2024 election live updates: Bruce Springsteen performs at Harris rally

The campaign heads into the final stretch with 12 days to go until Election Day.

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Last updated: Thursday, October 24, 2024 10:52PM GMT
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The race for the White House is heading into the final stretch with most polls showing Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump neck-and-neck in key states with less than two weeks to go.

Oct 24, 2024, 9:51 PM

More than 30 million Americans have voted early

As of Thursday evening, more than 30 million Americans cast an absentee ballot or voted early in person, according to the Election Lab at the University of Florida.

People mark their ballots at machines during the first day of early in-person voting in Black Mountain, N.C., Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024.
People mark their ballots at machines during the first day of early in-person voting in Black Mountain, N.C., Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024.

Roughly 13 million people voted early in person, the lab reported, and more than 17 million returned their ballot by mail.

ByMaryAlice Parks ABCNews logo
7:52 PM GMT

Wisconsin Democrats preparing for a recount

People line up outside the Frank P. Zeidler Municipal Building during the first day of Wisconsin's in-person absentee voting Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024, in Milwaukee.
People line up outside the Frank P. Zeidler Municipal Building during the first day of Wisconsin's in-person absentee voting Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024, in Milwaukee.

Democrats in the swing state of Wisconsin are preparing for a recount.

The threshold for a candidate to request a recount there is a 1% vote margin. In 2020, the race was significantly closer than that.

The 2020 recount, which increased President Joe Biden's lead over Trump, was not wrapped up until Nov. 29, but the campaign believes it will be done much quicker this time.

Party chairman Ben Wikler referred to his state as "tossup city," and said, "If every person who cares about Harris winning does everything they can between now and Election Day, we will be OK."

The party says it needs only to win the same number of votes it did in 2020.

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7:43 PM GMT

James Taylor to join Walz in North Carolina

James Taylor rehearses at the 2024 Democratic National Convention, August 19, 2024 in Chicago.
James Taylor rehearses at the 2024 Democratic National Convention, August 19, 2024 in Chicago.

Singer songwriter James Taylor will join Harris' running mate Gov. Tim Walz on Thursday evening for a rally in North Carolina, according to the campaign.

Taylor will perform with his wife Kim and son Henry in Wilmington, North Carolina.

"During the rally, Governor Walz will speak directly to North Carolinians about the power of their voice and their vote and encourage voters across the state to get to the polls early and cast their vote ahead of the November 5th election," the campaign said.

Taylor was scheduled to perform at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago this past summer but was bumped for time.

One of Taylor's best-known songs is "Carolina In My Mind," which has been covered by a number of other artists.

Musical stars have joined Harris and Walz in the final stretch of the campaign. On Thursday, Bruce Springsteen will perform at a Harris rally in Georgia, and on Friday, Beyonce is expected to join her at an event in Houston, sources told ABC News.

ByLalee Ibssa, Kelsey Walsh, Soo Rin Kim, Fritz Farrow, Gabriella Abdul-Hakim and Will McDuffie ABCNews logo
5:08 PM GMT

Trump says he'd fire special counsel Jack Smith 'within 2 seconds'

FILE - Special counsel Jack Smith speaks to the media about an indictment of former President Donald Trump, Aug. 1, 2023, in Washington.
FILE - Special counsel Jack Smith speaks to the media about an indictment of former President Donald Trump, Aug. 1, 2023, in Washington.

During a call into the "Hugh Hewitt Show," Trump said one of the first things he'd address if reelected would be to terminate special counsel Jack Smith.

"It's so easy. I would fire him within two seconds," Trump said during the call.

"I don't think they'll impeach me if I fire Jack Smith. Jack Smith is a scoundrel. He's a very dishonest man, in my opinion, very dishonest man," he continued, adding that he was going to sue Smith.

Harris's campaign was quick to criticize Trump for his comments.

"Donald Trump thinks he's above the law, and these latest comments are right in line with the warnings made by Trump's former Chief of Staff that he wants to rule as a dictator with unchecked power," Harris campaign spokesperson Ammar Moussa said in a statement.

"A second Trump term, where a more unstable and unhinged Trump has essentially no guardrails and is surrounded by loyalists who will enable his worst instincts, is guaranteed to be more dangerous. America can't risk a second Trump term," Moussa added.

ABCNews logo
4:23 PM GMT

Another former GOP member of Congress endorses Harris

FILE -Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., left, speaks to reporters outside the White House in Washington, May 3, 2017.
FILE -Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., left, speaks to reporters outside the White House in Washington, May 3, 2017.

Fred Upton, a former GOP congressman who voted to impeach Trump over the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, is endorsing Harris for president.

He joins a growing list of other Republicans, including Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney, in backing the Democratic nominee over concerns about Trump's role in the unrest.

"Today, I'm joining more than 30 former Republican members of Congress who publicly refused to support Donald Trump, and I'm proud to say that I've already cast my ballot for Kamala Harris," Upton told reporters on Thursday.

He added, "I've never before voted for a Democrat for president, and I honestly never thought I would, but she's strong, committed public servant. She's running to put people together, strengthen our economy and protect our fundamental freedoms."

Upton, who served 30 years in the House, said impassioned fights about policy were always the norm but "with Trump in charge, politics was more personal, more angry and more divided than ever before."