South Florida Local News

Dear Eric: I’ve struggled with a mild autoimmune condition for the last three decades that would flare from time to time.

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Normal life is difficult during the flares, especially while raising a family and running a business with my husband. I did the best I could.

About five years ago, I got extremely sick, and it just got worse and worse. During this period I mourned the loss of my two brothers and my dad. Other traumatic things happened as well.

I’m trying to heal and, most of all, trying to make the most of every day I have even if I don’t.

I read your wonderful column regularly. What would you recommend to help me with the little bit of bitterness I feel over people complaining about the most minor, often ridiculous non-issues, people who are squandering their precious days with anger or resentment over things that are not big deals while there are people hoping for just another year.

– No Complaints

Dear No Complaints: I am always struck with awe when I read the wise words of Kate Bowler, a Duke Divinity School professor and scholar of Christianity, who often writes about navigating life after a stage IV colon cancer diagnosis.

In her book, “Everything Happens for a Reason: And Other Lies I’ve Loved,” she writes, “I keep having the same unkind thought: I am preparing for death and everyone else is on Instagram.”

How can everyone else be so caught up in their little problems when life is so fragile and so fleeting? Often, we willfully don’t see the preciousness of our days because that’s a reminder of their finitude.

While the shortsightedness of others grates on you, use it as a reminder that they haven’t done the work that you have. And that they are, to paraphrase Ian McLaren, fighting a battle we know nothing about. For a lot of people, that battle is against a lack of meaning in their own lives.

Bitterness steals crumbs of your gratitude and awe. So, use the bitter feeling as an alarm: Alert! This person isn’t in the same place I am. Use it as permission to tune them out (or even cut them out of your life altogether for a time) and refocus on yourself, your journey and the parts of your life that connect you to meaning, wonder, and gratitude.

Dear Eric: I had a good friend who died last year. We knew each other for more than 50 years. We socialized as much as we could, and I talked to him frequently.

He became sick and I visited him as much as I could. After he died, I offered my help to his wife with arrangements for the funeral, since they didn’t have anything done. I didn’t hear any response.

We learned about the funeral through the internet. We sent flowers and cards; we never received any response. We called and left messages, the same way. We sent cards for Masses, holidays and birthdays. No response.

We hear from other friends that the widow is fine. We don’t understand her behavior and we don’t know what else we can do. What is your advice?

– Perplexed Friend

Dear Perplexed: I’m sorry for the loss of your friend. I know that his wife’s silence is making the loss even harder. The silence also makes it hard to figure out what’s happening on her side.

A likely explanation is that her grief makes it hard to talk to you or compels her to withdraw or is simply making logistics a challenge.

That’s hard to take but it’s not about who you are. Grief is complicated and often vicious; it takes us out of ourselves.

Unfortunately, there’s nothing more you can do to foster a connection. For now, it’s important to recognize her silence as a boundary and respect that. You’ve shown your support in many ways, but if it’s not what she wants or needs, the most supportive thing to do is to step back with love.

Dear Eric: I would like to add something to your answer to “No Poker Face,” a 60-something white guy who asked how he should have responded to racist comments from an old friend.

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I strongly recommend the Southern Poverty Law Center’s collection of downloadable PDFs, “Speak Up: Responding to Everyday Bigotry.” Formerly a book, “Speak Up” is a treasure trove of examples of how to respond to these all-too-familiar situations, from Thanksgiving dinner to the workplace and everywhere in between.

– Tough Conversation

Dear Conversation: Thanks for flagging this. What a great resource.

Dear Readers: On Nov. 10, 2024, I’m thrilled to join psychology scholar Dacher Keltner and creative entrepreneur Mali Bacon in a public conversation about gratitude at the Spirit & Place Festival in Indianapolis. You can find more information at spiritandplace.org. I hope you’ll join us!

Send questions to R. Eric Thomas at eric@askingeric.com or P.O. Box 22474, Philadelphia, PA 19110. Follow him on Instagram @oureric and sign up for his weekly newsletter at rericthomas.com.

We’ve reached Election Day, the final day of voting in the 2024 presidential election after millions of Floridians already have cast their votes.

Neighborhood polling places will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Those heading to the polls are less likely to face rain earlier in the day: The rain chances are expected to increase after 1 p.m., according to the National Weather Service in Miami.

Many choices on the ballot

The ballot is longer than many people realize, with multiple elections and referendums.

Voters will cast ballots on the presidential and U.S. Senate contests, and the abortion and marijuana referendums. And almost all voters also will make choices for members of Congress and state Legislature.

Many South Florida voters also will see sheriff, county commission, mayor, city commission or School Board contests.

Also on the ballot are several proposed amendments to the state Constitution, plus local referendums in various parts of South Florida.

Voting essentials

People must vote in their assigned polling place on Election Day. While polling places will remain open until 7 p.m., anyone who is in line at 7 p.m. is allowed to vote.

To vote, someone must have a current, valid photo ID with a signature. The most common are Florida driver’s licenses or state ID cards.

Many other forms of ID, including passports and credit or debit cards are accepted.

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If the photo ID doesn’t have a voter’s signature, the person will have to show another ID with a signature.

A voter identification card — which many people call a voter registration card — isn’t needed, and isn’t accepted as a form of identification at a polling place.

What’s helpful

People can bring a marked sample ballot, palm card or other information into the polling place to help you remember your choices.

The Broward and Palm Beach county elections office websites allow people to see customized sample ballots for their location, and people can print, mark and bring them to vote.

It’s now illegal for people to bring unused mail ballots into the voting booth to use as a voting guide.

People can wear election buttons, T-shirts and other indications they support a candidate when they go to vote. Campaign attire doesn’t count as illegal electioneering at the polls.

What people can’t do is attempt to sway voters in the no-campaign zone or hang around in that area after they’ve voted, acting as a human campaign advertisement.

That means a Kamala Harris T-Shirt or a Donald Trump MAGA cap is allowed when someone is voting in a polling place, but distributing handbills for a candidate isn’t.

And people may take pictures of their ballots. People aren’t allowed to take selfies in a polling place because they might end up having someone else in the image.

Mail ballots

It’s too late for someone with a mail ballot to return it via the Postal Service and have it arrive back at the county election headquarters by the deadline, Tuesday at 7 p.m.

The county elections offices accept ballots on Tuesday. Mail ballots can’t be returned to neighborhood polling stations on Tuesday, but people who choose not to use them are allowed to vote in person on Election Day.

Florida has a strict deadline for mail ballots. Any that aren’t in the possession of a county supervisor of elections by 7 p.m. on election night aren’t counted.

There’s one exception to the Election Day deadline. Overseas residents or active duty service members and their family members have extra time, as long as the ballots are postmarked by Tuesday.

Information

People can check to see if they’re registered to vote and find mail-ballot dropoff locations and neighborhood polling place locations online and by phone.

Broward County: browardvotes.gov, 954-357-8683.

Palm Beach County: votepalmbeach.gov, 561-656-6200.

Q: Everything but the W. Wow. – Douglas.

A: In many ways, Monday night’s Heat loss to the Kings reminded me of the Dolphins’ Sunday loss in Buffalo. The Heat played well enough to win, did plenty of things right, overcame the adversity of both being without Jaime Jaquez Jr. and missing way too many free throws. And while the Heat exited lamenting another ghastly third quarter, they still were up five with 74 seconds to play. And then the Kings got their version of Tyler Bass’ 61-yard field goal, with Domantas Sabonis’ putback game-winner. The problem for the Heat, as it has been with the Dolphins, is that the margin for error has been an incredibly fine line. And against good teams, they haven’t been good enough. Just like the Dolphins could have had a quality win on Sunday, the Heat could have done the same on Monday. Instead, another example of what mediocrity can look and feel like. In each case, a kick in the gut. The difference, of course, being that the Heat have 76 games remaining.

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Q: Understandable that the team wants more sample size with this starting group, but I really believe starting Alec Burks over Terry Rozier would accomplish two things: Getting a Duncan Robinson-like spacer in the starting group, and allowing Rozier to do what he wants off the bench. He just forces his own offense too much. Burks wouldn’t need all of those shots. – Alec, Philadelphia.

A: I agree in concept, but am not sure that if you want a Duncan Robinson-like spacer, why not Duncan Robinson? But I do agree that another spacer would help, particularly one that does not require a usage rate on the level of Terry Rozier. That said, by putting the ball more often in Tyler Herro’s hands as a point guard, it could impact what has been a solid start to the season by Tyler. And that said, if you were to start a shooter such as Alec Burks or Duncan, I would think it potentially wise to also sub out Nikola Jovic at power forward in favor of the defensive element of Haywood Highsmith. So if you are looking for a spacer/shooter option, then it would lead to, in this view, a first five of Bam Adebayo, Haywood Highsmith, Jimmy Butler, Tyler Herro and Duncan Robinson or Alec Burks. And yet, that seemingly now also still means trying to find time for Pelle Larsson.

Q: After watching the start of this season, I can’t make a case for Jimmy to get a max extension. So, if he’s unwilling to compromise and accept a lesser deal, they either: See what they can get in a trade by February or have a plan to replace him in the offseason with his available cap space. – Brian, Fort Lauderdale.

A: First, there would be no cap space, because of the remaining salaries on the cap. But beyond that (so maybe this actually is first), you need a sample size far greater than two weeks for such a franchise-altering judgment. I think the upcoming trip, when Jimmy Butler will be faced by size at small forward could be a better tell, as might be the impending back-to-back set against the Pacers and 76ers in two weeks, to see where he stands physically at 35. Both of those games will be significant. As it is, while the complete consistency might not be there, there was a strong closing statement Monday night.

Here are the top stories for Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. Get the weather forecast for today here.

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Today is Tuesday, Nov. 5, the 310th day of 2024. There are 56 days left in the year. Today is Election Day in the United States.

Today in history:

On Nov. 5, In 1994, George Foreman became the oldest heavyweight boxing champion at age 45, knocking out Michael Moorer in the 10th round of their title bout.

Also on this date:

In 1605, the “Gunpowder Plot” failed as Guy Fawkes was seized before he could blow up the English Parliament.

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In 1872, suffragist Susan B. Anthony defied the law by casting a vote in the presidential election; she was later arrested and charged with “knowingly voting without having a lawful right to vote.” Found guilty at trial, she was fined $100, which she refused to pay.

In 1912, Democrat Woodrow Wilson was elected president, defeating Progressive Party candidate Theodore Roosevelt, incumbent Republican William Howard Taft and Socialist Eugene V. Debs.

In 1930, novelist Sinclair Lewis became the first American to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.

In 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt won an unprecedented third term in office as he defeated Republican challenger Wendell L. Willkie.

In 1968, Republican Richard M. Nixon won the presidency, defeating Democratic Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey and American Independent Party candidate George C. Wallace.

In 1996, President Bill Clinton won a second term in the White House, defeating Republican candidate Bob Dole.

In 2006, Saddam Hussein was convicted and sentenced by the Iraqi High Tribunal to hang for crimes against humanity.

In 2009, a shooting rampage at the Fort Hood Army post in Texas left 13 people dead; Maj. Nidal Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, was later convicted of murder and sentenced to death. He has not yet been executed.

In 2017, a gunman armed with an assault rifle opened fire in a small South Texas church, killing more than two dozen people; the shooter, Devin Patrick Kelley, was later found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

In 2021, a crush of fans during a performance by rapper Travis Scott at a Houston music festival left 10 dead, as people were squeezed so tightly they couldn’t breathe.

Today’s Birthdays:

• Singer Art Garfunkel is 83.
• Singer Peter Noone is 77.
• TV personality Kris Jenner is 69.
• Singer Bryan Adams is 65.
• Actor Tilda Swinton is 64.
• Actor Tatum O’Neal is 61.
• Actor Judy Reyes is 57.
• Actor Seth Gilliam is 56.
• Actor Sam Rockwell is 56.
• Musician Jonny Greenwood (Radiohead) is 53.
• Golfer Bubba Watson is 46.
• Olympic gold medal marathoner Eliud Kipchoge is 40.
• Retired NFL center Jason Kelce is 37.
• Musician Kevin Jonas (The Jonas Brothers) is 37.
• NFL wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. is 32.

By David A. Lieb, Associated Press

While electing officials to make and enforce laws, voters in dozens of states are also deciding on more than 140 ballot proposals affecting the way people legally live, work and die.

As 10 states consider measures related to abortion or reproductive rights on Tuesday’s ballots, about a half-dozen states are weighing the legalization of marijuana for either recreational or medical use. About two dozen measures are focused on future elections, including several specifically barring noncitizens voting. Other state measures affect wages, taxes, housing and education.

Many of the ballot measures were initiated by citizen petitions that sidestep state legislatures, though others were placed before voters by lawmakers.

Marijuana legalization

Voters in Florida, North Dakota and South Dakota are deciding whether to legalize recreational marijuana for adults. The election marks the third vote on the issue in both North Dakota and South Dakota. In Nebraska, voters are considering a pair of measures that would legalize medical marijuana and regulate the industry.

About half the states currently allow recreational marijuana and about a dozen more allow medical marijuana.

In Massachusetts, a ballot measure would legalize the possession and supervised use of natural psychedelics, including psilocybin mushrooms. It would be the third state to do so, following Oregon and Colorado.

Immigration

An Arizona measure crafted amid a surge in immigration would make it a state crime to enter from a foreign country except through official ports of entry, and for someone already in the U.S. illegally to apply for public benefits using false documents.

The border crossing measure is similar to a challenged Texas law that the U.S. Justice Department says violates federal authority.

School choice

A proposed amendment to the Kentucky Constitution would allow lawmakers to use state funds for private schools. A Colorado measure would create a constitutional right to school choice for K-12 students.

In Nebraska, voters are deciding whether to repeal a new state law that funds private school tuition with state dollars.

A majority of states offers some sort of state-backed program to help cover private school costs.

Sports betting

Missouri voters are deciding whether to become the latest to legalize sports betting. A total of 38 states and Washington, D.C., already allow sports betting, which has expanded rapidly since the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for it in 2018.

Taxes

A Colorado proposal would make it the second state after California to impose a sales tax on firearms and ammunition, with revenue going primarily to crime victims’ services. The federal government already taxes sales of guns and ammunition.

North Dakota voters are considering a measure to eliminate property taxes. If approved, local governments could need more than $3 billion biennially in replacement revenue from the state.

A South Dakota measure would repeal the state’s sales tax on groceries, a move already taken in most other states.

An Oregon measure would raise the minimum tax on large corporations to fund a tax rebate for residents.

Housing

California voters are deciding whether to repeal a 1995 law limiting local rent control ordinances. If approved, it would open the way for local governments to expand limitations on the rates that landlords could charge.

A unique proposal in Arizona links property taxes with responses to homelessness. It would let property owners seek property tax refunds if they incur expenses because a local government declined to enforce ordinances against illegal camping, loitering, panhandling, public alcohol and drug use, and other things.

Climate

Voters in Washington state are considering whether to repeal a 2021 law that caps carbon emissions and creates a market for businesses exceeding the mark to purchase allowances from others. Washington was the second state to launch such a program, after California.

Citizen voting

Republican-led legislatures in eight states — Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Wisconsin — have proposed state constitutional amendments declaring that only citizens can vote.

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey speaks in support of a state constitutional amendment limiting voting to only U.S. citizens during a press conference, Oct. 10, 2024, at the state Capitol in Jefferson City, Mo. (AP Photo/David A. Lieb)

A 1996 U.S. law prohibits noncitizens from voting in federal elections, and many states already have similar laws. But Republicans have emphasized the potential of noncitizens voting after an influx of immigrants at the U.S.-Mexican border. Though noncitizen voting historically has been rare, voter roll reviews before the election flagged potential noncitizens registered in several states.

Some municipalities in California, Maryland, Vermont and Washington, D.C., allow noncitizens to vote in certain local elections.

Voting methods

Connecticut voters are considering whether to authorize no-excuse absentee voting, joining most states that already allow it.

Measures in Montana and South Dakota would create open primary elections in which candidates of all parties appear on the same ballot, with a certain number advancing to the general election. Measures in Colorado, Idaho and Nevada also propose open primaries featuring candidates from all parties, with a certain number advancing to a general election using ranked choice voting. An Oregon measure would required ranked choice voting in both primaries and general elections.

Ranked choice voting is currently used in Alaska and Maine. But Alaska voters are considering whether to repeal provisions of a 2020 initiative that instituted open primaries and ranked choice general elections.

Arizona voters are deciding between competing ballot proposals that would require either open primaries with candidates of all parties or the state’s current method of partisan primaries. If conflicting measures both pass, the provision receiving the most votes takes effect, but that could be up to a court to decide.

Redistricting

An Ohio initiative would create a citizens commission to handle redistricting for U.S. House and state legislative seats, taking the task away from elected officials.

Minimum wage

Ballot measures in Missouri and Alaska would gradually raise minimum wages to $15 an hour while also requiring paid sick leave. A California measure would incrementally raise the minimum wage for all employers to $18 an hour.

A Nebraska measure would require many employers to provide sick leave but would not change wages.

A Massachusetts measure would gradually raise the minimum wage for tipped employees until it matches the rate for other employees. By contrast, an Arizona measure would let tipped workers be paid 25% less than the minimum wage, so long as tips push their total pay beyond the minimum wage threshold.

Assisted suicide

West Virginia voters are deciding whether to amend the state constitution to prohibit medically assisted suicide. The measure would run counter to 10 states and Washington, D.C., where physician-assisted suicide is allowed.

By DÁNICA COTO, Associated Press

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico is holding elections that will be historic regardless of which of the top two gubernatorial candidates wins.

If Jenniffer González of the pro-statehood New Progressive Party wins Tuesday’s election, it will mark the first time in the island’s history that the party secures three consecutive terms.

If Juan Dalmau, who is running for Puerto Rico’s Independence Party and Citizen Victory Movement, wins, it will be the first win for a candidate not representing either of the two main parties that have dominated the island’s politics for decades.

A billboard promoting Puerto Rico’s Independence Party and the Citizen Victory Movement gubernatorial candidate Juan Dalmau towers over a highway, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024.(AP Photo/Alejandro Granadillo)

Trailing González and Dalmau in polls is Jesús Manuel Ortiz of the Popular Democratic Party, which supports the island’s territorial status. Also running is Javier Jiménez of Project Dignity, a conservative party created in 2019.

For decades, the New Progressive Party and the Popular Democratic Party would receive at least 90% of all votes, but that began to change in 2016, with newer parties attracting more voters amid economic and political turmoil.

A campaign poster promotes New Progressive Party gubernatorial candidate and Puerto Rico’s representative in Congress Jenniffer González, above a campaign poster of resident commissioner candidate Luis Villafañe, defaced with the Spanish words for corrupt and rogue, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Alejandro Granadillo)

“That has been a very big change,” said Jorge Schmidt Nieto, a political analyst and university professor.

Delayed results

Results are not expected late Tuesday, with analysts warning it might be a couple of days before that happens. During the 2020 elections, it took officials four days to release preliminary results.

Puerto Rico’s State Elections Commission is still counting more than 220,000 early and absentee votes it received, with officials from various political parties noting the process is slow-going. The counting of those votes began more than two weeks later than usual.

Jessika Padilla, the commission’s alternate president, said in a press conference that some 40% of those votes had been counted as of Monday.

“This validation process is one that we are not going to take lightly,” she said.

More than 5,000 inmates out of some 7,400 total in Puerto Rico also have voted, although it’s unclear how many of those votes have been counted.

The commission and other officials also are still receiving allegations about electoral crimes, including from people who said they received confirmations for early voting when they made no such request.

Meanwhile, energy generators have been dispatched to more than two dozen polling stations to guarantee electricity given the chronic power outages that have plagued Puerto Rico in recent years.

A status question and a symbolic vote

On Tuesday, voters also will be asked for a seventh time about Puerto Rico’s political status. The nonbinding referendum offers three options: statehood, independence and independence with free association, under which issues like foreign affairs, U.S. citizenship and use of the U.S. dollar would be negotiated.

Regardless of the outcome, a change in status requires approval from the U.S. Congress.

In addition, Puerto Ricans on Tuesday can support Kamala Harris or Donald Trump in a symbolic vote if they wish. While Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens, those on the island are not allowed to vote in U.S. presidential elections.

Nearly 2 million voters are eligible to participate in Tuesday’s election, although it remains to be seen how many people will do so. Voter apathy has dominated recent elections.

By Geoff Mulvihill and Christine Fernando, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Voters in nine states are deciding whether their state constitutions should guarantee a right to abortion, weighing ballot measures that are expected to spur turnout for a range of crucial races.

Passing certain amendments in Arizona, Florida, Missouri, Nebraska and South Dakota likely would lead to undoing bans or restrictions that currently block varying levels of abortion access to more than 7 million women of childbearing age who live in those states.

The future legality and availability of abortion hinges not only on ballot measures, as policies could shift depending on who controls Congress and the presidency. Same with state governments — including legislatures that pursue new laws, state supreme courts that determine the laws’ constitutionality, attorneys general who decide whether to defend them and district attorneys who enforce them.

If all the abortion rights measures pass, “it’s a sign of how much of a juggernaut support for reproductive rights has become,” said Mary Ziegler, a professor at the University of California Davis School of Law and an expert on the history of reproductive rights in the U.S.

“If some of them fail,” she added, “then you’re going to see some conservatives looking for guidance to see what the magic ingredient was that made it possible for conservatives to stem the tide.”

Voters have been supporting abortion rights

Abortion rights advocates have prevailed on all seven measures that have appeared since 2022, when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and ended the nationwide right to abortion. That decision opened the door to bans or restrictions in most GOP-controlled states — and protections of access in most of those controlled by Democrats.

The abortion rights campaigns have a big fundraising advantage this year. Their opponents’ efforts are focused on portraying the amendments as too extreme rather than abortion as immoral.

• FILE – Members of the gallery watch the vote count on the board, Wednesday, May 1, 2024, at the Capitol in Phoenix, as Democrats secured enough votes in the Arizona Senate to repeal a Civil War-era ban on abortions. (AP Photo/Matt York, File)

• FILE – An anti-abortion supporter sits behind a sign that advises the Jackson Women’s Health Organization clinic is still open in Jackson, Miss., Wednesday, July 6, 2022. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)

• FILE – Protesters join thousands marching around the Arizona Capitol in Phoenix, protesting the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, June 24, 2022. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)

• FILE – The shadow of Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., is cast on a backdrop as she speaks at an event kicking off a national “Reproductive Freedom Bus Tour” by the campaign of Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris and running mate Gov. Tim Walz, Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2024, in Boynton Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)

• FILE – A supporter of Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, left, argues about abortion rights with supporters of Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump, protesting alongside an event kicking off a national “Reproductive Freedom Bus Tour” by the Harris-Walz campaign, Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2024, in Boynton Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell,File)

• FILE – Lilo Blank, 23, of Philadelphia, left, who supports abortion rights, and Lisa Verdonik, of Arlington, Va., who is anti-abortion, talk about their opposing views on abortion rights, Friday, May 13, 2022, outside the Supreme Court in Washington, ahead of expected abortion rights rallies across the country on Saturday. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

• FILE – Anti-abortion activist Caleb Buck, left, argues with abortion-rights activist Nadine Seiler outside the Supreme Court, Tuesday, March 26, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Amanda Andrade-Rhoades, File)

• FILE – Predominantly anti-abortion supporters stand in the Arizona House gallery during the vote on the proposed repeal of Arizona’s near-total ban on abortions prior to winning approval from the state House Wednesday, April 24, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)

• FILE – Stephen Parlato of Boulder, Colo., holds a sign that reads “Hands Off Roe!!!” as abortion rights advocates and anti-abortion protesters demonstrate in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

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FILE – Members of the gallery watch the vote count on the board, Wednesday, May 1, 2024, at the Capitol in Phoenix, as Democrats secured enough votes in the Arizona Senate to repeal a Civil War-era ban on abortions. (AP Photo/Matt York, File)

Expand

Currently, 13 states are enforcing bans at all stages of pregnancy, with some exceptions. Four more bar abortion in most cases after about six weeks of pregnancy — before women often realize they’re pregnant. Despite the bans, the number of monthly abortions in the U.S. has risen slightly, because of the growing use of abortion pills and organized efforts to help women travel for abortion. Still, advocates say the bans have reduced access, especially for lower-income and minority residents of the states with bans.

The bans also are part of a key argument in the presidential race. Vice President Kamala Harris calls them “Trump abortion bans,” noting former President Donald Trump’s role in overturning Roe v. Wade. Harris, meanwhile, has portrayed herself as a direct, consistent advocate for reproductive health and rights, including Black maternal health.

Trump has struggled to thread a divide between his own base of anti-abortion supporters and the majority of Americans who support abortion rights, leaning on his catch-all response that abortion rights should be left up to individual states.

His shifting stances on reproductive rights include vowing in October to veto a national abortion ban, just weeks after the presidential debate when he repeatedly declined to say. Trump also has regularly taken credit for appointing three Supreme Court justices who helped overturn Roe v. Wade.

Trump’s attempt to find a more cautious stance on abortion echoes the efforts of many Republican congressional candidates as the issue has emerged as a major vulnerability for the GOP. In competitive congressional races from coast to coast, Republicans distanced themselves from more aggressive anti-abortion policies coming from their party and its allies, despite their records on the issue and previous statements opposing abortion rights.

The measures could roll back bans in five states

While the ballot questions have similar aims, each one occupies its own political circumstances.

There’s an added obstacle to passing protections in reliably Republican Florida: Supporters of the amendment must get at least 60% of the vote.

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Passing it there and rolling back a 6-week ban that took effect in May would be a blow to Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican with a national profile, who has steered state GOP funds to the cause and whose administration has weighed in, too, with a campaign against the measure, investigators questioning people who signed petitions to add it to the ballot and threats to TV stations that aired one commercial supporting it.

Nebraska has competing ballot measures. One would allow abortion further into pregnancy. The other would enshrine in the constitution the state’s current law, which bars most abortions after 12 weeks — but would allow for further restrictions.

In South Dakota, the measure would allow some regulations related to the health of the woman after 12 weeks. Because of that wrinkle, most national abortion-rights groups are not supporting it.

In some states, notably Missouri, passing amendments may not expand access immediately. Courts would be asked to invalidate the bans; and there could be legal battles over that. Clinics would need to staff up and get licenses. And some restrictions could remain in effect.

Arizona, a battleground in the presidential election, bans abortion after the first 15 weeks of pregnancy.

The ballot measure there gained momentum after a state Supreme Court ruling in April found that the state could enforce a strict abortion ban adopted in 1864. Some GOP lawmakers joined with Democrats to repeal the law before it could be enforced.

The measures would enshrine current access laws elsewhere

In the Democratic-controlled Colorado and Maryland, the ballot measures would largely put existing policies into the state constitutions, though Colorado’s version could also remove financial barriers to abortion. It would take 55% of the vote to pass there.

Measures maintaining access also are on the ballot in Montana, where a U.S. Senate race could help determine control of the chamber, and Nevada, a battleground in the presidential election.

In Nevada, where control of the state government is divided, the ballot measure would have to be passed this year and again in 2026 to take effect.

New York also has a measure on the ballot that its supporters say would bolster abortion rights. It doesn’t contain the word “abortion” but rather bans discrimination on the basis of “pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive healthcare and autonomy.”

By CHRISTINA A. CASSIDY and ALI SWENSON, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Election Day 2024 arrived Tuesday — with tens of millions of Americans having already cast their ballots. Those include record numbers in Georgia, North Carolina and other battleground states that could decide the winner.

The early turnout in Georgia, which has flipped between the Republican and Democratic nominees in the previous two presidential elections, has been so robust — over 4 million voters — that a top official in the secretary of state’s office said the big day could look like a “ghost town” at the polls.

As of Monday, Associated Press tracking of advance voting nationwide showed roughly 82 million ballots already cast — slightly more than half the total number of votes in the presidential election four years earlier. That’s driven partly by Republican voters, who were casting early ballots at a higher rate than in recent previous elections after a campaign by former President Donald Trump and the Republican National Committee to counter the Democrats’ longstanding advantage in the early vote.

Despite long lines in some places and a few hiccups that are common to all elections, early in-person and mail voting proceeded without any major problems.

That included in the parts of western North Carolina hammered last month by Hurricane Helene. State and local election officials, benefiting from changes made by the Republican-controlled legislature, pulled off a herculean effort to ensure residents could cast their ballots as they dealt with power outages, lack of water and washed out roads.

By the time early voting in North Carolina had ended on Saturday, over 4.4 million voters — or nearly 57% of all registered voters in the state — had cast their ballots. As of Monday, turnout in the 25 western counties affected by the hurricane was even stronger at 59% of registered voters, state election board Executive Director Karen Brinson Bell said.

Brinson Bell called the voters and election workers in the hurricane-hit counties “an inspiration to us all.”

• A voter fills out their their ballot during early voting in the general election, Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, in Fall River, Mass. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

• A person walks past a sign during early voting in the general election, Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, in Fall River, Mass. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

• People wait in line to cast their ballots at an early voting location, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024, in Blue Springs, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

• FILE – A Delaware County secured drop box for the return of vote-by-mail ballots is pictured, May 2, 2022, in Newtown Square, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

• An election worker demonstrates mail-in ballot processing during a media preview at the Philadelphia Election Warehouse, in Philadelphia, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

• People line up to vote at the Chicago Early Voting Loop Supersite in Chicago, Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

• An elections official sorts counted mail-in ballots on the first day of tabulation, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024, at the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)

• Voters line up to vote as a early voting location opened in Carmel, Ind., Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

• Bennett College student Zairen Jackson listens to a fellow student answer a question during a roundtable in Greensboro, N.C., Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

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A voter fills out their their ballot during early voting in the general election, Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, in Fall River, Mass. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

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Besides the hurricanes in North Carolina and Florida, the most worrisome disruptions to the election season so far were arson attacks that damaged ballots in two drop boxes near the Oregon-Washington border. Authorities there were searching for the person responsible.

The absence of any significant, widespread problems has not stopped Trump, the Republican nominee, or the RNC, which is now under his sway, from making numerous claims of fraud or election interference during the early voting period, a possible prelude to challenges after Election Day.

He has mischaracterized an investigation underway in Pennsylvania into roughly 2,500 potentially fraudulent voter registration applications by saying one of the counties was “caught with 2600 Fake Ballots and Forms, all written by the same person.” The investigation is into registration applications; there is no indication that ballots are involved.

In Georgia, Republicans sought to prohibit voters from returning mailed ballots to their local election office by the close of polls on Election Day, votes that are allowed under state law. A judge rejected their lawsuit over the weekend.

Trump and Republicans also have warned about the possibility that Democrats are recruiting masses of noncitizens to vote, a claim they have made without evidence and that runs counter to the data, including from Republican secretaries of state. Research has consistently shown that noncitizens registering to vote is rare. Any noncitizen who does faces the potential of felony charges and deportation, a significant disincentive.

One case of noncitizen voting was caught during early voting last month and resulted in felony charges in Michigan after a student from China cast an illegal early ballot.

This is the first presidential vote since Trump lost to Joe Biden four years ago and began various attempts to circumvent the outcome and remain in power. That climaxed with the violent Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol to halt certification of the results after Trump told his supporters to “fight like hell.”

Even now, a solid majority of Republicans believe Trump’s lie that Biden was not legitimately elected, despite reviews, audits and recounts in the battleground states that all affirmed Biden’s win. A survey last month from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research showed Republicans remain much more skeptical than Democrats that their ballots will be counted accurately this year.

Seeking to rebuild voter confidence in a system targeted with false claims of widespread fraud, Republican lawmakers in more than a dozen states since 2020 have passed new voting restrictions. Those rules include shortening the window to apply or return a mail ballot, reducing the availability of ballot drop boxes and adding ID requirements.

On the last weekend before Election Day, Trump continued to falsely claim the election was being rigged against him and said a presidential winner should be declared on election night, before all the ballots are counted.

Vice President Kamala Harris urged voters not to fall for Trump’s tactic of casting doubt on elections. The Democratic nominee told supporters at a weekend rally in Michigan that the tactic was intended to suggest to people “that if they vote, their vote won’t matter.” Instead, she urged people who had already cast ballots to encourage their friends to do the same.

Through four years of election lies and voting-related conspiracy theories, local election officials have faced harassment and even death threats. That has prompted high turnover and led to heightened security for election offices and polling sites that includes panic buttons and bullet-proof glass.

While there have been no major reports of any malicious cyberactivity affecting election offices, foreign actors have been active in using fake social media profiles and websites to drum up partisan vitriol and disinformation. In the final weeks, U.S. intelligence officials have attributed to Russia multiple fake videos alleging election fraud in presidential swing states.

On the eve of Election Day, they issued a joint statement with federal law enforcement agencies warning that Russia in particular was ramping up its influence operations, including in ways that could incite violence, and likely would continue those efforts well after the votes have been cast.

Jen Easterly, the nation’s top election security official, urged Americans to rely on state and local election officials for information about elections.

“This is especially important as we are in an election cycle with an unprecedented amount of disinformation, including disinformation being aggressively peddled and amplified by our foreign adversaries at a greater scale than ever before,” she said. “We cannot allow our foreign adversaries to have a vote in our democracy.”

The Associated Press receives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about AP’s democracy initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

By Lisa Mascaro and Mary Clare Jalonick, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Control of Congress is at stake Tuesday, with ever-tight races for the House and Senate that will determine which party holds the majority and the power to boost or block a president’s agenda, or if the White House confronts a divided Capitol Hill.

The key contests are playing out alongside the first presidential election since the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, but also in unexpected corners of the country after what has been one of the most chaotic congressional sessions in modern times.

In the end, just a handful of seats, or as little as one, could tip the balance in either chamber.

The economy, border security, reproductive rights and even the future of U.S. democracy itself have all punctuated the debate.

In the Senate, where Democrats now have a slim 51-49 majority, an early boost for Republicans is expected in West Virginia. Independent Sen. Joe Manchin’s retirement creates an opening that Republican Jim Justice, now the state’s governor, is favored to win. A pickup there would deadlock the chamber, 50-50, as Republicans try to wrest control.

Top House races are focused in New York and California, where in a politically unusual twist, Democrats are trying to claw back some of the 10 or so seats where Republicans have made surprising gains in recent years with star lawmakers who helped deliver the party to power.

Other House races are scattered around the country in a sign of how narrow the field has become, with just a couple of dozen seats being seriously challenged, some of the most contentious in Maine, the “blue dot” around Omaha, Nebraska, and in Alaska.

Vote counting in some races could extend well past Tuesday.

“We’re in striking distance in terms of taking back the House,” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who is in line to make history as the first Black speaker if his party wins control, told The Associated Press during a recent campaign swing through Southern California.

But House Speaker Mike Johnson, drawing closer to Trump, predicts Republicans will keep “and grow” the majority. He took over after Kevin McCarthy was booted from the speaker’s office.

Capitol Hill can make or break a new White House’s priorities, giving Trump or Harris potential allies or adversaries in the House and Senate, or a divided Congress that could force a season of compromise or stalemate.

Congress can also play a role in upholding the American tradition of peacefully transferring presidential power. Four years ago, Trump sent his mob of supporters to “fight like hell” at the Capitol, and many Republicans in Congress voted to block Joe Biden’s election. Congress will again be called upon to certify the results of the presidential election in 2025.

What started as a lackluster race for control of Congress was instantly transformed once Harris stepped in for Biden at the top of the ticket, energizing Democrats with massive fundraising and volunteers that lawmakers said reminded them of the Obama-era enthusiasm of the 2008 election.

Billions of dollars have been spent by the parties, and outside groups, on the narrow battleground for both the 435-member House and 100-member Senate.

Democrats need to win a handful of House seats to pluck party control from Republicans. In the Senate, the vice president becomes the tie-breaker in a split, which would leave control of that chamber up to the winner of the White House.

Senate Republicans launched a wide-open map of opportunities, recruiting wealthy newcomers to put Democratic incumbents on defense in almost 10 states across the country.

In Ohio, Trump-backed Republican Bernie Moreno, a Cleveland businessman, is seeking to unseat three-term Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown. Some $400 million has been spent on the race.

One of the most-watched Senate races, in Montana, may be among the last to be decided. Democrat Jon Tester, a popular three-term senator and “dirt farmer” is in the fight of his political career against Trump-backed Tim Sheehy, a wealthy former NAVY Seal, who made derogatory comments about Native Americans, a key constituency in the Western state.

And across the “blue wall” battlegrounds of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, Republicans are depending on Trump as they try to unseat a trio of incumbent Democratic senators.

Outgoing Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell has spent a career focused on seizing and keeping majority power, but other opportunities for Republicans are slipping into long shots.

In the Southwestern states, Arizona firebrand Republican Kari Lake has struggled against Democrat Ruben Gallego in the seat opened by Sen. Krysten Sinema’s retirement. In Nevada, Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen has been holding out against newcomer Sam Brown.

Democrats intensified their challenges to a pair of Republican senators — Ted Cruz of Texas and Rick Scott in Florida — in states where reproductive rights have been a focus in the aftermath of the Supreme Court decision rolling back abortion access. Cruz faces Democrat Colin Allred, the Dallas-area congressman, while Scott has poured $10 millions of his own fortune into the race against Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, a former House lawmaker.

Congress has a chance to reach several history-making milestones as it is reshaped by the American electorate and becomes more representative of a diverse nation.

Not one, but possibly two Black women could be on their way to the Senate, which would be something never seen in the U.S.

Democrat Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware is favored in the Senate race against Republican Eric Hansen.

And in Maryland, Harris-ally Angela Alsobrooks is in a highly competitive race against the state’s popular former governor, Republican Larry Hogan.

Americans have elected two Black women, including Harris, as senators since the nation’s founding, but never at the same time.

House candidate Sarah McBride, a state lawmaker from Delaware who is close to the Biden family, is poised to become the first openly transgender person in Congress.

Fallout from redistricting, when states redraw their maps for congressional districts, is also shifting the balance of power within the House — with Republicans set to gain several seats from Democrats in North Carolina and Democrats picking up a second Black-majority seat in Republican-heavy Alabama.

Lawmakers in the House face voters every two years, while senators serve longer six-year terms.

If the two chambers do in fact flip party control, as is possible, it would be rare.

Records show that if Democrats take the House and Republicans take the Senate, it would be the first time that the chambers of Congress have both flipped to opposing political parties.

Associated Press writers Stephen Groves, Kevin Freking and Farnoush Amiri contributed to this report.

General Daily Insight for November 04, 2024

Finding a comfortable balance between practicality and pleasure could strain us today. The energetic Sun trines levelheaded Saturn at 12:36 pm EST, encouraging us to pursue safe and stable strategies that make rational sense. When the impulsive Sagittarius Moon then opposes extravagant Jupiter and conjoins appeasing Venus, however, we might rebel and indulge our whims if we feel too deprived. We can’t be solely logical creatures, so any brilliant plans must leave room for the full range of our human needs.

Aries

March 21 – April 19

Your mind may be focused on heavy issues today. Still, you’re not necessarily required to maintain a solemn attitude throughout the entire process — it’s okay to enjoy whatever parts of it you genuinely like! As the perceptive Moon unites with pleasure planet Venus in your 9th House of Expansion, you might have moments when you find adventure in your circumstances and can tell you’re learning something important. Even if the way events happened wasn’t totally ideal, you’ll probably wind up with an interesting story.

Taurus

April 20 – May 20

You may currently appreciate the presence of a longtime friend in your life. Bringing money into the equation, however, isn’t as simple as it might sound. While the vulnerable Moon in your 8th House of Shared Resources opposes abundant Jupiter in your personal finance zone, lavishing your funds on your loved one carries with it the potential to introduce an uncomfortable power dynamic. Only give or loan what you can afford to lose, and be careful to avoid lording it over them.

Gemini

May 21 – June 20

An opportunity to catch the attention of someone cool could keep you focused on your responsibilities today. When the sentimental Moon in your relationship zone goads cocky Jupiter in your sign, you might be tempted to make a show of getting things done as impressively as possible. No matter how your intended audience reacts to your efforts, you’re likely to achieve serious progress toward legitimate goals in the process. You might as well have a bit of fun along the way!

Cancer

June 21 – July 22

Approaching a hobby or leisure pursuit in a serious way can get more out of it for you at this time. While the vibrant Sun in your pleasure sector harmonizes with structured Saturn in your research zone, you might consider formally studying the finer points of your activity. Although you’ve probably picked up a fair amount along the way already, you could be surprised at what you’re missing. Pinning down the details should really take your efforts to the next level!

Leo

July 23 – August 22

Having fun with your peers is possible today. While you’re on a roll, you might reveal more personal information than you usually do. This disclosure is likely to be well received when it happens. Nevertheless, it potentially involves a side of yourself that you don’t share with your family. As the Sun in your domestic zone supports restrained Saturn in your intimacy sector, you don’t have to tell them about this encounter — it’s fine to have some separation between different parts of your life!

Virgo

August 23 – September 22

Your ambition could currently conflict with your desire to kick back and relax. While the illuminating Sun in your communication sector aligns with wise Saturn in your relationship zone, you might want to talk to someone you trust to obtain a reality check. They’ll potentially be more understanding of your need for a break than you are. Once you receive that validation, your wants may seem less overwhelming. Honor them, but put some thought into how you’re going to do so.

Libra

September 23 – October 22

Convincing others to share your beliefs could currently seem crucial. No matter how sweetly you make your case, your overbearing attitude has the potential to become glaringly obvious as the candid Moon in your communication zone opposes pompous Jupiter in your ideological 9th house. Keep in mind that you probably have more going for you than just being right! Focus on the practical aspects of what you propose. If it costs less or offers a simpler process than the alternative, people should be interested.

Scorpio

October 23 – November 21

An offer of financial help could come to you very soon. Unfortunately, it’s possible there are unwanted strings attached. If a potential benefactor makes it very clear that they are powerful and you are vulnerable, what do they hope to get out of helping you? As the inquisitive Sun in your sign leans on reserved Saturn in your 5th House of Self-Expression, don’t put all your cards on the table right away. Let the situation unfold a bit before you commit to anything.

Sagittarius

November 22 – December 21

You may presently be attracted to someone who can teach you something. This person could genuinely have certain knowledge that you don’t. Still, you’re likely brighter than you’re giving yourself credit for. While the needy Moon in your sign contrasts against confident Jupiter in your relationship zone, you might see all the intelligence in the room as coming from them, but there’s probably some on your side as well. Take in what you can from them, but don’t let them push you around.

Capricorn

December 22 – January 19

Some of the stuff on your to-do list can probably wait for a moment. While the sensitive Moon conjoins sensual Venus in your 12th House of the Subconscious, it’s a good time to slow down and stay open to synchronicity. Once you’re quiet and not doing too much, important insights might float to the surface. Overall, you likely don’t need to tell everyone you know about any unusual experiences you have under this influence. Perhaps those messages are just for you!

Aquarius

January 20 – February 18

Enjoying a sweet moment with friends could light up your day. Although you may be a little worried about bigger issues like money and where you’re going in life, remembering that the journey counts too can put you in touch with the perspective you need. While the vital Sun in your ambitious 10th house aligns with disciplined Saturn in your money zone, you’re probably doing better than you think, even if progress isn’t as fast as you’d like. Just stay patient for now.

Pisces

February 19 – March 20

You could get noticed for something positive today. While the visible Moon meets favorable Venus in your public 10th house, what people say about you is likely to be good. The hard part will potentially be deciding whose accomplishment they’re really referring to — a family member of yours may want a piece of the credit too! Being the bigger person and letting them accept some praise might be worth the trouble if it helps you live in line with your ethical beliefs.

By MATT BROWN and FREIDA FRISARO, Associated Press

MIAMI (AP) — Concerts and carnivals hosted at polling precincts. “Souls to the Polls” mobilizations after Sunday service. And star-studded rallies featuring Hollywood actors, business leaders, musical artists and activists.

Such seemingly disparate efforts all have a single goal: boost Black voter turnout ahead of Election Day.

How Black communities turn out in the 2024 election has been scrutinized due to the pivotal role Black voters have played in races for the White House, Congress and state legislatures across the country.

Vice President Kamala Harris, who if elected would be the second Black president, has made engaging Black voters a priority of her messaging and policy platform. Meanwhile, former president Donald Trump has sought to make inroads with Democrats’ most consistent voting bloc with unorthodox and at times controversial outreach.

A poll worker assists a motorist out of the path the crowd as they marched and sang to the polls during the “Souls to the Polls” event on the last day of early voting on Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024, in Miami. (Carl Juste/Miami Herald via AP)

A key strategy in Harris and Democrats’ Black voter outreach includes dispatching the first Black president and his wife, the former first lady, to battleground states where winning may come down to how well the Obamas convince ambivalent or apathetic voters that they must not sit this one out.

Democratic efforts have ranged from vigorous door-knocking campaigns in Atlanta, Detroit and Philadelphia this weekend to swing state rallies. Michelle Obama rallied voters in Norristown, Pennsylvania on Saturday alongside Grammy award-winning artist Alicia Keys while Barack Obama stumped in Milwaukee on Sunday. The former first lady also conducted her own scrupulously nonpartisan rally on Tuesday where speakers evoked the South’s Civil Rights history.

“I’m always amazed at how little so many people really understand just how profoundly elections impact our daily lives,” Michelle Obama said. “Because that’s really what your vote is, it is your chance to tell folks in power what you want.”

Voters and attendees gather around for t-shirts in support of the Harris-Walz ticket at the Joseph Caleb Center during the “Souls to the Polls” event on Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024, the last day of early voting in Miami. (Carl Juste/Miami Herald via AP)

Efforts to boost Black voter turnout often start at the community level. In Miami, members of local churches gathered Sunday at the African Heritage Cultural Arts Center and marched to a nearby early voting center as part of a Souls to the Polls event.

“It helps a lot to encourage others to vote,” said Regina Tharpe, a Miami resident. She had voted earlier, but said people “get excited when they see us walking down the street. It encourages them to get out.”

Sharina Perez, a first-time voter, brought her mother, Celina DeJesus, to vote on the last day of early voting in Florida. She said a number of issues inspired her to vote. “It was for myself, my future, my mom’s future and for the younger generation,” she said.

Miami-Dade residents wait in line to vote at the Joseph Caleb Center during the “Souls to the Polls” event on the last day of early voting Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024, in Miami. (Carl Juste/Miami Herald via AP)

Organizers focused on Black communities say they are often combating exhaustion and cynicism about politics, especially among younger Black voters and Black men. But they are cautiously optimistic that their efforts will bear fruit.

“If you want the people who are going to be most impacted to come out, you have to go where they are,” said Jamarr Brown, executive director of Color of Change PAC, whose campaigns aimed at Black voters included live events in Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The group has reached more than 8 million voters in those states through text messaging and digital in the last month, he said.

”We’ve been going to those precincts and communities, those new platforms and websites where there is so often misinformation targeting our communities,” Brown said.

Former first lady Michelle Obama speaks at campaign rally in support of Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024, in College Park, Ga. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Other events have had a more free-flowing structure. The Detroit Pistons, for instance, hosted a “Pistonsland” festival in a majority Black neighborhood featuring musical performances from rappers including Lil Baby, carnival games, food trucks and other fanfare alongside the opportunity to cast a ballot. The nonpartisan carnival was constructed next to an early voting polling place.

“I don’t like neither one,” said Karl Patrick, a Detroit native who attended the festival. He strongly backed Harris, however, “because Trump wants to be a dictator.” Not all of his close friends had come to the same conclusion — at least one of his friends was fervently backing the former president, he said.

Black voters are the most overwhelmingly Democratic voting demographic in the country. But the Trump campaign has made a more concerted pitch to win a greater share of Black voters this year, particularly Black men.

A first-time voter cheers before former first lady Michelle Obama speaks at campaign rally in support of Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024, in College Park, Ga. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

The Trump campaign has similarly zeroed in on economic arguments. Trump has repeatedly argued that undocumented immigrants take “Black jobs,” despite economists finding the claim unfounded. The campaign believes the former president’s broader pitch on the economy, crime and traditional values has appeal in Black communities.

“If Kamala wanted to turn our country around, then she would do it now,” said Janiyah Thomas, a spokesperson for the Trump campaign. “We deserve more than token gestures — we deserve a leader who respects us, empowers us, and backs it up with action.”

GOP Reps. Byron Donalds and Wesley Hunt have emerged as key surrogates in Trump’s outreach to Black men. The campaign hosted a Black men’s barbershop roundtable with Donalds in Philadelphia in October. The Black Conservative Federation, which hosted a gala Trump attended earlier this year, held a “closing argument” event Sunday with Donalds and Hunt.

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Millions of Black voters, like many Americans, have already cast a ballot in the election, including in Georgia and North Carolina.

Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Georgia, spoke about that state’s turnout at a Tuesday brunch and bus tour launch hosted by the Black Music Action Coalition.

“The truth of the matter is that Trump has been advising his people who always vote on Election Day to get out early. So they’re the ones that are making these numbers look so big. On our behalf, Black people, we have been slightly underperforming,” Johnson said.

Early Black voter turnout slightly lagged in North Carolina compared to 2020, though increased turnout at the close of early voting shrunk the gap. Whether Black voter turnout breaks records in 2020 hinges on Election Day. Many veteran Black leaders are confident the myriad strategies will bring voters out.

“Now obviously, there’s always a group of people who still don’t believe that their vote makes a difference and they lag behind,” said the Rev. Wendell Anthony, a Detroit pastor and the president of the city’s NAACP chapter. But so far, he added, “the indicators to us are such that those people are going to turn out. They’re not going to miss this this historic moment.”

Matt Brown reported from Wilmington, Delaware. Makiya Seminera in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Jeff Amy in Atlanta contributed.

By JOHN HANNA, SCOTT McFETRIDGE and MICHAEL GOLDBERG, Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A federal judge ruled Sunday that Iowa can continue challenging the validity of hundreds of ballots from potential noncitizens even though critics said the effort threatens the voting rights of people who’ve recently become U.S. citizens.

U.S. District Judge Stephen Locher, an appointee of President Joe Biden, sided with the state in a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union in the Iowa capital of Des Moines on behalf of the League of Latin American Citizens of Iowa and four recently naturalized citizens. The four were on the state’s list of questionable registrations to be challenged by local elections officials.

The state’s Republican attorney general and secretary of state argued that investigating and potentially removing 2,000 names would prevent illegal voting by noncitizens. GOP officials across the U.S. have made possible voting by noncitizen immigrants a key election-year talking point even though it is rare. Their focus has come with former President Donald Trump falsely suggesting that his opponents already are committing fraud to prevent his return to the White House.

In his ruling Sunday, Locher pointed to a U.S. Supreme Court decision four days prior that allowed Virginia to resume a similar purge of its voter registration rolls even though it was impacting some U.S. citizens. He also cited the Supreme Court’s recent refusal to review a Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision on state electoral laws surrounding provisional ballots. Those Supreme Court decisions advise lower courts to “act with great caution before awarding last-minute injunctive relief,” he wrote.

Locher also said the state’s effort does not remove anyone from the voter rolls, but rather requires some voters to use provisional ballots.

In a statement on Sunday, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, a Republican, celebrated the ruling.

“Today’s ruling is a victory for election integrity,” Reynolds said. “In Iowa, while we encourage all citizens to vote, we will enforce the law and ensure those votes aren’t cancelled out by the illegal vote of a non-citizen.”

A spokesperson for the ACLU said the organization did not immediately have a comment.

After Locher had a hearing in the ACLU’s lawsuit Friday, Secretary of State Paul Pate and state Attorney General Brenna Bird issued a statement saying that Iowa had about 250 noncitizens registered to vote, but the Biden administration wouldn’t provide data about them.

Pate told reporters last month that his office was forced to rely upon a list of potential noncitizens from the Iowa Department of Transportation. It named people who registered to vote or voted after identifying themselves as noncitizens living in the U.S. legally when they previously sought driver’s licenses.

“Today’s court victory is a guarantee for all Iowans that their votes will count and not be canceled out by illegal votes,” Bird said in the statement issued after Sunday’s decision.

But ACLU attorneys said Iowa officials were conceding that most of the people on the list are eligible to vote and shouldn’t have been included. They said the state was violating naturalized citizens’ voting rights by wrongfully challenging their registrations and investigating them if they cast ballots.

Pate issued his directive Oct. 22, only two weeks before the Nov. 5 election, and ACLU attorneys argued that federal law prohibits such a move so close to Election Day.

“It’s very clear that the secretary of state understands that this list consists primarily or entirely of U.S. citizens who have exactly the same fundamental core right to vote as the rest of us citizen Iowa voters,” Rita Bettis Austen, the legal director of the ACLU of Iowa, said during a Zoom briefing for reporters after the hearing.

The people on the state’s list of potential noncitizens may have become naturalized citizens after their statements to the Department of Transportation.

Pate’s office told county elections officials to challenge their ballots and have them cast provisional ballots instead. That would leave the decision of whether they will be counted to local officials upon further review, with voters having seven days to provide proof of their U.S. citizenship.

In his ruling, Locher wrote that Pate backed away from some of his original hardline positions at an earlier court hearing. Pate’s attorney said the Secretary of State is no longer aiming to require local election officials to challenge the votes of each person on his list or force voters on the list to file provisional ballots even when they have proven citizenship at a polling place.

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Federal law and states already make it illegal for noncitizens to vote, and the first question on Iowa’s voter registration form asks whether a person is a U.S. citizen. The form also requires potential voters to sign a statement saying they are citizens, warning them that if they lie, they can be convicted of a felony, punishable by up to five years in prison.

Locher’s ruling also came after a federal judge had halted a similar program in Alabama challenged by civil rights groups and the U.S. Department of Justice. Testimony from state officials in that case showed that roughly 2,000 of the more than 3,200 voters who were made inactive were actually legally registered citizens.

In Iowa’s case, noncitizens who are registered are potentially only a tiny fraction of the state’s 2.2 million registered voters.

But Locher wrote that it appears to be undisputed that some portion of the names on Pate’s list are registered voters who are not U.S. citizens. Even if that portion is small, an injunction effectively would force local election officials to let ineligible voters cast ballots, he added.

Democrats and Republicans have been engaged in a sprawling legal fight over this year’s election for months. Republicans have filed dozens of lawsuits challenging various aspects of vote-casting after being chastised repeatedly by judges in 2020 for bringing complaints about how the election was run only after votes were tallied. Democrats have their own team of dozens of staffers fighting GOP cases.

Immigrants gain citizenship through a process called naturalization, which includes establishing residency, proving knowledge of basic American history and institutions as well as taking an oath of allegiance to the United States.

Hanna reported from Topeka, Kansas, and Goldberg, from Minneapolis.

In this Dolphins Deep Dive video, the South Florida Sun Sentinel’s Chris Perkins and David Furones discuss the Dolphins (2-6) finally looking like the team everyone expected them to be but dropping another heartbreaker as Buffalo makes a 61-yard game-winning field goal with five seconds left.

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Florida Democrats brought out everything they could on Sunday — music and prayer, a former president, and a retired NBA superstar — in an attempt to motivate Black voters in a final pre-election push.

At Souls to the Polls rallies in South Florida and elsewhere, elected Democrats, candidates and party leaders presented starkly different visions of what the election could bring: a bright and better America if Vice President Kamala Harris is elected president and dark days ahead if former President Donald Trump returns to office.

“I know you’ve seen all of the negative hate, racist rhetoric that’s been on TV,” state Sen. Rosalind Osgood said at a rally next to the early voting site at the African American Research Library and Cultural Center in Fort Lauderdale.

“We cannot go back to the days when Black people are being lynched and mistreated. We have to take a stand against it, and I’m going to say it the way that it is. And it is our fight, and this is our time, and we can’t do it without your help,” Osgood said.

She spoke after more than 200 people marched the mile Sistrunk Boulevard from New Hope Missionary Baptist Church to the library.

Many of the marchers said they’d already voted. But Osgood and Broward State Attorney Harold Pryor said they could still affect the outcome. Before leaving, Pryor said, everyone should pull out their phones and text or direct message someone and tell them to vote.

“It’s going to affect every aspect of our lives, your well-being and whether or not you can provide and even maintain in this society for yourself and your loved ones,” Pryor said. “We can’t afford anybody sitting on the sidelines.”

There were many other efforts aimed at mobilizing African American and Caribbean American voters on Sunday.

Just off Sistrunk Boulevard, the main street of the historically Black northwest part of the city, the NAACP held its own voter turnout event.

Udonis Haslem, a star player with the Miami Heat until he retired in 2023 after 20 years with the team, urged people to vote. While there, he and Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Weston, a former chair of the Democratic National Committee, recorded a get-out-the-vote video for social media.

Before the Fort Lauderdale Souls to the Polls event, state Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried said she’d been to another in Miami Gardens after morning visits to an early voting site in Lauderhill and to churches with Wasserman Schultz.

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And former President Bill Clinton appeared at a Souls to the Polls event at Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church near Orlando.

Souls to the Polls events have become a tradition since Florida authorized in-person early voting in the early 2020s. They started with clergy at Black churches urging parishioners to leave services and head directly to the nearest early voting sites.

At the fellowship hall of St. John Missionary Baptist Church in Boynton Beach, the Rev. Johnny Barber exhorted the crowd of about 100 people to vote, to encourage others to vote, and to pray.

“This is a consequential election,” he said. “This is one of the most important elections that we will experience.”

It wasn’t hard to gauge the presidential preferences of a crowd full of T-shirts displaying some variation of “Kamala” or “Madame President.”

“She’s intelligent, she’s faithful, she’s determined to help the middle class,” Ramona Young, a retired criminal investigator for a public defender’s office in New Jersey, said about the vice president.

Kathleen Alexis, a Realtor from West Palm Beach, already voted but showed up as a volunteer to help with the event. She supports Harris and feels that Trump’s crudeness and negativity has been unworthy of a U.S. president.

“I’m voting blue,” she said. “I’m just tired of all the disunity.”

Hundreds of people make their way down Sistrunk Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale as part of the Souls to the Polls march on Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. (Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Sun Sentinel)

After speeches and prayers — and led by a group of motorcyclists — the crowd walked or rode in cars or golf carts to the early voting site on Seacrest Boulevard.

Though Souls to the Polls events are usually billed as nonpartisan, they’re aimed at turning out Democratic voters.

On Sunday, the Palm Beach County Republican Party organized people for phone banking to encourage the party’s voters to turn out and said Republicans would march in a Veterans Day parade Sunday in West Palm Beach. The Broward and Palm Beach County Republican Party chairs didn’t immediately respond to text messages about their other Sunday activities.

In Florida, Democratic turnout could make the difference in who wins a range of lower-level offices.

Chris Smith, a former Democratic leader in both the Florida Senate and Florida House, left public office in 2016. He now practices law and owns Smitty’s Wings Sistrunk, which has been part of the boulevard’s revitalization in recent years.

Smith still organizes and emcees Fort Lauderdale’s Souls to the Polls before every election.

He said he wants Broward, the state’s most Democratic county, to turn out more votes in hope that it can help change the direction of the state. So far, he acknowledged statewide Democratic turnout is “not good.”

Chris Smith, former Democratic Party leader in the Florida Senate and Florida House, left, with Nikki Fried, chair of the Florida Democratic Party, at a Souls to the Polls rally adjacent to the early voting site at the African American Research Library and Cultural Center in Fort Lauderdale on Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. (Anthony Man/South Florida Sun Sentinel)

Wasserman Schultz said Broward Democrats need to turn out every possible vote.

“We have an opportunity to make history on Tuesday,” Wasserman Schultz said. “We know that when Broward votes that the right thing happens. We need to up the numbers in our community. We really have to make sure that in every one of our precincts all across this community that we get the numbers up.”

Fried offered a more positive spin.

“We’re closing the gap. We know that there’s a lot of really diehard Democrats that are waiting for Election Day to vote for that symbolic vote to go into the polls and vote for the first female president of the United States,” she said.

Anthony Man can be reached at aman@sunsentinel.com and can be found @browardpolitics on Bluesky, Threads, Facebook and Mastodon.

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — In 16 seasons of covering Miami Dolphins games, including six playoff games, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a more stunned locker room than Sunday at Buffalo’s Highmark Stadium.

I’ve seen Dolphins players more angry, more subdued, and more disappointed.

But not more stunned.

The realization is starting to sink in with Dolphins players that with their 2-6 record, they simply aren’t a very good team.

This is why they were stunned.

The Dolphins got kicked in the stomach by the Bills yet again with Sunday’s 30-27 loss on a 61-yard field goal by kicker Tyler Bass with five seconds remaining.

And now you wonder where this team, with its playoff hopes practically extinguished, goes from here.

Players must be wondering the same thing. They must be wondering whether this team is good enough, or was ever good enough.

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“Our record isn’t indicative of who we are at all,” tight end Jonnu Smith said. “I think everybody that knows the game, that watches the game, that studies the game, I think everybody knows that.”

I’m a firm believer in “You are wat your record says you are.”

I’m kinda on Smith’s side on this one.

But I stick more firmly to the saying about your record.

The harsh reality is these guys aren’t good right now, and because they haven’t had a winning record since their 1-0 start, perhaps they’ve never been good.

When media members entered the locker room at Highmark Stadium, Dolphins players still couldn’t grasp what had just happened. 

Dolphins guard Robert Jones had no answers.

He sat at his locker after the game, still in uniform, speaking in soft tones.

Nearby, Smith wasn’t doing any better.

“Tough one,” Jones said.

Dolphins Deep Dive: Miami shows progress but falls to Bills. Perkins, Furones break it down | VIDEO

Linebacker Jordyn Brooks, who was on the other side of the locker room speaking to fellow linebacker Anthony Walker Jr. in quiet tones, was also in shock.

“Some things you can’t explain,” Brooks said.

All around the Dolphins locker room players were awestruck — in a bad way.

Coach Mike McDaniel had just had his best game as a play-caller.

Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (25 of 28, 231 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions, 124.9 passer rating) was good.

Wide receiver Tyreek Hill (four receptions, 80 yards) got in on the act.

The run game (149 yards on 31 carries) was strong.

But none of it was good enough.

That’s why the locker room was stunned.

The vaunted Dolphins offense, which has scored 27 points in back-to-back games, hasn’t been good enough to deliver victories. They’re 0-2 in their past two games, and Tua has started both games

Yes, you could argue the defense has let down the offense and the team.

On Sunday, it was safety Jordan Poyer with a life-giving unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Buffalo wide receiver Keon Coleman for a hit to Coleman’s head to third-and-9 from the Buffalo 31-yard line with 40 seconds left.

Buffalo got the 61-yard field goal seven plays later.

Bass made that field goal at the closed end of the stadium.

Everyone knows that’s an easier kick than the opposite end of Highmark Stadium, the end that has the tunnels and the locker rooms, the end where the garage door stays open and the breeze blows through.

Here’s where the game was won and lost: the second half.

Buffalo’s four possessions were touchdown, touchdown, touchdown, field goal.

The Dolphins’ four possessions were fumble, field goal, touchdown, touchdown, and one desperate, crazy play that featured one lateral to end the game.

You see the difference?

Buffalo’s outstanding offense delivered in the second half with three touchdowns; the Dolphins’ so-called outstanding offense didn’t deliver in the second half because it had a lost fumble and two touchdowns.

“I just can’t turn the ball over,” Raheem Mostert said.

That’s been the case in two of the Dolphins’ past three losses.

Now the Dolphins, who are on a three-game losing streak, head out west for a Monday night road game at the Los Angeles Rams.

Oh, and by the way, McDaniel is now a .500 coach at 22-22, including the playoffs.

The Dolphins played their best game of the season at Buffalo, and they lost.

The offense was diverse and multiple. Tua was good. The run game was good. Hill and Jaylen Waddle made a few plays.

None of it was good enough.

None of it has been good enough all season.

Now you know why the Dolphins were so stunned.

I hope I never see a Dolphins locker room that’s more at a loss for answers than Sunday at Highmark Stadium.

You could think the Miami Dolphins might feel good about Sunday.

I could think they should feel better, too.

But it’s just a sign of just how bad this season is that there’s emotional hedging and style points awarded because the Dolphins finally looked like the kind of team everyone expected them to be in September and finally were in November.

“I’m proud of this team,” receiver Tyreek Hill said after a 30-27 loss to the Buffalo Bills. “We got better today.”

They’re 2-6.

“We played some good ball,” Hill said. “It’s all about getting better. Moving forward, next week, a lot of guys are going to take accountability on what we can get better at.”

If this was a different season, if they had better planning and playing to this point, they could feel just fine about losing by a last-play, 61-yard field goal against Buffalo a week after losing to a dumpy Arizona and two weeks after losing two an even dumpier Indianapolis.

But if they played like this against Arizona, Indianapolis and Tennessee this wouldn’t be such a gangplank game. So, no, they don’t get style points for this.

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What’s the game plan to salvage anything from this season now?

Tank with Tua?

Do they trade some talent for draft picks at the Tuesday deadline?

Go ahead, name a trade that makes any sense.

The Dolphins could have won Sunday considering their smart game plan, Tua Tagovailoa’s disciplined play and some timely defense if it weren’t for the kind of mistakes losing teams always seem to make.

Like: A fumble by Raheem Mostert at Buffalo’s 36-yard line to start the second half. The Dolphins led 10-6. They had a good chance to stretch the lead. Mostert, who ran for 56 yards, had costly fumble against Indianapolis, too.

“We talk about it all the time, defenders in pursuit, the guys you cant see are who you’re most vulnerable to,” Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said. “We’ve got to fix that.”

Then there was the Dolphins defense that pushed Buffalo into third-and-14 from its 26-yard line with 54 seconds left. The game was tied at 27. That’s a good situation to force overtime.

Then rookie Chop Robinson jumped offsides. He had played the best game of his short career, but …

“It’s tough, because you get a third down, I was just ready to rush,” Robinson said.

Then, on third-and-9, veteran safety Jordan Poyer delivered a helmet-to-helmet hit you can’t make. It gave Buffalo a first down. It led to the winning kick.

“It takes it out of everyone’s hands when you go helmet to helmet,” McDaniel said.

Somebody on the defense needed to make a play, and nobody did. You could say Zach Sieler, Jevon Holland and Jaelan Phillips are hurt. You could also say Christian Wilkins is in Las Vegas now and Andrew Van Ginkel is in Minnesota..

What you saw Sunday, if we’re being honest, was two franchises passing in opposite directions through yet another season. Buffalo made the kind of winning plays it has despite having one true star in quarterback Josh Allen. It’s 7-2 now. It’s essentially wrapped up another AFC East title.

The Dolphins, meanwhile, continue to drift through another season in a way that allows them to feel better by degrees after a loss their desperate season needed. Their offense looked like one.

Their defense had a good first half before Allen took over against too many missing pieces, some to injury and others to poor planning.

“This will hurt, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a bad thing in the big picture,” McDaniel said. “It just depends on what you do with it. I think the guys are motivated. Didn’t see it coming down like this, but at the same time, you have to hunker down as a unit and come together and continue to progress, because we did show some progress, albeit not enough.”

Progress is good some seasons. But winning was necessary Sunday. You don’t get style points when you’re 2-6.

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE, ISABELLA VOLMERT and BILL BARROW, Associated Press

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Two days out from Election Day, Kamala Harris dashed through four stops across battleground Michigan on Sunday without uttering Donald Trump’s name, while urging voters not to fooled by the GOP nominee’s disparagement of the electoral system that he falsely claims is rigged against him.

The vice president said she trusts the upcoming vote tally and urged voters, “in particular people who have not yet voted to not fall for this tactic, which I think includes suggesting to people that if they vote, their vote won’t matter.”

At a Michigan State University rally, Harris got a rousing response when she asked who had already voted and then gave students another job – to encourage their friends to cast ballots in a state that allows Election Day voter registration.

And instead of her usual speech riffs about Trump being unstable, unhinged and out for unchecked power, Harris sought to contrast her optimistic tone with the darker message of the Republican opponent she did not name.

AP Foto/Chris PizzelloDemocratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris boards Air Force Two as she departs Oakland County International Airport in Waterford Township, Mich., Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024, en route to Lansing, Mich. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)

It was all in service of trying to boost her standing in one of the Democratic “blue wall” states in the Midwest considered her smoothest potential path to an Electoral College majority.

“We have an opportunity in this election to finally turn the page on a decade of politics driven by fear and division,” she said in a oblique reference to Trump. “We are done with that. We are exhausted with that. America is ready for a fresh start, ready for a new way forward where we see our fellow American not as an enemy, but as a neighbor.”

Harris also avoided direct mention of Trump during her 11-minute morning talk at Greater Emmanuel Institutional Church of God in Christ. But her comments nonetheless served as a clear juxtaposition with the Republican nominee.

“There are those who seek to deepen division, sow hate, spread fear and cause chaos,” she said. She spoke at the same time Trump was in Pennsylvania declaring the U.S. a “failed nation” and saying that he “shouldn’t have left” the White House after the 2020 election, which he denies losing to Democrat Joe Biden.

As Trump referred to Harris’ party as “demonic,” Harris quoted the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah and told her friendly audience she saw ready to “chart a new way forward.”

Addressing what was a largely student crowd in East Lansing, Harris promised to seek consensus.

“I don’t believe people who disagree with me are the enemy,” she said. “In fact, I’ll give them a seat at the table because that’s what strong leaders do.””

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris walks to board Air Force Two as she departs Oakland County International Airport in Waterford Township, Mich., Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024, en route to Lansing, Mich. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)

That was enough for Alexis Plonka, a Michigan State junior who will be voting in her first presidential election. Plonka, who said she has family members who support Trump, applauded the vice president for not referencing the former president directly.

“I think one of the things that turns people off from Trump a lot is the fact that he is so against people that don’t agree with him and that he’s not willing to work with them,” she said.

The approach reflects the wide net Harris has cast since taking the Democratic Party mantle in July after 81-year-old President Joe Biden ended his reelection bid. Casting Trump as erratic and unfit for office, she has attracted supporters ranging from progressive champion Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez of New York to Republican former Rep. Liz Cheney and her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney.

Still, Harris is looking to capitalize on core Democratic constituencies — including young voters like those she addressed at Michigan State — in part by emphasizing her support for abortion rights and Trump’s role in ending a woman’s right to terminate a pregnancy. One of the loudest cheers she received in East Lansing on Sunday evening came when she declared that government should not tell women what to do with their bodies.

Speaking to reporters Sunday afternoon, Harris pushed back at Trump’s characterizations of U.S. elections, charges that the former president elevated again as he campaigned in Pennsylvania. Harris said his latest comments were “meant to distract from the fact that we have and support free and fair elections in our country.” Those “good systems” were in place in 2020, Harris said, and “he lost.”

Harris used her last Michigan swing to acknowledge progressives and members of the state’s significant population of Arab Americans who are angry at the Biden administration for its continuation of the U.S. alliance with Israel as the Netanyahu government presses its war against Hamas in Gaza.

“I have been very clear that the level of death of innocent Palestinians is unconscionable,” Harris told reporters.

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In East Lansing, she addressed the issue soon after beginning her remarks: “As president I will do everything in my power to end the war in Gaza, to bring home the hostages, end the suffering in Gaza, ensure Israel is secure and ensure the Palestinian people can realize their right to freedom, dignity and self-determination.”

Some students in East Lansing voiced their opposition Sunday with audible calls for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war. At least one attendee was escorted out after those cease-fire calls.

After attending church in Detroit, Harris greeted customers and picked up lunch at Kuzzo’s Chicken and Waffles, where she had collard greens at the Detroit restaurant owned by former Detroit Lions player Ron Bartell, a Detroit native. Later, Harris stopped by Elam Barber Shop, a Black-owned business in Pontiac, where she took part in a moderated conversation with local leaders and Black men.

As she returned to Detroit at the end of the day, Harris hopped on a Zoom call from the airport tarmac with “Win With Black Women,” the group that jumped into action for her on the night she first joined the race. Harris thanked the women for their organizing work and urged them to make one final push to “mobilize our Facebook groups, our family group chats and everyone we know” to turn out the vote.

Michigan, along with Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, is critical to Harris’ fortunes. Barack Obama swept the region in 2008 and 2012. But Trump flipped Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin in 2016, prompting considerable criticism from Democrats who said nominee Hillary Clinton took the states for granted. Biden returned the three to the Democrats’ column in 2020.

Losing any of the three would put pressure on Harris to notch victories among the four Sun Belt battleground states: North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada.

Barrow reported from Washington.

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — A personal foul penalty on Miami Dolphins safety Jordan Poyer extended the late Buffalo Bills drive, leading to kicker Tyler Bass’ game-winning 61-yard field goal.

Poyer, back at Highmark Stadium for the first time after spending the previous seven seasons with the Bills, collided with Buffalo rookie wide receiver Keon Coleman deep down the sideline as he converged from the deep center of the field. His helmet made contact with Coleman’s as the pass was broken up.

The flag, on third-and-9 gave the Bills an automatic first down near midfield. After one more first down, Buffalo was in long field goal range for Bass to connect from 61 yards out with five seconds left in the 30-27 loss for the Dolphins.

Poyer disagreed with the call from officials.

“I was just playing football,” Poyer said. “I thought it was a clean play. I felt like I put my helmet right in his chest. Just playing football. It’s tough.”

He was left wondering what a defender should do in that situation when he needs to prevent a receiver from making a catch deep downfield late in the game.

“What can you do? I don’t know,” Poyer said. “I had a great post break. I went up for the ball, and I literally didn’t stop my feet. I felt like I hit him right where I was supposed to hit him. Apparently, the refs didn’t think so. They called it. It is what it is.”

Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said, once helmet contact is made, it’s out of the team’s control and in the hands of the officials.

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Veteran Miami defensive tackle Calais Campbell understood Poyer committing the aggressive penalty in a moment of high urgency.

“This is a physical game, and he catches that ball, it’s big time,” Campbell said. “I know he was going for the chest. You go for the chest with the shoulder, sometimes you make contact with the helmet.”

Poyer, in his return to Orchard Park, said his interactions with Bills fans, known as some of the rowdier ones in the NFL, were mostly them showing him love.

Waddle hurt but returns

Dolphins wide receiver Jaylen Waddle, before scoring the tying touchdown with 1:38 remaining, left the game for a play to get his right shin bandaged after he took a cleat to the lower leg.

The CBS broadcast reported Dolphins trainers had to stop some bleeding for Waddle to return.

“They had to bandage some stuff on his shin,” McDaniel said after the game. “And then when you are down, you have to come out for one play. He was ready to go back in, but based upon rules, we had to wait a play before he did.”

Waddle made his first catch Sunday on third-and-7 in that fourth-quarter series, picking up a first down on the gain of 12 to the sideline. He was inured blocking on a De’Von Achane run that followed. Three plays later, Waddle was in the end zone for the 7-yard touchdown.

Dolphins Deep Dive: Miami shows progress but falls to Bills. Perkins, Furones break it down | VIDEO

Holland misses game

The Dolphins were indeed without safety Jevon Holland for Sunday’s divisional game against the Bills after he entered doubtful with a knee injury. Holland was officially deemed inactive 90 minutes before kickoff.

Holland first injured the knee in the previous Sunday’s loss to the Arizona Cardinals. He had just returned from missing a game with a hand injury, which is still lingering.

Without Holland, safety Marcus Maye started next to Poyer. Maye missed an open-field tackle on Bills running back Ray Davis on his 63-yard touchdown reception.

While the Miami secondary took a hit with Holland out, the Bills receiving corps was without Amari Cooper, who was acquired via trade two weeks ago and entered questionable with a wrist ailment.

Cooper had been opening up the offense for other targets for quarterback Josh Allen in wide receivers Khalil Shakir and Coleman and tight end Dalton Kincaid.

While Holland was out, the Dolphins will had fullback Alec Ingold available after he was questionable with a calf injury. Ingold aggravated the ailment during the game, though.

The Miami secondary, which was already missing Holland and cornerback Kader Kohou (neck), was also without cornerback Storm Duck (ankle). Second-year cornerback Cam Smith started as the third in the group behind starters Jalen Ramsey and Kendall Fuller, but after Smith was called for a pair of first-half penalties, special teamer Siran Neal rotated in with him.

The Dolphins had ruled out Kohou on Friday, along with defensive tackle Zach Sieler (eye) and tight end Julian Hill (shoulder).

Other Miami inactives were running back Jeff Wilson Jr. and offensive lineman Andrew Meyer.

Another notable inactive for the Bills after Cooper was cornerback Christian Benford, who entered questionable with a wrist injury.

Walker over Long

The Dolphins replaced linebacker David Long Jr. in the starting lineup with Anthony Walker Jr. on Sunday. Walker finished with a team-leading 10 tackles.

Long, a team captain, had been struggling lately, especially last week against Arizona. Despite wearing support on his left knee, he was not listed on the injury report as receiving treatment on the knee this past week.

“I think it was more about (Walker) than anything else,” McDaniel said. “We needed to get him on the field a little bit more, and it’s something that we collectively thought gave us the best chance to win against this particular opponent.”

Offensively, the Dolphins started with Ingold, tight end Jonnu Smith and Achane, with wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Waddle and their usual offensive line.

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Once again, the Miami Dolphins made the trek to Highmark Stadium in search of a badly needed victory.

Ultimately, Buffalo Bills kicker Tyler Bass hit a 61-yard field goal with five second left to deliver the 30-27 victory.

The Dolphins played an outstanding game in this one. They ran the ball effectively, coach Mike McDaniel’s play-calling was strong, the defense made a play or two, and things seemed to be going their way.

The Dolphins (2-6) seemed on track to have hopes of reversing a miserable season.

Instead, it was another time that the usual happened. Buffalo won.

Here are some more takeaways from Sunday:

Tua vs. Josh too close to call

Quarterbacks Tua Tagovailoa and Josh Allen dueled to the finish Sunday, and it was a sight to behold. In fact, individually it was too close to call a winner.

Tagovailoa (25 of 28, 231 yards, two touchdowns, 124.9 passer rating) was aided by a top-notch run game and strong play-calling from McDaniel, who stayed with the run game and didn’t force deep passes.

Allen (25 of 39, 235 yards, three touchdowns, one interception, 95.6 passer rating) had a bunch of low throws all day. — Chris Perkins

Tyreek’s day is quiet, but big … if that makes sense

Wide receiver Tyreek Hill (four receptions, 80 yards) had two big plays Sunday — one for 28 yards and one for 27 yards.

Through three quarters he had four targets and three receptions for 61 yards.

Hill was mostly kept in check as Buffalo gave him lots of attention, including jamming him at the line of scrimmage, as expected, from cornerbacks Rasul Douglas and Kaiir Elam.

Fellow wide receiver Jaylen Waddle had no targets and no receptions through three quarters. He ended with two receptions for 19 yards, including the game-tying touchdown.

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Run game continues to do good things

The Dolphins, who entered the season as a passing team, rang up their fourth consecutive 100-yard rushing game, the first time they’ve turned that trick since 1977, with their 149-yard performance Sunday.

Running backs Raheem Mostert 10 carries, 56 yards) and De’Von Achane (12 carries 63 yards, one touchdown) did the bulk of the damage behind the offensive line of center Aaron Brewer, right guard Liam Eichenberg, right tackle Austin Jackson, left guard Robert Jones and left tackle Terron Armstead.

The Dolphins entered Sunday No. 9 in rushing yards per game at 131.7 (just behind last year’s total of 135.8) and tied for 16th in yards per carry at 4.3.

It’s nice to see the Dolphins discover a way to consistently move the ball without constantly needing the long pass.

Highmark Stadium horrors

The Dolphins had lost eight consecutive games at Highmark Stadium entering Sunday, having lost here each year since 2017, including a wild-card playoff game after the 2022 season.

The Dolphins have now lost nine consecutive games at Highmark Stadium.

McDaniel is now a .500 coach

McDaniel has a 22-22 record, meaning he’s a .500 coach.

McDaniel entered Sunday’s game with a 22-21 career record after going 9-9 in 2022 (9-8 in regular season and 0-1 in playoffs), 11-7 in 2023 (11-6 during regular season and 0-1 in playoffs) and 2-5 this season.

McDaniel’s most impressive stretch was the back-to-back wins at Baltimore (42-38) and against Buffalo (21-19) in Weeks 2 and 3 of the 2022 season.

McDaniel’s worst stretch? That could be right now considering expectations for the 2024 season. Or it could be the five-game losing streak late in the 2022 season, or the 2-4 finish, including playoffs, to the 2023 season.

Dolphins Deep Dive: Miami shows progress but falls to Bills. Perkins, Furones break it down | VIDEO

Penalties continue to decline

The Dolphins ended with eight penalties for 57 yards.

Cornerback Siran Neal was called for a defensive holding in the fourth quarter, giving Buffalo a first-and-goal at the 3-yard line in the fourth quarter, a real downer in an otherwise upbeat game for Dolphins penalties. The Dolphins ended up with six penalties for 37 yards.

In the past three games the Dolphins’ penalty yards have been 54 (at New England), 50 (at Indianapolis) and 15 (vs. Arizona).

In the first four weeks the Dolphins’ penalty yards were 103 (vs. Jacksonville), 50 (vs. Buffalo), 85 (at Seattle) and 98 vs. Tennessee).

The Dolphins began play Sunday at No. 9 in penalty yards (455) and No. 13 in penalties (51).

OBJ has first reception(s)

Wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. had a six-yard reception in the first quarter, marking his first reception in four games with the Dolphins. Beckham was expected to be counted on as a reliable third receiving option behind Hill and Waddle but he started the season in the physically-unable-to perform list, missing the first four games, and played just 33 snaps through his first three games.

Beckham added another six-yard reception in the second quarter, absorbing a big hit.

Beckham ended with three receptions for 15 yards.

Ramsey INT turns into points

Cornerback Jalen Ramsey’s interception from a deflection from Bills wide receiver Keon Coleman early in the second quarter was instrumental in the Dolphins’ 10-6 halftime lead. Ramsey’s interception came at the Bills’ 3-yard line.

The Dolphins drove 97 yards in 14 plays to take a 10-3 lead.

Ramsey hasn’t been perfect this season (he was beaten last week by Arizona’s Marvin Harrison and has had at least one regrettable pass interference penalty) but he’s played at a Pro Bowl level, and perhaps an All-Pro level.

Bills return favor on TO-to-TD trick

Dolphins running back Raheem Mostert, who historically rarely fumbles, lost a third quarter fumble on the Dolphins’ opening possession of the half, when they were looking to extend their 10-6 halftime lead.

Buffalo turned it into a 1-yard touchdown pass from Allen to wide receiver Mack Hollins, the former Dolphins player. 

Mostert, who had a key fumble in the loss at Indianapolis, had the ball punched out by cornerback Taron Johnson and recovered by cornerback Kaiir Elam.

Demotions are happening

Linebacker David Long Jr., a team captain and one of the tone setters for the defense with his aggression, lost his starting job to Anthony Walker Jr., making him the second starter to lose his job this season.

Tight end Durham Smythe lost his starting job to Julian Hill, who missed Sunday’s game with a shoulder injury.

Long had been battling knee and hamstring injuries this season. He was burned a few times last week against Arizona tight end Trey McBride.

Smythe had a false start on second-and-5 to make it second-and-11 in the first quarter. The Dolphins converted. Smythe had a nice four-yard grab late in the possession.

Dolphins set a recent franchise best in decades with their first touchdown drive

Miami’s sublime 97-yard drive was the most complete touchdown possession in at least more than two decades. According to pro-football-reference.com, which has drive data culled since 2001, the Dolphins had never had a drive in excess of 95 yards that had taken up either at least 14 plays or at least 8:00 off the clock. That second-quarter Mona Lisa chewed up 14 plays and 8:21. — Steve Svekis

Raheem Mostert has had recent fumble issues in Orchard Park

The Dolphins running back, who had had an excellent game to that point (82 total yards in the game’s first 31 minutes), fumbled for his third mishandle in his past 18 touches on the road against the Bills.

Next year, Bills could send the Dolphins to a tie of a woeful club record

With their ninth consecutive loss at Orchard Park, the Dolphins are a defeat there in 2025 away from tying a franchise record for the longest losing streak in an opposing city. The nine-game skid in Orchard Park trails an 0-10 run in Foxboro, Mass., from 2009-18 and matches one in Oakland against the Raiders from 1966-96 (the Raiders played in Los Angeles from 1982-94).

Dolphins have been challenged forcing turnovers, but they haven’t been alone

As has been noted here, through their seventh game of the season, the Dolphins are on a franchise-record pace for takeaway futility, with only five (they grabbed a sixth in their eighth game at Buffalo). Miami entered their eighth game on pace for only a dozen takeaways on the season (on pace for 13 after the Bills game). The team’s worst such number as been the 14 registered in 2022.

Incredibly, five teams entered NFL Week 9 on pace for an even more meager number. The Browns entered with five in eight games, the Eagles had four in seven, the Raiders and Jaguars each had four in eight and the Titans brought up the rear with three in eight. The Cowboys had matched the Dolphins’ five in seven games. The fewest takeaways in a season in the Super Bowl era (since 1966) were the seven logged by the 2018 49ers in a 16-game season.

Run game is on its best streak in almost a half-century

With Sunday’s 149 rushing yards, the Dolphins, hit the 149-yard mark for a fourth consecutive game for the first time since 1977. That year, the Dolphins had a quartet of consecutive games running for at least 182 yards (208, 217, 182, 212). The longest five-game streak with at least 149 yards rushing? That came in 1975, when they hit at least 207 yards in a consecutive quintet.

Bills got a big one to remain perfect on fourth down

Josh Allen lofted a ball to old friend Mack Hollins in the back left of the end zone for a touchdown that made Buffalo 9 of 9 on fourth down in 2024.

A note pertaining to a future Dolphins opponent

Quarterbacks have been downright putrid in their outings at Houston’s NRG Stadium. In those four games, Caleb Williams, Trevor Lawrence, Josh Allen, Anthony Richardson have combined for a 61.1 passer rating, completing 60-of-132 passes for 649 yards, four touchdown passes and three interceptions. The Dolphins play at NRG on Dec. 15. Conversely, in 13 career home games, Houston quarterback C.J. Stroud has an eye-popping 108.6 career passer rating in his 13 home games.

On deck: Los Angeles Rams, SoFi Stadium, Monday, Nov. 11, 8:15 p.m.

Tua Tagovailoa faces the team against whom he made his first NFL start, and will play at the stadium where he piled up the second-biggest passing-yardage total of his career (466 against the Chargers in last year’s opener). …

In Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford exists one of the NFL’s last true stationary-in-the-pocket gunslingers in the style of Dan Marino. The last time Stafford faced the Dolphins was in 2018 when, as a member of the Detroit Lions, he came to Miami Gardens and piled up a 134.1 passer rating in a 32-21 Lions win. …

The Rams, despite having given up their first-round draft pick in eight consecutive years (2016-23), have remained competitive after their Super Bowl win to close the 2021 season as they have been helped immensely by some home run third-day draft picks. The Rams have 20 players on their roster who were drafted in the fourth round or later with a couple of home runs in 2022 164th selection Kyren Williams, a running back who piled up 1,350 total yards last year, and 177th pick in the 2023 draft, Puka Nacua, their rising star wideout, who had 1,486 receiving yards as a rookie. By comparison, the Dolphins have half the Rams’ number of their own third-day draftees, 10.