Carl Nasman
News correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

"I’m looking at pictures right now of long lines," says the Republican chairman of Milwaukee.

He has people standing outside polling stations in two Republican-leaning suburbs of Milwaukee that both campaigns have been focusing on - and the images he's seeing on social media are getting him excited.

As we've been reporting, today is the first day of early voting in Wisconsin. Lines of voters in traditionally Republican areas could be a strong sign for Donald Trump.

Deleon tells me that early voting has been a key message from the Trump campaign this year, after discouraging his supporters from casting votes before election day in 2020.

It could be one reason why other states like Georgia and North Carolina have already set early voting records.

Polls in this battleground state show the race between Vice-President Kamala Harris and former president Trump are essentially tied.

With just two weeks left until election day, this is a state that is often decided by about 20,000 votes. “I pray it won’t be that close,” Deleon says.

Wisconsin: At a glance

Mike Wendling
Reporting from Madison, Wisconsin

Image source, Getty Images

The crowd here in Madison erupts as Barack Obama strides casually out onto the stage and embraces Tim Walz.

From my vantage point in the back of the arena, it’s hard to make out his first few words. But eventually the former president apologises for being late, due to an issue with his plane in Chicago.

“So we had a little road trip,” he says.

Walz used a chunk of his speech to appeal to moderate voters – at one point directly addressing former Republican and independent voters in the crowd.

Obama is popular with the Democratic base, and after all the applause he starts talking about the nitty gritty of getting out the vote – it’s a theme that’s been repeated by all the speakers on the stage today.

Here in Wisconsin, early voting has started and the election has effectively already begun.

Mike Wendling
Reporting from Madison, Wisconsin

Image source, Getty Images

Democratic vice-presidential nominee Tim Walz knows who the real star is.

“I don’t know if you’ve heard, but there’s a guy from Chicago coming on after me,” he tells the crowd here in Madison.

It’s a sly reference to former president Barack Obama. He is the main draw today, but the governor of Minnesota is getting the Democratic faithful riled up.

Walz starts his speech with his usual folksy Midwestern references to American football and “barnstorming the country”, then quickly segues into sharp jabs against Donald Trump.

Trump, Walz says, “dressed up” and was “cosplaying” at a McDonald’s restaurant this weekend.

“It is possible that he mixed up his weekends and thought it was Halloween already,” Walz says, then turns serious, accusing Trump of “using people’s livelihood as a political prop.”

“Everything about this guy is fake,” he says.

Image source, Getty Images

Trump will appear on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast later this week, Reuters and US media is reporting.

The podcast, which features lengthy and wide-ranging conversations with a broad range of subjects and guests, has millions of listeners, and Rogan himself – a comedian and TV presenter – has millions of followers on social media.

It would be the latest in a series of appearances Trump has made on shows with large audiences of young men – thought to be a key demographic in the swing states. Whether either Trump or Harris will appear on the show has been the subject of much speculation in US media.

Rogan's show has attracted controversy in the past, with accusations of broadcasting misinformation on topics including the Covid-19 virus to his large audience.

Two campaign officials say Trump will travel to Rogan's studio in Austin, Texas, for the session on Friday, Reuters reports.

Mike Wendling
Reporting from Madison, Wisconsin

Back in Wisconsin, attendees at the rally are being reminded that this election is not just about the names at the top of the ballot.

Democratic incumbent Senator Tammy Baldwin has just taken the stage here in Madison. Baldwin is locked in a tough battle against Republican Eric Hovde.

Political experts here have told me that Baldwin, who is seeking a third term, has a slight edge in the contest. She’s more popular in rural areas than many other Democrats and might outperform Kamala Harris.

But this state is so evenly divided that nothing is guaranteed.

“The stakes of this race are incredibly high,” Baldwin tells the crowd, launching into a list of her plans to bolster abortion rights, health care, benefits for veterans and social security – US state pension benefits.

Democrats currently control the US Senate, 51-49, and they’re defending several vulnerable seats this year.

Wisconsin is a must-win if they hope to retain power in the upper chamber of Congress.

Image source, Reuters

Rudy Giuliani, a long-time Trump associate and former New York mayor, has been ordered to turn over his valuable possessions to two Georgia election workers he defamed and to whom he now owes more than $150m (£116m), US media is reporting.

Last year, Giuliani was ordered to pay the pair after making false claims that they had tampered with votes in the 2020 presidential election.

A federal judge has now ordered Giuliani to hand over high-value possessions, which includes a watch, a car, and control of his interest in a Manhattan penthouse apartment, CNN and The Hill report.

Judge Lewis Liman says that Giuliani must turn over his interest in the Manhattan property to the Georgia election workers in seven days, CNN reports.

After this, the pair will be able to sell the penthouse, estimated to be worth millions of dollars.

Image source, Getty Images

Abortion rights will continue to dominate the agenda this week for the Harris campaign, as the vice-president will travel to Republican stronghold Texas on Friday to campaign on the issue, according to US outlets who cite a senior campaign official.

She will appear alongside Colin Allred, the Democratic nominee in Texas's Senate race who is running against Republican incumbent Ted Cruz.

Harris is expected to warn of the threat a second Trump term poses to women's reproductive freedom, in a state that has a near-total abortion ban.

She is also expected to participate in an interview with the podcaster Brene Brown during the trip.

Mike Wendling
Reporting from Madison, Wisconsin

“Reproductive rights” … “Roe v Wade” … “My right to choose”.

Several voters at a Democratic Party rally here in Wisconsin answer instantly when I ask them what brought them here today: they’re worried about further restrictions on abortion.

Supreme Court justices chosen by Donald Trump during his presidency were instrumental in striking down the ruling – known as Roe v Wade - that made abortion broadly legal across the country.

Here in Wisconsin, a state where Republicans and Democrats have tussled over the issue for decades, the ever-present possibility of an abortion ban seems to loom particularly large.

“It’s scary,” says Emily Kingman, who lives about 20 minutes away from the rally site here in Madison. “Not only for myself, but for others.”

She calls herself a “childless cat lady” – a phrase uttered by Trump’s vice-presidential nominee JD Vance that has been reclaimed by some female supporters of Kamala Harris.

Democrats are trying to make the most of the politics of abortion rights, which are supported in some form by most Americans.

Local officials have started taking the stage, warming up the crowd for Tim Walz and Barack Obama who are due up shortly. And there are big cheers from the crowd for mentions of reproductive rights.

Mike Wendling
Reporting from Madison, Wisconsin

Good afternoon from Madison, Wisconsin, where a rally featuring Tim Walz and Barack Obama is about to kick off.

Early voting starts today in this key battleground state, and Democrats are hoping to enthuse their base in this blue city, home to the University of Wisconsin and the state capital.

The last time I was here for a political rally - in early July - a few hundred die hards crowded into a stuffy school gymnasium to hear President Joe Biden vow to stay in the race.

He dropped out two weeks later. That seems like a lifetime ago.

The enthusiasm today is on a different level, as people are streaming into an arena that can hold a maximum crowd of more than 10,000.

The Democrats here today are optimistic, but nervous.

“Not as confident as I’d like to be,” says Caitlin Huber from northern Wisconsin, when I ask her how she’s feeling about the prospects for victory. “But I’m getting more confident as time goes on.”

The event gets going at 14:30 EDT (19:30 BST), and you'll be able to follow along live by pressing watch at the top of this page.

Musk's PAC launches 'voter fraud' community on Xpublished at 19:16 British Summer Time 22 October

19:16 BST 22 October

By Shayan Sardarizadeh

Elon Musk’s campaign group America PAC, which was set up to support Donald Trump in the presidential election, has launched an "election integrity community" on the platform X to document what it brands as "instances of voter fraud".

The political action committee announced the launch of the community in a post on X, also owned by Musk.

"We have started an X community dedicated to sharing potential instances of voter fraud and irregularities that Americans are experiencing," the post reads, external.

Communities are dedicated spaces on X where users can share content in relation to a specific topic.

It has so far attracted more than 8,000 members in less than 24 hours.

The majority of the posts currently being shared in the community come from Trump supporters who appear to believe without evidence that the Democrats plan to "steal" the election from him.

Some posts reference false and widely debunked claims that the 2020 election was rigged in favour of Joe Biden.

The US Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) has just released a security update ahead of the election.

The statement says that the intelligence community expects foreign influence efforts will intensify in the lead-up to election day, especially through social media posts - "some of which are likely to be AI-generated or enhanced".

"Foreign actors - particularly Russia, Iran, and China - remain intent on fanning divisive narratives to divide Americans and undermine Americans’ confidence in the US democratic system consistent with what they perceive to be in their interests, even as their tactics continue to evolve," the statement warns.

It goes on to say: "The IC furthermore expects foreign actors to continue to conduct influence operations through inauguration denigrating US democracy, including by calling into question the results of the election."

Image source, Getty Images

Supporters of Kamala Harris could catch a glimpse of the Real Slim Shady tonight in Detroit.

Eminem is reportedly going to be introducing former President Barack Obama at a rally for Harris in Michigan's largest city and the rapper's home town.

He will be giving remarks, but not performing, according to CNN.

The rapper is an outspoken critic of Donald Trump, having previously accused the former president of "brainwashing" his supporters.

Image source, Reuters

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump was greeted by cheers and applause as he joined a roundtable discussion at a Latino summit in Doral, Florida, a short while ago.

Trump focused much of his opening speech on attacking his opponent. Vice-President Kamala Harris, calling her "lazy" and accusing her of "taking a day off" from campaigning with just 14 days to go until the election.

He then went on to to make claims about solar panels, migrants and other topics.

As the floor was opened up for questions, Trump was asked what he would do to help Latino businesses. He did not answer the question specifically, and instead spoke generally about how much worse the US economy has been under Joe Biden

He also claimed that if he doesn't become the next president, "they say we may never have an election again in this country".

Image source, Reuters

Thomas Copeland
Live reporter

Image source, Reuters

On Monday night, Donald Trump spoke to Christian voters in Concord, North Carolina.

Polling shows that white evangelicals are a reliable voting bloc for the former president. And Trump proudly touts his record to these voters, highlighting that he appointed three conservative judges before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, the landmark 1973 case that established a nationwide right to abortion.

But that also presents Trump with another problem, says Dr Thomas Gift from University College London.

"Trump needs to perform well with suburban women," he tells the BBC. "And the abortion issue is a liability for Republicans."

Trump is behind with women voters during an election where the margin of victory may be on a knife's edge. Faced with this dilemma, Trump has had to walk a political tightrope - taking credit for ending nationwide abortion rights while also saying abortion policy should be left to the states.

With every step Trump takes to back measures that could protect abortion provisions at a state level, he comes under fire from conservative critics, many of then evangelicals.

"Trump is still trying to figure out how to tack to the middle in a way that appeals to female voters without alienating his evangelical base," says Gift.

We reported earlier that a court in Michigan dismissed a Republican lawsuit aiming to block some Americans living abroad from voting in the key swing state.

Courts in North Carolina, another key battleground, have now done the same.

Both cases targeted people who have never lived in the state but were born overseas to parents who were residents of the state.

Around 2.9 million Americans living abroad were eligible to vote in 2020, but only 8% of that group actually cast a ballot in the race between Trump and Biden.

Election polling is complicated, which is why the BBC poll tracker monitors both national and swing state data.

Let's look at three individual polls now, each of which tells an interesting story:

• Nearly 17 million Americans have already cast their vote, and research by Suffolk University suggests Vice-President Kamala Harris has an almost two-to-one lead over Donald Trump among those who have voted so far
• Next, data from Ipsos shows the economy and immigration are the top issues for voters, and Trump is seen as having the better approach to both. Harris tops the poll in addressing political extremism, healthcare and abortion
• And finally, a poll by the Public Religion Research Institute and the Brookings Institution suggests nearly one in five Republicans think that if Trump loses the election, he should declare the results invalid. 12% of Democrats say Harris should do the same

Ana Faguy
US Reporter

Ric Morris wasn't planning to vote until Kamala Harris entered the race.

The registered Independent from Tennessee was feeling that both Donald Trump and Joe Biden were not "cognitively up to the job".

But after he saw Harris and Trump debate he decided he was voting, and voting for Harris.

"Even though I disagree with a lot of her points, I think the way she implements policies is likelier to be more measured and reasoned than the way I think Donald Trump would implement policies," Morris says.

"I'm still not exactly clear what Donald Trump's policies are," he adds.

He was also compelled to support Harris after former vice-president Dick Cheney endorsed her earlier this year.

The idea of putting country over party resonated with Morris. "Cheney came out and said what I was thinking", he says.

In the lead-up to election day, BBC Voter Voices is hearing from Americans around the country about what matters to them. Are you an American voter? Want to join in? Apply to be featured in future BBC stories.

Image source, EPA

We were expecting to hear from the former president this afternoon alongside former third-party presidential hopeful Robert F. Kennedy Jr, but the event has been "cancelled for now due to changes in President Trump's schedule".

The event, a Make America Healthy Again Town Hall, was supposed to feature a discussion on changing federal regulations on food and pharmaceuticals.

Kennedy endorsed Trump earlier this year after mounting a third-party bid and reports suggest the former president promised Kennedy a post as health secretary if he is to win come November.

Trump is currently attending a roundtable discussion at the Latino Summit in Doral, Florida. We'll bring you the key lines from the event shortly.

Asya Robins
Live reporter

Image source, Getty Images

As we reported earlier, a tracker, external maintained by the University of Florida shows nearly 17 million people have already voted, with early voting under way across more than half of US states.

So far, Democrats are currently leading with 45.3% of early votes while Republicans are currently at 33.4%, according to data from 24 states by party registration.

Previous data tells us that Democrats are more likely to vote early. According to a study, external by the MIT Election Data and Science Lab, 60% of Democrats cast their ballots by mail in 2020, compared to only 32% of Republicans.

An NBC News poll, external last month found that half of registered voters planned to vote early at this election, with 61% saying they would vote for Kamala Harris.

The majority of early voters at this election so far are aged 65 and over (49%), according to data from nine states. The tracker shows 34.9% of voters are in the 41-65 age bracket, and only 5.2% of early voters are aged 18-25.

Data also shows that women are currently in the lead among early voters at 54.2%. Men make up 44.3% of early voters and 1.4% are classed in this study as "unknown".

Thirty million people had voted by this point in 2020 but with two weeks still to go until election day, the number of early voters is expected to rise further.

Tune in here to hear the latest episode of Americast, delving into the campaign approaches being taken by Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.