“There is no legal excuse” for the failure of 18 polling sites to open for early voting, a state lawmaker said.

© Kerry Tasker/Reuters

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• Obama rallies Michigan crowd for El-Sayed, saying he’s ‘fighting for real change’

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Donald Trump voted in West Palm Beach, Florida today, telling reporters at the polls that he voted straight Republican on his ballot. Trump has historically mailed-in his ballot rather than voting in-person.

Speaking from the polling site, Trump defended an ad from Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, his administration’s lawsuit seeking to block certification of the Alaska Senate race if Repubican senator Dan Sullivan loses his race and the war in Iran.

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© Photograph: Kyle Mazza/CNP/Kyle Mazza - CNP/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Kyle Mazza/CNP/Kyle Mazza - CNP/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Kyle Mazza/CNP/Kyle Mazza - CNP/Shutterstock

With moves in Alaska and California, the department has stepped up interventions in the midterm elections as the president’s instrument of unmediated executive power.

© Doug Mills/The New York Times

Conflict between Michigan’s Black and Arab communities could get in the way of Dr. Abdul El-Sayed’s pitch in the critical Senate race.

© Emily Elconin/Reuters

The president has spread false claims about ranked-choice systems, voting machines, vote counting and past results to question the integrity of elections.

© Doug Mills/The New York Times

The 44th president sharply criticized Mr. Trump, who hit back later in the day. Mr. Obama also assailed Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republican nominee for governor of Ohio.

© Victor J. Blue for The New York Times