Plus, the Supreme Court’s conservative justices allow Virginia to purge suspected noncitizen voter registrations

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Happy Halloween!

Get ready to see some favorite movie characters trick-or-treating tonight. Google Trends points to 2024’s most popular costumes will be inspired by characters in the most popular movies (and some pop-culture celebs).

#1 Shrunken Head Bob (from Beetlejuice Beetlejuice)
#2 Raygun (Australian breakdancer)
#3 CatNap (from the “Poppy Playtime” video game)
#4 Delores (from Beetlejuice Beetlejuice)
#5 Pomni (from “The Amazing Digital Circus” series)
#6 Envy (from Inside Out 2)
#7 Red (from Descendants: The Rise of Red)
#8 Dr. Doom (comic book character)
#9 Sabrina Carpenter (pop singer)
#10 Lady Deadpool (from Deadpool & Wolverine)

And as always, bonus points for creativity!

Mosheh, Jill, & Lauren

PS: Don’t forget to refer friends & family to subscribe to the Mo Newsletter… you could get free Mo News merch — DETAILS at the bottom of this newsletter!

📣 THE DISPATCH: NO OUTRAGE. JUST FACTS.

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📌 TRUMP’S GARBAGE TRUCK STUNT; BEGINS TO MAKE CASE THAT CHEATING IS TAKING PLACE DURING EARLY VOTING

With five days until the election, polls are still essentially tied in the major battleground states. About 55 million ballots have already been cast in early voting. And former President Trump is trying to leverage President Biden’s remark calling his MAGA voters “garbage.” He boarded a garbage truck in Wisconsin Wednesday that was decked out with his campaign logo.

“This is in honor of Kamala and Joe Biden,” Trump told assembled reporters, accusing Biden of insulting 250 million Americans.

While Biden has tried to clarify the remark, and Harris has distanced herself from the comments, the “garbage” comment dominated a news cycle Harris was hoping would focus on her carefully crafted speech on the National Mall.

The ‘trash talk’ comes as Trump is also starting to make the case that voter fraud is happening in the key swing state of Pennsylvania. It is creating fears of a repeat of 2020—and that he may not accept the results of the election if he loses in 2024.

Trump wrote on his Truth Social on Wednesday that there’s been fraud and misconduct around voting in the state. PA officials say there have been a couple of small, isolated issues that reinforce that the system is actually working.

THE ALLEGATIONS

DELAWARE COUNTY: Trump’s allies are pointing to a GOP activist in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, who was detained “for encouraging people to stay in line and vote" after election officials allegedly told voters to leave and thus were "actively suppressing" their voting rights.
- Delaware County officials pushed back, and said multiple eyewitnesses characterized the woman as being "disruptive, belligerent, and attempting to influence voters waiting in line.

YORK & LANCASTER COUNTIES: Trump took aim at York County and Lancaster County regarding what he said were fake ballots and forms.
- In reality: the Lancaster County Board of Elections said in a statement that approximately 2,500 suspected fraudulent voter registration applications (not ballots) were dropped off at the election office in two batches around the deadline to register.
- They say that the fact that the questionable applications were flagged is evidence that their security system is working properly.
- York County is also investigating mostly duplicate registration requests.
BUCKS COUNTY: A Pennsylvania judge on Wednesday granted a request from the Trump campaign and ordered a three-day extension to the county’s in-person mail-in-ballot deadline through Friday.
- The judge said the county violated Pennsylvania Election Code after previously turning away voters applying for a ballot before the deadline.
- Multiple Trump allies had posted a video Tuesday afternoon that they said shows law enforcement shutting down the line at a polling place in Bucks County before 3 p.m., even though the line was supposed to be open until 5 p.m.

WHAT’S THE DEAL?
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) responded to Trump on X. “Let’s remember, in 2020, Donald Trump attacked our elections over and over,” he wrote. “He’s now trying to use the same playbook to stoke chaos, but hear me on this: we will again have a free and fair, safe and secure election — and the will of the people will be respected.”

Beyond Pennsylvania, courts in multiple states are already being flooded with lawsuits far earlier than in the 2020 election, mostly from Republican-aligned groups challenging everything from ballot rules to voter qualifications.
Both campaigns have recruited hundreds of lawyers for what could be multiple court battles in states with close results next month.
As far as the Trump strategy, Nate Persily, a Stanford Law School election professor, says that his campaign is laying the legal groundwork to contest the election if Harris wins.
- “It’s also preparing the public for the likely charges that the election was defective and corrupt — or maybe I should say rigged,” he said.

📌 SUPREME COURT ALLOWS VIRGINIA TO PURGE SUSPECTED NON-CITIZENS FROM VOTER ROLLS

The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed the state of Virginia to move forward with its purge of roughly 1,600 residents it believes are non-citizens from its voter rolls just days before the election.

The court granted the request without explanation; the three liberal judges dissented.

HOW WE GOT HERE
Virginia had asked the justices to intervene after lower courts found that Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s executive order violated a 90-day “quiet period” federal law. It is meant to prevent purging voter rolls this close to an election due to likely errors that could hurt citizens.

The Youngkin order requires DMV data to be checked daily against voter rolls to identify noncitizens up until election day.

THE IMPLICATIONS
There’s typically no issue with purging voter rolls, but there is a federal law that bans purging within 90 days of Election Day. Since mistakes happen, legal citizens who filled out paperwork improperly, and/or didn’t check the right box at the DMV, might be booted without time to regain their registration.

Virginia has said they can take care of that. Anyone flagged is notified and given two weeks to dispute their status before being removed.
The Supreme Court’s order means the state won’t have to reinstate removed names, and will be allowed to cancel more registrations in the final days before Nov. 5.

Virginia is not a battleground state in the presidential race, however, the case shows a broader effort by the Republican Party to scrutinize potential non-US citizen voting. Another federal judge blocked Alabama’s Republican Secretary of State from carrying out the removal of more than 3,000 people from its voter rolls. However, the state didn’t pursue an immediate appeal.

⏳ SPEED READ

🚨NATION

📌 Dodgers defeat Yankees to win World Series in Game 5 comeback (ESPN)

📌 More than 55 million people have voted early in run-up to Election Day (CBS)

📌 Florida teen accused of threatening Democratic voters with machete at early voting site (USA TODAY)

📌 Gunman who shot a Jewish man walking to synagogue, first responders faces charges (CNN) Details: Gunman entered US illegally (FOX NEWS)

📌 Police say the man behind ballot box fires with devices that were labeled “Free Gaza” might plan more attacks (AP)

🌎 AROUND THE WORLD

📌 Lebanon’s PM says hopes for Hezbollah ceasefire with Israel in ‘coming hours or days’ (TIMES OF ISRAEL)

📌 Devastating floods in Spain kill dozens (AXIOS)

📌 North Korean troops in Russian uniforms moving towards Ukraine, Pentagon says (CBS)

📌 A Russian court fined Google more money than the world's GDP (QZ)

📱BUSINESS, SCIENCE & TECH

📌 U.S. economy grew at 2.8% rate in the third quarter (AXIOS)

📌 Starbucks, trying to reverse sluggish sales, discontinues olive oil drinks to simplify its menu (AP)

📌 H5N1 bird flu identified in pig for first time in US (NBC)

📌 Viral appetizer sends Chili’s sales surging (CNN)

🎬 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT

📌 Joe Rogan reveals he warned Tony Hinchcliffe about Puerto Rico joke before Trump rally (THE WRAP)

📌 New York grand jury hearing new evidence in Sean 'Diddy' Combs federal case (NBC)

📌 ‘Bob’s Burgers’ Actor Sentenced to One Year in Prison for Role in Jan. 6 Insurrection (VARIETY)

📌 Yankees fans who ripped ball out of Mookie Betts’ glove banned from Game 5 of World Series (CNN)

🗓 ON THIS DAY: OCTOBER 31

1517: Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses criticizing the Catholic church that would turn into the Protestant Reformation
1941: After nearly 15 years of work, the Mount Rushmore National Memorial in the Black Hills of South Dakota was completed, featuring the heads of Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln.
- The Black Hills are sacred to the Lakota Sioux and critics say Rushmore is an insult to the Sioux.
1975: Queen released 'Bohemian Rhapsody.'
1984: Indira Gandhi, India’s Prime Minister for over 15 years, was assassinated by two of her own security guards.