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Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* In Georgia, just hours after Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ruled that local elections officials can’t refuse to certify election results, the same jurist blocked a new rule that would have required counties to count ballots cast on Election Day by hand. The rule had been imposed without cause by Republicans on the state’s election board.
* Speaking of election-related court rulings, the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled that convicted felons who served their sentences can legally vote, despite efforts from Nebraska’s secretary of state’s office to block released felons from casting ballots.
* The latest national Marist poll found Kamala Harris leading Donald Trump among likely voters, 52% to 47%, while the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll showed the Democratic vice president ahead of the former Republican president, 45% to 42%. (Click the links for additional information on the surveys’ methodologies and margins of error.)
* In Michigan, the latest AARP poll found the major-party nominees tied, with each candidate garnering 46% support, while in the state’s U.S. Senate race, the same survey showed Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin narrowly leading former Republican Rep. Mike Rogers, 49% to 46%. (Click the link for additional information on the survey's methodology and margin of error.)
* The latest campaign finance filings suggest three extraordinarily wealthy people — Republican megadonors Elon Musk, Miriam Adelson and Dick Uihlein — donated a combined $220 million into groups supporting Trump’s candidacy. That total only reflects campaign investments during the third quarter (July through September).
* Though Trump had agreed to a CNBC interview, the former president ended up canceling. The same thing happened, of course, with CBS’ “60 Minutes.”
* More than 300,000 voters in Georgia cast ballots on the first day of early, in-person voting, easily breaking a state record.
* And speaking of the Peachtree State, Jimmy Carter, who recently turned 100, hoped to live long enough to vote for Harris. On the first day of early voting in Georgia, the former Democratic president was able to fulfill his wish.