The 2024 US presidential election has entered its final weekend with an intense competition between Republican candidate Trump (Donald Trump) and his Democratic opponent Harris (Kamala Harris).
In the final stages of the campaign, each day is crucial. While few voters change their minds in the final stages of an election, anything that happens in the last few days could potentially alter the election outcome.
Harris and Trump are crisscrossing the country, campaigning in key states. They are trying to convey their messages to voters in a clear and concise manner. Meanwhile, both sides are pouring resources into increasing voter turnout for early voting.
Here are the latest campaign updates from the two camps in the final weekend before Election Day (Tuesday, November 5th):
First, looking at the candidates’ schedules for this weekend may give an indication of where the election’s outcome may be decided.
On Saturday (November 2nd), Trump first appeared in North Carolina, then traveled to Virginia, planning to return to North Carolina that evening.
Trump’s decision to spend Saturday in North Carolina suggests that Harris may have a chance of winning in the state. Since Obama’s victory in 2008, no Democratic presidential candidate has won North Carolina, although the margin in each subsequent election has been less than 3 percentage points.
On Saturday, Trump also stayed in Virginia to convey confidence. Virginia has been a Democratic stronghold since 2008.
However, in November 2021, Republican candidate Glenn Youngkin won the 74th gubernatorial election in Virginia, breaking the Democratic party’s long-standing advantage in the state.
Perhaps no swing state is more important than Pennsylvania. Trump is expected to hold a campaign event here on Sunday (November 3rd).
On Sunday, in addition to Georgia, Trump is planning to make another appearance in North Carolina. Georgia is another southern state that has leaned towards the Republican party for nearly thirty years—until Biden narrowly won four years ago.
Harris kicked off her campaign activities in Atlanta on Saturday and then headed to Raleigh, the capital of North Carolina, for a rally—indicating that her team is looking for opportunities in southern states.
Harris plans to head to multiple locations in Michigan on Sunday, shifting focus to the “blue wall” states where Democrats outnumber Republicans, a region where her allies believe she is at a disadvantage.
Trump’s campaign team hopes that voters focus on a key question when casting their votes, which is also the opening statement at his rallies: Are you better off today than you were four years ago?
Harris’ team, on the other hand, wants voters to consider another question: Do you believe Trump or Harris will prioritize national interests over personal interests?
In the coming days, the candidate who can effectively draw attention to their final statements for voters may ultimately win the presidency. However, both candidates face tough challenges.
Trump is still facing backlash from a comedian’s remarks at a recent New York rally where Puerto Rico was referred to as a “garbage island.” Later on Thursday, Trump raised the possibility of targeting Liz Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Cheney, sparking controversy once again.
Meanwhile, Harris is still working to shift the focus away from recent campaign events, avoiding discussions about President Biden’s remarks earlier in the week referring to Trump supporters as “trash.”
White House officials altering official records of related calls have faced opposition from federal workers tasked with recording official statements for posterity.
The political spotlight surrounding the president always shines brightly. Especially during the final weekend, it burns most brightly, leaving no room for error in the campaign. In an election where both sides believe they are evenly matched, any last-minute misstep could have fatal consequences.
Given Trump’s allies’ high regard for female voters, his remarks about Cheney are particularly concerning.
Polls show a clear gender gap in this election, with women generally favoring Harris over Trump. Part of the reason may be the Republican party’s stance on abortion restrictions.
Trump’s allies, including conservative political figure Charlie Kirk, warn that early voting by female voters seems to far outweigh male voters. While it’s unclear whom they are voting for, Kirk believes this could be detrimental to Trump.
Trump insists that regardless of whether women like him or not, he will protect them. Harris criticizes Trump for not understanding women’s right to “make decisions about their lives, including their bodies.”
Whether other Democratic party positions can make breakthroughs during this busy weekend is yet to be seen. Harris’ team believes there are still many voters who can be persuaded. They say that suburban women leaning towards the Republican party make up a significant portion of these undecided voters.
Over 66 million people have already voted in the 2024 election, representing over a third of the total votes cast in 2020.
Compared to four years ago, the number of Republican voters has significantly increased, mainly because Trump no longer insists that his supporters must vote in person on Election Day.
While early in-person voting has ended in many states, at least three key states are still encouraging voters to cast their ballots early at the last minute. Election officials hope to collect as many votes as possible before Election Day.
Michigan is one of them, with early voting in the state continuing until Monday (November 4th). Wisconsin voters can cast early in-person votes until Sunday, with specific times varying by location.
In North Carolina, voters can cast early in-person votes until 3 pm on Saturday. Early voting periods in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, and Pennsylvania officially ended on Friday, November 1st.
Meanwhile, Trump’s campaign team is relying on inexperienced external groups, including a political action committee operated by billionaire Elon Musk. Recently, the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office filed a lawsuit to stop the committee from distributing a $1 million reward to swing state registered voters.
In contrast, Harris’ well-funded campaign team has adopted more traditional canvassing methods, employing over 2,500 paid staff in key states and setting up 357 offices.
Last Wednesday (October 30th), Trump referenced election officials’ discovery of individual election irregularities in Pennsylvania, pointing to previously unseen large-scale fraud.
Officials in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, stated that they are investigating 2,500 fraudulent voter registration applications.
Following Trump’s defeat in the 2020 US presidential election, he and his allies filed over 60 lawsuits alleging election manipulation and voter fraud, attempting to overturn the election results, but they ultimately failed.
In this election, both parties and some civil groups have raised objections to the way votes are cast, counted, verified, and even challenged controversies in court. So far, federal and state courts in 40 states have handled 196 lawsuits.
Recently, the US Supreme Court approved, by a vote of 6-3, an emergency appeal by Virginia’s Republican government, allowing the state to resume purging voter rolls to prevent non-US citizens from voting.
On Friday (November 1st), the Supreme Court rejected a Republican emergency appeal, ruling that if there are errors in Pennsylvania’s mail-in ballots, provisional ballots can be cast.
On the same day, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court accepted a renewed request from Republicans, declaring that mail-in ballots with irregular dates will not count in this election.
The 2024 US presidential election has sparked intense debates on social media, with many netizens questioning the fairness and transparency of the election.
At the same time, some media outlets dismiss allegations of election fairness as baseless conspiracy theories and suggest that the Trump camp is looking for excuses to pave the way for a possible defeat.
（This article references reports from The Associated Press and Reuters）