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Follow along for regular updates on the 2024 Election.
It all comes down to this week. By the end of it, Americans should know who will be the next president of the United States. In Massachusetts, voters will decide whether Sen. Elizabeth Warren will retain her seat. They will also weigh in on five consequential ballot questions that could reshape standardized testing, provide a glimpse into the workings of the state Legislature, legalize some psychedelics, and more.
Going into Election Day, the presidential contest between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris appears deadlocked, with both candidates retaining multiple paths to victory. Ballots will begin to be counted Tuesday night, but the results will take time to tabulate and the winner may not be known for days.
In the meantime, catch up on all of Boston.com’s 2024 election coverage, and read up on the five Massachusetts ballot questions, including detailed explainers for each measure.
As the 2024 election reaches its conclusion, follow along here for regular updates.
While insults have been a staple of political discourse in 2024, the word “garbage” has taken on new importance during the final stretch of the campaign. It began after a comedian called Puerto Rico an “island of garbage” at a Trump rally in Madison Square Garden. While some on the right defended the racist language as a joke, the Trump campaign scrambled to distance itself from the comments and minimize backlash among Puerto Rican voters.
Then, President Biden made a gaffe. In attempting to defend the island and hit back at the Trump campaign, he said “the only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters.” While Trump regularly uses dehumanizing language to describe migrants and political opponents, Biden and his allies quickly went into damage-control mode.
Trump boarded a garbage truck in an attempt to capitalize on the situation, and his running mate is now using similar rhetoric to attack Harris.
“While we’re not garbage for thinking Kamala Harris has done a bad job, I think in a couple of days the voters of New Hampshire are going to take out the trash in Washington, D.C., and person’s name is Kamala Harris,” Sen. JD Vance said at a rally Sunday evening in Derry, N.H.
Polling numbers show that Harris is expected to win New Hampshire, but her lead there has shrunk since September.
Vance expressed optimism at the Trump campaign’s chances in the Granite State.
“I got to be honest, a couple months ago I wasn’t necessarily sure that the day before the last full day of the campaign, we’d be in the great state of New Hampshire,” Vance said. “But I think that it suggests that what we’re doing is expanding the map, we’re bringing new voters into this coalition.”
Mass. Gov. Maura Healey, who is set to campaign on behalf Democrats in New Hampshire Monday, said that Vance’s comments were another example of fearmongering.
“Trump and Vance offer nothing but lies, misinformation, and tearing people down, and stoking fear and division,” she told The Boston Globe. “That’s not leadership.”
Bluebikes, the public bicycles popular throughout the Boston area, will be free for riders to use on Tuesday. All riders need to do is enter the code BCBSMAVOTE at checkout when purchasing a day pass in the Bluebikes app.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, the title sponsor of the program, is offering unlimited complimentary two-hour classic bike rides and free ebike unlocks all day long. Users who opt to ride ebikes will still need to pay on a per-minute basis.
There are 500 stations across 13 municipalities where voters can pick up their bikes. Members of the public can find the station closest to their polling location online.
“During this election season, we are dedicated to eliminating transportation barriers so every citizen can exercise their right to vote,” Jeff Bellows, vice president of corporate citizenship and public affairs at Blue Cross, said in a statement. “Bluebikes offers a convenient and accessible transportation option for residents across Metro Boston, particularly for those in underserved and underrepresented communities who may face challenges getting to their polling places.
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