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Live updates on the 2024 election: First day of early voting in Texas sets new record

Live updates on the 2024 election: First day of early voting in Texas sets new record

More than 870,000 Texans went to the polls on Monday, with turnout particularly high in Democratic hotspots. The first day of early voting broke all previous records: 4.7% of all registered Texas voters cast a ballot, the Texas Secretary of State’s Office reported. Between 2016 and 2024, the share of registered voters in Texas increased by 22%, seven percent more than population growth, The Hill reports. The number of voters has also increased from 58% in 2016 to 66% in 2020. Texas’ voter growth appears to be benefiting Democrats, as elections have been much closer in recent years.

Harris leads Trump by 1.7 points in national polls

According to FiveThirtyEight’s daily election poll tracker, Kamala Harris is leading the national polls by a 1.7 percent lead with less than two weeks to go before the presidential election.

But the margins remain razor-thin, especially in the seven key swing states, where the gap between candidates is less than one percentage point.

With only 13 days left, the race is incredibly close. The NBC News national poll conducted between Oct. 4 and Oct. 8 had Trump and Harris tied, although Trump had a one-point lead over Harris when third-party candidates were included.

Trump is ahead in four major national polls, including the most recent Redfield and Wilton Strategies poll from Oct. 21, which has Trump at 47 percent, two points ahead of Harris at 45 percent.

But Harris remains ahead in both FiveThirtyEight and Nate Silver’s tracker, by 1.6 points and up to 4 points in polls from YouGov and Morning Consult.

Campaign Tracker: Where are the candidates today?

The presidential and vice presidential candidates are hard at work today, all with different commitments in the United States, as they make their final proposals to Americans twelve days before the election.

Trump is in Georgia today and is leading a “Believers and Ballots Faith Town Hall” in Zebulon this afternoon with Lt. Governor Burt Jones, according to his campaign website. Later that evening, he will host a rally in Duluth in collaboration with Turning Point Action, the political wing of Charlie Kirk’s conservative organization Turning Point USA. In contrast, Vance is appearing in Nevada, including at events in Reno and Las Vegas, where he will discuss housing and economic issues.

Harris will attend a town hall meeting in suburban Philadelphia this evening. This event will be moderated by CNN’s Anderson Cooper. Walz is actively campaigning in his home state of Minnesota before heading out to speak at a campaign rally in Louisville, Kentucky.