Least Update: Harris and Trump’s final campaign sprint to Election Day…. Check In

What we’re covering
• Closing pitches: With only five days until Election Day, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are both in the pivotal battleground states of Nevada and Arizona today.

• Biden’s “garbage” comment: Harris said she “strongly” disagrees with criticizing anyone based on how they vote, after remarks from President Joe Biden sparked backlash from many who interpreted them as referring to Trump supporters as “garbage.” Trump and his allies accused Harris, by extension, of looking down on Americans who back the Republican presidential nominee.

Tight race: Harris has a narrow edge in Michigan and Wisconsin, while she and Trump remain tied in Pennsylvania, new CNN polls show, amid a locked race nationwide.

• Voter resources: See CNN’s voter handbook for how to vote in your area, and read up on the 2024 candidates and their proposals on key issues. Catch up on how US elections work.

How to verify real vs. fake voting information
From CNN’s Sara Murray
Last week, US intelligence assessed that Russian operatives were behind a fake video purporting to show someone destroying mail-in ballots in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, that circulated on social media.

With just days until the election, it’s important to be able to tell the difference between real vs. fake information online.

In this video, CNN’s Sara Murray talks through how to discern fact from fiction when it comes to ballot and voting information.

How to verify real vs. fake voting information
From CNN’s Sara Murray
Last week, US intelligence assessed that Russian operatives were behind a fake video purporting to show someone destroying mail-in ballots in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, that circulated on social media.

With just days until the election, it’s important to be able to tell the difference between real vs. fake information online.

In this video, CNN’s Sara Murray talks through how to discern fact from fiction when it comes to ballot and voting information.

Another poll shows a tight race in Michigan
From CNN’s Jennifer Agiesta
A new poll from The Washington Post finds likely voters in Michigan split 47% for Vice President Kamala Harris to 46% for former President Donald Trump, suggesting no clear leader in the presidential race in the state.

A CNN Poll of Polls average of four polls of the state conducted in mid-October or later puts the race at 48% for Harris to 45% for Trump.

The Post poll did not test support for Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., the independent candidate who remains on the ballot in Michigan despite suspending his campaign and throwing his support behind Trump
It also finds significantly lower support for Harris among Black likely voters than other recent polling, pegging Harris at 63% support among Black voters in the state — compared with 83% in CNN’s latest poll, 81% in a Fox News survey out Wednesday night, and 82% in Quinnipiac University’s most recent survey of the state.

Most Georgia ballots will be counted by the end of Tuesday night, secretary of state says
From CNN’s Maureen Chowdhury
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said that he expects the majority of ballots cast in his state will be tabulated by the end of Tuesday night.

In 2020, Georgia was called 10 days after Election Day. Raffensperger said he does not think that delay will happen this year.

Raffensperger tolf CNN ballots from early voting and absentee ballots received by this weekend will be calculated no later than 8 p.m. ET on Election Night.

The voting that happens on Tuesday, you’re going to get all of that by the end of the night,” he added.

He said that ballots that will be counted after Election Day will be overseas military ballots and absentee ballots received on Monday and Tuesday.

Where things stand in the race: Harris and Trump square off in the Southwest with 5 days until election
CNN’s Terence Burlij
With five days until Election Day and nearly 60 million ballots already cast, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump square off in the Southwest as both candidates try to press their advantage amid controversies stirred by campaign allies.

Sun Belt Showdown

The showdown between Harris and Trump swings to the American Southwest on Thursday — with Harris eyeing the battlegrounds of Arizona and Nevada while Trump also visits the Silver State but first makes a detour to Democratic-leaning New Mexico, which has the highest percentage of Hispanic residents in the country.

The campaign stop in the Land of Enchantment is the latest event Trump has held in a state the GOP nominee is not expected to win next week, but it does provide the former president with a border state backdrop as he makes immigration a centerpiece of his closing argument to voters.

As CNN polls showed earlier this week, Arizona and Nevada remain exceedingly close, with no clear leader in either state — and where the support of Latino voters is crucial. The vice president holds a clear advantage among likely Latino voters in Arizona but in Nevada, she and Trump are running roughly even.

Pressing the advantage

The dueling Sun Belt stops come as both candidates seek to press their advantage amid the fallout from controversies stirred this week by allies of their campaigns — the disparaging joke by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe about Puerto Rico delivered at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally and President Joe Biden seeming to denigrate Trump’s supporters in response.

While the president quickly sought to clarify his comments — saying they were directed at Hinchcliffe — and Harris distanced herself from the remark on Wednesday, Trump leaned into his showman background to hammer his former rival, donning an orange and yellow safety vest and deploying a garbage truck to maximize the mileage out of the attack during a campaign stop in Wisconsin.

Harris will be joined Thursday in Nevada by actress and singer Jennifer Lopez, who has been a leading voice in denouncing the Trump rally rhetoric aimed at Puerto Rico. The Harris campaign is also leveraging the “island of garbage” remarks with a new Spanish-language advertisement in battleground states.

At his Green Bay rally, Trump also continued his less-than-subtle appeal to women by saying he would not refrain from vowing to be their “protector” despite what he said was the advice of his campaign strategists. “I’m going to do it whether the women like it or not,” Trump told the crowd, which came a day after ally Nikki Haley cautioned the former president’s campaign against leaning into “bromance and masculinity stuff” as polls show a wide gender gap between the GOP nominee and his Democratic rival.