald Trump battle it out in tight races in at least ten swing states including Florida and Pennsylvania.

TRUMP NARROWS LEAD IN 2 KEY SWING STATES / BIDEN STILL CONTROLS MAP

US President Donald Trump has narrowed Democratic challenger Joe Biden's lead in crucial battleground states two weeks before the election. His deficit in Florida was reduced by over two points, leaving Biden with an edge of only 1.4%, according to poll aggregator Realcearpolitics.com (RCP) average as of Monday. The former vice president is ahead in Pennsylvania by 4.4% (49.2% to 44.8%), nearly three points lower than where he stood a week ago.

Biden, as of Monday, leads Trump nationally by 8.9%, a 1.1-point dip from where he stood one week ago, according to the Realclearpolitics.com (RCP) average of 9 recent surveys. However, the electoral college format requires candidates to win statewide contests.

More than 30 million Americans have already cast ballots either by mail in or person, according to official state data compiled by the US Elections Project that is administered by University of Florida professor Michael McDonald. The professor in a note on the site said at a comparable period in 2016, less than 6 million votes had been cast.

Trump's campaign demanded that the final round of presidential debates on Thursday be focused on foreign policy instead of an array of domestic issues and dismissed as unacceptable proposals to let moderators shut off a candidate's microphone during a televised showdown. In a letter to the Commission on Presidential Debates campaign manager Bill Stepien argued that almost all topics announced by moderator Kristen Welker - fighting COVID-19, American families, race in America, climate change, national security, and leadership - were discussed at length during the first debate between Trump and Biden.

Advisers for Trump are telling the president not to interrupt Biden during this week's upcoming presidential debate, the Axios news portal reports. They believe that Biden will be seen to be wandering rhetorically if the president allows him to speak.

In the first presidential debate, held on September 30, Trump either interrupted Biden or the moderator, Chris Wallace, a total of 71 times, the Washington Post said, citing a Fix tally. The Democrat candidate made a total of 22 interruptions. Trump has also been told to tell more jokes, to be perceived as likable, and go on the offensive against the Democrat candidate's son, Hunter Biden, following a data leak published by the New York Post, the portal stated.

SIGNATURE RULINGS FOR BOTH SIDES

The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has overruled a decision that would have blocked election officials in the state of Texas from rejecting mail-in ballots with signature match issues, a filing revealed on Monday.

Texas, which is traditionally a Republican state, is considered a battleground state this election year. Trump is ahead in Texas by 4.4%, according to the average of the six most recent surveys published by poll aggregator Realcearpolitics.com. Texas is the second most populous state in the United States with the second largest number of votes in the Electoral College only behind California.

Later in the day, the US Supreme Court rejected an attempt by the Republican Party to limit mail-in ballots in the state of Pennsylvania. Polls have consistently shown that Democrats are more likely to vote by mail due to pandemic concerns.

More than three quarters of US voters regard the upcoming presidential election as more important than previous ones, a Gallup poll revealed on Monday.

"A record-high percentage of US voters say the outcome of this year's election matters more to them than prior elections did," it said in a report. "The 77 percent of registered voters holding this view is up six percentage points from 2016 and is the highest in Gallup's trend dating back to 1996."

Only two percent of voters believe the November 3 vote election between Trump and Biden will be less important than previous contests, while 21 percent believe it will be about equally important as previous races, Gallup reported.