Ballot box fires underscore concerns that conspiracy theories make them targets

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atlanta, georgia — Two ballot drop boxes in the Pacific Northwest were damaged in a suspected arson attack just over a week before Election Day, destroying hundreds of ballots at one location in the city of Vancouver in the state of Washington. At the other, in neighboring Portland, Oregon, it appears a fire suppression system contained the blaze and limited the number of ballots damaged to three. Authorities are reviewing surveillance footage as they try to identify who is responsible. Here’s what happened, how rules and security measures about drop boxes vary across the country, and how election conspiracy theories havemore

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Latino evangelical voters torn between their faith and harsh rhetoric around immigration

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The Rev. Arturo Laguna leads a largely immigrant church of about 100 followers in Phoenix. His job as a pastor, he says, gets complicated come election season. Laguna’s church, Casa de Adoracion, is in Arizona — one of seven closely watched swing states that could possibly decide the next president. It is also a microcosm of the larger Latino evangelical Christian community in the U.S. The soft-spoken Laguna says, for the members of his congregation, voting is “not an intellectual issue.” “It’s a matter of faith and spirituality,” he said. “We’re in a complicated moment because, on the one hand,more

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Indian Americans show shifting political loyalties ahead of presidential election

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Washington — At a recent Diwali gathering in Denver, software architect Salil Gaonkar asked his Indian American friends to raise their hands: Would they vote for Trump or Harris in the presidential race? The response — from about 45 tech professionals and business owners who had overwhelmingly backed Joe Biden in 2020 — stunned him. Former President Donald Trump edged out Vice President Kamala Harris, albeit by a narrow margin. “I was shocked,” Gaonkar, a progressive Democrat who is supporting Harris, said. “Most of them voted for Biden, but now there was a significant shift and that surprised me really.” Onemore

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Presidential candidates make pitch to Black voters in North Carolina

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North Carolina is one of seven so-called swing states that could determine the next U.S. president. Kamala Harris, Donald Trump and their surrogates have spent a lot of time campaigning in this southern state. Black Americans make up 22% of the population, and those voters could decide who gets North Carolina’s 16 Electoral College votes. Rafael Saakov has the story, narrated by Anna Rice. Videographer: Aleksandr Bergan …

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California attempts to regulate election deepfakes

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The state of California has passed several laws attempting to regulate artificial intelligence, including AI used to create realistic looking but manipulated audio or video — known as a deepfake. In this U.S. election season, the aim is to counter misinformation. But it has raised concerns about free speech. From California, Genia Dulot has our story. …

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Supreme Court allows Pennsylvania to count contested ballots

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DOYLESTOWN, Pennsylvania — The Supreme Court on Friday rejected an emergency appeal from Republicans that could have led to thousands of provisional ballots not being counted in Pennsylvania as the presidential campaigns vie in the final days before the election in the nation’s biggest battleground state.  The justices left in place a state Supreme Court ruling that elections officials must count provisional ballots cast by voters whose mail-in ballots were rejected.  The ruling is a victory for voting-rights advocates, who had sought to force counties — primarily Republican-controlled counties — to let voters cast provisional ballots on Election Day if theymore

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Elon Musk loses bid to move $1 million voter prizes case

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A U.S. judge on Friday denied Elon Musk’s bid to move a Pennsylvania lawsuit over his $1 million voter prizes to federal court, moving the case back to state court. It was not immediately clear if the decision would affect the billionaire’s plan to keep awarding money until the U.S. presidential election Tuesday. The decision was issued by U.S. District Judge Gerald Pappert in Philadelphia federal court. Musk has been giving $1 million checks to randomly selected registered voters who sign a petition supporting free speech and gun rights. Musk’s America PAC had awarded $1 million prizes to 14 peoplemore

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What US election results could mean for Africa

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JOHANNESBURG — Whoever U.S. voters choose as their next president — former President Donald Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris — the election has global implications, with the probability it will affect other economies, foreign conflicts and personal freedoms, analysts told VOA. South African independent political analyst Asanda Ngoasheng said the winner could usher in policies that affect ordinary people in Africa. “I hope that as Americans vote, they’re aware that whatever decision they make, it’s going to determine the future of not only America but the rest of the world,” she said. “How we engage with issues of termination ofmore

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Trump to visit Dearborn, Michigan, ‘capital’ of Arab America

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WASHINGTON — In the run up to the presidential election, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign has increased its outreach to Arab and Muslim Americans, particularly in battleground state Michigan. But it is her Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump, who has made surprising gains with this group that makes up a significant portion of voters angry over President Joe Biden’s policies on the Gaza war. On Friday, Trump is expected to visit a halal cafe in Dearborn, Michigan, a city dubbed the Arab capital of America, in a state home to almost 400,000 Arab Americans. Many of them have expressedmore

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Pennsylvania’s Erie County is pivotal in presidential race 

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Erie, Pennsylvania — During next Tuesday’s election, a lot of nervous voters, pollsters and campaign officials will be paying close attention to Erie County in Pennsylvania, which has chosen the victor in the past four presidential contests. Over the past decade, the margins between the winner and loser have tightened, reflecting the national trend of closer elections. That is perhaps no big surprise. After all, bellwether “Erie County is such a microcosm of the entire nation,” said Jeff Bloodworth, a history professor at Gannon University in downtown Erie. Erie County, the largest county by area in the state, is “slightly whiter,more

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Two Pakistani Americans lock horns in local elections in Houston

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Americans who head to the polls on November 5 not only are deciding who will be president, they are voting for thousands of local and state officials. In Texas’ Fort Bend County, outside Houston, two Pakistani Americans are vying for the position of constable. Incumbent Democrat Nabil Shike is being challenged by Republican newcomer Ali Sheikhani. VOA Urdu’s Iram Abbasi’s reports from Houston. …

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Kurdish immigrants running for local office in Minnesota

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Moorhead, Minnesota, is home to more than 3,000 Kurds, some of whom have been there since the mid-1970s. They are the town’s largest minority group and hope this election might bring them representation in local government. Dakhil Shammo of VOA’s Kurdish service went to Minnesota and met with two local candidates in this story narrated by Amy Katz. …

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Jitters in Europe ahead of US elections

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Europe is bracing for former President Donald Trump’s potential return to power — even as his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, remains a mostly unknown quantity. Many Europeans believe much is at stake in the nail-biting U.S. elections: from NATO and the transatlantic alliance to Russia’s war on Ukraine, trade relations and the future of their own democracies. Lisa Bryant reports from Paris.  …

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Kurdish immigrants run for local office in Minnesota

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Moorhead, Minnesota, is home to more than 3,000 Kurds, some of whom have been there since the mid-1970s. They are the town’s largest minority group and hope this election might bring them representation in local government. Dakhil Shammo of VOA’s Kurdish service went to Minnesota and met with two local candidates in this story narrated by Amy Katz. Camera: Kawar Farok …

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College athletes push for voter turnout while largely avoiding controversy as election nears

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Lily Meskers faced an unexpected choice in the lead-up to the first major election she can vote in. The 19-year-old University of Montana sprinter was among college athletes in the state who received an inquiry from Montana Together asking if she was interested in a name, image and likeness deal to support Sen. Jon Tester, a three-term Democrat seeking re-election. The group, which is not affiliated with the Tester campaign, offered from $400 to $2,400 to athletes willing to produce video endorsements. Meskers, who is from Colorado but registered to vote in Montana, decided against the deal because she disagreesmore

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Trump sues US television network for $10 billion over Harris interview

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washington — Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump sued CBS News on Thursday over an interview of Vice President Kamala Harris that aired on the network’s “60 Minutes” news program this month. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in the Northern District of Texas, alleged that the network aired two different responses from Harris responding to a question about the Israel-Hamas war. The version that aired during the “60 Minutes” program on October 6 did not include what the lawsuit referred to as a “word salad” response from Harris about the Biden administration’s influence on Israel’s conduct of the war. The lawsuitmore

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Hurricane damage, arson attacks add complexity to US elections

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With voting underway in a tightly contested presidential race, election officials in the U.S. are facing additional challenges in the state of North Carolina, where a hurricane ravaged communities, and in the states of Washington and Oregon, where there have been arson attacks on ballot boxes. With Deborah Bloom and Rafael Saakov, Natasha Mozgovaya has the story. Camera: Deborah Bloom and Alexander Bergan. …

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Residents in Ethiopia’s Oromia region report network disruptions as government forces fight rebels

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ADAMA, ETHIOPIA — Residents in Ethiopia’s Oromia region say access to phone communication and internet service has been disrupted for months as government forces fight against two rebel groups. The disruption of mobile phone calls and internet data has been concentrated in conflict-hit Oromia zones, where government forces have engaged in fighting against the Oromo Liberation Army, or the OLA. A resident from South Oromia of Guji Zone Wadera Wereda, who spoke to VOA on condition of anonymity for safety reasons, said phone and internet data connections have been cut in his area due to the fighting. He said there wasmore

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