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Fox News Democracy ’24: The keys to the count in every battleground state

The countdown to election night is on. Officials across the country are preparing to count tens of millions of ballots. Every state reports votes differently, and that means the candidate in the lead in any race can change throughout election night and the days after. For example, a state that reports votes from cities and suburban areas is likely to appear more Democratic in the early parts of the evening but become more Republican as rural areas report. MILLIONS OF VOTERS HAVE ALREADY CAST BALLOTS FOR NOV. 5 ELECTION Similarly, states that report their in-person votes first might look like they’re going for the Republican candidate. When they start reporting mail ballots, the overall Republican lead can diminish or become a Democratic lead. This was the “red mirage” in several battleground states in the last presidential election. Counting often takes longer in highly populated states. Fox News will make a projection of a race when the data indicates a clear winner and there is no scenario where the trailing candidate will overtake the leader. This guide to ballot counting in the seven battleground states uses Associated Press reporting of the process in each state and aligns with Fox News’ analysis of previous returns. Returns could look different in this year’s election. We expect fewer Americans to vote before election day, and Democrats and Republicans appear to be less divided on how they cast ballots. And as this guide explains, some states have changed their ballot counting processes since 2020. Most importantly, every state has measures in place to ensure votes are counted correctly and securely. Elections officials regularly test ballot counting machines, track the location of ballots, and use measures ranging from barcodes to watermarks to ensure that only eligible voters can vote. In Arizona, ballots cast and processed before Election Day are the first to be reported after polls close. These ballots have tended to favor Democrats, ever since the issue of early and mail voting became highly politicized during the 2020 election. Mail ballots that are delivered on Election Day take much longer to tabulate because election workers do not begin processing or verifying them until after polls close. In Maricopa County, which has the state’s largest population, about 20% of the nearly 1.6 million votes cast in 2022 were mail ballots dropped off on Election Day. In Arizona, recounts are automatic if the vote margin is 0.5% of the total vote or less. Georgia state law allows county elections officials to begin tabulating mail ballots at 7 a.m. on Election Day. As a result, the first votes reported on election night will include many of these mail ballots as well as early in-person votes. Overall, these ballots have tended to favor Democrats, ever since the issue of early and mail voting became highly politicized during the 2020 election. This suggests that the Democratic candidate in a competitive contest could take an early lead in the vote count in the initial vote reports after polls close, even though the race may tighten considerably as more votes are tabulated. There is no automatic recount provision in Georgia, but a losing candidate may request a recount if the margin is less than or equal to 0.5% of the total vote. A new law gives local elections officials more time to process and tabulate absentee mail ballots, which should help alleviate the logjam that slowed ballot counting in the 2020 presidential election. Cities and towns with at least 5,000 people may begin processing and tabulating ballots up to eight days before Election Day, while smaller jurisdictions may begin the morning before Election Day. In 2020, more than 3.1 million voters cast their ballots by mail, about 56% of all ballots cast. State law at the time prevented election workers from opening the envelopes and preparing ballots for the count until the night before Election Day. Trump took an early lead in the vote count on election night, but that lead began to erode overnight and early Wednesday morning, and Biden took the lead later that afternoon. The law change may result in a speedier release of mail voting totals and may mitigate the so-called “red mirage” that Trump falsely claimed was evidence of voter fraud in Michigan and in a handful of other key states. Recounts are automatic in statewide races in Michigan if the margin between the top two candidates is 2,000 votes or fewer. Candidates may request and pay for a recount regardless of the vote margin, and the state covers the cost if the recount changes the outcome. Nevada conducts its elections predominantly by mail. In 2021, the state adopted a law requiring mail-in ballots to be automatically sent to active voters, making permanent an emergency measure implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the midterm elections the following year, about 80% of voters cast their ballots in-person before Election Day or by mail. Mail ballots that are postmarked by Election Day will be counted if they are received by Nov. 9, four days after Election Day. With a large number of mail ballots potentially arriving after Election Day, the outcome of some highly competitive races might not be determined until these additional mail ballots are received and tabulated. State Republicans challenged this law, but a federal court dismissed the lawsuit in July. In recent elections, votes counted after Election Day have been heavily Democratic. Although most ballots are cast by mail, voters have the option of voting in-person at a polling place on Election Day. The state does not release any vote results until the final voter in line has cast a ballot, which could be well after the time polls formally close. Nevada does not have an automatic recount law, but candidates may request and pay for a recount within three days of the county or statewide canvass, regardless of the vote margin. North Carolina has a track record of counting votes relatively quickly, leaving only about 1% of the vote uncounted after election night. This year,

Delhi’s air quality deteriorates to ‘very poor’ category, likely to worsen after festival

Delhi’s air quality continued to deteriorate, remaining in the “very poor” category on Diwali, with levels expected to worsen to the “severe” category due to bursting of firecrackers at night.

Advocate for ‘gender affirming care’ for prisoners named by AG Garland to corrections advisory board

Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a progressive state prison official — who was instrumental in establishing “gender-affirming care” for trans inmates in Washington state — to serve on the Justice Department’s National Institute of Corrections (NIC) advisory board. Among the policies implemented was one where pat-downs or other searches would be “performed by a correctional officer of the gender formally requested by the transgender individual.” For example, a biologically male inmate identifying as a trans woman could require that a female prison guard perform the search. Cheryl Strange was first appointed to the position of Washington state Department of Corrections Secretary by Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee in May 2021. “This is a great honor at the tail end of my career,” Strange said in a statement Monday. “In Washington state, we have enacted nation-leading reforms that have created a more humane corrections system while also improving public safety. I look forward to participating with other national leaders at the federal and state government levels on approaches that can be implemented nationally.” ‘SCARED’ AND ‘TRAUMATIZED’: WALZ’S SUPPORT FOR TRANS WOMEN IN MINNESOTA WOMEN’S PRISON ‘ENDANGERING’ INMATES According to its website, NIC works “to influence correctional policies, practices, and operations nationwide” in both federal and state correctional systems. The NIC advisory board provides recommendations to raise prison standards to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the Department of Justice and Congress. Strange’s appointment to the NIC board comes just days before the November general election. “Secretary Strange’s appointment is a testament to her lifelong commitment to public service and reform,” Federal Bureau of Prisons director Colette Peters said in a news release Monday. “Her progressive leadership transformed Washington state’s corrections system, prioritizing both public safety and humane treatment and her vision and experience will be invaluable as NIC and the Advisory Board work to raise the standard of corrections nationwide.” Last year, the Washington DOC and Disability Rights Washington agreed to change their policies regarding transgender inmates as part of a settlement that began in 2019. Under the new terms, the Washington DOC implemented a “Gender-Affirming Mental Health Specialist” to each prison and required “more transgender-focused training to correctional officers and provide gender-affirming clothing to transgender individuals.” WALZ ADMINISTRATION SETTLES LEFT-WING GROUP’S TRANS INMATE LAWSUIT, COSTING MINNESOTA TAXPAYERS NEARLY $500K The agency’s compliance with the new policy will be monitored until 2026. “This is a landmark agreement and we look forward to continuing to work closely with DRW to implement it,” Strange said in a statement at the time. “We have already made substantial improvements to the gender-affirming care offered to transgender incarcerated individuals in recent years, and this is another step in the right direction.” The agreement also included that the “DOC will ensure that transgender individuals in restrictive housing still have access to gender-affirming property,” as well as “Pat-downs and searches of transgender individuals will be performed by a correctional officer of the gender formally requested by the transgender individual.” DOJ WON’T PROSECUTE AG GARLAND FOR CONTEMPT FOR REFUSAL TO TURN OVER AUDIO FROM BIDEN, HUR INTERVIEW According to a DOC news release, “The department has already taken significant steps to update its policies to ensure the equitable treatment transgender, intersex and non-binary incarcerated individuals since Secretary Strange’s arrival in 2021.” Washington is one of several states that have enacted transgender treatments for inmates on the taxpayer dollar in recent years. Strange has also helped reform other aspects of the prison system, such as programs geared at lowering recidivism rates among inmates, like education and job skill training. The Justice Department did not return Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

RFK indicates Trump ‘promised’ him ‘control’ over ‘public health agencies’

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has indicated that former President Donald Trump plans to give him “control” over the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Kennedy indicated that Trump “promised” him “control” over “public health agencies, which are HHS and its sub-agencies, CDC, FDA, NIH, and a few others,” plus the USDA. He made the comments in a video clip that has been circulating online. The New York Times reported that Kennedy noted via text that the video was a recording from an internal talk with campaign workers regarding get-out-the-vote efforts for Trump. “I stand ready to help him rid the public health agencies of their pervasive conflicts and corruption and restore their tradition of gold-standard, evidence-based science,” Kennedy said in a statement, according to the outlet. The HHS secretary and USDA secretary posts are both cabinet-level positions. RFK JR. SOUNDS OFF ON TOP DEMOCRATS OVER ‘APPALLING’ TRUMP RHETORIC: ‘EXPLOSIVE’ “No formal decisions about Cabinet and personnel have been made, however, President Trump has said he will work alongside passionate voices like RFK Jr. to Make America Healthy Again by providing families with safe food and ending the chronic disease epidemic plaguing our children,” Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement, according to reports. Kennedy initially pursued the Democratic presidential nomination, then switched to an independent presidential bid, and eventually dropped out and backed Trump. “When @realDonaldTrump gets me inside the USDA, we’re going to give farmers an off-ramp from the current system that destroys soil, makes people sick, and harms family farms,” Kennedy posted. SUPREME COURT DENIES RFK JR EFFORT TO GET HIS NAME REMOVED FROM MICHIGAN AND WISCONSIN BALLOTS When podcast host Joe Rogan asked Trump whether he is fully committed to including Kennedy in his administration, Trump said, “I am.” During his recent rally at Madison Square Garden, Trump said he will let Kennedy “go wild on health,” food and medicine. “One of the first things I will do once we get @realDonaldTrump back in the White House and me to D.C. is to get ultra-processed foods out of school lunches,” Kennedy posted. ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR. UNLEASHES ‘MAKE AMERICA HEALTHY AGAIN’ AGENDA Kennedy has said that public health entities like the CDC, NIH, FDA, and USDA “have become sock puppets for the industries that they’re supposed to regulate.” He said that he and Trump will “replace the corrupt industry-captured officials with honest public servants.”

Biden admin faces mounting pressure to dismantle migrant parole program amid ‘stress’ on small towns

FIRST ON FOX: Pressure is growing on the Biden administration to shut down its migrant travel program for four nationalities, as Republicans say migrants from those countries have caused “stress and burdens” on communities throughout the U.S. Twenty-seven lawmakers, led by Reps. Guy Reschenthaler, R-Pa., and Chip Roy, R-Texas, have written to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas calling for the end to what they say is an “unlawful” parole process for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans (CHNV). The program allows up to 30,000 nationals each month to enter the U.S. via humanitarian parole from those four countries after receiving advance travel authorization. More than half a million nationals have entered as part of the program, which is part of the effort to expand “lawful pathways” by the administration. However, the lawmakers note communities across the U.S. that have reported intense strain due to an influx of migrants from those countries, particularly Haiti. HAITIAN MIGRANTS OVERWHELMING SMALL INDIANA TOWN: ‘IT’S JUST OVERRUN’ “While the United States faces an unprecedented crisis, created by the Biden-Harris Administration, at our southern border, nearly 530,000 inadmissible aliens have entered the U.S. through the CHNV program since January 2023 alone. This decision has placed significant financial stress and burdens on communities across the United States, including Charleroi, Pennsylvania; Springfield, Ohio; and Logansport, Indiana,” they write. Fox spoke to residents in Charleroi, some of whom say they have seen significant pressure due to Haitian migration, including on schools and other services. In Logansport, residents have said they have been “overrun” as the population has grown by 20-30% since 2021, mostly from Haitians. Meanwhile, the Biden administration has extended Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians and Venezuelans in the U.S., meaning many arrivals are protected from deportation and can receive work permits. The lawmakers say that, according to 25 governors, the administration has “failed to communicate arrival times, duration of residency, legal status, and locations of CHNV parolees while also creating ‘considerable confusion and alarm among local officials and the general public.’” SWING STATE OFFICIAL WARNS VILLAGE STRUGGLING WITH FINANCIAL LOSSES AFTER INFLUX OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS They also note that the Biden administration paused issuing authorizations briefly after fraud was found among sponsor applications in the program. Recently, the Biden administration said it would not be renewing paroles for arrivals but would still be accepting new applications. “We call on the administration to end the unlawful, fraud-filled CHNV program and curtail TPS and other immigration relief provided to aliens paroled through CHNV. Without doing so, the Biden-Harris Administration’s immigration policies will continue to place significant burdens on communities across our nation,” they say. The DHS said it “responds to congressional correspondence directly via official channels, and the Department will continue to respond to congressional oversight.” HAITIAN MIGRATION ROILS TOWN IN KEY BATTLEGROUND STATE WITH SIGNS OF PRO-TRUMP SUPPORT ON THE RISE Meanwhile, officials have stressed that CHNV processes are a “safe and orderly way” to reach the U.S. and have been linked to a 99% drop in encounters between ports of entry at the border from those nationalities. They have stressed that migrants are responsible for their own travel and that DHS does not select their final destination, although they are vetted by multiple databases and not allowed in if they do not pass that process. The agency says it is “working with communities on their unique situations, and developing new efficiencies that speed up the work authorization process and providing on-the-ground immigration services to migrants who are eligible to apply for a work permit but have not yet done so.” Officials have also noted that more than $650 million has been allocated to support communities receiving migrants throughout the U.S. by DHS. The letter comes as migration and related border security has become a top issue in the election. Former President Donald Trump has promised to shut down parole programs if allowed into office. This week, Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., introduced legislation that would limit the number of parolees to 1,000 a year and curtail the use of TPS. Vice President Kamala Harris has pledged to sign a border security bill if elected while also renewing her calls for a more sweeping piece of legislation that includes a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants — including TPS recipients.

Huge majority of Americans are ‘anxious and frustrated’ about upcoming election, poll finds

The vast majority of Americans report being “anxious and frustrated” rather than “excited” regarding the upcoming election, according to a Thursday poll from the Associated Press. The poll found that 7 in 10 Americans reported feeling frustrated about the election, while just under a third say they are excited. The AP-NORC poll comes as the presidential race between former President Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris remains neck-and-neck. The poll found that Democrats in particular are feeling more anxious than usual. Roughly 8 in 10 Democrats said they have negative feelings about the upcoming election, compared to just 7 in 10 in the last election. Independents are the most even keeled, however, with roughly half of the group saying they are anxious and the other half saying they are excited. FOX NEWS POLL: MORE HARRIS THAN TRUMP SUPPORTERS THINK VOTERS WILL BE COUNTED ACCURATELY & WILL ACCEPT OUTCOME The poll of 1,233 adults was conducted Oct. 24-29, 2024, using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.6 percentage points. HARRIS, TRUMP, MAKE FINAL PITCHES TO VOTERS IN HIGH STAKES BATTLEGROUND The presidential race remains virtually tied both nationally and in the swing states as the nation sits just five days from Election Day. North Carolina likely voters put Trump slightly ahead of Harris in a new Fox News survey released Wednesday. That’s unchanged since September. Trump leads Harris 49%-47% among likely voters, while third-party candidates receive 4%. In the two-way contest, his edge narrows to 1 point — a useful indicator as pre-election surveys often overstate support for third-party candidates. HARRIS LAYS OUT HER CLOSING ARGUMENT AGAINST TRUMP WITH THE WHITE HOUSE AS A BACKDROP Meanwhile, in Pennsylvania, both candidates are tied at 48% support with an expanded ballot, according to the Wednesday poll. With third-party candidates removed, Trump is up by 1 point (50% to 49% Harris). The vice president on Wednesday, speaking in front of a large crowd at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex and Expo Center, urged her supporters to “get this done.” Harris made multiple stops Sunday in Philadelphia, the state’s largest city. Trump held a campaign event Tuesday in Delaware County, in suburban Philadelphia, before holding a rally in Allentown. “I don’t like to speak too early, but you have to get out and vote because we … we want a big, beautiful number. We’re leading in every single swing state. Because, normally Republicans, they like to vote at the end no matter what you say, they like to vote at the end,” Trump said from the Allentown rally. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Former NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo referred to DOJ for prosecution by House subcommittee: report

A Republican-led House subcommittee on Wednesday referred former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to the Justice Department after he was accused of lying to Congress about a report on his involvement in nursing home deaths during the coronavirus pandemic. Leader of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, Rep. Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, signed the referral that accuses Cuomo of engaging in a “conscious, calculated effort” to avoid responsibility for how nursing home deaths were accounted for in early 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic began. The referral letter claims that Cuomo, who held a behind-closed-doors meeting with the subcommittee, didn’t review a State Health Department report that blamed him for those deaths, according to a new report by the New York Times. FEDERAL JUDGE DISMISSES NURSING HOME COVID DEATH CASE AGAINST FORMER NEW YORK GOV. ANDREW CUOMO Despite Cuomo reportedly reviewing the reports from his state’s health department and writing parts of early drafts in emails, the former governor says he doesn’t recollect such a thing. “This taxpayer-funded farce is an illegal use of Congress’s investigative authority,” said Richard Azzopardi, a spokesperson for Cuomo. “The governor said he didn’t recall because he didn’t recall. The committee lied in their referral just as they have been lying to the public and the press.” This comes as Cuomo has surfaced as a top name for next year’s New York City mayoral contest. It’s unclear whether current Mayor Eric Adams will run again as he’s recently been indicted by a grand jury on five counts of bribery and corruption, which includes soliciting illegal foreign campaign donations. Cuomo resigned as governor in August 2021 amid sexual harassment allegations, which he still denies. ANDREW CUOMO WILL FINALLY FACE QUESTIONS OVER COVID DEATHS. WILL MY FAMILY AND OTHERS LEARN THE TRUTH? The criminal referral by the House subcommittee doesn’t carry water in the legal system and Congress doesn’t have the wherewithal to instruct the Justice Department on what they should do with it. There’s also no indication if the upcoming election will have any bearing on the subcommittee’s referral — regardless of who gains control of Congress or who wins the presidency. Cuomo’s memoir, “American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic,” has been under scrutiny the last few years and he was ordered to return $5 million on his payment advance for the piece after a state ethics board declared he used state resources to help pen it. That’s something Cuomo also denied and successfully sued the board for, claiming it was his right to due process. EX-NEW YORK GOV ANDREW CUOMO TO FACE HOUSE GOP COMMITTEE OVER COVID NURSING HOME DEATHS Cuomo has insisted that information and data regarding COVID deaths during the early stages was unreliable, and that his administration focused on more reliable numbers that people could trust, according to the Times. In Wenstrup’s letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, he said Cuomo falsely said “he did not have any discussions about the July 6 report being peer reviewed” and “that he did not know whether the July 6 report was reviewed by persons outside” the State Department of Health. “Mr. Cuomo provided false statements to the select subcommittee in what appears to be a conscious, calculated effort to insulate himself from accountability,” Wenstrup wrote in the referral letter reviewed by the Times. “The Department of Justice should consider Mr. Cuomo’s prior allegedly wrongful conduct when evaluating whether to charge him for the false statements described.” Cuomo has accused the subcommittee of misusing government resources to “investigate a matter beyond its jurisdiction, apparently in service of a private lawsuit.”

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