Tim Walz says electoral college ‘needs to go’ as polls show tight race – US politics live

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Walz criticizes electoral college as polls continues to show presidential race up in the air

Good morning, US politics blog readers. The Democratic vice-presidential nominee Tim Walz made a curious comment yesterday, criticizing the electoral college and calling for a national popular vote. “The electoral college needs to go,” Walz said at a fundraiser in Sacramento. “We need a national popular vote that is something. But that’s not the world we live in.” The United State’s system of electing presidents based on the electoral votes of individual states rather than overall popular support has confounded Democrats in recent decades, with Republicans Donald Trump in 2016 and George W Bush in 2000 winning the White House despite losing the popular vote. Deciding the presidency by a national popular vote would require a significant political push that you can bet the GOP would resist and won’t happen anytime soon, but Walz’s comment is notable for another reason: the election is so close, whoever wins the electoral college on 5 November may not win the popular vote.

Neither Trump nor Kamala Harris appear to have yet gained a decisive edge in the swing states that will decide the vote. Our poll tracker shows you just how close the two candidates are, with as little as a tenth of a percent separating them in some swing states. Walz, Trump and his running mate JD Vance all have campaign events today – perhaps these will be the ones that put their ticket over the top.

Here’s what’s going on today:

Arizona is getting a lot of attention today, specifically the southern city of Tucson. Vance campaigns in the city at 3pm ET, while Walz will at 2pm campaign with Democratic Senate candidate Reuben Gallego, and Jim McCain, son of the state’s late Republican senator John McCain. Walz also has a rally in the area planned for 6.30pm.
Trump campaigns in Scranton, Pennsylvania at 3pm. The city is Joe Biden’s childhood home, and also located in the swing state believed to be the most crucial in deciding this election.
Hurricane Milton continues to churn towards Florida’s west coast, amid warnings it could do terrible and widespread damage, including to communities that were struck by the recent Hurricane Helene. Follow our live blog for more.