WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th October, 2020) The 2020 US election is expected to cost a record-setting $14 billion, candidate spending data revealed, as the Supreme Court handed down two more crucial decisions on the mail-in ballot crisis that could impact the outcome of next week's presidential contest.
Spending in the 2020 US election is expected to approach $14 billion, making it the most expensive election in history by a long shot, according to Open Secrets, a group that monitors Federal campaign contributions.
"The 2020 election is more than twice as expensive as the runner up, the 2016 election. In fact, this year's election will see more spending than the previous two presidential election cycles combined," Open Secrets said in a press release on Wednesday.
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden will be the first candidate in history to raise $1 billion from donors. His campaign brought in a record-breaking $938 million through October 14, riding Democrats' enthusiasm to defeat President Donald Trump, who raised $596 million.
TRUMP TRAILS BIDEN IN MICHIGAN, WISCONSIN
President Donald Trump trails Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden in two key battleground states that Trump won in 2016, with a narrow lead in Michigan and a 17-point lead in Wisconsin, according to a Washington Post/ABC poll on Wednesday.
"The surveys show Biden narrowly ahead of Trump among likely voters in Michigan by 51 percent to 44 percent, with Libertarian Party nominee Jo Jorgensen at 3 percent. In Wisconsin, likely voters favor Biden by 57 percent to 40 percent, with Jorgensen at 2 percent," a report explaining the poll said.
However, this only brings Biden's average lead in Wisconsin up to 6.4% in the last seven surveys posted on Realclearpolitics.com (RCO). In the RCP, Biden is up by 8.6% in Michigan.
Democratic presidential candidate and his wife Jill Biden cast their ballots in the election on Friday in his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware. Biden earlier in the day was campaigning near his residence in Wilmington, Delaware, where he delivered a speech to outline his plans for combating COVID-19.
MOSCOW READY TO WORK WITH ANY LEADER
Moscow is not betting on any of the US presidential candidates and is ready to work with any leader elected by the US citizens, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told Sputnik on Wednesday.
Earlier this week, US democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden expressed the belief that Russia was trying to influence the upcoming vote and was therefore "the biggest threat." Moscow has repeatedly refuted all allegations regarding its interference in foreign elections.
"Bets are placed on betting terminals. We do not bet on anyone, since we are exclusively guided by the interests of our national security and take steps that show our extremely responsible approach to ensuring global security and stability. The series of statements that Russian President [Vladimir Putin] has made in the past weeks and months is the best evidence," Ryabkov said.
A prominent rights group on Wednesday voiced grave concerns about the state of human rights in the United States during the upcoming US presidential election, saying that it will monitor the situation to expose any violations of public order.
"The world is watching the United States and we at Amnesty International stand ready to document and denounce violations of the rights to freedom of expression and assembly throughout the election period. The widespread availability of guns, combined with the incitement of violence and the enabling and abetting of white supremacy � at the highest levels of government and by those elected to serve the people � has left the country dangerously vulnerable to civil and political unrest," Interim Executive Director of Amnesty International USA Bob Goodfellow said in a press statement.
Former US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said she has been selected to represent the state of New York as one of 538 members of the US Electoral College who will choose the next president.
"I'm an elector in New York. I'm sure I'll get to vote for Joe [Biden] and [Sen. Kamala Harris] in New York. So, that's pretty exciting," Clinton told SiriusXM's "Signal Boost."
Facebook will take down any post by President Donald Trump that incites violence in the aftermath of the November 3 US election, Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said on Wednesday.
"Incitement of violence is against our policy and there are no exceptions to that, including for politicians," Zuckerberg said, testifying before a Senate panel called to hear testimonies from him, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Google CEO Sundar Pitchai.
Zuckerberg was responding to a question from Ed Markey, a Demoratic senator and rival to Trump's Republican party, who reminded the Facebook CEO that the platform did not delete a Twitter feed shared on its platform in May that said "when the looting starts, the shooting starts".
SUPREME COURT AND MAIL-IN BALLOT FIASCO
The US Supreme Court has rejected a Republican effort to block the deadline extension for absentee mail ballots in the battleground state of North Carolina, a court document revealed on Wednesday.
The document said newly-confirmed Trump appointed justice Amy Coney Barrett did not participate in the decision
Earlier in the day, the US Supreme Court rejected the Pennsylvania Republican Party's second attempt to eliminate the three-day deadline extension for the receipt of mail-in ballots in the upcoming November 3 election, a court filing revealed. Barrett did not participate in the case "because of the need for a prompt resolution... and because she has not had time to fully review the parties' filings," the court said in a statement as quoted by Politico.
Wisconsin and Pennsylvania are among the top ten most crucial swing states most likely to determine the outcome of the presidential election.
