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Midterm elections live updates: Judge orders DOJ to halt threats to election workers

The judge granted a temporary restraining order through Nov. 16

Last Updated: October 31, 2026, 3:33 PM EDT

The high-stakes midterm elections are just days away, and candidates are making their final pitches to voters.

There are several key House and Senate races that could determine the balance of power in Congress as well as significant races for governor around the country. The elections could ultimately determine how effective President Donald Trump's agenda is in the back half of his second term.

3:33 PM EDT

Counties across Texas break records for early vote

At the end of Texas early voting on Friday, over 7 million voters have cast their ballots, according to state election data.

That represents approximately 37% of the 19 million registered voters in Texas.

Several counties have also seen their early voting turnout nearly meet or exceed 2024 presidential levels, according to election data.

Voters wait in line to cast their ballot at a polling station on Oct. 29, 2026, in Austin, Texas.
Brandon Bell/Getty Images

In Harris County, unofficial results show over 1.08 million people voted early, between mail-in and in-person early voting this year. In 2024, that number was 1.17 million, according to election data.

In Dallas County, an unofficial count through Friday showed over 627,000 early votes. Total early voting in 2024 was roughly 584,000, according to election data.

-ABC News' Diana Paulsen and Emily Chang

5:09 AM EDT

Kamala Harris says Americans are ‘done’ with Trump

Capping off a multi-day swing campaigning for Democrats running in key races this cycle, former Vice President Kamala Harris said that voters are “done” with President Donald Trump while speaking at a Democratic fundraising dinner in downtown Atlanta on Friday, the last day of early voting in Georgia.

“I've been traveling the country a lot in the last year and a half, and in the last several months, and in the last two weeks … went from Nevada to New Hampshire, Mississippi to Macon, and I will tell you in my travels, I've heard the same thing from Democrats, Independents, and even some Republicans. When it comes to this president and his party, people are done. They are done,” Harris said in her keynote address at the Fulton County Democratic Party Committee’s annual fundraising dinner.

Harris poked fun at President Trump’s White House renovation projects and accused his administration of corruption.

“He'd rather play decorator-in-chief and hand out tax cuts to his biggest donors, while he, by the way, racks up the national debt, which has grown 30% under his watch. All while he leads an administration that is stone-cold corrupt,” Harris said.

The former vice president called out Trump’s midterm campaign trail promises, specifically the $5,000 dividends contingent on a GOP victory in the midterms on Tuesday.

“They know they can't win on the truth, so they have resorted to tricks disguised as treats,” Harris said, before adding, “Happy Halloween,” drawing laughs from the crowd of Georgia Democrats.

“Tricks disguised as treats, like Trump's promise to give everyone $5,000, but only if Republicans win. And let's call that what it is: the offer of a bribe,” said Harris.

“Remember when he said he would give everyone $5,000 from the DOGE cuts? Never happened. Or he said everyone gets $2,000 from the tariff revenue? Never happened,” she added.

-ABC News' Halle Troadec

Oct 30, 2026, 9:42 PM EDT

Judge orders DOJ to halt threats to election workers

A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked the Justice Department from threatening state and local election officials, dealing yet another legal setback to the Trump administration as it endeavors to prevent vote-counters in California and elsewhere from setting aside thousands of ballots it claims belong to noncitizens.

U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson issued the ruling as part of a lawsuit filed late Thursday by a coalition of civil rights groups and labor unions, including one that represents election workers in California.

The coalition’s attorneys requested a temporary restraining order halting the Trump administration’s threats to jail election officials who count ballots belonging to voters whom the Justice Department claims might be noncitizens.

On Friday, the judge granted the coalition’s request, issuing a temporary restraining order through Nov. 16.

The Justice Department "shall not threaten, intimidate or coerce state or local elections officials or workers to demand that they halt processing the ballots of any registered voter solely on the basis that the ballot belongs to an individual alleged by [DOJ] to be ineligible to vote,” she wrote in her eight-page order.

Thompson also ordered the Justice Department to inform the court of any pending grand jury subpoenas or search warrant applications.

This week, the Department of Justice issued grand jury subpoenas to local election officials in California as part of its criminal investigation into the state's voter rolls, multiple sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.

ABC News has reached out to the DOJ for comment on the judge's order.

-ABC News' Lucien Bruggeman

Oct 30, 2026, 5:52 PM EDT

Trump says he was asked to resume in-person rallies

President Trump has confirmed he is going to conduct in-person rallies in Kansas and Iowa this weekend ahead of the critical midterm elections, saying he wants to "make sure we win" in those states.

President Donald Trump waves as he boards Air Force One, Oct. 30, 2026, at Joint Base Andrews, Md.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Asked about the recent schedule changes around his rallies ahead of Election Day, Trump said that he was pivoting back to in-person events because he was told "it would be better than a tele-rally."

"So I wanted to see if I could do tele-rallies because I'm very successful," Trump said. "You know, we're batting unbelievable at tele-rallies." But Trump said that he "got a call from Iowa," and from his "friends" asking him to revert to in-person rallies.

-ABC News' Isabella Murray and Nicholas Kerr

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