Can it be stolen? The AP concludes the U.S. election is secure—but that doesn’t rule out foreign actors and domestic extremists looking to hack voters’ perceptions and emotions.
■ Reuters checks in with pro-Donald Trump poll watchers allegedly out to intimidate volunteers.
■ Press Watch columnist Dan Froomkin counsels news organizations to brace for “a Category 5 disinformation storm.”
■ The AP explains how it’ll call the winners. (Illustration: Microsoft Copilot.)
■ Joseph Dye at Law and Chaos: “How to watch the 6 o’clock hour of Election Night and not lose your mind.”
■ The Daily Beast: Six ways this election is already a garbage fire.
■ Seth Meyers: “Last time I was this excited for something to be over there was still an hour left in Return of the King.”
‘A creepy promise to women.’ That’s how The Guardian describes Trump’s vow in Wisconsin yesterday to “protect” women “whether the women like it or not.”
■ Columnist Bess Kalb tried her best to round up “some calming meditations” for people on edge approaching the election … but it didn’t go well.
■ Advice columnist Amy Dickinson looks back to 1993 for counsel from the late Molly Ivins: “Have fun while you’re fightin’ for freedom, ’cause you don’t always win.”
Trump’s ‘unacceptable risks.’ Add The Economist to the roster of publications endorsing Kamala Harris for president.
■ Awash in criticism for owner Jeff Bezos’ decision to kill an endorsement of Harris, The Washington Post has boosted its social-media budget to promote coverage critical of Trump.
■ NPR alumnus Bob Garfield: “The slogan of The Washington Post is ‘Democracy Dies in Darkness.’ That is true. So is ‘Silence=Death.’”
■ Reader columnist Ben Joravsky, who can’t make an endorsement for fear of endangering the paper’s nonprofit status, nevertheless warns that “Trump’s been threatening to send the military after folks like us.”
■ Chicago Public Square’s under no such limits.
‘She didn’t fantasize about decapitating a reporter.’ Columnist Jeff Tiedrich assembles a list of things Harris didn’t mention in her speech at the Ellipse …
■ … but Picayune Sentinel proprietor Eric Zorn faults the Harris campaign for not calling out “the hundreds of thousands of additional lives lost … because of the Trump administration’s botched handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
■ A Wayne State University professor of philosophy and law shares three insights about Trump to be gleaned from the writing of 1984 author George Orwell.
‘It’s the hypocrisy that gets to me.’ That’s law professor Joyce Vance on the Supreme Court’s OK of Virginia’s voter roll purge of suspected noncitizens.
■ The Daily Beast calls it “a massive MAGA flare” from the court.
■ Politico: “Guess who’s helping Trump map out his future Justice Department’s policy playbook. Hint: He’s pals with [Justice] Clarence Thomas.”
‘I was in shock.’ That’s a paid door-knocker flown to Michigan—one of several who tell Wired they were tricked and threatened as part of Elon Musk’s get-out-the-vote effort.
■ Musk’s dicey $1 million-a-day voter sweepstakes has its moment before a Philly judge today.
‘Vote early.’ Zorn again: “It’s a long ballot! Lines on Election Day itself may prove dauntingly long” …
■ … especially because of all those judicial seats.
■ Before you go, consult the updated Chicago Public Square Voter Guide Guide.
‘It’s something I grappled with for weeks.’ But in the end, Mayor Johnson says, he decided to scratch a campaign promise and propose a $300 million property tax hike to avoid layoffs.
■ Chicago magazine’s Ted McClelland looks back to the Daley dynasty for lessons that might benefit Johnson.
■ One of the mayor’s picks for the Regional Transit Authority Board’s been rejected by the City Council.
Tale of two Johnsons. Mayor Johnson’s appointment to the Chicago School Board presidency, the Rev. Mitchell Ikenna Johnson, is apologizing—but refusing to resign—for social media posts that he concedes “could be construed as antisemitic” …
■ … but the mayor’s not backing down from his—and the reverend’s—support for Palestinians.
■ Illinois has launched a new service to help people anonymously report hate crimes.
Whoops. $100,000 of the $20 million that the Press Forward nonprofit doled out to small newsrooms with great fanfare earlier this month was targeted for a newspaper that has no full-time journalists, has almost no social media presence, and is now owned by a former state lawmaker who served time in prison.
■ So that grant’s on “pause” for now.
Toxic time-bomb. Surveying the environmental hazards unleashed by Hurricane Helene, The Lever warns that “a Trump victory could make matters worse.”
■ A month later, 100,000 residents still can’t drink the water—a situation that the experts say will become more common across the nation.
Jingle all the way. WLIT-FM says it’ll begin its nonstop holiday music programming … tomorrow.
■ Trick-or-treaters oughtta layer up tonight for a 15-degree temperature drop by sunset.
Tick, tock. Time’s almost up to nominate Square in the Reader’s Best of Chicago poll …
■ … for Best Newsletter and Best Independent Website in the City Life division.
■ The finals begin in December.