Trump, Biden vie for more early voters before final debate
LAS VEGAS/DURHAM — President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden were courting early voters on Sunday in the competitive states of Nevada and North Carolina, as the final presidential debate looms later this week.
Some 27.7 million Americans have already cast ballots either by mail or in person ahead of the Nov. 3 election, according to the U.S. Elections Project at the University of Florida. The record-shattering figure is being driven in part by concerns about crowds at polling sites on Election Day amid the coronavirus pandemic.
In North Carolina, a battleground where 1.4 million, or 20%, of the state's registered voters had already voted as of Sunday morning, Biden urged residents to cast ballots as soon as possible.
“We gotta keep the incredible momentum going; we can't let up,” he said at a “drive-in rally” in
Durham, as attendees sitting in their cars honked in approval. “Don't wait — go vote today.” Biden also criticized Trump for saying over the weekend that the United States had “turned the corner” in the coronavirus pandemic, noting that the rate of new cases across the country has risen to the highest level in months.
“As my grandfather would say, `This guy's gone around the bend if he thinks we've turned the corner,'” B i d e n s a i d . “Things are getting worse, and he continues to lie to us about circumstances.”
Biden's pick for vice president, Senator Kamala Harris, canceled in-person events over the weekend as a precaution after an aide tested positive for COVID
19.