Georgia election

Florida man arrested by police for holding cane A Florida sheriff’s department is investigating a stop after video went viral of two deputies seemingly arresting a senior with a cane for no reason.According to arresting documents, deputies in Columbia County saw James ‘Jim’ Hodges, 61, cross a street despite a crosswalk indicator telling him to wait, then stopped him when they spotted a metal object they thought was a weapon in his back pocket. (Mr Hodges, who says he’s legally blind, carries a foldable metal cane for help walking).Police body camera footage obtained by Mr Hodges and posted on his YouTube channel shows what happens next.An officer, later identified in an affidavit as Deputy Jayme Gohde, asks the 61-year-old what’s in his pocket’It’s a navigational aid, what’s the problem, are you a tyrant?’ Mr Hodges says.Columbia County Sheriff’s Office The Independent Rebel Wilson announces birth of baby girl via surrogate Movie star Rebel Wilson has announced the arrival of her baby girl. The Independent Wife surprises husband with positive pregnancy test on his birthday Watch the moment a man got a birthday surprise when his wife revealed she was pregnant, after almost two years of struggling with infertility.The couple has been undergoing fertility treatment for 23 months.The couple, who have a three-year-old daughter, were both desperate for another child but suffered a heartbreaking miscarriage.The revelation was an emotional moment for the family from Seattle, Washington, USA. SWNS The Independent LIVE – Updated at 15:10 Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker are in the spotlight as America turns out to vote on Election Day in the highly-coveted battleground of Georgia.Two races in the Peach State are getting ample national attention in the 2022 midterms: Senate and governor.In the former, Democrat Mr Warnock is looking to prevent his Senate seat from being ripped away by Republican Mr Walker.Mr Warnock, who serves as the senior pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church, where Dr Martin Luther King Jr preached, was elected in 2020 in a tight race against former senator Kelly Loeffler.Hoping to disrupt Mr Warnock’s goal of a six-year term is Mr Walker, a former University of Georgia running back and Heisman Trophy winner backed by Donald Trump. Mr Walker’s biggest battle has been against reports that he paid for two women’s abortions despite his vocal opposition to abortion.In the gubernatorial race, incumbent Republican Brian Kemp is facing off with Democrat Stacey Abrams for a rematch of the 2018 election.In both races, a candidate must net more than 50 per cent of the vote to avoid a January runoff. Mr Warnock won his seat in a second round in 2021, held the day before the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.Fourteen House seats are also up for grabs in Georgia this year. 15:10 , Andrew Naughtie Eric Garcia and Josh Marcus have taken a look at an unpleasant reality in this year’s midterms: a number of major corporate donors who promised to stop donating to candidates who objected to the results of the 2020 election have now pivoted back to supporting them.The Independent reviewed data compiled by Accountable.Us’s Corporate Donation Tracker and examined only corporations that released a statement pledging to withhold donations to election deniers after the Capitol attack, tracking them from 7 January 2021 to the most recent campaign filings as of Friday.Take a look at what they found below. © Provided by The Independent At least 80 companies gave more than $6m to election deniers after the Capitol attack 14:55 , Gustaf Kilander Total spending on the midterm elections has reached at least $16.7bn compared to $5.7bn in 2018, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan campaign finance watchdog OpenSecrets. Its Executive Director Sheila Krumholz told CNBC that ‘no other midterm election has seen as much money at the state and federal levels as the 2022 elections’. ‘We’re seeing record-breaking totals spent on elections up and down the ballot,’ she added. 14:40 , Andrew Naughtie The 2022 midterm elections are just days away on 8 November with all 435 seats in the House of Representatives, one-third of the Senate and 39 state and territorial gubernatorial candidates on the ballot.In addition to federal races, there are also numerous other state and local elections being contested as Americans head to the polls, including state legislature seats, attorneys general, state treasurers, mayors, county positions and tribal executive positions.Here’s Oliver O’Connell with everything you need to know about how you go about voting, whether in-person or by absentee or mail-in ballot. © Provided by The Independent How to vote in the midterm elections 14:10 , Andrew Naughtie Once the midterm polls close later tonight, the results will come in at an extremely uneven pace – something many on the right will falsely claim indicates some form of electoral malfeasance. But however sporadic the inflow of data, you can follow the numbers live on The Independent; for the Senate map click here, and for House results click here. 13:40 , Andrew Naughtie In what could be a dangerous sign for Democrats heading into today’s midterms, the party’s candidates in New Hampshire are fighting for their political lives according to the newest polling available.According to the University of New Hampshire Survey Centre’s Granite State Poll, the eight-point lead Ms Hassan held against Mr Bolduc in September has evaporated, leaving her just two per cent ahead of the ex-military officer by a margin of 50 per cent to 48 per cent.If GOP support materialises today just one to two points beyond what pollsters expect around the country, Democrats could be in for a real shock when they wake up tomorrow.Read more in The Independent: © Provided by The Independent New Hampshire Senate and House races appear deadlocked in last-minute poll 13:10 , Andrew Naughtie Eager to help Democrats win the messaging war on economic issues as polls show Americans turning to Republicans for that topic, Bernie Sanders was in several states over the weekend as he makes one final push to help his party hold the House and Senate.The progressive senator just concluded a 19-stop multi-state tour in an effort to drive voter turnout among progressives, independents, and particularly his younger Democratic fan base as the midterm elections come down to the wire and a number of key races look to be toss-ups.’While the Democrats are not doing everything I would like them to do, trust me, they are a million times better than what the Republicans will bring you,’ Mr Sanders warned during a stop in Wisconsin.Read more in The Independent: © Provided by The Independent Bernie Sanders warns ‘future of this country’ at stake in final midterm blitz 12:40 , Andrew Naughtie Christina Bobb, a former OAN host who serves as one of Donald Trump’s attorneys in the Mar-a-Lago affair, appeared on the Trump-backing Right Side Broadcasting Network last night as her boss prepared for his Ohio rally – and added to the chorus of right-wing voices already spinning a narrative of Democratic electoral malfeasance if the results of the midterms do not fall in Republicans’ favour by the early hours of Wednesday.Take a listen:One more time: Many key states-thanks to laws enacted by Republican-controlled legislatures-aren’t even allowed to *start* counting mail-in votes until after polls close.It’s not ‘suspicious’ when those states count mail-in votes last; it’s what they’re legally required to do. https://t.co/JoSir6HgId- Steve Vladeck (@steve_vladeck) November 8, 2022This projection for an acceptable rate of vote-counting is entirely arbitrary, and rests on a template conspiracy theory that Democrats will somehow tamper with the vote tallies after all voting is completed – in turn providing a premise to question the validity of all mail-in ballots, which tend to be added to tallies later in the counting process, tend to favour Democrats, and in some states can be added to the total count well after in-person voting closes. 11:40 , Andrew Naughtie Another election night across America means another long night of waiting for results to come in from the furthest reaches of the country – and Americans may be waiting even longer than that for the final results to come in.There are a lot of factors to consider, from mail-in ballots to runoffs, that could mean the balance of the Senate or even House will take hours or even days to decide. It could lead to an uncertain situation at a time when many expect those aligned with Donald Trump to take such opportunities to declare themselves the winners before votes are counted.Read more about how votes will be counted in the coming days from The Independent: © Provided by The Independent When will we know the midterm election results state by state? 10:50 , Sravasti Dasgupta The Republicans are strongly tipped to re-take the US House due to a favourable political environment and the effects of the redistricting process.But there is still considerable uncertainty about how Election Night will play out.Here are the races Dave Wasserman of The Cook Political Report suggests watching as the polls close on Tuesday to get an indication of how the night is going to go.Abe Asher reports: © Provided by The Independent Key races US House races to watch early on election night 10:30 , John Bowden Federal law enforcement officials will be monitoring election processes in two dozen states as experts warn of the potential for both domestic and international interference in the US midterm elections.This year, the agency appears to be bolstering voter protections in states that have faced right-wing threats of election interference, from ballot drop-box ‘vigilantes’ in Arizona to an increase in partisan poll watchers fuelled by baseless voter fraud conspiracy theories.Read more about the efforts of the federal government to protect Americans’ right to vote: © Provided by The Independent Justice Department to monitor polls on Election Day in 24 states 09:30 , John Bowden Democrats have an uphill battle to win if they want to hold on to control of the House today, but don’t count the party out just yet.Many are hoping that a wave of women voters, incensed by the Supreme Court’s gutting of federal abortion protections, will materialize to aid the left hold on to power in Tuesday’s matchups. Such a wave would be a shock to pollsters, who have predicted a GOP takeover for months.The Independent took a look at what the Democratic Party’s priorities would be for the second half of Joe Biden’s term were they able to hold on to majorities in the House and Senate: © Provided by The Independent Inside the new Democratic Congress if the party pulls off a major midterm win 08:30 , John Bowden If Republicans pull off a victory for control of the House today, they will be able to throw a major wrench into Joe Biden’s legislative agenda. But there’s more chaos that a GOP majority could pull off in the lower chamber.Many signs point to Republicans having an advantage going into today’s midterm elections, though Democrats including Nancy Pelosi have held out hope of protecting a majority in the lower chamber.Read more about the possibilities presented by the election of a GOP House majority from Andrew Feinberg: © Provided by The Independent All the ways the GOP could upend America if they win the House 07:30 , John Bowden Election Day is not a federal holiday in the United States (though Democrats pushed earlier this year, unsuccessfully, to make it one). So what does that mean for America’s schools tomorrow?Well, it’s complicated, because many school districts use buildings that double as polling places for local elections.Understand how the laws work with this explainer from The Independent: © Provided by The Independent Midterms 2022: Is there school on election day? 05:30 , John Bowden PresidentJoe Biden’s midterm election eve rally in Maryland turned combative when the president hit back at a heckler who was aiming to interrupt the event.Noticing a man in an Uncle Sam hat heckling him from the upper reaches of the venue at Bowie State University, Mr Biden paused his address, looked up towards the heckler, and said, ‘Hey! Hey man! Don’t jump! You look crazy enough to jump – don’t jump!’Watch video of the moment below, and read more about Joe Biden’s history with hecklers in The Independent:Biden: Don’t jump, you look crazy enough to jump *camera switches to heckler* pic.twitter.com/Y56QOjm7Gb- Acyn (@Acyn) November 8, 2022 04:30 , John Bowden Former president Donald Trump on Monday ended an hours-long rehashing of old grievances at a rally for Ohio Senate candidate JD Vance without announcing his intention to run for president in 2024.Many had expected that Mr Trump planned to do so at his rally this evening in Dayton, but instead the ex-president told his fans to stay tuned.’Not to detract from tomorrow’s very important, even critical election – and I would say in the strongest way it’s a country saving election … I’m going to be making a very big announcement on Tuesday, November 15 at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida,’ said Mr Trump on Monday.Read more in The Independent: © Provided by The Independent Trump delays 2024 announcement until after midterms despite election eve tease 03:33 , John Bowden Donald Trump’s attorney showed the latests signs of the former president’s desire to begin attacking his presumed 2024