Seventy days remain until the 2024 US Elections, and while that may seem far off, the events leading up to them will make time pass by quickly.
The Republican and Democratic National Conventions have ended, but much more must be done before the first votes are counted. Early mail-in voters need to submit their ballots, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump need to have debates, and Trump’s court proceedings are set to have some significant moments before US Election Day.
Mail-in ballots and early voting
Early voters send their votes through the mail way before the election even happens. North Carolina and Pennsylvania send mail-in ballots out as early as September 6th and September 16th, respectively, for those who request them.
Early ballots are also sent to military personnel and citizens voting from overseas. Under federal law, those ballots must be sent out by September 21st. The deadlines for when voters must be registered to vote vary from state to state but most lie in mid-to-late October.
Some states, such as Arizona and Maine, have in-person early voting and virtual options alongside mail-in ballots.
Debates and rallies before the US elections
With just over two months remaining until US election day arrives, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris will be on the campaign trail and squaring off against one another in debates.
Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz, began their two-day bus tour of the battleground state of Georgia on Wednesday. This comes after Walz appeared at a firefighter union conference in Boston, Massachusetts. They will end the tour with a Thursday rally in Savannah, Georgia.
On Monday, Harris will head back north to Pennsylvania, where she and President Biden will hold a joint event in Pittsburgh. Later that day, she is also slated to appear in Detroit, Michigan.
Donald Trump’s campaign trail this week started on Monday with an event for the third anniversary of the Kabul Airport suicide bombing. At this event, Tulsi Gabbard, the former Democratic Representative of Hawaii, endorsed Trump’s candidacy. Then, on Wednesday, Donald Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, hosted events in Erie, Pennsylvania, and De Pere, Wisconsin.
On Thursday, Donald Trump will host a rally in La Crosse, Wisconsin, and a town hall moderated by Tulsi Gabbard. On Friday, Trump will go to Pennsylvania for another rally in Johnstown at the 1st Summit Arena.
September 10 will be a big day for both candidates, as they will debate for the first time on ABC News in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. There may be more debates between the two candidates as Harris has proposed a second debate, and Trump has proposed three events with different TV stations, but none of those events have been officially scheduled.
Meanwhile, JD Vance and Tim Walz have agreed to a Vice Presidential debate hosted by CBS News on October 1 in New York City. Vance proposed another debate on September 18, but the candidates have not officially set the event.
Trump’s various court proceedings
Donald Trump faces plenty of legal hurdles before election day arrives. On September 18 is set to be sentenced in New York after being found guilty of all 34 counts of falsifying business records to pay hush money to adult performer Stormy Daniels.
Trump managed to push back the sentencing to allow the presidential immunity hearing to take place on July 1 since it could have had implications on the trial. Trump is attempting to push the sentencing back after the US elections take place because Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan will be ruling on September 16 over whether the hush money case should be tossed out altogether because of the presidential immunity decision.
Donald Trump may also have to appear in Washington DC, regarding US Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith’s revised indictment for subversion during the 2020 US elections. Smith’s indictment has been adapted to work around the July 1 presidential immunity hearing by removing anything that may come off as an official act during Trump’s presidency.
Trump and Smith’s teams agreed that Trump’s presence would not be required at the subsequent arraignment, but Judge Tanya Chutkan ultimately has the final say. Chutkan has reportedly said she will not let Trump’s campaign schedule affect her schedule, and she may add further hearings before election day that may require Trump’s presence.
