NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-05-2024 10PM EST

Episode Date: November 6, 2024

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This message comes from Indiana University. Indiana University is committed to moving the world forward, working to tackle some of society's biggest challenges, nine campuses, one purpose, creating tomorrow today. More at iu.edu. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack Spear. The polls in most of the states in the East have now closed, but a number of key states are still far from decided.

That includes Pennsylvania and Georgia, both of which had some polling places that experienced technical glitches and in some cases, bogus threats. MPR's Miles Parks covers voting and election security. He joins me now. Miles, you've been keeping an eye on in-person voting and how it's been going across the country. What are your takeaways so far? So, overall, election officials have been really happy with how voting has gone. The biggest disruptions, as you mentioned, have probably been these bomb threats to polling

places in a few states that did cause minor delays. These have not been found to be credible in any instance, and they seem to have come from Russian email domains. A handful of polling places in Georgia did stay open about an hour later as a result of the threats. Of course, we should mention that some 80 million people across the country had already voted before today, either by mail or earlier in person. All those votes have to be tallied. What do people need to know about that process?

It really depends on how close the margins are in the swing states. Election laws, specifically in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, mean election officials could not start processing mail ballots until today. So those will take a while to count. If margins are under a percentage point specifically, it could very well be a day or a couple of days before officials have counted enough votes for journalists at the Associated Press and other outlets to make race calls in those states as well as Nevada and Arizona. Marc Thiessen Yeah, we were talking about maybe a quick vote tally tonight. Not going to happen. Not looking likely.

All right, NPR's Miles Parks, thanks. And we should note that polls are closing at this hour in Nevada, Montana, and Utah. Even as the Associated Press continues to call racists with their respective candidates, some of the biggest prizes are still in play tonight. That includes the Blue Wall states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Also, votes are still being tallied. That includes the Blue Wall states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

Also, votes are still being tallied in Georgia and North Carolina. We hear more from NPR's Susan Davis. I think we're all refreshing on Georgia and North Carolina. These are two states that are counting their vote relatively quickly. They are expected to be very close. They could be contested states,

but if there's gonna be a clear margin of victory in either one of these states, hopefully we will have an answer to one or two of those questions, if not both in the coming hours. Meanwhile, not surprisingly, perhaps former President Donald Trump has been declared the winner in Florida, Ohio and Texas, according to the Associated Press. The AP is calling Massachusetts, Maryland and New York for Kamala Harris. In Florida, the amendment that would have legalized abortion up to the point of fetal

viability has failed. That's according to the AP. That leaves the state's ban on abortion after six weeks of pregnancy in place. It's the first abortion amendment to fail since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Amendment to legalize recreational marijuana also failed in Florida. That's according to a call from the Associated Press. U.S. financial markets rallied as voters headed to the polls

today on Wall Street. The Dow was up 427 points. The Nasdaq rose 400 or 259 points. The S&P 500 gained 70 points. This is NPR. After seven weeks it appears a strike by Boeing Machinists is coming to an end, striking factory workers by a 59% majority, approving a new four-year contract. It includes 38% wage increases, along with some other bonuses. It was the third contract proposal from the airplane builder. The deal ends a walkout that began in mid-September and essentially brought most of Boeing's production to a standstill.

Voss-Floening took the lives of two poll workers in southeastern Missouri today. The couple were on their way to work the polls early this morning when they drowned. Alex Cox of Member Station KBIA reports the flooding made some roads impassable, making it difficult for some voters to get to the polls. Counties across southeastern Missouri saw an average of 4 to 6 inches of rain overnight. Kathy Holstein Campbell is the executive director of the Missouri Association of County Clerks. She says while a judge could extend a polling place's hours, that option isn't currently being used. This is certainly a small number of people who are very remotely living and

affected by what's happening with the flooding. So at this point I think the majority of the voters will have an opportunity for access to the ballot. In a statement, the Wright County Clerk's Office said the couple who died were dedicated citizens who valued fair and honest elections. For NPR News, I'm Alex Cox in Columbia, Missouri. A major shakeup in Israel where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has fired his well-liked defense minister, Yov Galant.

Surprise firing coming as the two have increasingly been at odds throughout the war in Gaza. Netanyahu had avoided dismissing his rival. An attempt to fire Galant last year sparked widespread protests. I'm Jack Spear, NPR News in Washington. This message comes from WISE, the app for doing things in other currencies. Send, spend or receive money internationally, and always get the real-time mid-market exchange rate with no hidden fees. Download the Wyse app today or visit Wyse.com, T's and C's apply.