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Early voting begins in Illinois, North Dakota, Florida and Michigan

Early voting begins in Illinois, North Dakota, Florida and Michigan

The states of Illinois, North Dakota, Florida and Michigan all began early voting on Thursday as the 2024 election continues to get underway. Here is all the information about the elections in each state and how to vote. Michigan shocked the country in 2016 when it backed former President Trump by 0.23 points, or a mere 10,704 votes. Since then, the state has delivered for Democrats, with a nearly 3 point win for President Biden, the election and re-election of Governor Gretchen Whitmer, and in the last midterms, a state government trifecta. Even so, this will be a competitive race. Recent high-quality polls have Harris ahead by 2 to 5 points; in each case within the margin of error. Democrats do well in the southeastern part of the state, and Biden was able to win in 2020 by bringing out Black voters and gaining in the Detroit metro area. Flipping Kent County, home to Grand Rapids and a representative mix of urban, suburban, and rural vote, was also crucial to his victory. Trump will need to take it back for a statewide win in 2024. Michigan’s population grew by 2% over the last full decade, with growth concentrated in the Grand Rapids area. Since then, the state has experienced decline, especially in Detroit. The Great Lake State will also vote for a new senator after Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow decided not to run for reelection this year. House Rep. Elissa Slotkin hopes to keep the seat in Democratic hands and has an edge in this competitive race. She faces GOP candidate and former Rep. Mike Rogers. Both the presidential and senate races are ranked Lean D on the Fox News Power Rankings. Across the states that begin early voting today, there are four competitive U.S. House races in Illinois and Michigan: This is a guide to registration and early voting. For comprehensive and up-to-date information on voter eligibility, processes and deadlines, please go to Vote.gov and the election website for Illinois. Illinois began absentee voting on Thursday. Applicants do not need to provide an excuse to receive a ballot. The state must receive a ballot application by Oct. 31, and that ballot must be delivered to state officials by Nov. 5. Illinois also began early in-person voting on Thursday, and it will continue through Nov. 5. Illinois residents can register to vote online through Oct. 20. They can register by mail through Oct. 8, and they can register in-person at any point during early voting or on election day. This is a guide to registration and early voting. For comprehensive and up-to-date information on voter eligibility, processes and deadlines, please go to Vote.gov and the election website for North Dakota. North Dakota began absentee voting on Thursday. Applicants do not need to provide an excuse to receive a ballot. The state must receive a ballot application by Nov. 4, and that ballot must be delivered to state officials by Nov. 4. Some North Dakota counties began early in-person voting on Thursday. Others start later or do not offer early voting at all. Check the state’s website for more information. All eligible citizens can vote in North Dakota elections without prior registration. This is a guide to registration and early voting. For comprehensive and up-to-date information on voter eligibility, processes and deadlines, please go to Vote.gov and the election website for Florida. Florida began absentee voting on Thursday. Applicants do not need to provide an excuse to receive a ballot. The state must receive a ballot application by Oct. 24, and that ballot must be delivered to state officials by Nov. 5. Start dates for early in-person voting vary by county in Florida. Check the state’s website for more information. Florida residents can register to vote online, in-person or by mail through Oct. 7. This is a guide to registration and early voting. For comprehensive and up-to-date information on voter eligibility, processes and deadlines, please go to Vote.gov and the election website for Michigan. Michigan began absentee voting on Thursday. Applicants do not need to provide an excuse to receive a ballot. The state must receive a ballot application by Nov. 1, and that ballot must be delivered to state officials by Nov. 5. Start dates for early in-person voting vary by county in Michigan. Check the state’s website for more information. Michigan residents can register to vote online or by mail through Oct. 21. They can register in-person at any point during early voting or on election day.

North Carolina GOP focusing on ‘hand-to-hand political combat’ to ramp up ground game in battleground state

North Carolina GOP focusing on ‘hand-to-hand political combat’ to ramp up ground game in battleground state

RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina Republicans are taking both a data-driven and hand-to-hand approach to target key voters in the battleground state whose electoral votes are historically decided by just a small fraction of people. Republicans won North Carolina in the past three presidential elections, but the results have consistently come down to just a couple of thousand votes, with former President Trump winning by about 4% in 2016 and 1% in 2020. The last Democrat to win the state, former President Obama in 2008, won by less than 14,000 votes. As Republicans ramp up their get out the vote efforts this cycle, leaders at the forefront of the movement told Fox News Digital that they are focusing their resources on encouraging early voting and delivering their message to the key 1% to 2% that could swing the election for either party. Jason Simmons, chair of the North Carolina Republican Party, told Fox News Digital that there has been an “overwhelming” response to their knocking on doors and grassroots activism. NC RALLYGOERS ‘PRAYING’ THAT TRUMP WINS, SLAM DEM RHETORIC CALLING HIM A ‘THREAT’ AFTER ASSASSINATION ATTEMPTS “We’ve been very engaged with all of our grassroots activists and have a very enthusiastic response. People are fired up. As I travel from one end of the state to the next, you see our Trump captains really engaging with the voters of North Carolina, taking the message of why it’s important in this year to go out more so than ever,” Simmons told Fox. “They’re out there every day knocking [on] doors, making phone calls, talking to the voters of North Carolina about the issues that matter most.” Republicans in the state are also using data to help turn out the vote for residents who haven’t been engaged in voting in past elections. TRUMP LEADS HARRIS IN CRUCIAL STATES GEORGIA, ARIZONA, NORTH CAROLINA, POLL FINDS “It’s really drilling down into the data and identifying those voters that we know will vote our way, especially the low- to mid-propensity voters, by getting in front of them and talking to them about those issues that matter most to them and then encouraging them to make that plan and to go vote,” Simmons said. After speaking with voters across the state, Simmons said the economy, inflation and the southern border are the issues of top concern among North Carolina voters.  Republicans are also investing in encouraging early voting this cycle, and according to Dallas Woodhouse, state director for a conservative training outfit, American Majority, the data reveals that more early voting would benefit the GOP in 2024. “We have field teams out right now educating conservative voters about the importance of actually voting early, voting by mail in North Carolina, how it is safe to vote by mail. We’re trying to turn around some of the trends that were difficult for conservatives in 2020 and 2022,” Woodhouse said. “What we know is that the earlier you get the vote in, the more efficient it is for candidates, for parties. And if you wait till the last minute, you are at risk of illness and bad weather and your cost per vote goes way out.” Woodhouse said that by Election Day, America Majority expects to have knocked on half a million doors in the state, reached a million voters by phone and a million and a half voters through text messages. “All you can do is go out and fight every day, go out, push the message of free markets, limited government, strong national defense, and get people out to vote what they do from theirs up to them.” Woodhouse added that the presidential race in North Carolina is going to be “razor-close to the end.” “The fact is, North Carolina is razor-close. … So, voter by voter or house by house, that’s what you’re into: hand-to-hand political combat to get every single voter to the polls.” Mark Robinson, North Carolina’s lieutenant governor and the Republican gubernatorial candidate, recently came under fire after CNN published a report alleging that Robinson had previously made salacious comments, such as referring to himself as a “Black Nazi” on pornographic websites in the late 2000s. Just days later, his campaign released a statement that staff in various senior roles had stepped down.  “It’s very unfortunate, and it’s disturbing, troubling, the remarks that we’ve seen and the allegations attributed to Mark Robinson,” Simmons told Fox of the recent controversy. “But ultimately, it’s up to him to go and talk to the voters of North Carolina and show them that these are not his words, his values. And we’ll continue to talk to the voters of North Carolina about those issues that matter most to them.” Both Trump and his Democrat opponent, Vice President Harris, have been campaigning throughout the Old North State with just weeks left until the highly anticipated presidential contest on Nov. 5.

Experts preview Vance-Walz debate, say usually ‘forgettable’ VP bout ‘might be different’ this time

Experts preview Vance-Walz debate, say usually ‘forgettable’ VP bout ‘might be different’ this time

Next week’s highly anticipated vice presidential debate between Republican Ohio Sen. JD Vance and Democrat Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, while sure to generate buzz, is unlikely to make much difference in pushing undecided voters toward either presidential candidate, former President Trump or Vice President Harris, insiders agree. Even so, experts who spoke to Fox News Digital did say there could be some indirect impact that can’t be completely discounted in a very close race. “The VP debate is usually pretty [low-profile], they usually don’t get as much attention as the presidential debates,” Christopher Devine, author of “Do Running Mates Matter?: The Influence of Vice Presidential Candidates in Presidential Elections,” told Fox News Digital in an interview. Devine suggested that while the upcoming debate will probably result in some viral moments, it won’t have the same level of interest or influence on voters as the 2008 VP debate when Sarah Palin on Republican John McCain’s ticket stole the spotlight in her matchup with then-Sen. Joe Biden. VANCE SAYS HE WILL KEEP CALLING HAITIAN MIGRANTS ‘ILLEGAL ALIENS’ DESPITE PAROLE STATUS “But the running mate does have what we call an indirect effect on vote choice in that it influences what people think of the presidential candidate, knowing that Donald Trump could have picked anybody and chose JD Vance or that Kamala Harris could have picked anyone and chose Tim Walz, and how they perform on the debate stage,” Devine added. Tevi Troy, a presidential historian and a former George W. Bush Cabinet member, agreed but said their performances will reflect more of an impact on the public’s view of themselves.  “Many VP debates are completely forgettable,” Troy told Fox News Digital. JD VANCE DEBATE PREP STRATEGY INCLUDES TAPPING PROMINENT LAWMAKER TO PLAY WALZ “This year might be different, and it might be different because of the whole Harris-Walz hide-the-ball campaign where she didn’t run for the nomination, so she wasn’t scrutinized,” he continued. “Then she’s been very reluctant to have any unscripted interviews since then, and when she does, it’s usually with a very friendly reporter, and even in the debate against Trump, there’s a perception that the moderators were harder on him than they were on her.” “There have been a number of instances where Walz has [been] asked about her views, and he kind of ducks what her views are because if they say what she’s been in the past, which is pretty liberal, [one of the] most liberal U.S. senators, then that’s not popular and not helpful to her political prospects,” Troy added. “But Vance also has a number of things from his past that have surfaced, that have led to bad stories, like the cat-lady thing, for example, and Walz has not been shy about willing to go after Vance and criticize.” FOX NEWS POLL: HARRIS TOPS TRUMP BY 2 POINTS After the Harris-Trump debate, a Fox News Poll this month found that voters thought Harris performed better than Trump.  With no further presidential debates in the works before November, the running mates will likely be making the final head-to-head case to voters for their respective campaigns.  Each candidate is sure to jab the other, with Vance likely zeroing in on Walz’s progressive policies in Minnesota and Walz likely to paint Vance as extreme, citing earlier statements on abortion prior to joining the Trump ticket. The CBS vice presidential debate airs Tuesday, Oct. 1, at 9 p.m. ET and will be simulcast on Fox News Channel and Fox Business Network.