First ballots to go out, raising curtain on 2024 US election

USA- The first ballots for the US election were slated to go out to voters Friday, two months ahead of what looks set to be a photo finish between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. The closely fought battleground state of North Carolina was expected to distribute around 130,000 absentee voting slips, with a presidential debate -- the next likely campaign inflection point -- set for next week. Early in-person voting will start as soon as September 20 in some states. North Carolina is among a handful of swing states that Harris and Trump have been crisscrossing as they embark on the most intense phase of a White House race expected to be decided by razor-thin margins. Harris's entry into the contest six weeks ago turbocharged enthusiasm among Democrats, who had been despondent about President Joe Biden's chances of stopping Republican Trump from re-entering the White House. Her team announced Friday that it raised $361 million in August, the largest monthly haul of the cycle and nearly triple the Trump team's figure. "In just a short time, Vice President Harris's candidacy has galvanized a history-making, broad, and diverse coalition -- with the type of enthusiasm, energy, and grit that wins close elections," said campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez.

"As we enter the final stretch of this election, we're making sure every hard-earned dollar goes to winning over the voters who will decide this election." - 'Honeymoon' - Harris's ascent to the top of the ticket has tilted the races for the White House, Senate and House of Representatives in the direction of Democrats, though all three fights remain close. While Trump has seen the leads he built over Biden evaporate, his campaign still sees several possible paths to victory and believes it has more support on key election issues like the economy, immigration and crime. Trump's aides argue that Harris's "honeymoon" with voters has overstated support that is beginning to erode as her policy views come into focus. Harris is up 1.8 percent in head-to-head nationwide polling, according to aggregator RealClearPolitics. The polls that really count -- in the crucial swing states of Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Nevada, Georgia and North Carolina -- show an even tighter race, with Harris up 0.2 percent overall, a statistical dead heat. The plan in North Carolina was to begin mailing out voting slips first thing, but a judge ordered a halt until at least midday to give Robert F. Kennedy Jr time to appeal a ruling refusing to take his name off the ballot following his late withdrawal from the race. - 'Save our country' - The independent candidate sued the North Carolina election board after its Democratic members denied his request to be removed, deeming the task of reprinting and distributing voting slips impractical at such a late stage. Kennedy's exit was a reminder of how rapidly events could change the calculus in the campaign.

His support has fallen away precipitously -- from 13.8 percent in July to five percent when he dropped out, according to RealClearPolitics -- but even a few hundred of his supporters could swing an election in a close state. Other wrinkles on the path to November 5 include Trump's 34-felony hush money conviction in New York, which is likely to charge back into the headlines with his much-delayed sentencing scheduled for September 18. The first -- and perhaps only -- debate between Harris and Trump is the next big landmark, set for Tuesday on ABC News. Trump -- who has consistently opposed mail-in voting -- posted a short video on TikTok urging Americans to send him back to the White House, "whether it's mail-in ballots, early voting, or voting on Election Day." He was due to address an influential police union in North Carolina on Friday, and then hold a rally on Saturday in Wisconsin. "We've got to save our country, we're the only ones that are going to save it. That other group of people, they're going to destroy our country. We can't let that happen," he said.

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