Initial CNN Exit Poll: Large majority of Pennsylvania voters say abortion should be legal in most or all cases
From CNN’s Ariel Edwards-Levy
Roughly two-thirds of voters in Pennsylvania say abortion should be legal in most or all cases, according to the initial results of CNN’s exit poll of voters in the state.
The exit poll also finds that voters in the Keystone State largely support fracking, with about 55% saying they favor its use in the state and fewer than 4 in 10 opposed.
Overall, Pennsylvania voters are split between the economy and the state of democracy as their top issue, with about 3 in 10 choosing each as their top issue, followed by about 15% saying abortion, 12% immigration and fewer than 5% foreign policy.
President Joe Biden’s approval rating in the state stands at about 43%, fairly similar to his overall national numbers with this year’s electorate.
CNN’s exit polls for the 2024 general election include interviews with thousands of voters, both those who cast a ballot on Election Day and those who voted early or absentee. That scope makes them a powerful tool for understanding the demographic profile and political views of voters in this year’s election. And their findings will eventually be weighted against the ultimate benchmark: the results of the elections themselves. Even so, exit polls are still polls, with margins for error – which means they’re most useful when treated as estimates, rather than precise measurements. That’s particularly true for the earliest exit poll numbers, which haven’t yet been adjusted to match final election results.
CNN Exit Polls are a combination of in-person interviews with Election Day voters and in-person interviews, telephone and online polls measuring the views of early and absentee by-mail voters. They were conducted by Edison Research on behalf of the National Election Pool. The Pennsylvania exit poll includes in-person interviews on Election Day conducted at a random sample of 40 polling locations. The results also include interviews with absentee voters conducted between October 24 and October 31 by phone or online. Results for the full sample of 2,793 respondents have a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points; it is larger for subgroups.
North Carolina voters expected to cast more provisional ballots than in 2020 election, election official says
From CNN’s Pamela Brown
Voters are expected to cast more provisional ballots in the battleground state of North Carolina than in the 2020 election, a state election official told CNN.
Nearly half of the 5,770 voters who used a provisional ballot during early voting did it because of the state’s photo ID requirement, the official said.
The law, which went into effect last year, requires voters in the Tar Heel state to present a photo ID in order to fill out a ballot. Those who do not bring ID are able to vote with a provisional ballot, then either fill out an exception form or return to their local election office with ID for ballot to be approved.
In 2020, 40,767 total voters cast provisional ballots in the state, which delivered former President Donald Trump his narrowest victory of the election cycle.
Harris campaign bracing for weekslong election litigation
From CNN’s Kayla Tausche
Harris campaign officials have suggested that it could take days to declare a winner in the presidential race, but they’re bracing for legal fallout to extend for weeks, regardless of the outcome.
“There’s going to be a month of litigation hell,” one Harris campaign adviser told CNN.
With a margin-of-error race expected to raise the possibility of legal challenges – on top of the groundwork Republicans have been preparing – Harris’ team has told donors to expect “four to six weeks where everyone is suing everybody,” according to a senior financier involved in the conversations.
A second major donor told CNN the campaign suggested it would need to conserve capital – or raise more – to cover hefty legal bills accompanying those defenses.
The Harris campaign’s outside counsel, Dana Remus, said the campaign has attorneys stationed around the country to field challenges for counts, recounts, and audits, all of which she described as “legitimate.”
“The election is decided by the American people, and there is no way to overturn those results,” Remus said this week. “Our institutions won’t allow it, including the Supreme Court.”
CNN Projection: Trump wins Florida
From CNN Staff
People in West Palm Beach, Florida, attend an election night watch party for former President Donald Trump. Will Lanzoni/CNN
Former President Donald Trump will win Florida, CNN projects.
There are 30 electoral votes at stake in Florida. It takes at least 270 electoral votes to win the 2024 presidential election.
Who won in 2020: Trump carried the state, and President Joe Biden won the general election.
While once a key presidential battleground state with record-close elections, Florida has become a more consistently Republican state in both state and federal elections.
CNN Projection: Trump wins Oklahoma
From CNN staff
Former President Donald Trump will win Oklahoma, CNN projects.
There are seven electoral votes at stake in Oklahoma. It takes at least 270 electoral votes to win the 2024 presidential election.
Who won in 2020: Trump carried the state, and President Joe Biden won the general election. In 2020, the state gave Trump his fourth-largest margin of victory (behind Wyoming, West Virginia and North Dakota).
CNN Projection: Trump wins Missouri
From CNN staff
Former President Donald Trump will win Missouri, CNN projects.
There are 10 electoral votes at stake in Missouri. It takes at least 270 electoral votes to win the 2024 presidential election.
Who won in 2020: Trump carried the state, and President Joe Biden won the general election.
CNN Projection: Trump wins Tennessee
From CNN staff
Former President Donald Trump will win Tennessee, CNN projects.
There are 11 electoral votes at stake in Tennessee. It takes at least 270 electoral votes to win the 2024 presidential election.
Who won in 2020: Trump carried the state, and President Joe Biden won the general election.
CNN Projection: Harris wins the District of Columbia
From CNN staff
Harris arrives on stage for a campaign rally on the Ellipse on October 29 in Washington, DC. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Vice President Kamala Harris will win the District of Columbia, CNN projects.
There are three electoral votes at stake in the District of Columbia. It takes at least 270 electoral votes to win the 2024 presidential election.
Who won in 2020: The District of Columbia provided Joe Biden with his largest general election margin of victory. He received 92.1% of the vote to former President Donald Trump’s 5.4%.
The 23rd Amendment to the US Constitution, ratified in 1961, gave DC residents the right to vote in presidential elections.
CNN Projection: Harris wins Maryland
From CNN staff
Vice President Kamala Harris will win Maryland, CNN projects.
There are 10 electoral votes at stake in Maryland. It takes at least 270 electoral votes to win the 2024 presidential election.
Who won in 2020: President Joe Biden carried the state and won the general election.
CNN Projection: Trump wins Alabama
From CNN staff
Former President Donald Trump will win Alabama, CNN projects.
There are nine electoral votes at stake in Alabama. It takes at least 270 electoral votes to win the 2024 presidential election.
Who won in 2020: Trump carried the state, and President Joe Biden won the general election.
CNN Projection: Harris wins Massachusetts
From CNN staff
Vice President Kamala Harris will win Massachusetts, CNN projects.
There are 11 electoral votes at stake in Massachusetts. It takes at least 270 electoral votes to win the 2024 presidential election.
Who won in 2020: President Joe Biden carried the state and won the general election.
Polls are closing in 16 states, including in battleground Pennsylvania and Florida
From CNN staff
Voters receive their ballots at a polling place on Tuesday in Springfield, Pennsylvania. Matt Slocum/AP
It is 8 p.m. ET, and polls are closing in several states, including in the key battleground state of Pennsylvania, as well as in Florida, where a large number of electoral votes are at stake.
Here is where polls are closing, and the electoral votes at stake in each state:
- Alabama: 9
- Connecticut: 7
- Delaware: 3
- District of Columbia: 3
- Florida: 30
- Illinois: 19
- Maine: 4
- Maryland: 10
- Massachusetts: 11
- Mississippi: 6
- Missouri: 10
- New Hampshire: 4
- New Jersey: 14
- Oklahoma: 7
- Pennsylvania: 19
- Rhode Island: 4
- Tennessee: 11
The presidential candidates need at least 270 electoral votes to win the presidency.
Why Pennsylvania is key: Pennsylvania is the most important battleground state of the 2024 election. Both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have made the commonwealth’s 19 electoral votes central to their respective paths to victory.
In 2016, Trump became the first Republican to win Pennsylvania since George H.W. Bush in 1988, carrying the state by just over 44,000 votes. In 2020, Joe Biden, a Pennsylvania native, flipped the state, winning by just over 80,000 votes.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
