2020 U.S. ELECTION: What you need to know right now

[November 02, 2020]  (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump hunts for support in four battleground states while Democratic rival Joe Biden focuses on Pennsylvania and Ohio during the final day of campaigning in their race for the White House. Trump trails Biden in national opinion polls. But the race is seen as close in enough swing states that Trump could still piece together the 270 votes needed to prevail in the state-by-state Electoral College that determines the winner.

- A federal judge in Texas will consider whether Houston officials should throw out about 127,000 votes already cast at drive-through voting sites in the Democratic-leaning area. The case has been brought by a Republican state legislator and others who accuse the Harris County clerk, a Democrat, of exceeding his authority by allowing drive-through voting as an alternative during the coronavirus pandemic. [L1N2HM0LX]

- The election has all the ingredients for a drawn-out court battle over its outcome: a highly polarized electorate, a record number of mail-in ballots and some Supreme Court justices who appear ready to step in if there is a closely contested race.

- When lifelong Democrat Mayra Gomez told her 21-year-old son five months ago she was voting for Trump, he cut her out of his life. Bitter splits within families and among friends over Trump's tumultuous presidency will be difficult, if not impossible, to repair, even after he leaves office.

- In George Floyd's hometown of Houston, a season of protest ends at the polls.

- Every U.S. presidential election has its own lingo, like the "hanging chads" on voting cards in Florida that led to a landmark court battle in 2000. A look at some of the jargon used in the days leading up to the Nov. 3 election.

- There have been pockets of unrest in battleground states ahead of the showdown between Trump and Biden in Tuesday's election. Trump, who previously declined to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he decides results are fraudulent, could bring in the military or federal agents to quell civil unrest on Election Day. A look at the laws that give Trump authority in this area, and the limitations on his power.

BY THE NUMBERS

- Biden's lead has widened a little in the final days of the 2020 campaign in three critical Rust Belt states that Trump narrowly won four years ago, according to Reuters/Ipsos opinion polls released Sunday. Biden leads Trump by 10 percentage points in Wisconsin and Michigan, and the presidential nominee is ahead by seven points in Pennsylvania.

GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE

- Cuba has more at stake in the Nov. 3 election than most Latin American countries as the Trump administration has focused much of its foreign policy in the region on measures it says are aimed at bringing about democracy in the country.

President Donald Trump arrives at a campaign rally at Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport in Opa-Locka, Florida, U.S., November 2, 2020. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

INVESTOR VIEW

- Wall Street investment firms, faced with the prospect of a chaotic election complicated by an unprecedented number of mail-in ballots, have hired political analysts and crunched voting data to game out election night and identify a watch list of crucial counties and Senate races that might indicate which way the vote is headed.

- Biden has promised to push his own tax proposals on day one if he wins Tuesday's election including raising the corporate tax to 28% and doubling the rate to 21% on overseas profits from patents, copyrights and trademarks.

- The Nov. 3 election could have dramatic effects on various stocks and sectors. A look at potential stock winners and losers.

ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL

Expected events and Reuters coverage on Nov 2:

- Trump holds rallies in Fayetteville, North Carolina; Scranton, Pennsylvania; Traverse City, Michigan; Kenosha, Wisconsin; and Grand Rapids, Michigan.

- Biden make his final push on the campaign trail in Cleveland, Ohio, and western Pennsylvania.

- Vice presidential nominee Senator Kamala Harris campaigns in Pennsylvania

- Former president Barack Obama campaigns in Georgia and Florida

- Reuters/Ipsos public opinion poll from six battleground states: Arizona, Florida, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and North Carolina (4 p.m. ET/2100 GMT)

(Compiled by Angus MacSwan and Gayle Issa)

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