The October surprise that wasn’t

November 1, 2020

Joe Biden leads President Trump by nine percentage points nationally, 52 percent to 43 percent, according to an average of national polls since Oct. 12. In Florida, the two candidates are in a dead heat and in Pennsylvania, Biden has a slight lead over Trump, according to two Washington Post-ABC News polls. Here’s how polling works and how it’s changed since 2016.

How to vote: Find out the rules in your state, and if you’re voting by mail, see how to make sure your ballot counts. The United States has already hit a record for the number of people who have already voted. Are you running into voting problems? Let us know.

Wondering if that thing you saw about voting is true? Check out news, analysis and fact checking about allegations involving the voting process here.

Here’s what we know about when to expect results, including in key swing states.

Electoral college map: Who actually votes, and who do they vote for? Explore how shifts in turnout and voting patterns for key demographic groups could affect the presidential race.

Policy: Where Biden and Trump stand on key issues defining the election.

Battlegrounds: These are the 50 political states of America. Dive into Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Florida, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Arizona, Georgia, Texas and Ohio, and sign up for The Trailer and get more states, plus more news and insight from the trail, in your inbox three days a week.