Election 2020 live updates: Trump, Biden racing toward Election Day with more rallies

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Official White House Photo by Tia DufourBY: LAUREN KING, ABC NEWS

(WASHINGTON) — With nine days to go until Election Day, and President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden racing toward Nov. 3, voters have turned out in record numbers to cast their ballots early.

More than 56 million Americans have already voted in the 2020 election, reflecting an extraordinary level of participation and interest despite unprecedented barriers brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.

In the final weeks of campaigning, the president has remained on defense as polls show him trailing nationally and in several battleground states key to his reelection hopes. The president will have a campaign rally in New Hampshire to top off a weekend of many rallies across battleground states and Biden will speak during a virtual “I Will Vote” concert.

Vice President Mike Pence will travel to North Carolina Sunday evening to speak at a rally despite a two of his top deputies testing positive for the coronavirus: chief of staff Marc Short and political aide Marty Obst.

ABC News has also learned at least one additional staffer in the vice president’s office has tested positive in the last few days and several staffers are now quarantining. Devin O’Malley, press secretary for the vice president, said both Pence and wife Karen Pence tested negative for the virus on Saturday.

All 50 states plus Washington, D.C., have some form of early voting underway. Check out FiveThirtyEight’s guide to voting during the COVID-19 pandemic here.

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern.

Oct 25, 11:20 am

5 in Pence’s orbit test positive for the coronavirus

Five individuals in Vice President Mike Pence’s orbit have tested positive for the coronavirus, including his chief of staff Marc Short and political aide Marty Obst.

Devin O’Malley, press secretary for the vice president, announced Saturday in a statement that Short tested positive.

Sunday morning, multiple sources familiar with the matter told ABC News that in addition to an outside political ally of Pence’s four of his staffers have tested positive. One senior level source stressed that the three of the staffers have been quarantining since the middle of this past week.

O’Malley said both Pence and wife Karen Pence tested negative for the virus on Saturday. The vice president is still expected to travel to North Carolina later on Sunday to speak at a rally in Kinston.

-ABC News’ John Santucci and Katherine Faulders

Oct 25, 9:42 am

Talking with Pennsylvania voters

ABC’s “This Week” Co-anchor Martha Raddatz talked with voters from the battleground state of Pennsylvania, a must-win for Trump.

The president won the state in 2016, with a slim margin, and there are “worrisome signs” this year.

Tanya Siletsky is the kind of supporter the Trump campaign hopes will help him win the battleground state.

“I would say no,” she said on “This Week” on whether anything has given her pause about Trump. “All his policies I agree with 100%.”

Oct 25, 9:18 am

Trump, Biden favorability unchanged as 2020 race heads into final week: POLL

After two contentious debates and more than $1.5 billion in advertising, President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden enter the closing week of a bitter campaign with their favorability ratings relatively unchanged since at least the summer, according to an ABC News/Ipsos poll released Sunday.

Trump’s favorability is significantly underwater in the new survey, which was conducted by Ipsos in partnership with ABC News using Ipsos’ Knowledge Panel, with more than half of Americans — including more than half of men (53%), Americans over 65 (53%), and independents (57%) — viewing him unfavorably. The president’s favorability deficit stands at minus-22 in the poll, similar to where he stood on the eve of the 2016 election.

But unlike four years ago, when both Trump and  headed into November deeply unpopular – Trump’s favorability at 38% to 60% and Clinton’s at 42% to 56% in the final ABC News/Washington Post poll — Biden is seen significantly more favorably.

-ABC News’ Kendall Karson

Oct 25, 9:02 am

Back on the campaign trail

The candidates are fanning out across the country again Sunday with rallies, concerts and get out the vote events.

Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., has the earliest start with drive-in church service event in Detroit. She’ll continue with afternoon canvas kickoff events, where she’ll speak to volunteers and organizers, in Detroit and Troy, Michigan. Then she has an evening drive-in rally in Pontiac before she and her husband Doug Emhoff deliver a taped message during the virtual “I Will Vote” concert.

Joe and Jill Biden are also scheduled to speak during the virtual concert at 8 p.m.

Trump will speak at an afternoon rally in Londonderry, New Hampshire.

Vice President Mike Pence will speak at a campaign rally in Kinston, North Carolina.

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