Voters waited in long lines in Wisconsin as early voting began on Tuesday. A popular young Democrat sought to get out the vote by playing a video game online. And Democratic nominee Joe Biden unveiled a set of Spanish-language ads.
There are 13 days until the election and 54 days until the Electoral College meets.
Other Developments:
Long Lines as Early Voting Begins in Wisconsin
While attention has been focused on vote-by-mail, early voting has also seen a surge this year, including in the battleground state of Wisconsin on Tuesday.
On the first day of early voting, which runs through Nov. 1, high turnout was seen in bigger urban areas like Milwaukee and Madison.
Long lines have also been seen on the first day of early voting in Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Texas and Virginia, with voters saying that they are concerned that mail-in ballots will be rejected and that there will be long lines on Election Day.
In 2016, 17% of ballots were cast through in-person early voting, compared to nearly 24% cast in vote-by-mail, according to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.
Both are spiking this year, with nearly 39 million ballots cast already. That’s almost as many as the 46 million early and mail-in votes cast by Election Day in 2016, with two weeks of voting still left to go.
AOC Seeks to Get Out the Vote Via Video Game (7:37 a.m.)
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez drew hundreds of thousands of viewers online to watch her play a video game as part of a get-out-the-vote effort.
The New York Democrat went on Twitch Tuesday night to play Among Us, a sci-fi murder mystery game in the mold of “Clue,” where players try to determine who is an impostor.
The live video stream of her game peaked at 435,000 viewers, according to The Verge, making it one of the biggest streams ever. But Ocasio-Cortez’s viewership fell below the record of 600,000 who tuned in to watch the rapper Drake play Fortnite.
She was joined by Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, her teenage daughter Isra, and several big Twitch streamers. Omar’s profile image on the site is a piece of fan art showing her as a pilot in the popular Gundam anime franchise.
Biden’s Ads Target Key Latino Groups (7:01 a.m.)
The Biden campaign will run three Spanish language ads as it seeks to boost his polling with Latino populations.
One ad, called “Abandonados,” features a Florida priest arguing that Trump “abandoned Puerto Ricans” after Hurricane Maria. It will run in Florida and Philadelphia, the mainland city with the second-largest Puerto Rican population.
A second ad airing in Florida, “Son Muy Similares,” features a refugee living in Florida who compares Trump’s behavior in office, which she calls authoritarian, to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
A third ad, “Pasar la Pagina,” contrasts images of white nationalist rallies and Trump standing with law enforcement officers holding shields with Biden talking to Latinos, saying it’s time to turn the page. It will air in battleground states with significant Hispanic populations, including Florida, Arizona, Nevada and North Carolina.
A recent survey by the Pew Research Center found Latino voters preferred Biden by 34 points, but his numbers have lagged Hillary Clinton’s share of the Latino vote in 2016.
Trump’s Spanish-Language Ad Features Salsa Music
President Donald Trump, meantime, has his own Spanish-language ad, and it makes its case in song.
In the ad, called “Por Trump,” Cuban-American salsa band Los 3 de La Habana play an upbeat song with lyrics about how you should vote for the president because of the good life, the economy and your family.
Unlike Biden’s more targeted ads, the Trump spot features snippets of different Hispanic groups: salsa dancing, the Miami waterfront, families eating rice and beans and playing soccer, aerial footage of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area in Arizona, people waving Puerto Rican flags and a Mexican Independence Day parade in Chicago.
“Our latest ad captures the richness and beauty of America’s diverse Hispanic cultures,” said Trump campaign spokesman Giancarlo Sopo.
The campaign said it would air in “key markets” across the U.S.
Coming Up:
Trump and Biden will meet for the second and final debate starting at 9 p.m. on Thursday at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee.