2024 Presidential Election Live Updates

The new Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa poll that showed Harris leading within a margin of error in Iowa was a big surprise — even to the pollster who conducted it.

“This was a shock poll,” J. Ann Selzer, president of the Des Moines-based pollster that conducted the survey, said in an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

“I've been in shock since Tuesday morning last week, so I had the time to wrap my head around this because no one, including me, thought Iowa could go for Kamala Harris,” she said.

The poll released Saturday showed Harris leading Trump 47% to 44%. Although this lead was within the poll's margin of error of 3.4 percentage points, it was a significant seven-point shift from September. Harris' lead was boosted in part by a 28-point lead over Trump among independent female voters.

“If you're a Democrat, you're really looking at this and hoping that it means something for states like Michigan and Wisconsin, which seem to be deadlocked battleground states,” Brianne Pfannenstiel, chief politics reporter for the Des Moines Register, said on CNN.

— Rebecca Picciotto and Dan Mangan

Senior Trump campaign officials acknowledged the possibility that their candidate might not win as they briefed staffers on how post-election operations will proceed.

In an internal email signed by senior advisers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita and obtained by NBC News, campaign staffers are told their last payroll day is Nov. 30, “regardless of the outcome of the election.”

The news reflects standard procedure for any operation about to close its doors, but it is notable if anyone close to Trump hints at the possibility that he could lose.

If Trump does win, many of the staffers will be assigned to either the Trump-Vance transition team or the president-elect's inaugural committee, the email said.

West Palm Beach campaign headquarters employees are advised to clear their work areas of personal items by November 10th. The space will be converted to accommodate the transition and opening teams, “God willing,” Wiles and LaCivita wrote.

“As the campaign comes to an end in just a few days, please be proud of the work you have done and the contributions you have made to President Trump and Senator Vance (and their) work on behalf of freedom, security and the “We have contributed to the financial health of our nation and to peace around the world,” they write.

“Above all, be proud that you have worked to make America great again.”

— Kevin Breuninger and Jonathan Allen, NBC News

A judge in Philadelphia could rule at a hearing that Elon Musk's $1 million daily voter lottery should be stopped from continuing — but just a day before Election Day, that might not matter much.

The Philadelphia district attorney sued the Tesla billionaire CEO and his political action committee in the county's Common Court of Pleas last week, accusing them of running an illegal lottery that awarded cash prizes – 16 so far – to registered voters in swing states who had signed a petition in support of the constitution.

Musk then briefly had the case transferred to federal court, but prosecutor Larry Krasner returned it to district court almost as quickly.

Musk has said his America PAC would run the drawing through Election Day. So if Krasner gets the injunction requested by a judge at the hearing, it could save the Trump supporter a million or two dollars.

– Dan Mangan

Shares of Trump's social media company fell as much as 8% in premarket trading, exacerbating operator Truth Social's decline just before the election.

Trump mediathat is acted as DJT On the Nasdaq, market capitalization fell more than 40% between Tuesday afternoon and Friday last week.

The sudden drop wiped out much of the company's gains from a massive rally in October, when its share price more than tripled.

Despite its billion-dollar valuation, the company has posted net losses of more than $340 million this fiscal year on revenue of less than $2 million.

The frantic trading surrounding the stock often seems to bear little correlation with its business fundamentals. Rather, analysts see the company as a magnet for Trump-friendly retail investors who support the former president and bet on his chances of defeating Harris in the election.

Harris will spend her final day on the campaign trail holding rallies across Pennsylvania, a battleground, must-win state that both Republican and Democratic strategists see as key to winning the Oval Office.

Harris will start the day in Joe Biden's hometown of Scranton before holding a rally in Allentown and then making a local stop in Reading. On Monday evening, Harris will hold rallies in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. The latter two will feature musical guests, according to the campaign, including Lady Gaga in Pittsburgh and Katy Perry in Philadelphia.

Pennsylvania went for Trump in the 2016 presidential election but switched to Biden in 2020. Polls show Harris and Trump tied in the state.

– Jake Piazza

According to NBC News, about 76 million Americans have already voted early, both through absentee ballots and early in-person voting.

Among states that track voters' party affiliation, 41% of early voters are registered Democrats and 39% are registered Republicans. Early voting rules vary by state.

– Jake Piazza

Trump will split his time between three battleground states on the final day before the election.

Rallies are planned in Raleigh, North Carolina; Reading, Pa.; Pittsburgh and Grand Rapids, Michigan, according to the Trump campaign.

Grand Rapids occupies a unique position in the history of the Trump campaign: Michigan's second-largest city was Trump's final stop on election night in his two previous presidential campaigns.

– Jake Piazza