A daily snapshot

12 days until Election Day

Spoofed emails

U.S. officials have accused Iran of being behind a flurry of emails sent to Democratic voters in multiple battleground states that appeared to be aimed at intimidating them into voting for the Republican president. The officials did not lay out specific evidence for how they came to pinpoint Iran, but the activities attributed to Tehran would mark a significant escalation for a country some cybersecurity experts regard as a second-rate player in online espionage.

Barrett push

Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans powered past a Democratic boycott Thursday to advance Amy Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court nomination to the full Senate, keeping President Donald Trump’s pick on track for confirmation before the Nov. 3 election. Democratic senators refused to show up in protest of the GOP’s rush to install Trump’s nominee to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. All 12 Republicans on the committee voted in favor of Barrett, a conservative judge. Senators plan to convene a rare weekend session before a final confirmation vote expected Monday.

Path to 270

Trump still has a path to the 270 Electoral College votes he needs to win reelection. But it requires everything to break in his direction again. His most likely route would be to win two crucial states: Pennsylvania and Florida. If he can win there and hold onto North Carolina and Arizona — while playing defense in Georgia and Ohio — he will win.

Alabama voting

The Supreme Court has put on hold a lower court order that would have permitted curbside voting in Alabama in November. The justices’ vote was 5-3, with the court’s three liberals dissenting. It was unclear how many counties might have offered curbside voting, allowing people to vote from their car by handing their ballot to a poll worker.

Quotable

“You should be confident that your vote counts. Early, unverified claims to the contrary should be viewed with a healthy dose of skepticism.” — FBI Director Chris Wray, insisting that the integrity of the 2020 U.S. election is still sound.