WASHINGTON — As Congress convenes during a winter storm President-elect election, hangs over the proceedings with an extraordinary fact: The candidate who tried to overturn the previous election won this time and is legitimately returning to power.

Lawmakers will gather noontime Monday under the tightest national security level possible. Layers of tall black fencing flank the U.S. Capitol complex in a stark reminder of , when a defeated Trump sent his mob to in what became on the seat of American democracy in 200 years.

in Congress are expected this time. Republicans from the highest levels of power who challenged when Trump lost to Democrat have this year after Vice President .

And Democrats frustrated by Trump’s nevertheless accept the choice of the American voters. Even barreling down on the region wasn’t expected to interfere with Jan. 6, the day set by law to certify the vote.

“Whether we’re in a blizzard or not, we are going to be in that chamber making sure this is done,” House Speaker , a Republican who to overturn the 2020 election, said Sunday on Fox News Channel.

The day’s return to a U.S. tradition that launches the peaceful transfer of presidential power comes with an asterisk as Trump prepares to take office in two weeks with a revived sense of authority. He denies that he lost four years ago, muses about staying beyond the Constitution’s two-term White House limit and some of the who have pleaded guilty or were convicted of crimes for the Capitol siege.

What����ap unclear is if Jan. 6, 2021, was the anomaly, the year Americans violently attacked their own government, or if this year’s expected calm becomes the outlier. The U.S. is struggling to cope with its political and cultural differences at a time when . Trump calls Jan. 6, 2021, a “day of love.”

“We should not be lulled into complacency,” said Ian Bassin, executive director of the cross-ideological nonprofit Protect Democracy.

He and others have warned that it is historically unprecedented for U.S. voters to do what they did in November, reelecting Trump after he publicly refused to step aside last time. Returning to power an emboldened leader who has demonstrated his unwillingness to give it up “is an unprecedentedly dangerous move for a free country to voluntarily take,” Bassin said.

Biden, speaking Sunday at events at the White House, called Jan. 6, 2021, “one of the toughest days in American history.”

“We’ve got to get back to the basic, normal transfer of power,” the president said. What Trump did last time, Biden said, “was a genuine threat to democracy. I’m hopeful we’re beyond that now.”

Still, American democracy has proven to be resilient, and Congress, the branch of government closest to the people, will come together to affirm the choice of Americans.

With pomp and tradition, the day is expected to unfold as it has countless times before, with the arrival of ceremonial mahogany boxes filled with the electoral certificates from the states — boxes that staff were frantically grabbing and protecting as Trump’s mob stormed the building last time.

Senators will walk across the Capitol — which four years ago had filled with roaming rioters, some defecating and menacingly calling out for leaders, others engaging in hand-to-hand combat with police — to the House to begin certifying the vote.

Harris will preside over the counting, as is the requirement for the vice president, and certify her own defeat — much the way Democrat Al Gore did in 2001 and Republican Richard Nixon in 1961.

She will stand at the dais where then-Speaker was abruptly rushed to safety last time as the mob closed in and lawmakers fumbled to put on gas masks and flee, and shots rang out as police killed , a Trump supporter trying to climb through a broken glass door toward the chamber.

There are in place in the aftermath of what happened four years ago, when Republicans parroting Trump’s lie that the election was fraudulent challenged the results their own states had certified.

Under changes to the , it now requires one-fifth of lawmakers, instead of just one in each chamber, to raise any objections to election results. With security as tight as it is for the Super Bowl or the Olympics, law enforcement is on high alert for intruders. No tourists will be allowed.

But none of that is expected to be necessary.

Republicans, who met with Trump at the White House before Jan. 6, 2021, to craft a to challenge his election defeat, have accepted his win this time.

Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., who led the House floor challenge in 2021, said people at the time were so astonished by the election’s outcome and there were “lots of claims and allegations.”

This time, he said, “I think the win was so decisive…. It stifled most of that.”

Democrats, who have raised symbolic objections in the past, including during the disputed 2000 election that Gore lost to George W. Bush and ultimately decided by the Supreme Court, have no intention of objecting. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries has said the Democratic Party is not “infested” with election denialism.

“There are no election deniers on our side of the aisle,” Jeffries said on the first day of the new Congress, to applause from Democrats in the chamber.

“You see, one should love America when you win and when you lose. That����ap the patriotic thing to do,” Jeffries said.

Last time, far-right militias helped lead the mob to break into the Capitol in a war-zone-like scene. Officers have described being crushed and pepper-sprayed and beaten with Trump flag poles,

Leaders of the and have been convicted of and sentenced to lengthy prison terms. Many others faced prison, probation, home confinement or other penalties.

Those Republicans who engineered the legal challenges to Trump’s defeat still stand by their actions, celebrated in Trump circles, despite the grave costs to their personal and professional livelihoods.

Several including disbarred lawyer and and indicted-but-pardoned met over the weekend at Trump’s private club Mar-a-Lago estate for a film screening about the 2020 election.

Trump was impeached by the House on the charge of inciting an insurrection that day but was acquitted by the Senate. At the time, GOP leader Mitch McConnell blamed Trump for the siege but said his culpability was for the courts to decide.

Federal prosecutors subsequently issued a of Trump for working to overturn the election, including for conspiracy to defraud the United States, but special counsel Jack Smith was forced to pare back the case once the Supreme Court ruled that a president has for actions taken in office.

Smith last month withdrew the case after Trump won reelection, adhering to Justice Department guidelines that sitting presidents cannot be prosecuted.

Biden, in one of his outgoing acts, awarded the to Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and former Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., who had been the chair and vice chair of the congressional committee that conducted an investigation into Jan. 6, 2021.

Trump has said those who worked on the Jan. 6 committee should be .

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Associated Press writers Fatima Hussein and Ashraf Khalil contributed to this report.

So did another during a layover in Chicago, and so did a hostess at a restaurant near her Lakewood home. All of them were people who wanted proof they had met the now-92-year-old lifelong Republican who launched a legal fight that could have, for the first time in the nation’s history, disqualified a major party candidate — and one-term former president, at that — from the Oval Office.

The key word there: Could.

Anderson, a former Senate majority leader in the state legislature, and several other plaintiffs led a case that forced the U.S. Supreme Court to reckon with a designed to keep former Confederates from the levers of power. She and the other plaintiffs saw victories at the state level, including the Colorado Supreme Court����ap narrow ruling barring Trump from the ballot here. But the case ultimately fell when the federal justices unanimously ruled in early March that states don’t have the power to enforce the insurrection clause of the 14th Amendment.

Reflecting on the case following Trump’s decisive win in the Nov. 5 election, Anderson doesn’t see a moral victory in the courts holding that Trump engaged in insurrection for his actions following his 2020 election loss, while allowing him to stay on the ballot. But — despite the loss at the courts and Trump’s electoral win — she sees it as a fight worth having.

“We did not succeed,” Anderson said in an interview before Thanksgiving. “But we gave notice to everybody.”

For the Trump campaign, still celebrating its general election victory, the historic case was a footnote — one overridden by the tens of millions of voters who put Trump back in the White House. As of Wednesday, Trump to Vice President Kamala Harris’ 48.3%, with a 312-226 win in the Electoral College.

“The Colorado Supreme Court����ap decision was as wrong as wrong could be,” Dave Warrington, the general counsel for the campaign, said in a statement. “Out of 96 court cases, only the Colorado court (plus a copycat lower court in Chicago) bought off on this eccentric legal theory. And a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court overturned Colorado’s decision. Likewise, President Trump’s historic victory … showed that American voters overwhelmingly reject anti-democratic lawfare.”

“The rule of democracy at work”

The case, brought by Anderson and a handful of other Republican and unaffiliated Colorado voters, started in September 2023 with a lawsuit to bar Trump from Colorado’s primary ballot.

They invoked a rarely tested clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that barred people who previously swore an oath to the Constitution, and then engaged in insurrection, from holding office. After a weeklong trial in Denver District Court, they won some traction when Judge Sarah B. Wallace ruled Trump did engage in insurrection. But it was a partial victory for Anderson and her team: Wallace also ruled that Trump could remain on the ballot because it wasn’t clear if the amendment applied to the highest office in the land.

The judgment put the case on a fast track for the Colorado Supreme Court, which narrowly ruled Trump was disqualified from office, and then the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled individual states could not disqualify federal candidates.

Trump, who at the time faced numerous state and federal indictments, leveraged the ruling as a vindication — and an example of political warfare levied at him through the judicial system.

During his Aurora rally at the tail end of the campaign this fall, Trump called the Colorado lawsuit a “threat to democracy” and called the U.S. Supreme Court “very brave and very brilliant” for its unanimous ruling that he could remain on the ballot.

“This was actually part of the weaponization (of the judicial system),” Trump said at the Oct. 11 rally. “Their first move was to try to get me off the ballot. They didn’t want to run against me.”

A month later, the case would prove to be an afterthought — if it was a thought at all, among the dozens of issues facing the nation — for millions of Trump voters who delivered the Republican candidate the party’s first popular vote victory in a generation. (Trump won the electoral vote in 2016, while losing the popular vote.)

The 2024 win underscored one of the key arguments from Trump’s legal team as the case winded through the courts: The 14th Amendment does not specify the presidency as on office insurrectionists cannot hold, even as it names senators, U.S. representatives and individual presidential electors; when it comes to the highest office in the land, voters should be the ultimate gatekeeper. 

“That would be the rule of democracy at work,” Scott Gessler, a lead attorney for Trump and a former Colorado secretary of state, told the Colorado Supreme Court last December.

Trump’s team also vigorously fought the label of insurrection for the Jan. 6 attack and rejected that the president played any role in the event.

Anderson, like most Colorado voters, cast her ballot for Harris — though, she laughs, “it was pretty hard for me to vote for a Democrat.” 

“(The national vote) surprised me, with people knowing what he did on Jan. 6, at the Capitol,” Anderson said. “That is insurrection. He may not have gone there, but neither did (Confederate President) Jefferson Davis do anything but talk until the war started.”

“This too shall pass”

Even with the election results, Anderson notes that Trump still bears the judicial designation of insurrectionist. It����ap a point Donald Sherman, the executive director of the liberal watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, likewise hews to. CREW helped lead the lawsuit with Anderson and other Coloradans. 

Both disagree with the U.S. Supreme Court����ap final ruling.

Sherman described the decision as “punting” the enforcement of the Constitution to Congress, knowing the highly partisan body likely wouldn’t act. It, in effect, put a constitutional provision up to a popular vote — undercutting the very purpose of a constitution, he argued. 

“What the court effectively did in (the case) is say this one provision, we’re going to put that up to a vote,” Sherman said in an interview. “… And (the voters are) going to make whatever choice they make with the information they have. And unlike the former president, I respect that result.

“But there are some questions — like whether an oath-breaking insurrectionist should become president of the United States — that the Constitution answered already.”

This case was not about one candidate, or one election, Sherman said, but about the rule of law in a constitutional democracy. Among other criticisms of the justices’ ruling, he called it disrespectful to those involved, including his clients and judges who suffered harassment; to police officers attacked by the mob on Jan. 6; and down to the Civil War soldiers who died in the conflict that led to the amendment.

“What this case (did), and what the Colorado Supreme Court did, at least, will be studied,” Sherman said. “And the U.S Supreme Court’s abdication of responsibility will be studied. I’m grateful that our clients were willing to take that risk, for our country.”

And, he added: “History will not record the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court in a high regard.”

Mario Nicolais, a Lakewood attorney who worked on the case — and a former Republican — noted that the decision preceded another ruling that found presidents enjoy broad immunity for official acts that may otherwise skirt the law.

The two cases, taken together, represent “the single greatest leap forward in presidential power since the Great Depression,” Nicolais said in an interview. And together, they shook his faith in the nation’s institutions.

“Now we know there’s no check for a person who engaged in insurrection, and also there’s now this broad, broad immunity that arguably Trump could use — and has already used in court cases — to say ‘I can do whatever I want,’ ” Nicolais said.

Trump has promised through the campaign and during the transition to seek against political enemies if he returns to office. He’s accused some of treason. He doesn’t direct his ire toward Colorado’s plaintiffs so much as he does , leaving Anderson, Nicolais and Sherman less concerned about being targeted.

But still, some worry remains.

Nicolais noted that Trump never showed up in person for the Colorado court hearings a year ago. He expected that people who sought, and won, criminal convictions would likely face harsher retribution from the Trump White House.

And Anderson joked: “What can you do to an old lady?”

“We are going to stay vigilant,” Sherman said. “That’s all you can do: Stay vigilant and take the necessary precautions you have to take. But people have sacrificed a lot more for our democracy, to make our country live up to its stated goals. I remain ever hopeful for the best and continue to prepare for the worst.”

As for Anderson, she holds on to a gleam of optimism, though she doesn’t discount the gravity of the case she spurred or her continuing criticism of the incoming president. 

“This too shall pass,” Anderson said of a person found in court to be an insurrectionist heading to the White House. “We just have to hope we still have a Constitution when he’s gone.”

As of Wednesday evening, Harris led with about 54.5% of the vote to 43.1% for Trump, an 11.4-percentage-point margin, in Colorado as counting continued across the state. The rest of the vote was split between a half-dozen third-party and unaffiliated candidates. (See how each Colorado county voted for president.)

AP at 8:08 p.m. Tuesday. Around the same time, Democrats erupted in cheers at the state party’s election results-watching party at Number 38, a market hall in Denver, as NBC News made the same projection.

ELECTION RESULTS: Live Colorado election results for the 2024 election

It’s the third presidential election in a row that the state’s voters have rejected Trump — after going in 2016 for Hillary Clinton, who lost the election, and in 2020 for now-President Joe Biden, who beat Trump here by 13.5 percentage points. The last Republican presidential candidate to snag Colorado’s electoral votes was George W. Bush in 2004.

Colorado has been regarded as a blue state in recent cycles, and the major candidates’ campaigns mostly used the state to host fundraisers.

But Trump visited early last month, seizing on Aurora’s troubles with Venezuelan gangs in a handful of apartment complexes to press his plans for mass deportations and to root out immigrant gangs in American cities. His exaggerated rhetoric drew pushback from several local officials, including the city’s mayor.

Staff writer Elizabeth Hernandez and the Associated Press contributed to this story.

The presidential campaign comes down to on the eve of Election Day.

spent all of Monday in Pennsylvania, whose 19 electoral votes offer the largest prize among the states expected to determine the Electoral College outcome. held four rallies in three states, beginning in Raleigh, North Carolina, stopping twice in Pennsylvania with events in Reading and Pittsburgh, then ending in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Follow the AP’s Election 2024 coverage at: .

Here’s the latest:

Dixville Notch splits presidential vote 3-3 in first Election Day vote

In a presidential election that couldn’t be closer, it seemed fitting that the first votes cast on Election Day were evenly split, with three for Donald Trump and three for Kamala Harris.

The tiny New Hampshire resort town Dixville Notch has a tradition that dates back to 1960 for being the first in the nation to complete in-person voting. After a rousing accordion version of the national anthem, the town’s six voters began casting their ballots at the stroke of midnight and the vote count was complete 15 minutes later.

Walz: Women will send a message to Trump tomorrow ‘whether he likes it or not’

Women will be the group to soundly reject former President Donald Trump on Election Day, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said at the final rally of his campaign Monday night in Detroit.

“Folks, this is getting pretty simple now: Kamala and I trust women,” Walz said. “Now tomorrow, women all across America, of every age, both parties, are going to send a loud, clear message to Donald Trump, whether he likes it or not.”

The comment is a callback to Trump telling an audience in Green Bay, Wisconsin, last week that he would protect women as president “whether the women like it or not. I am going to protect them.” Trump acknowledged during the comment that his top aides urged him not to call himself a protector because it is “inappropriate.”

Walz’s comment also hints at numerous polls that show a large gender gap in the 2024 race, with women leaning toward Harris and Walz and men leaning toward Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance.

Bon Jovi: ‘Go to the polls tomorrow, let’s elect Kamala Harris and Tim Walz’

Jon Bon Jovi gave a slow and soulful rendition of his band’s 1986 working-class anthem “Livin’ on a Prayer” at a Harris campaign rally in Detroit.

Taking the stage just after Tim Walz, Bon Jovi, who recently had major vocal surgery, kept his singing subdued as he played acoustic guitar and left the soaring section to a pair of backup singers.

“Go to the polls tomorrow, let’s elect Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, America’s countin’ on you,” Bon Jovi told the crowd in a low, gruff voice after the song.

Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin performs at Harris rally in Philadelphia

Puerto Rican singing star Ricky Martin took the stage with backup dancers, a horn section and his usual energy at Harris’ rally in Philadelphia.

He didn’t mention Harris or the election in his quick appearance, but was introduced by Puerto Rican rapper Fat Joe, who spoke out against Donald Trump and his supporters’ attitude toward Puerto Rico and Latinos more broadly.

Martin performed at an inaugural ball for George W. Bush in 2001.

Harris arrives in Philadelphia

The final rally of Harris’ presidential campaign is being held outside the Philadelphia Museum of Art, made famous by Sylvester Stallone’s “Rocky,” and will feature appearances by Oprah and Lady Gaga, among other celebrities.

Harris’ husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, is also scheduled to speak.

The vice president was joined at her previous stop in Pittsburgh by her sister, Maya Harris, and brother-in-law, Tony West.

Muslim leaders help open Trump rally in Michigan

Among the speakers to open for a Trump rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, were two Muslim mayors of cities in metro Detroit with large Arab American populations.

Hamtramck Mayor Amer Ghalib and Dearborn Heights Mayor Bill Bazzi, both of whom are Democrats but have endorsed Trump, each called on Arab Americans to support Trump.

“My message to my fellow Arab and Muslim Americans, your votes in this swing state will change the face of America and your votes will decide the future of America,” said Ghalib.

Trump is hoping to capitalize on the unrest in metro Detroit, home to the nation’s largest Arab American community that has been upset with the Biden-Harris administration’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war.

Bazzi, who has faced pushback from some in his community, said that he would rather “lose my election than have a bunch of warmongers win the election.”

Voter Voice: ‘I don’t think we’re in a better place than we were last time’

Amanda Geist, of Croydon in Bucks County, usually works the polls, but she took a break this year and will instead bring her 11-year-old daughter, Annalise, with her to vote Tuesday.

They attended the rally together near the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and Annalise had scored a free campaign T-shirt. She wishes she could vote.

“I think it would be amazing seeing a woman president,” Annalise said.

Their neighborhood in Croydon leans toward Trump, and Geist said Harris signs have been destroyed or stolen. That doesn’t make her hopeful the country will come together after the election. She thinks it may take another election cycle to cool things down.

“I don’t think we’re in a better place than we were last time, to be honest,” Geist said, “maybe worse.”

Harris campaign is inviting top donors to election briefing Wednesday, when results could remain unknown

With the results of Tuesday’s election potentially taking days to become clear, the Harris campaign is inviting top donors to an election briefing on Wednesday, in addition to her election night watch party on Tuesday evening.

A person familiar with the matter confirmed the plan, which was first reported by The New York Times on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the matter.

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Zeke Miller contributed reporting.

Voter Voice: ‘This time around, I know I’m going to be very anxious’

Tien Nguyen, 34, a tech industry worker in Philadelphia, planned to have friends over Tuesday night for what she’s calling the “Election Night Anxiety Fest.”

“We’re going to eat our emotions,” Nguyen said as she waited for the Harris rally in Philadelphia to start.

“This time around, I know I’m going to be very anxious, and I just want people around,” she said.

She doesn’t expect to know who’s president before the party ends — she said she thinks it will take until the week’s end.

Nguyen hopes to see Harris named the first woman president, but her background also resonates with her as they both come from a family of immigrants. Nguyen was born to Vietnamese parents in the Philippines, then raised in the Philadelphia area since she was 3.

She said she thinks Harris’ background gives her more “perspective and empathy” than the men who have filled the Oval Office to date.

“Hopefully having a woman president there leads to more world peace, less conflict,” she said.

The differences between Harris and Trump on full display in penultimate rallies

Harris and Trump’s differences have long been clear. But on Monday night in Pittsburgh, their dueling rallies drove home just how large the gulf between them truly is.

Only 9 miles (14 kilometers) separated the two in the key Pennsylvania city. Trump spoke at PPG Paints Arena, home to the Pittsburgh Penguins, in one of his standard arena rally setups. Harris spoke at Carrie Furnaces, a historic steel facility with an event that nodded to Pittsburgh’s place as the heart of the country’s steel industry.

Harris spoke for 10 minutes. Trump spoke for 950% more, clocking in an hour and 45 minutes.

Harris was introduced by comedian Cedric the Entertainer and seen off by a performance from artist Katy Perry. Trump brought conservative commentator Megyn Kelly on stage and touted the support of Roberto Clemente Jr., the son of the famed Pittsburgh Pirate outfielder.

Harris is closing her campaign by barely mentioning Trump directly. “This is it,” Harris said at her event. “Tomorrow is Election Day, and the momentum is on our side.”

Trump repeatedly invoked Harris — and her nearby rally.

“If you vote for Kamala, you will have four more years of misery, failure, and disaster, and our country may never recover,” Trump told his audience, earning boos. Later, he added, “Kamala has a little rally going on. And when I say little, I mean little.”

Vance refers to Harris as ‘trash’ while speaking in Atlanta

Ohio Sen. JD Vance, Trump’s running mate, has referred to Kamala Harris as “trash.”

Speaking Monday in Atlanta, Vance ripped Harris by referencing a comment made by President Joe Biden suggesting that Trump supporters were “garbage.” Biden, in turn, was responding to a joke by comic Tony Hinchcliffe at Trump’s recent Madison Square Garden rally in which Hinchcliffe likened Puerto Rico to a “floating island of garbage.”

The Trump campaign has faced days of criticism from Harris allies over Hinchcliffe’s joke. It has focused on Biden’s reference to Trump supporters instead.

Vance told the Atlanta audience that Americans should not be called “garbage” for supporting border restrictions or “wanting to be able to afford groceries.”

“In two days, we are going to take out the trash in Washington, D.C., and the trash’s name is Kamala Harris,” he said.

The comment stirred anger among Harris allies online. Levar Stoney, the mayor of Richmond, Virginia, said Vance had “made one of the worst mistakes of his political career.”

More than 81 million people have already cast ballots in the 2024 election

That’s about half the number who voted overall in 2020. More people voted early that year because of the pandemic. Still, several states have reported record levels of early voting because former President Donald Trump has urged Republicans to vote that way now.

Early voting data only tells you who has cast ballots, not who they voted for. We’ll have to wait for Tuesday night to find that out. But, meanwhile, you can pore over the early vote data .

Authorities debunk video falsely claiming election fraud in Arizona

The nation’s federal law enforcement and election security agencies are debunking a video falsely claiming election fraud in Arizona, linking it to an ongoing Russian disinformation scheme and warning on the eve of Election Day that the Russia-linked efforts risk inciting violence, including against election officials.

The joint statement by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the FBI and the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency also cited an article posted recently and amplified by Russian influence actors that falsely claimed officials in swing states plan to orchestrate election fraud using such methods as ballot stuffing and cyberattacks.

Federal officials say they anticipate that Russian actors will release additional “manufactured content” through Election Day and in the days and weeks after polls close.

Trump touts endorsement from son of Roberto Clemente

Trump touted the endorsement of Roberto Clemente Jr., the son of the MLB Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente, a prominent Puerto Rican who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Trump hopes Clemente Jr.’s backing can help him with Hispanic voters after a comic’s joke at his Madison Square Garden rally offended many Puerto Ricans.

“My father, the name Clemente, what it means is goodwill and unity,” Clemente said at Trump’s Pittsburgh rally. “I believe that your team is going to bring it all home.”

Clemente said he wants to help Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who Trump says will have virtually free reign to oversee health programs despite his history of promoting theories that contradict the overwhelming consensus of scientists.

Trump called the endorsement “a great honor.” Clemente Jr. had his own brief MLB career.

Katy Perry performs at Harris rally

Katy Perry took the stage after Harris spoke in Pittsburgh, singing a mashup of songs starting with her 2013 hit, “Dark Horse.” Before singing a piece of 2010’s “Part of Me,” she shouted, “It’s my body, and my choice,” and “We’re almost there!”

In 2016, the singer was a major campaigner for Hillary Clinton. She both spoke at and performed at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia that year, and her song “Roar” was a staple of the Clinton campaign.

‘We’ve got one day left to get this done,’ Harris says in Pittsburgh

Harris urged her supporters not to be shy about asking people in their lives to get out and vote.

“Pittsburgh, listen, we’ve got one day left to get this done,” Harris said in the penultimate speech of her campaign. “So now we work to get out the vote. Let’s reach out in these next 24 hours to family and friends and classmates and neighbors and coworkers.”

Harris’ remarks were notably short in Pittsburgh. She spoke for under 10 minutes before singer Katy Perry took the stage to perform.

“I am asking for your vote,” Harris said, adding later, “Your vote is your voice and your voice is your power.”

Harris now travels to Philadelphia for the final rally of her campaign.

Harris: ‘Momentum is on our side’

Harris projected the confidence her campaign is feeling at the penultimate event of her presidential run, telling an audience on Monday night in Pittsburgh that “the momentum is on our side.”

“This is it,” Harris said with Carrie Furnaces behind her, a historic steel facility that nodded to Pittsburgh’s history as the heart of the country’s steel industry. “Tomorrow is Election Day, and the momentum is on our side.”

“We must finish strong,” Harris added. “Make no mistake, we will win.”

This is not Harris’ final stop of the night. She will head to Philadelphia for the final event of her campaign.

Megyn Kelly delivers fiery speech in support of Trump at his closing message rally

It was a full-circle moment for the two after Trump and the broadcaster feuded bitterly and publicly during Trump’s 2016 campaign.

Kelly defended Trump against recent controversies, including his repeated pledge to “protect women,” and pressed his case against Harris as weak on the border.

“He got mocked by the left by saying he would be a protector of women,” Kelly said. “He will be a protector of women and it’s why I’m voting for him. He will close the border and he will keep the boys out of women’s sports where they don’t belong.”

Trump stood to the side, grinning and beaming, as Kelly spoke.

Kelly was a Fox News star in 2016 when she infuriated Trump at a GOP debate with a question about his treatment of women. He bitterly attacked her after the debate, and his supporters joined in, leaving her worried about threats.

Trump later boycotted another debate telecast by Fox because Kelly was one of the moderators.

Kelly left Fox for NBC News, an ill fit where she was taken off the air following an uproar when she suggested it was OK for white people to wear blackface on Halloween. She now hosts a SiriusXM satellite radio show.

Cedric the Entertainer introduces Harris at her Pittsburgh rally

The standup comic and actor declared, “She is not a demagogue, and yet she is not demure.”

A Missouri native, Cedric the Entertainer is known for appearing on “The Steve Harvey Show,” in the “Barbershop” movies and in Spike Lee’s standup concert film “The Original Kings of Comedy.”

Podcaster Joe Rogan endorses Trump

Joe Rogan, the nation’s most-listened-to podcaster, announced on the eve of the election that he’s endorsing Trump.

Rogan, in a post on X promoting his interview with Trump supporter Elon Musk, made a compelling case for the Republican presidential nominee and said, “I agree with him every step of the way.”

“For the record, yes, that’s an endorsement of Trump,” he added.

Trump late last month sat for a three-hour interview with Rogan for his podcast.

Voter Voice: Trump’s final rally in Grand Rapids will be ‘a very important moment in history’

Paul Henley, a military veteran from the Grand Rapids area, was attending his first Donald Trump rally Monday night in western Michigan with his 15-year-old son.

“I just thought it was a very important moment in history,” said Henley. “Regardless of whether Trump wins or loses – I do hope he wins – it will be his last rally.”

Henley added that “it’s an important kind of closure on history, on this chapter, this tumultuous time in America.”

While Henley said that he didn’t necessarily have an issue with absentee voting, he planned to vote on Election Day. He supports Trump due to his “fiscal policies” and Trump’s ability to create “peace through strength” in the Middle East during his time in office.

Whoever wins the election, Henley said that he is hopeful for a peaceful transfer of power, “assuming there’s a free and fair election and everything was on the up and up.”

“Whenever they decide to close the election out, if Kamala Harris is the president of the United States, then begrudgingly she’s the president,” said Henley. “I say begrudgingly, because I will always respect the office of the president.”

“I just wish we could focus on our commonalities and our common interests and work toward the common good and strive to make America the best country you can be,” Henley added. “You know, one where kids can ride their bikes till the lamp posts turn off.”

Trump continuously refers to former President Obama with emphasis on his middle name, Hussein

At his recent rallies, Trump has been invoking “Barack Hussein Obama,” emphasizing his predecessor’s middle name.

Obama’s critics frequently used his middle name during his presidency along with other ways to make him appear foreign. Trump was a leading proponent of the “birther” conspiracy.

Trump claimed he got more votes in his 2020 reelection campaign than he did four years earlier.

“I mean, Obama, Barack Hussein Obama, he didn’t do that,” Trump said.

He has also recently used the middle name while saying Obama was a divisive president.

Trump is once again growing wistful as he ends his campaign

“It’s sad because we’ve been doing this for nine years,” Trump said in Pittsburgh after inviting members of his family to join him on stage.

Trump is holding his second-to-last rally of the 2024 election — and says he’ll be done once this ends. His rallies became a cultural phenomenon during his 2015 campaign, drawing thousands of people who often camped out overnight or waited for hours in freezing cold or blazing heat.

“I have one left. And remember the rallies are the most exciting thing. There’ll never be rallies like this,” he said. “This is never going to happen again.”

Trump says this will be his last campaign for the White House — and he’s finishing it just as he started his first.

He is leaning into hardline immigration rhetoric and vowing to “liberate” the country from what he describes as an “occupation.”

It’s rhetoric that has animated his core supporters since he declared his candidacy for the Republican nomination — and that still earns him some of his loudest applause. His call for the death penalty for any migrant who kills a U.S. citizen drew hoots and whistles and a “USA!” chant.

Several of Trump’s children join him on stage in Pittsburgh

Trump invited several of his children on stage as he spoke nostalgically about the end of his campaign.

He told a story about his youngest son, Barron Trump, teaching him about technology.

“Do I have good kids?” Trump said to loud cheers. “Are my kids here? Where are my kids?”

He was joined on stage by Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and his wife Lara, along with Tiffany Trump and her husband. He said Barron was watching from home and Ivanka Trump “loves the whole thing.”

Several of Trump’s children joined him on stage at another rally earlier Monday in Reading, Pennsylvania.

Michigan GOP chair says he is ‘very confident’ Trump will win

Ahead of Donald Trump’s final rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan — the same place he closed out his 2016 and 2020 campaigns — state party chair Pete Hoekstra said he feels “very confident” that Trump will carry the state and win another four years in the White House.

“I’m optimistic. Very bullish on Michigan,” Hoekstra told The Associated Press.

Republicans have also focused on election security in Michigan, but on Monday night, Hoekstra said that “so far” he felt good about the security of the election, but “you never know what you don’t know.”

“Overall, we’re feeling good. We’ve got a great effort in place,” said Hoekstra, adding that a “war room” was in place to take calls if there were any issues with voting tomorrow.

Trump in his speech paints migrants as killers, as he often does

Trump says he wants to see the successful Penn State wrestling team compete against migrants, painting a picture of people crossing the border illegally as strong and nasty.

“I want the migrants to go against the champion, and I think the migrant might actually win,” Trump said, describing migrants — as he often does — as killers who’ve spent time in jail.

He said he met the wrestlers recently and told them “they might be the only guys in the country who can beat the hell out of the migrants.”

He had a similar riff at a rally earlier Monday.

Immigration has been Trump’s signature issue since the day he announced his first campaign for president. He often uses dehumanizing language to describe migrants and massively inflates the danger posed by immigrants, who commit crimes at lower rates than native-born Americans.

Andra Day belts Billie Holiday for Kamala Harris

The election may be a nail-biter, but Andra Day said at a rally for Harris in Pittsburgh that she has “complete faith” when it comes to the voting power of the people of Pennsylvania.

“I love women in positions of power,” she said in her introduction.

Then she launched into a cover of Billie Holiday’s “God Bless the Child,” a nod to her role as Holiday in 2021’s “The United States vs. Billie Holiday.” It earned Day an Oscar nomination. Day also performed an original song, “Empty,” from her latest album “Cassandra.”

In 2020, Andra Day performed her hit “Rise Up,” what became an unofficial anthem for the Black Lives Matter movement, during President Joe Biden’s virtual inaugural parade.

Trump speaks dismissively of Beyoncé’s appearance at Harris rally

Trump’s comments drew boos from his supporters for the megastar, who spoke at a Harris rally in Houston but did not perform.

“Beyoncé would come in. Everyone’s expecting a couple of songs. There were no songs. There was no happiness,” Trump said. Harris supporters who were there might dispute his characterization of .

Then Trump offered some advice to fellow politicians who want to appear with celebrities: “Always put the stars on after you. That way they stay.”

Trump promises to solve all of America’s ills if he wins the election

“A vote for Trump means your groceries will be cheaper,” Trump says. “Your paychecks will be higher, your streets will be safer, your communities will be richer, and your future will be brighter than ever before.”

Trump has claimed his plans to increase energy production will help him lower prices, even as he plans to dramatically raise tariffs.

He’s repeating his campaign’s closing message that: “Kamala broke it. I will fix it.”

Trump: ‘We do not have to settle for weakness, incompetence, decline and decay’

Trump is beginning his Pittsburgh speech by painting a bleak picture of America under Democratic leadership and promising to fix it. He says Americans have suffered “catastrophic failure, betrayal and humiliation.”

“We do not have to settle for weakness, incompetence, decline and decay,” Trump said. “With your vote tomorrow, we can fix every single problem our country faces and lead America, and indeed the whole world, to new heights of glory.”

Trump on stage at his penultimate rally in Pittsburgh

The rally is a redo of sorts after Trump’s first try at a closing message speech went off the rails.

In a rally at Madison Square Garden in Trump’s native New York City, comedian Tony Hinchcliffe spoke first and made a joke calling Puerto Rico a pile of garbage, offending many Puerto Ricans and disrupting Trump’s efforts to build support among Hispanic voters.

Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens, though they can only vote if they live in one of the 50 states.

Trump has distanced himself from the comedian but has not denounced the joke.

Georgia poll worker arrested for mailing bomb threat, Justice Department says

Federal authorities have arrested a Georgia election worker accused of sending a letter threatening poll workers he wrote to make it seem like it had come from a voter he had gotten into a fight with earlier.

Nicholas Wimbish, 25, of Milledgeville, Georgia, got into a verbal altercation with a voter while serving a poll worker at the Jones County Election Office in Gray, Georgia, last month, the Justice Department said.

The next day, prosecutors say he sent a letter from a “Jones County Voter” to the the elections superintendent. The letter said Wimbish was “conspiring votes” and “distracting voters from concentrating.” It said Wimbish and others should “should look over their shoulder” and that “I know where they all live because I found home voting addresses for all them.”

Prosecutors say Wimbish wrote at the bottom of the typed letter: “PS boom toy in early vote place, cigar burning, be safe.”

When authorities interviewed Wimbish about the letter, he blamed it on the voter, according to court records.

He’s charged with mailing a bomb threat, conveying false information about a bomb threat, mailing a threatening letter and making false statements to FBI agents.

There was no lawyer listed for Wimbish in court records. A message was left at a number listed for him in public records.

Trump to take the stage soon in Pittsburgh

The event at PPG Paints Arena will serve as Trump’s campaign’s closing message of the race, aides say.

While the arena’s upper level seating has been blocked off — and some seats remain empty in the lower sections — Trump has drawn a crowd of thousands to the venue, which has a capacity of 14,000 to 19,000, depending on how the seating is arranged.

Trump has been drawing smaller crowds in the closing stretch of the campaign than he did in previous races.

That could be, in part, because he has been returning again and again to the same battleground states, sometimes speaking in the same places — and even the same venues — where he spoke just days earlier.

More than 20 states are willing to send National Guard troops to Washington if needed, officials say

National Guard officials say more than two dozen states have indicated they would be willing to send Guard troops to Washington if needed and requested in the coming weeks following the presidential election and in the runup to the inauguration.

The District of Columbia has not yet made any formal request for Guard troops. But officials across the government have been meeting and preparing for the possibility that the U.S. Capitol could once again be rocked by violence around the certification of the election by Congress on Jan. 6 and the inauguration two weeks after that.

Speaking to reporters Monday, Col. Jean Paul Laurenceau, chief of future operations for the National Guard Bureau, said it is not yet clear how many Guard troops will be needed or requested this year.

He said it will depend on what the District of Columbia wants but noted that the National Guard Bureau and the states are leaning forward in anticipation of a request for assistance.

A new American citizen on the Texas border votes for the first time

After living in the U.S. for over 60 years and never attempting to seek citizenship, Carlos Salas said he was compelled to “wake up” to his civic duties.

He resides in Alamo, Texas, just 8 miles (13 kilometers) from the border. This year, at age 78, he voted for the first time in his life.

Born in Veracruz, Mexico, Salas arrived in the U.S. at age 14. He has spent the past 30 years as a photographer traveling around the Rio Grande Valley, the southernmost part of Texas. He photographs families at special events like quinceañeras. Occasionally he walks to Nuevo Progreso, Tamaulipas in Mexico to pick up a souvenir for his wife.

Salas said the fear of being returned to Mexico kept him from seeking citizenship and the right to vote. But this year he said he’s driven to the polls out of concern for those who, like him, are hardworking immigrants seeking safety and shelter in the U.S.

Washington state reaches 5 million registered voters

Washington state officially reached the milestone of having 5 million registered voters on Monday, according to the Secretary of State’s Office.

Additionally, 10,059 voters registered on Oct. 28, the deadline for registering or updating voter registration online and via mail, setting a state record for online voter registrations in a single day. Eligible voters can still register to vote or update registration in person at voting centers until 8 p.m. on Election Day.

Nearly 2 million Washington voters had already returned their ballots as of Oct. 31.

Harris gets out her own vote in Pennsylvania

Harris went canvassing in Pennsylvania on the eve of Election Day, visiting two homes in Reading as she campaigned throughout the state.

Harris, and the considerable motorcade she travels in, pulled up to a home where three people waited for the Democratic nominee.

“Hi guys,” Harris said.

“Oh my God,” said the family, seeing the vice president on their porch.

“Sorry for the intrusion,” Harris added. The family said they planned to vote on Tuesday morning and that they had made up their minds, but they did not say who they were backing.

Harris, accompanied by two campaign volunteers, then walked a few doors down, where a woman told the vice president, “You already got my vote,” and gave her a hug as dogs barked in the background. She told the vice president that her husband, who shook Harris’ hand as he emerged from the house, planned to vote Tuesday.

“It’s the day before the election and I just wanted to come by and say I hope to earn your vote,” Harris told the woman.

The Democratic nominee could also be heard telling the women about needing to “find common ground,” a familiar line from her stump speech.

“Democracy and good government” ranked as a top issue for a quarter of the Coloradans who participated in the Voter Voices survey by media outlets across the state, including The Denver Post. Moderates and liberals ranked it higher than conservatives, but it made the top three for all three groups.

That umbrella term captures many different concerns. For opponents of former President Donald Trump, the violence at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, continues to loom large and they fear a repeat should he lose again.

Among those who identified as conservative in the Voter Voices survey, 60% said they were “not at all confident” that the election would be conducted fairly across the country, as opposed to slightly more than 10% of self-identified liberals. (Confidence in local elections was much higher for both groups.)

Survey respondents who said democracy is their top concern wrote of the country’s polarization, its clashing worldviews, the fear that Trump will act on his threats to turn government against his perceived enemies and, from Trump supporters, the belief that President Joe Biden already has.

They worry . The presidential campaign has been marred by  two attempts to assassinate Trump. Judges hearing cases against Jan. 6 participants have faced waves of threats, as have , including here in Colorado.

It����ap not only violence and extremism that have many worried for the state of our democracy — many voters say they have lost faith that our political institutions are capable of meeting the serious challenges of the moment.

In national polling, of the job Congress is doing. Views of other branches of the federal government have also slumped in recent years. Fewer than half of Americans , a sharp decline as the court has moved rapidly to the right in the past few years. For most of his presidency, Biden’s has stayed below 50%. Trump was below 50% for his entire time in office.

For many, good government also means “small government,” with less of an official footprint in their lives.

“We’re registered Republicans, but we are pro-freedom,” is how Sean Pond of Nucla, in Montrose County, describes his views and his wife’s.

The Ponds are leaders of a proposal that would use —  or as Danielle Pond puts it, “abuse” — the federal Antiquities Act to designate roughly 400,000 acres of public lands around the Dolores River as a national monument.

“From the small-town mayor to the president, the only power that those government officials — public servants — have is the power that we the people give them, and I think that����ap gotten lost in translation,” Sean Pond said in an interview. “Now we live in a world where the government rules us, the government dictates to us. We don’t have a say. We’ve kind of lost the voice of ‘we the people.’ ”

Christine Soto of Denver, a supporter of Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee competing against Trump, said in an interview that she was especially concerned “about the assault on voting rights.”

From gerrymandering to striking down key parts of the Voting Rights Act to state and local governments reducing voting hours, or otherwise making voting more onerous, “there have been more and more attempts to suppress, from my perspective, to suppress people’s vote, to make it more difficult for people to vote, and I find that very scary,” she said. “… I really believe democracy is about representation.”

As Coloradans consider their ballots, the candidates they choose each have their own views on how to strengthen democracy, nationally and in Colorado. There’s also a major ballot question, Proposition 131, that could rewrite how the state chooses its leaders in the future.

If you’re most concerned about the state of democracy, here’s where the issue shows up in this election.

The presidential race

Vice President Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, have made defense of democracy a major part of her campaign pitch, arguing Trump presents an existential threat to the nation’s tradition of peaceful transfers of power and to the rule of law.

Trump is the first former president of the United States to have been and has been indicted in cases involving federal election interference and attempting to unlawfully overturn Georgia’s election results. A U.S. District Court judge threw out a separate indictment charging Trump with , and a special prosecutor has appealed that ruling.

Trump has insisted upon his innocence, claiming that as president he was immune from prosecution and that he .

For his part, Trump continues to falsely claim that he won in 2020 and to stoke fears of fraud among his supporters in this election as well. When asked at a recent forum whether he would encourage a peaceful transition of power if he lost again, . Instead he described the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol as a day of “love and peace” and defended the actions of the rioters, whom he has said he would pardon if he wins.

Trump’s vice presidential pick, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, the 2020 election.

Congressional races

The men and women running to represent Colorado in Congress support a range of reforms they believe would make the government work better, although neither the House nor the Senate have done much in recent years to change how they do business.

In the 3rd Congressional District race, both Democrat Adam Frisch and Republican Jeff Hurd said they would push for a ban on stock trading by members of Congress. Additionally, Frisch supports congressional term limits, while Hurd said the House should move toward restricting bills to a single subject. Frisch has also said the first thing he’d do if elected is join the Problem Solvers Caucus in pursuit of good governance.

In the 8th District, incumbent Democrat Yadira Caraveo touts her role as a co-sponsor of , which would expand early and mail-in voting nationwide, among other things. Her opponent, Republican state Rep. Gabe Evans, said tackling the budgeting process, including doing away with deficit spending, would be his top reform priority.

When it comes to the nation’s election systems, Democrats have generally aligned behind bills that expand early and mail-in options. Republicans have focused on concerns that noncitizens might be voting, something that was “exceedingly rare” in 2016.

This summer, U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, who represents the 3rd District but is running in the 4th, and other Republicans attempted to pass , which would have required people to prove their citizenship in order to vote. That would be a change from the current system where the government uses its own databases to verify eligibility.

Boebert has been one of Trump’s staunchest supporters and has said the election was stolen from him. She joined the 147 Republicans who the Arizona and Pennsylvania election results.

State legislative races

Much of how Colorado’s democracy works lies in the hands of the state legislature. Just over a decade ago, Democratic lawmakers moved the state to its current system of all-mail ballots, although the transition was implemented under Republican secretaries of state.

Since that time, Democrats have passed other voting reforms, like allowing people to register and vote on Election Day and through the DMV.

Democrats also signed Colorado on to , a deal that aims to elect presidents through the popular vote and not the electoral college; it wouldn’t take effect until enough states sign on to make a difference. (Colorado voters later confirmed their support for the popular vote compact.)

Republican lawmakers have tried, without success, to require proof of citizenship to vote. They’ve also proposed bills in recent years to roll back all-mail balloting, set new standards for election equipment and require clerks to remove more people from the voting rolls.

Lawmakers from both parties tout many of the rules Colorado’s legislature works under. Bills must be focused on just one subject, and all legislation gets at least one hearing. Colorado is also required to pass a balanced budget and maintain at least a 15% fiscal reserve.

However, in recent years, the Democratic majority has been dinged repeatedly for skirting transparency rules. A court ordered legislative leaders to stop using a secret balloting system to choose which bills they wanted to prioritize in the budgeting process.

And last year, two Democratic representatives sued their own leadership for violating Colorado’s open meetings laws. That resulted in lawmakers revising the state’s open meeting law, changes which enabled them to hold closed-door discussions about tax cuts this summer.

Local races

Elections in Colorado are administered by each county’s clerk and recorder, the same office that also manages DMVs, issues marriage licenses and keeps track of real estate transactions. Clerk is an elected, partisan office, but for the most part, the 64 clerks serving in Colorado operate in a collegial and cooperative fashion.

They are at the front line of helping the public understand and trust their elections, and they often urge people with doubts to reach out with their questions.

There has been one notable exception to this culture of election security: Tina Peters. The former Mesa County clerk allowed an unauthorized person to copy her voting machine hard drives and attend a secure build, a highly sensitive software update. For her role in that plot, Peters was recently sentenced to nine years in prison and jail.

Clerks are elected to four year terms in off year elections. The office is on the ballot in two places this year — Larminer and Summit counties — to fill vacant positions. The rest will be up for election in 2026, except in Denver, which will have its next election for clerk and recorder in 2027.

Ballot measures

Colorado voters have repeatedly used the ballot box to reform how our state is run. Those efforts include the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, which requires a public vote on all tax increases, as well Amendment 41, which limited the gifts elected officials can accept and created to oversee them.

More recently, voters of lawmakers and to the state constitution.

This year, the ballot contains possibly the biggest change yet to how democracy works in Colorado. Spearheaded by millionaire Kent Thiry, Proposition 131 would end party primaries, replacing them with a single open primary, and pick election winners in the fall through a ranked-choice process.

Those changes would apply to state offices and elections for Colorado’s members of Congress. If passed, Prop. 131 would likely not take effect in 2026, as written, because of preemptive action taken by state lawmakers earlier this year.

Also on the state ballot, Amendment K is an administrative measure, but it seeks to move up by one week the deadline for citizens to submit signatures for ballot initiatives.

Colorado News Collaborative Managing Editor Tina Griego contributed to this story.

Updated at 4:54 p.m. Oct. 23, 2024: This story has been updated with additional information about Republican state lawmakers’ proposed election policies.

Re: “Should school choice be a right?” Sept. 1 news story

Defending public education from attacks in this state is like playing whack-a-mole. An article Sunday reported on , advocated by the conservative organization Advance Colorado, to enshrine school choice in the state constitution — as if it wasn’t already firmly established in this state of more than 260 charter schools with statewide open enrollment. Homeschooling is also recognized by Colorado as a “legitimate alternative to classroom attendance.”

So far, vouchers have been kept out of the state laws, and for good reason. More than two decades of research have shown a loss of academic achievement in students who go off to private, usually religious, schools with vouchers in hand. No matter to privatizers. Initiative 138 is likely to be the next, but not last, subtle attempt to move the state toward vouchers.

Initiative 138 is very simple in its language, and there’s the problem. The text is short. It says:

“That all children have the right to equal opportunity to access a quality education;

That parents have the right to direct the education of their children; and

That school choice includes neighborhood, charter, private, and home schools, open enrollment options, and future innovations in education.

Each child in K-12 has the right to school choice.”

The simple wording will likely sound sweet to the ear of most voters, and they will naively check their ballot in support of the initiative, but passing Initiative 138 will provide Advance Colorado and others the opportunity to ask the courts to approve the use of vouchers. If that happens, it will likely be the final step in dismantling and dumping public education in Colorado into the dustbin of American history, and our children will suffer the consequences.

Rick Johnson, Castle Rock

Make life affordable for families

A recently published study indicates more than 40% of full-time workers, assuming a two-income family, do not earn enough to make ends meet. Younger generations have told us that we boomers didn’t have it as tough as they do today, and this would sadly appear to settle this argument in their favor.

Listening to younger folks, they are struggling with costs for rent, housing, daycare for their kids and more. Taking all that into account, I can not see that the government helping out in some way with these costs is some radical, left-wing idea. These folks are hurting and have been very clear about that. I would tell Sen. JD Vance if he wants families to have more kids, that it starts with making life affordable for full-time workers.

John W. Thomas, Fort Collins

Taking a back seat to the swing states

I am tired of hearing about the swing states, like Pennsylvania, Michigan, Iowa, etc., deciding the presidential election.

I think it’s absurd that we are still holding onto the antiquated Electoral College.

Every other election is decided by popular vote. Five candidates have lost five elections even though the majority chose them.

Every vote should count, but in winner-take-all states, a 51/49 decision means millions of people’s votes are worthless.

I can understand why people are disillusioned about voting, to spend the hours in line and not have your vote count towards the final tally. Surely in this technically advanced era, they could come up with a secure way to vote electronically.

The electoral college is a way to game the system so that the majority’s will is inconsequential.

Von Honnecke, Lakewood

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This high-stakes moment could be the most consequential one in this truncated presidential election season. No one understands the importance of this debate more than President Joe Biden who ended his re-election campaign following his disastrous performance in the June debate.

The only thing that matters now is how each candidate gets to the winning total of 270 electoral college votes. As of today, Harris has 225 solid and likely electoral college votes versus 219 for Trump. This means that the presidential race will be won in six states representing three different regions.

Two are in the West: Arizona (11) and Nevada (6); two are in the South: Georgia (16) and North Carolina (16); and, two are in the Midwest: Pennsylvania (19) and Wisconsin (10).

With the exception of Wisconsin where Harris holds a narrow lead, recent polling data from FiveThirtyEight shows that Trump and Harris are within 1% of each other in the other 5 states. Biden won every one of these battleground states, except North Carolina in 2020.

What makes this debate even more crucial is that voting is about to begin. While November 5th is election day, forty-seven states offer early in-person voting. In North Carolina, mail ballots are sent to all voters who request them as early as September 6th. In Pennsylvania, early voting begins on September 16th when voters can visit their election office to request, complete and return the ballot. Other states vary on voting timelines.

Before Biden dropped out, Trump had a clear advantage. Biden’s base was weary and there was no clear path to victory. Harris, however, reset the election by energizing her base and attracting independent-leaning Democrats. Trump has been caught off guard. Trump needs to thwart Harris’ momentum, which won’t be easy given his caustic style.

For these two candidates, it’s not just about winning the debate, it’s also about not losing it in the style of a Biden-like performance. Both candidates need to find ways to connect with undecided voters without weakening their base.

The economy is the most important issue. Harris and Trump need to persuade voters that they understand the average American’s economic situation and have a viable plan that will make their lives better.

This year’s key issue hearkens back to 1980 when Ronald Reagan so effectively posed the question in the debate with President Jimmy Carter: are you better off today than you were four years ago?  Based on polling, Trump has an advantage here. Harris has had less time to roll out her economic agenda while distinguishing herself from Biden. Harris has an opportunity to sharpen her message and close the gap, which will be pivotal to her success.

Their policy positions on immigration, foreign affairs, protecting democracy, crime and abortion will also matter, not only to energize their base to get out the vote, but to move the key swing voters.  While polling shows Trump has the upper hand on the key issue of immigration, Harris has the upper hand on protecting democracy and abortion which has been costly for Republicans since Roe v. Wade was overturned. Meanwhile, both candidates will need to explain why their positions have changed on different issues.

Ultimately, however, style may prove to be more important than substance. There once was a day when looking presidential mattered and while that will be important for Harris, it has never been Trump’s strong suit as he chaotically mocks and insults his opponents. While it may be red meat for his most ardent followers, attacking Harris’s intelligence and racial identity or making sexual slurs against her will be a major liability in wooing undecided voters.

Harris and Trump both need to demonstrate they are likable.

Harris can do this by staying calm and showing humor, compassion, intelligence and sharing her personal journey. Harris can’t take Trump’s bait and she needs to be able to deliver an effective retort when Trump lies, like saying “there he goes again” or “he doesn’t let the facts get in his way.”

She was brilliant in her CNN interview when she was asked about Trump’s questioning of her racial identity and responded, “Same old, tired playbook” and, then said, “Next question, please”.  As George Bernard Shaw famously said, “Never wrestle with pigs. You both get dirty and the pig likes it.”

Trump must resist his instincts to self-sabotage. He needs to be coherent and avoid delivering confusion and obnoxious bombs. Trump needs to demonstrate strength, steadiness, and leadership and figure out a way to take Harris off balance and script without crossing lines.

Whoever does these things best will likely be our next president.

Doug Friednash grew up in Denver and is a partner with the law firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck. He is the former chief of staff for Gov. John Hickenlooper.

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Twenty-one new laws  will kick in at the start of July. Among them are laws covering the state plumbers board, creating a and adding gender identity to the state’s .

Several laws passed in previous years will also go into full effect Monday, including that allows Colorado consumers to opt out of having their personal data sold or used to generate targeted advertising. Another bill which banned single-use plastic bags at checkout lines at the start of this year, has another provision taking effect Monday that will allow local governments to enact even stricter plastic bag limits.

Here are six other new laws set to go into effect:

Occupancy limits

One of the marquee housing and land-use reforms passed this year, prohibits local governments from limiting how many unrelated adults can live together in an apartment or housing unit. For college towns like Boulder or Fort Collins, that means cities generally can’t cap how many roommates can live together, except for health and safety reasons.

Roughly two dozen Colorado cities and towns had occupancy limits, though only a few — including Fort Collins — actively enforced them, lawmakers and advocates said. The measure was sponsored by Democratic Reps. Manny Rutinel and Javier Mabrey, together with Sens. Tony Exum and Julie Gonzales.

Sexual assault cases

Earlier this winter, lawmakers and advocates stood next to a rack of women’s clothing in the state Capitol building and described . It blocks defendants and defense attorneys from using what a sexual assault victim was wearing as evidence of consent in court. The new law also tightly limits how the victim’s previous sexual history, including with the defendant, can be used in court.

The new law was sponsored by Democrats Rep. Shannon Bird and Sen. Rhonda Fields and Republicans Rep. Lisa Frizell and Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer.

Limit on poison

Sodium nitrite is a preservative used often used in curing meats. But in higher concentrations, it can be fatal when ingested by people, and it’s increasingly been used in suicides here and elsewhere in the United States. That’s made easier by the availability of the higher-potency substance for purchase online or in sporting good stores.

Starting Monday under , those higher potencies will no longer be available in Colorado except for approved commercial purposes. The bill was sponsored by Democrats Rep. Judy Amabile and Sen. Dylan Roberts and Republicans Rep. Marc Catlin and Sen. Byron Pelton.

Fewer guns in sensitive spaces

One of several gun-reform bills passed this year, , prohibits the open or concealed carrying of firearms in public or private schools, on university and college campuses, and in child care centers. The new prohibition also covers certain government buildings and the state Capitol, in which several Republican lawmakers have attested to carrying firearms.

Several have had gun mishaps, too: two years ago, and another left a loaded weapon in a Capitol bathroom earlier this year.

The bill, which was significantly narrowed during its journey through the Capitol, does allow local governments to opt out of its provisions. The Douglas County Board of Commissioners did so in May.

Elections protections

Two election-related bills kick into effect Monday. One, , requires political ads and messaging to prominently disclose when they include a “deepfake,” meaning an artificially generated picture, video or voice that replicates a real person.

That’s a growing problem as the use and capability of artificial intelligence has erupted in recent years. The Federal Communications Commission this spring for mimicking President Joe Biden’s voice in a campaign robocall in New Hampshire.

The second election law, passed as , extends existing criminal penalties and fines to people who participate in attempts to organize false slates of presidential electors. Essentially, that means anyone who attempts what a group of lawyers and officials tried in 2020 in support of then-President Donald Trump will face specific criminal liability in Colorado.

Every four years, from each state (plus Washington, D.C.) is tasked with casting formal Electoral College votes for the candidate who won that state in the election.

But after the 2020 election, some pro-Trump Republicans and their lawyers backed a plan to have false electors in several states advance alternative — and flatly wrong — certificates that would switch their states’ electoral college votes from Democrat Joe Biden to Trump. A number of officials involved in that fraudulent plot .

Colorado’s new law takes existing crimes like perjury or forgery and expands them to include a person seeking to participate in a false elector scheme.

Re: “Colorado finally will license funeral home directors,” May 25 news story

Rep. Matt Soper would have been correct if he’d referred only to the Return to Nature and Sunset Mesa funeral homes as a “dark, dark world.” His mistake was in painting the entire death-care industry with that broad brush.

I have been in the business for more than 15 years at Colorado’s oldest family-owned funeral home. It is a place of light and love, committed to dignity and compassion for the dead and to helping grieving loved ones find a path to walk.

The vast majority of people in my industry are dedicated to these ideals and operate as my co-workers and I do: with true care and empathy both for the dead and for their survivors. The appalling actions taken by the few bad actors who made the news for all the wrong reasons in the past few years should not reflect on the rest of us.

In fact, many of us have been concerned by Colorado’s lack of oversight compared to other states and looked forward to seeing a carefully crafted regulatory program that treats good operators fairly while protecting clients from harm.

It����ap easy to make broad, general statements. But people, especially our elected officials, should take care not to group the good in with the bad.

Jamie Sarché, Denver

Editor’s note: Sarché is director of pre-planning at Feldman Mortuary in Denver.

Work to keep children with parents

Re: “Keep kids out of foster care by supporting parents,” May 25 commentary

Shari F. Shink’s article is eye-opening and very thoughtfully worded. It presents evidence that an ounce of prevention creates a pound of cure. What most fail to see is that the rewards from this are not only for the individual children and families but for society as a whole. Remember the “family values” movement? This is what that should have been about. Helping families survive and thrive.

I’m reminded of a dear childhood friend back in the 1960s whose family of five children was scattered to various foster homes when their father died suddenly, and their mom couldn’t provide for them. She spent two years without her family and siblings while her mom got back on her feet. In the end, the sisters were able to reunite with her, but the three younger brothers were not. I’ve often wondered what happened to them all. Shink’s article makes me wonder if receiving aid would have kept them all together.

In election years, we often hear cries about spending, with one group yelling, “Don’t spend any more of my money.” Shink demonstrates that there are those who need assistance to get out of the hole so all can benefit the greater society.

Krista Igoe, Littleton

Electoral College necessary for fair representation

Re: “Our presidents should be popularly elected,” May 22 letter to the editor

The idea of electing presidents by popular vote means that Colorado and the other less populated states will never see candidates appear in their state. They will concentrate their time and policies on the more populated states as the concerns of the smaller states will not be addressed.

Our nation would not have come together had our Founding Fathers not agreed to the Electoral College. The smaller states knew that if the president was elected by popular vote, whoever won the largest cities in the most populous states would win every election, leaving the smaller states with no say in presidential elections. The same remains true today.

Our Democrat-controlled legislature passed the popular vote measure simply as sour grapes since Hilary Clinton did not win. Had she won the Electoral College and lost the popular vote, the issue would never have been brought before the legislature.

I am not and have never been a supporter of former President Donald Trump or his policies. I am a supporter of Colorado and other smaller states having some say in presidential elections. I don’t want California, Texas, Florida and New York controlling our elections. Before advocating for a popular vote, please learn why our Founding Fathers did not adopt that procedure.

Wayne Patton, Salida

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PHOENIX — An Arizona grand jury has indicted former President chief of staff , lawyer and 16 others — including two attorneys with Colorado ties — for their roles in an attempt to overturn Trump’s loss to Joe Biden in the 2020 election.

The indictment released Wednesday names 11 Republicans who submitted a document to Congress falsely declaring that Trump won Arizona in 2020. They include the former state party chair, a 2022 U.S. Senate candidate and two sitting state lawmakers, who are charged with nine counts each of conspiracy, fraud and forgery.

The identities of seven other defendants, including Giuliani and Meadows, were not immediately released because they had not yet been served with the documents. They were readily identifiable based on descriptions of the defendants, however.

Those include John Eastman, a lawyer who devised a strategy to try to persuade Congress not to certify the election. He was working as a visiting professor of conservative thought and policy at the University of Colorado Boulder during the 2020 election and its aftermath.

The and reported that Colorado native Jenna Ellis, another Trump attorney, also was indicted. Ellis is facing potential disbarment in Colorado after pleading guilty in Georgia to crimes related to 2020 election lies.

Trump himself was not charged but was referred to as an unindicted co-conspirator.

With the indictments, Arizona becomes the fourth state where allies of the former president have been charged with using false or unproven claims about voter fraud related to the election. Heading into a likely November rematch with Biden, Trump continues to spread lies about the last election that are echoed by many of his supporters.

“I will not allow American democracy to be undermined,” Democratic state Attorney General Kris Mayes said in a video released by her office. “It����ap too important.”

The indictment alludes to Giuliani as an attorney “who was often identified as the Mayor” and spread false allegations of election fraud. Another defendant is referred to as Trump’s “ ,” which describes Meadows.

Descriptions of other unnamed defendants point to Mike Roman, who was Trump’s director of Election Day operations, and Christina Bobb, a lawyer who worked with Giuliani.

A lawyer for Eastman, Charles Burnham, said his client is innocent. Bobb did not respond to a text message seeking comment, nor did a lawyer who is representing Roman in a case in Georgia.

George Terwilliger, a lawyer representing Meadows, said he had not yet seen the indictment but if Meadows is named, “it is a blatantly political and politicized accusation and will be contested and defeated.” Giuliani’s political adviser, Ted Goodman, decried what he called “the continued weaponization of our justice system.”

The 11 people who had been nominated to be Arizona’s Republican electors met in Phoenix on Dec. 14, 2020, to sign a certificate saying they were “duly elected and qualified” electors and claiming that Trump carried the state. of the signing ceremony was posted on social media by the Arizona Republican Party at the time. The document was later sent to Congress and the National Archives, where it was ignored.

Biden won Arizona by more than 10,000 votes. Of the that unsuccessfully challenged Biden’s victory in the state, one was filed by the 11 Republicans.

Their lawsuit asked a judge to de-certify the results that gave Biden his victory in Arizona and block the state from sending them to the Electoral College. In dismissing the case, U.S. District Judge Diane Humetewa said the Republicans lacked legal standing, waited too long to bring their case and “failed to provide the court with factual support for their extraordinary claims.”

Days after that lawsuit was dismissed, the 11 participated in the certificate signing.

The Arizona charges come after a string of indictments against fake electors in other states.

In December, a on felony charges of offering a false instrument for filing and uttering a forged instrument in connection with false election certificates. They have .

Michigan’s Attorney General in July that included forgery and conspiracy to commit election forgery against 16 Republican fake electors. One had charges dropped after reaching a cooperation deal, and the 15 remaining defendants have .

Three fake electors also have been charged in Georgia and others in a sweeping indictment accusing them of participating in a wide-ranging scheme to illegally overturn the results. They have .

In Wisconsin, 10 Republicans who posed as electors , admitting their actions were part of an effort to overturn Biden’s victory. There is .

Trump was in federal court over efforts to cling to power after his defeat, . The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday will hear arguments on his claim in that case that he can’t be prosecuted for acts he committed while serving as president.

In early January, New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez said that state’s five Republican electors cannot be prosecuted under the current law. In New Mexico and Pennsylvania, fake electors added a caveat saying the election certificate was submitted in case they were later recognized as duly elected, qualified electors. No charges have been filed in Pennsylvania.

In Arizona, Mayes’ predecessor, Republican Mark Brnovich, conducted an investigation of the 2020 election, but the fake elector allegations were not part of that examination, according to Mayes’ office.

The so-called fake electors facing charges are Kelli Ward, the state GOP’s chair from 2019 until early 2023; state Sen. Jake Hoffman; Tyler Bowyer, an executive of the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA who serves on the Republican National Committee; state Sen. Anthony Kern, who was photographed in restricted areas outside the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 attack and is now a candidate in Arizona’s 8th Congressional District; Greg Safsten, a former executive director of the Arizona Republican Party; energy industry executive James Lamon, who lost a 2022 Republican primary for a U.S. Senate seat; Robert Montgomery, chairman of the Cochise County Republican Committee in 2020; Samuel Moorhead, a Republican precinct committee member in Gila County; Nancy Cottle, who in 2020 was the first vice president of the Arizona Federation of Republican Women; Loraine Pellegrino, past president of the Ahwatukee Republican Women; and Michael Ward, an osteopathic physician who is married to Kelli Ward.

In a statement, Hoffman accused Mayes of weaponizing the attorney general’s office in bringing the case but didn’t directly comment on the indictment����ap allegations.

“Let me be unequivocal, I am innocent of any crime, I will vigorously defend myself, and I look forward to the day when I am vindicated of this naked political persecution by the judicial process,” Hoffman said.

None of the others responded to either phone, email or social media messages from The Associated Press seeking comment.

___

Associated Press writers Gabe Stern and Scott Sonner in Las Vegas, Kate Brumback in Atlanta and Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, contributed to this report.

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