Biden Leads Trump 49-41 in National Poll: Campaign Update

Democratic nominee Joe Biden leads by eight points in the latest national poll. Pennsylvania’s state Supreme Court will take up a case on election rules. And a survey shows few undecided voters in North Carolina.

There are 62 days until the election.

Other Developments:

  • Mnuchin Rejects Claims Postal Service Review Sought to Aid Trump
  • A Rust Belt Town’s Loyalties Divide as Pennsylvania Turns Purple
  • Pence Insists Trump Is Healthy as 2019 Hospital Stop Scrutinized
  • Election Mail Slowed Before New U.S. Postal Leader Arrived

Biden Leads Trump by Eight Points in National Poll

Biden leads President Donald Trump by eight percentage points in the latest Grinnell College national poll.

Biden registered 49% support, compared to 41% for Trump the poll, which was released Wednesday.

The survey also showed Biden with strong support among women, especially suburban women, among whom he posted almost a two-to-one margin. Biden also did well with non-white voters and those who live in large metropolitan areas.

“The president has not expanded his coalition beyond his core base of supporters, who have always been a minority of the electorate,” said Grinnell College National Poll Director Peter Hanson. “His most likely path to victory is to do again what he did in 2016: Win the Electoral College with narrow victories in battleground states despite losing the national popular vote.”

The poll of 827 likely voters was conducted Aug. 26-30 by Selzer & Company. The margin of error was plus-or-minus 3.4 percentage points.

Pennsylvania’s State Supreme Court to Look at Mail-In Ballot Rules

Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to hear state Democrats’ arguments for broadening the rules over counting mail-in ballots.

The court will take up a case brought by the state Democratic Party seeking to allow voters to return mail-in ballots via drop boxes, require that officials count ballots returned without a secrecy envelope and give voters an opportunity to fix problems with mail-in ballots.

Democrats also are seeking to require poll watchers to be from the area they are monitoring.

Lawyers for the Trump campaign argued in a court filing that the requests are “mirror-image declarations” of ones the president made in a lawsuit filed in federal court. They called the Democratic lawsuit a “transparent attempt“ to find a more favorable courtroom.

The state Supreme Court is likely to be more favorable. While the judge in the federal lawsuit was appointed by Trump, the state’s highest court has a 5-2 Democratic majority.

North Carolina Poll Shows Most Have Made Up Their Minds

A poll of likely voters in North Carolina shows a dead heat in the presidential race, with few people undecided.

In the East Carolina University Poll released Tuesday, Trump had 49% support, while Biden had 47% — well within the survey’s margin of error and similar to other recent polls in the state showing a tight race.

Only 3% of voters were undecided, and only 4% of those who chose either Trump or Biden said they were still open to changing their mind.

“This suggests that campaign efforts to persuade voters are unlikely to make a significant difference,” said Dr. Peter Francia, director of the Center for Survey Research at East Carolina University. “Instead, the outcome of the Trump-Biden contest in North Carolina will hinge on which party — Democrats or Republicans — does a better job of turning out their supporters to vote.”

The poll of 1,101 likely voters in North Carolina was conducted Aug. 29-30. It has a margin of error of plus-or-minus 3.4 percentage points.

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