Christal Hayes
Reporting from Maricopa County, Arizona

Election officials here in Maricopa County, Arizona, held a news conference where they detailed preparations for Election Day and noted it could take between 10 to 13 days after the election to count all ballots.

The county is the fourth most populous in the US and home to about 60% of Arizona’s voters. That matters because results in the county hold an outsized influence on who wins this crucial swing state.

Maricopa is also where many election conspiracies were born after the 2020 election when Donald Trump lost Arizona. It’s possible the election is called earlier than that, of course, if one candidate pulls ahead by a wide margin as votes are counted, but polls show the state - and specifically Maricopa County - is pretty evenly split.

Since the election conspiracies that led to protests in 2020, officials here say they have worked hard to give voters a clear view of what the elections process looks like.

They’ve provided public tours, created webpages with fact checks and recorded hours of video on their YouTube channel showing software tests of election equipment.

Texas 'ballot flipping' is an isolated incident, election officials saypublished at 14:33 British Summer Time 23 October

14:33 BST 23 October

By Kayleen Devlin

A video viewed over eight million times on X of a voter in Tarrant County, Texas, has been circulating on social media, external with claims that voting machines there have been flipping votes from Donald Trump to Kamala Harris.

Local election officials say this was a one-off incident that was addressed on the spot.

A statement shared with the BBC by the county’s elections administrator, Clint Ludwig, said that “in one reported incident on the first day of voting” in Tarrant County, one ballot – out of more than 58,000 cast that day – “did not correctly reflect” the voter’s choice for president.

“The original ballot was spoiled and the voter re-marked a new ballot with his preferred choice reflected,” the statement added.

It also said that “Tarrant County Elections has no reason to believe that votes are being switched by the voting system”.

The earliest posting of the video, external which shows a voter explaining his experience can be traced back to a local reporter for the Dallas Express who told the BBC that their source was at the polling station, asking the voter questions about the situation.

Chair of the Tarrant County Republican Party, Bo French, later tweeted to say, external that the incident had made its way up to the Trump campaign, who have asked the man in the video if he was willing to sign an affidavit.

Image source, Reuters

As the election between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump draws closer, both of them have been making use of popular podcasts as a platform to campaign.

Harris joined sex and relationships podcast Call Her Daddy, the second most listened to podcast in the world. They talked about abortion rights and rejecting childless cat lady remarks.

The world's most listened to podcast - The Joe Rogan Experience - will welcome Trump to the podcast on Friday.

Touted as his 'Bro' podcast tour, Trump also joined wrestling podcast "Six Feet Under" and "Impaulsive with Logan Paul" - who has almost 24m followers on YouTube. On the latter, Trump urged young voters like Paul's followers to vote for him.

A poll by USA Today and Suffolk University, external says less than 30% of voters in the US had listened to these podcasts.

But when some states are won by thousands of votes, the candidates appear to believe these appearances will be worth it.

If you're feeling like you could freshen up your knowledge of the inner workings of US elections, we've put together a few essential guides to some of the most important elements of this race.

We have this simple guide to the November's vote as a first port of call.

There's a deep-dive into how a presidential election works, focusing on answering your questions about the Electoral College system.

For more on the seven battleground states, there's this handy guide to what may happen as they look set to decide the outcome of the election.

If you'd like to get a sense of what Kamala Harris and Donald Trump stand for, as well as what they plan to do if elected president, here's some analysis of their main policy pledges.

And finally, for a more data-driven look at who's likely to win, keep checking our regularly updated election poll tracker.

Image source, UK Parliament/PA Media

Back to the UK, we're getting more pushback now from members of the Labour Party in response to accusations from Donald Trump's team of "election interference" by Labour volunteers helping the Kamala Harris campaign.

At Prime Minister's Questions in the Commons this afternoon, deputy PM Angela Rayner said that "people in their own time often go on campaigns", adding that "it happens in all political parties".

The Labour activists at the heart of this dispute were joining the Harris campaigning "in their own time with their own money", she said.

Earlier, UK Defence Secretary John Healey also rejected the Trump team complaints, saying: "This is in the middle of an election campaign, that's the way that politics works."

He said the "special, deep relationship" between the UK and US had "withstood the political ups and downs on both sides of the Atlantic and we are determined to make that work in future".

Image source, Reu

Much of the focus right now may be on the row about UK Labour Party members volunteering for Kamala Harris - but Wednesday will see campaigning continuing apace for Republicans and Democrats.

The first public event today for Donald Trump is a 'believers and ballots' town hall meeting in Zebulon, Georgia, with local Governor Burt Jones by his side. A few hours later, still in the same state, Trump is due to appear at a rally in Duluth.

Georgia is regarded as one of seven key battleground states in this election, the others being: Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Michigan, Arizona and Nevada. We've got this piece on the key battleground states in the US election.

Nevada is the focus for Trump's running mate JD Vance, with events scheduled today in Las Vegas and then Reno.

Pennsylvania is the destination for Kamala Harris and her only scheduled campaign appearance on Wednesday. She will be participating in a CNN Town Hall event in Chester Township, which is just outside of the Philadelphia metropolitan area.

Meanwhile, Harris has done an interview with Telemundo anchor Julio Vaqueiro and that will air on Wednesday evening.

Harris's running mate Tim Walz will hold a rally in Madison, Wisconsin, with former president Barack Obama joining him later for a second rally in Racine.

Image source, Reuters

The UK Labour Party has released a statement in response to Donald Trump's complaint to the Federal Election Commission - which accuses Labour of "election interference".

"It is common practice for campaigners of all political persuasions from around the world to volunteer in US elections," a Labour spokesperson says.

"Where Labour activists take part, they do so at their own expense, in accordance with the laws and rules."

Image source, Getty Images

"A nothing burger", is how the BBC's North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher refers to the row over Donald Trump's complaint against the UK Labour party.

On today's episode of Americast, Zurcher says "I can't emphasise enough how much - at least legally speaking - of a nothing burger this is".

For years, political campaigners have travelled to the US to participate in American elections. As host Sarah Smith points out, campaigners across the political spectrum, including from the Tory party, have done similar.

But this has happened before: Zurcher points to the 2016 Bernie Sanders campaign, which was investigated by the FEC at the time because the Australian Labour Party sent volunteers over to campaign and paid their expenses.

Ultimately, the Sanders campaign paid a $14,000 fine, but refused to accept wrongdoing, Zurcher says.

Image source, Getty Images

Let's get up to speed with what happened yesterday:

Both presidential candidates continued on their campaign trails, where Trump called the US a "failing country" and Harris said her team is prepared if Trump declares victory before all ballots are counted.

Rulings: Courts in Michigan and North Carolina dismissed Republican lawsuits aiming to block some Americans living abroad from voting in the key swing state.

Voting: Early in-person voting began in the swing state of Wisconsin, with as many as 21.2 million voters across the country already casting their vote.

Rapping: Former US president Barack Obama was introduced by Detroit-born rapper Eminem at a Democrat rally in Michigan, where Obama told the crowd his palms were sweaty.

Rudy Giuliani, long-time Trump associate and former New York Mayor, was ordered to turn over his valuable possessions to two Georgia election workers he defamed, to whom he now owes more than $150m (£116m).

Image source, EPA-EFE/REX/Shuttercock

Turning away from Trump's complaint against the UK Labour Party for a moment - the state of the US economy is one of the key issues in this presidential election, so how are Americans feeling about it and the campaign generally?

The latest survey from the American Psychological Association (APA) suggests that the "future of the nation", the economy and campaigning are "significant sources of stress" in the lives of American adults.

Compared with the previous two US presidential elections, it found stress related to the election was similar to 2020 (69% v 68%) but significantly higher than in 2016 (52%).

The APA says what sets its new survey apart from previous ones is the collective stress about potential fallout from the election results: more than 7-in-10 adults (72%) said they are worried the election results could lead to violence, and more than half of adults (56%) said they believed this presidential election could be the end of democracy in the US.

Around a third of adults (32%) told the APA that the political climate has caused strain among themselves and their family members - with 30% saying they limit their time with family because they don’t share the same values.

That survey covered more than 3,000 adults. You can read more about the findings, external here.

More now on the Trump campaign's complaint against the Labour Party, as a professor of American politics says that what Trump calls "blatant foreign interference" is "not a violation of American election laws".

David Andersen, Associate Professor of United States politics at Durham University, tells the BBC that volunteers paying their own money to travel to the US to campaign is "rather commonplace in presidential elections".

In fact, he says that "ideologically aligned parties from different countries often communicate with each other and share campaign tactics and strategies."

He adds that Trump's complaint is part of a "broader campaign to sow distrust in the election and ward off any accusations of their own campaign coordinating with foreign governments."

Image source, Getty Images

A former Labour activist who volunteered for Obama's presidential campaign in 2008 says the most a foreign volunteer can receive is a bottle of water or some pretzels, calling Trump's allegations "nothing more than a political stunt".

Volunteering for campaigns abroad is something a lot of people do from all political parties, Matthew McGregor says.

Speaking of his experience, he says: "You pay for your flight, knock on the Democrat's HQ and volunteer your time. It's mundane but people enjoy being part of campaigns".

In reference to Labour's head of operations saying "we will sort your housing," Matthew says Democratic activists often offer their spare rooms or sofas to volunteers.

"It really is less glamorous than it sounds," he adds.

Image source, EPA

As we've been reporting, Donald Trump's campaign has accused the UK's Labour Party of "blatant foreign interference", in a complaint filed to the US Federal Election Commission (FEC).

Speaking to Ellie Colton at Breakfast on BBC Radio Sheffield, Defence Secretary John Healey says Trump's campaign have "got this wrong".

He says the campaigners are individual Labour Party members, and that "there's no organised deal on this - they're all volunteers, they pay their way".

"This is Trump's campaign doing what campaigns do, creating controversy during an election," he adds before reiterating, "we'll work with whatever president the American people elect".

You can listen to what Healy had to tell the programme about Trump's accusations on BBC Sounds.

Image source, EPA

At a rally for Harris and Walz, Obama said that he voted early, casting his ballot by post.

"I got my ballot, filled it in, sealed it, signed it", Obama told Democratic supporters.

Americans are voting more and more by post, tracking by the University of Florida suggests that as many as 21.2 million voters have casted early ballots so far., external

That includes people that have voted early in-person, and those that have requested mail-in ballots.

Image source, EPA

Democrats are more likely to vote early with 43.6% of registered Democrats voting early in this campaign - compared to 34.6% of Republicans.

Older adults are also more likely to vote early. According to the University of Florida, people over age 65 made up 47.9% of the ballots cast so far.

Meanwhile, a majority of early ballots - 54% - are cast by women.

While Barack Obama and Eminem were backing Kamala Harris in Detroit (see previous post), Donald Trump was in North Carolina.

There, Tulsi Gabbard, the former Democratic congresswoman, said she was formally switching her party affiliation.

Gabbard said the decision was in part due to Trump's ability to "transform the Republican Party and bring it back to the party of the people, and the party of peace".

Gabbard became an Independent in 2022, after she was unable to secure the Democratic presidential nomination - but she has been vocally supporting Trump for some time, who added her to his transition team in August.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

Let's head back to the campaign trail now - and last night, former president Barack Obama and Eminem shared a stage in Detroit, where the rapper endorsed Kamala Harris and urged people to vote.

Obama criticised Donald Trump's rhetoric on immigration, saying if you challenge Trump or JD Vance, they have one response: "This is their go to about everything - blame immigrants."

And Obama couldn't resist a musical tribute to Eminem, beginning (almost) to rap along to his smash hit "Lose Yourself"...

Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent

Speaking to Labour people this morning, there’s a little bit of sheepishness about the public row with the Trump campaign – but a complete insistence that no-one has done anything wrong.

The party is not saying anything formally, but the private defence is that these are volunteers who were not paid, therefore their activities were in accordance with the rules of the Federal Election Commission, to whom the Trump campaign has complained.

Moreover, they insist that the party had no official role organising volunteers and that senior figures who visited for the Democratic convention in the summer were there principally as spectators and political tourists, rather than dispensing formal advice to the Democratic Party.

Be that as it may, it’s undeniable that this is seriously awkward for a Labour government which in exactly two weeks could well be placing congratulatory phone calls to a president-elect Trump.

The question is whether it is merely a passing awkwardness, or whether this dispute threatens the potential relationship between Sir Keir Starmer and Donald Trump.

In opposition and in government, Labour officials have invested significant energy in trying to forge links to the Trump campaign. Those are potentially now at risk.

Image source, Reuters

As we've reported, Donald Trump's campaign has filed a complaint to the US Federal Election Commission (FEC) accusing the UK's Labour Party of "blatant foreign interference" in the election.

The complaint cites media reports about meetings between Labour and the Harris campaign, as well as volunteering efforts by Labour activists in the US.

US law states foreign nationals can't be paid to take part in campaign activity.

The Trump campaign's complaint points to a LinkedIn post from Sofia Patel, Labour's head of operations, in which she said nearly 100 current and former staff members would be going to the US.

The post said there were "10 spots available" for anyone who wanted to join them and that "we will sort your housing".

In a statement announcing the FEC complaint, the Trump campaign says "the far-left Labour Party has inspired Kamala’s dangerously liberal policies and rhetoric".

It adds: "When representatives of the British government previously sought to go door-to-door in America [a reference to the American War of Independence], it did not end well for them."

As a reminder, Labour Party leader - and UK prime minister - Keir Starmer says volunteers are heading to the US in their spare time.

Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent

In the last few minutes, a UK government minister has insisted that the Labour Party did not fund or organise party officials going to the US to campaign for Kamala Harris.

Steve Reed, the environment secretary, told BBC Breakfast: "It's up to private citizens how they use their time and their money and it's not unusual for supporters of a party in one country to go and campaign for a sister party in another, it happens both ways round and across many many countries.

"But none of this was organised or funded by the Labour Party itself, these are individual people making their own choices as they are free to do."

He added: "The key point underneath this is that the government of this country, which is now a Labour government, will work closely with whoever the people of the United States elect as their president in November, because this country and the US have a longstanding special relationship and that will continue into the future."

Like Keir Starmer, Reed pointed to the prime minister having met Trump in New York last month.

"Our Prime Minister Keir Starmer has had meetings with both President Biden in the White House and Donald Trump. He was over there recently and had a very useful and respectful dinner with Mr Trump.

"That relationship between the US and the UK will continue whoever is elected president."

Image source, Getty Images

Chris Ruddy, CEO of Newsmax Media and ally of Donald Trump, says the accusation of the Labour Party interference is more of a "perception problem than a legal one".

He says the story is more important in the UK than in the US right now, but if the election is close it "could become a bigger issue".

Trump claims "foreigners" are supporting the Democrat candidate, Kamala Harris, over him, Ruddy tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

But Trump is "very fond" of Britain, Ruddy says, and adds: "The [UK and US] relationship will remain strong even if there might be some political turbulence."

People close to Trump's campaign went to Brazil to help Jair Bolsonaro in 2022, he adds - but says it was more "ad-hoc", without the Republican Party formally sending them.