There are 77 days until Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 5.

But if Americans vote like they did in the last two election cycles, most of them will have already cast a ballot before the big day.

Early voting starts as soon as Sept. 6 for eligible voters, with seven battleground states sending out ballots to at least some voters the same month.

It makes the next few months less a countdown to Election Day, and more the beginning of ‘election season.’

States have long allowed at least some Americans to vote early, like members of the military or people with illnesses. 

In some states, almost every voter casts a ballot by mail.

Many states expanded eligibility in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic made it riskier to vote in-person.

That year, the Fox News Voter Analysis found that 71% of voters cast their ballots before Election Day, with 30% voting early in-person and 41% voting by mail.

Early voting remained popular in the midterms, with 57% of voters casting a ballot before Election Day.

Elections officials stress that voting early is safe and secure. Recounts, investigations and lawsuits filed after the 2020 election did not reveal evidence of widespread fraud or corruption. 

The difference between ‘early in-person’ and ‘mail’ or ‘absentee’ voting.

There are a few ways to vote before Election Day.

The first is , where a voter casts a regular ballot in-person at a voting center before Election Day.

The second is , where the process and eligibility varies by state.

Eight states vote mostly by mail, including California, Colorado, Nevada and Utah. Registered voters receive ballots and send them back.

Most states allow any registered voter to request a mail ballot and send it back. This is also called mail voting, or sometimes absentee voting. Depending on the state, voters can return their ballot by mail, at a drop box, and/or at an office or facility that accepts mail ballots.

In 14 states, voters must have an excuse to vote by mail, ranging from illness, age, work hours or if a voter is out of their home county on Election Day.

States process and tabulate ballots at different times. Some states don’t begin counting ballots until election night, which delays the release of results.

Voting begins on Sept. 6 in North Carolina, with seven more battleground states starting that month

This list of early voting dates is for guidance only. For comprehensive and up-to-date information on voter eligibility, processes and deadlines, go to Vote.gov and your state’s elections website.

The first voters to be sent absentee ballots will be in North Carolina, which begins mailing out ballots for eligible voters on Sept. 6.

Seven more battleground states open up early voting the same month, including Pennsylvania, Georgia, Wisconsin, Michigan and Nevada.

September deadlines

In-person early voting in bold.

Sept. 6

North Carolina – Absentee ballots sent to voters

Sept. 16

Pennsylvania – Mail-in ballots sent to voters

Sept. 17

Georgia – Absentee ballots sent to military & overseas

Sept. 19

Wisconsin – Absentee ballots sent

Sept. 20

Arkansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Utah, Wyoming – Absentee ballots sent to military & overseas
Minnesota, South Dakota – In-person absentee voting begins
Virginia – In-person early voting begins
Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia – Absentee ballots sent

Sept. 21

Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Kansas, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, Oregon, South Carolina, Washington – Absentee ballots sent to military & overseas
Indiana, New Mexico – Absentee ballots sent
Maryland, New Jersey – Mail-in ballots sent

Sept. 23

Mississippi – In-person absentee voting begins & absentee ballots sent
Oregon, Vermont – Absentee ballots sent

Sept. 26

Illinois – In-person early voting begins 
Michigan – Absentee ballots sent
Florida, Nevada – Mail-in ballots sent
North Dakota – Absentee & mail-in ballots sent

Sept. 30

Nebraska – Mail-in ballots sent

Oct. 4

Connecticut – Absentee ballots sent

Oct. 6

Michigan – In-person early voting begins 
Maine – In-person absentee voting begins & mail ballots sent
California – In-person absentee voting begins & mail ballots sent
Montana – In-person absentee voting begins
Nebraska – In-person early voting begins 
Georgia – Absentee ballots sent
Massachusetts – Mail-in ballots sent

Oct. 8

California – Ballot drop-offs open
New Mexico, Ohio – In-person absentee voting begins
Indiana – In-person early voting begins
Wyoming – In-person absentee voting begins & absentee ballots sent

Oct. 9

Arizona – In-person early voting begins & mail ballots sent

Oct. 11

Colorado – Mail-in ballots sent
Arkansas, Alaska – Absentee ballots sent

Oct. 15

Georgia – In-person early voting begins
Utah – Mail-in ballots sent

Oct. 16

Rhode Island, Kansas, Tennessee – In-person early voting begins
Iowa – In-person absentee voting begins
Oregon, Nevada – Mail-in ballots sent

Oct. 17

North Carolina – In-person early voting begins 

Oct. 18

Washington, Louisiana – In-person early voting begins
Hawaii – Mail-in ballots sent

Oct. 19

Nevada, Massachusetts – In-person early voting begins 
Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Idaho, North Dakota, South Carolina, Texas – In-person early voting begins 
Colorado – Ballot drop-offs open

Oct. 22

Hawaii, Utah – In-person early voting begins 
Missouri, Wisconsin – In-person absentee voting begins

Oct. 23

West Virginia – In-person early voting begins

Oct. 24

Maryland – In-person early voting begins

Oct. 25

Delaware – In-person early voting begins

Oct. 26

Michigan, Florida, New Jersey, New York – In-person early voting begins 

Oct. 30

Oklahoma – In-person early voting begins 

Oct. 31

Kentucky – In-person absentee voting begins

Former President Trump said Monday night that Vice President Kamala Harris’ team told his campaign that she would not participate in a Fox News presidential debate on September 4.

The proposed debate would have been held in Pennsylvania and moderated by Fox News anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum.

‘I am not surprised by this development because I feel that she knows it is very difficult, at best, for her to defend her record setting Flip-Flopping on absolutely everything she once believed in, including her statements that THERE WILL BE NO FRACKING IN PENNSYLVANIA and her HORRIBLE Performance on the Border,’ Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.

The former president had initially been reluctant to debate Harris after President Biden suspended his re-election campaign because she was not the Democratic Party’s official candidate before later agreeing to debate her once she secured the party’s nomination for president.

Trump and Harris have both confirmed they would participate in a Sept. 10 debate on ABC News. Trump previously said he also agreed to an NBC News debate on Sept. 25. 

The Harris campaign has said it would consider a second presidential debate in October. Both campaigns have also agreed to a vice presidential debate on CBS News on Oct. 1 between Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz and Ohio Republican Sen. J.D. Vance.

‘Voters deserve to see the candidates for the highest office in the land share their competing visions for our future,’ Harris’ campaign communications director Michael Tyler said in a statement last week. ‘The more they play games, the more insecure and unserious Trump and Vance reveal themselves to be to the American people. Those games end now.’

In place of the Fox News debate, Trump says he will participate in a town hall in Pennsylvania with Fox News host Sean Hannity.

Kamala Harris’s first big policy speech did not exactly draw rave reviews from a media establishment that largely seems to adore her.

But with the Democratic convention getting under way, does that matter?

Perhaps the most stinging criticism came from the Washington Post’s mostly liberal editorial board, which declared that ‘unfortunately, instead of delivering a substantial plan, she squandered the moment on populist gimmicks.’

That may well be true. But again, does it really matter?

Policy is crucially important as voters weigh how the candidates would govern for the next four years. It’s especially vital because Harris suddenly emerged as the substitute nominee in a three-month campaign – not a ‘coup,’ as Donald Trump says – when Joe Biden was pressured into stepping aside.

But as ideologically different as the two nominees are, I believe policy will play a relatively minor role in 2024.  

Josh Barro, in the Atlantic, says a crackdown on price-gouging will make things worse and be virtually impossible to enforce: 

‘The substance likely won’t appeal to many people who actually know about economics. But it’s hard for me to argue with the politics….

‘Harris is trying to win a presidential election, and to win elections, you run on popular ideas.’ 

By the way, while I agree that going after price-gougers won’t work–groceries already operate on very thin margins–I see the Harris proposals as being mischaracterized as wage and price controls. I lived through Richard Nixon doing just that in the early 1970s and it was a disastrous failure. Harris isn’t saying the government should set prices for all products, though I can see why that’s a useful attack line for the Trump campaign.

I also agree with the Post’s editorial page that the vice president is offering all kinds of expensive goodies – such as a $25,000 down payment for first-time home buyers – without explaining how to pay for them. As the paper notes, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget says her overall plan would add $1.7 trillion to the deficit over the next decade. That’s sobering stuff.

But I don’t believe this election will turn on policy. Harris, who’s done a strikingly skillful job of handling her first three weeks, is drawing big crowds, raising a fortune and rising in the polls because she brings youth, vigor, excitement and, her favorite word, joy.

Harris is, among other things, a cultural phenomenon and a TikTok sensation. Much of what she’s proposing now is largely symbolic and will never pass, but she’s sending a message that she’s laser-focused on reducing inflation on kitchen-table issues for middle-class families (and distancing from Bidenomics).

That doesn’t mean she’s going to win. Trump still has an easier path to 270. The VP still has to win Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, even though a New York Times/Sienna College poll shows her closing the gap or statistically tied in four Sun Belt states – Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona and Nevada.

Harris remains, as she says, the underdog.

But if Kamala does pull it out, it will be because key voters, especially women, are drawn to her personally. And in the end, that’s how most elections are won.

In 2016, when everyone expected a Hillary victory, Trump ran on a few key issues – especially immigration and crime – but he won because of his image as a relentless fighter, not to mention an entertaining one. 

After the eight-year Obama presidency, enough voters were drawn to Trump’s culture war–and the media were criticized for carrying his rallies!–that the Democrats’ Midwestern blue wall collapsed.

Running against a 59-year-old woman of color–and a hostile press corps–seems to have thrown Trump off his game. While insisting he is ‘entitled’ to make ‘personal attacks’ against Harris–despite advice from the likes of Lindsey Graham–the former president has continued to denigrate the vice president, rightly noting that she and her campaign are ripping him as well. That’s the Trump pattern. 

And after journalists and commentators kept insisting that Joe Biden had the mental acuity for another four years, the press has now flipped to spotlighting every mistake by the 78-year-old Trump. Man, does Trump miss Biden – he keeps talking about how Joe was unfairly deposed – because he spent years preparing to run against the frail 81-year-old president.

Trump has in fact become the old man in the race, but this is sheer media hypocrisy.

Imagine how depressed the Democrats and the pundits would be if Biden had stuck it out and was speaking in Chicago as the nominee, headed for certain defeat. Instead, they’re swept up by Kamala fever.

And most of the mainstream media, having pounded the president for avoiding interviews, are largely uninterested in whether Harris does any. She’s getting a total pass. The veep did take questions for about 4 minutes the other day, the second time she’s done that, but largely because Trump and his allies keep ripping her as a Teleprompter candidate. 

Trump openly says he wants to define Harris as a communist, so he dredges up far-left positions she took four years ago as if those are her current positions, a game played by both sides. But she left the opening by not explaining her flip-flops (or, more charitably, evolution). Policy may matter to that extent. We’ll also see after the convention whether her numbers are a ‘sugar high,’ meaning the inevitable bump may soon bring her back to earth.

Keep in mind that Harris still hasn’t done an interview. Nor, for that matter, has Tim Walz, while JD Vance is working the Sunday shows and holding pressers.

The reason: with such a docile press corps, which Harris prefers to brief off the record on Air Force 2, it’s working for her.

One more thing: While Harris largely ducks the press, MSNBC refused to cover the second of Trump’s two news conferences in about a week, with Nicolle Wallace saying such events ‘have been less about the issues and the news lately, as if they ever were, and more about threats and lies and demeaning people.’ CNN bailed for awhile when Trump read off blue cards for 40 minutes, then jumped back in when he took questions. Only Fox carried the whole thing (and has been airing some of Kamala’s rallies!).

Trump has also been tying Harris to the unpopularity of the Biden-Harris record, which is a common problem for VPs who don’t have the ability to set policy on their own.

MSNBC’s all-liberal lineup for big events – Rachel Maddow, Joy Reid, Lawrence O’Donnell, Chris Hayes – hates Trump with the heat of a thousand suns. They basically don’t think he should ever be allowed on the air because it hurts their reputation (and, not coincidentally, ticks off their audience). 

Instead, they talk about Trump all day, and they have the next 22 hours to point out falsehoods and exaggerations.

So by that logic, why wouldn’t they blow off his convention speech as well? 

– In what may be one of the last major speeches of his decades-long political career, President Biden on Monday night handed the reins of the party to Vice President Kamala Harris as he spotlighted their administration’s accomplishments over the past three and a half years.

Speaking in front of a jam-packed United Arena, site of the Democratic National Convention, the president declared ‘America, I gave my best to you,’ as the crowd of party officials and delegates, activists, and supporters repeatedly gave Biden sustained ovations and chants of ‘thank you, Joe.’

Praising his vice president, Biden said that ‘selecting Kamala was the very first decision I made before I became when I became our nominee, and it was the best decision I made my whole career.’

‘She’s tough, she’s experienced, and she has enormous integrity, enormous integrity. Her story represents the best American story,’ the president highlighted.

And he asked the crowd are ‘you are ready to vote for freedom. Are you ready to vote for democracy and for America? Let me ask you, are you ready to elect Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, President and Vice President of the United States.’

Biden repeatedly took aim at former President Trump and the threats he said the Republican presidential nominee posed to America’s democracy and international alliances. And looking to his vice president and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, he pledged to be ‘the best volunteer Harris and Walz have ever seen.’

Harris and Walz and their spouses, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff and Minnesota First Lady Gwen Walz, joined the president, First Lady Jill Biden and their family, at the podium following Biden’s address, in a clear sign of party unity.

The president’s speech came four weeks and one day after his blockbuster announcement that he was ending his own White House bid and endorsing his vice president to replace him on the party’s 2024 ticket in the election showdown against former President Trump.

Biden’s disastrous performance against Trump in their late June debate fueled questions over whether the 81-year-old president had the physical and mental abilities to handle another four years in the White House and sparked a chorus of calls from within his own party to end his 2024 campaign.

Biden eventually caved to the pressure, announcing the suspension of his re-election campaign three days after the Republican National Convention ended with a solidified GOP ticket of Trump and running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio. 

Biden spoke in front of a crowd that included plenty of politicians who publicly urged or maneuvered behind the scenes for the president to drop out of the race, as his support in public opinion polls began to fade following his debate showdown with Trump.

Since Harris succeeded Biden, the vice president has been riding a wave of energy, with a jump in polling and fundraising as the battle with Trump is once again a margin-of-error race.

As Harris has surged, Trump has increasingly attacked the Democrats for what he charged was ‘a vicious COUP’ against Biden.

‘Crooked Joe Biden was told, ‘Sorry Joe, you’re losing to Trump, BIG, and you can’t beat him – You’re Fired,’ the former president claimed Monday in a social media post.

But Biden in his speech aimed to dispel any notion that he was angry about changing course and giving up his bid for a second term in the White House.

‘You see, it’s been the honor of my lifetime to serve as your president. I love the job, but I love my country more,’ Biden said. ‘And all this talk about how I’m angry [at] all those people who said I should step down — that’s not true.’

With five months left in his presidency, the speech was not billed as a farewell address, but it did in some ways have the feeling of a swan song, as he touted his administration’s accomplishments.

But Biden also pointed to the work he has left – including supporting Ukraine in its war against Russia and securing a cease-fire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas to end the deadly war in Gaza.

Outside the security zone surrounding the arena, anti-Israeli protesters marched throughout the day. And inside the United Center, a small group of delegates protesting Biden’s handling of the war briefly held up a banner that read ‘stop arming Israel.’ But delegates quickly blocked them with ‘We Love Joe’ signs and drowned them out. 

At one point, pointing to the rising death toll, Biden said the ‘protesters have a point.’ 

Speaking minutes before Biden at the convention podium was former Secretary of State, former senator, and former first lady Hillary Clinton, the Democrats’ 2016 presidential nominee. 

Clinton, in her speech, blasted Trump, praised Biden, and said that Harris has the ‘character, experience and vision to lead us forward.’

The speeches by Clinton and Biden – the party’s two previous standard-bearers – symbolized how the Democrats old guard was passing the torch to a younger generation.

Harris, in a brief surprise appearance from the podium earlier in the evening, praised her boss.

‘I want to kick us off by celebrating our incredible president,’ she emphasized. ‘Joe, thank you for your historic leadership, for your lifetime of service to our nation, and for all you will continue to do. We are forever grateful to you.’ 

– President Biden delivered his highly anticipated address to the Democratic National Convention late Monday night and touched on a variety of subjects including strong criticisms of former President Trump and the conflict between Israel and the Hamas terrorist organization in control of Gaza.

‘Those, those protesters out in the street, they have a point,’ Biden told the crowd in the United Center after anti-Israel protesters marched on the convention calling for an end to the U.S. support of Israel. ‘A lot of innocent people are being killed on both sides.’

‘We’re working around the clock,’ Biden said. ‘To end the civilian suffering of the Palestinian people and finally, finally, finally deliver a ceasefire and end this war.’

‘We’re working around the clock. My Secretary of State, to prevent a wider war and reunite hostage to their families and surge humanitarian, health and food assistance into Gaza. Now. To end the civilian suffering of the Palestinian people and finally, finally, finally deliver a cease-fire and end this war.’

In the same speech, Biden repeated the claim that Trump said there were ‘fine people’ on ‘both sides’ of the 2017 Charlottesville protest which has been debunked by several fact checkers.

Criticizing Trump was a major theme in Biden’s speech, which did not conclude until after midnight on the East Coast.

‘I never thought I’d stand before a crowd of Democrats and refer to a president who’s a liar so many times,’ Biden said. ‘Now, I’m not trying to be funny. It’s sad.’

Biden also hit Trump on abortion and the overturning of Roe v. Wade, warning that Trump ‘is going to find out the power of women in 2024.’

‘Now, where Trump is MAGA Republican, right-wingers seek to erase history,’ Biden said. ‘We Democrats continue to write history and make more history. I’m proud. I’m proud to have kept my commitment to appoint the first black woman in the United States Supreme Court. Ketanji Brown Jackson. A symbol for every young woman in America that you can do anything.’

Biden also renewed the allegation that Trump called military members who had died in battle ‘suckers’ and ‘losers’, which Trump and sources present at the time have said did not occur. 

‘Who in the hell does he think he is?’ Biden said. 

‘Who does he think he is? There’s no words for a person. There are not the words for a person not worthy of being commander in chief. Period. Period. Not then, not now, and not ever. I mean that I mean that from the bottom of my heart. Just as no commander chief should ever bow down to a dictator, the way Trump bowed down to Putin, I never have. And I promise you, Kamala Harris will never do it, will never bow down.’

Praising Harris was another theme in the speech which Biden did several times.

‘Selecting Kamala was the very first decision I made before I became when I became our nominee, and it was the best decision I made my whole career,’ Biden said. 

‘We’ve not only gotten to know each other, we’ve become close friends. She’s tough, she’s experienced, and she has enormous integrity, enormous integrity. Her story represents the best American story.’

Biden, who appeared to shed a tear after walking out on stage following an introduction from his daughter Ashley, said Harris will be ‘a president we can all be proud of’ before mentioning the Capitol Hill riots on January 6th.

‘This will be the first presidential election since January 6th,’ Biden said. ‘On that day, we almost lost everything about who we are as a country and that threat. This is not hyperbole. That threat is still very much alive.’

‘Donald Trump says he will refuse to accept the election result if he loses again. Think about that. He means it. Think about that. He’s probably seeing a bloodbath if he loses. In his words, and that he’ll be a dictator on day one. In his own words, by the way, this sucker means it. No, I’m not joking. Think about it.’

Biden told his supporters that the ‘power’ is ‘literally’ in your hands.

‘History is in your hands, not hyperbole,’ Biden said. ‘It’s in your hands. America’s future is in your hands. And because of this, nowhere else in the world could a kid with a stutter and modest beginnings in Scranton, Pennsylvania and Claymont, Delaware grow up to sit behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office.’

– Former Secretary of State and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton spoke at the Democratic National Convention on Monday night where she praised the accomplishments of VP Kamala Harris and highlighted the legal issues of former President Donald Trump.

‘She will fight to lower costs for hard-working families, open the doors wide for good-paying jobs and yes, she will restore abortion rights nationwide,’ Clinton told the crowd at the United Center. ‘As a prosecutor, Kamala locked up murderers and drug traffickers. She will never rest in defense of our freedom and safety. Donald Trump fell asleep at his own trial. And when he woke up, he made his own kind of history. The first person to run for president with 34 felony convictions.’

The crowd began chanting ‘lock him up’ in reference to the chants of ‘lock her up’ that often erupted at Trump rallies when he was running against Clinton in 2016 and criticizing her over allegations of corruption and improper handling of classified documents.

Clinton could seen smiling and nodding as the chants continued.

‘Just look at the candidates,’ Clinton said. ‘Kamala cares. Cares about kids and families. Cares about America. Donald only cares about himself.’

Earlier in the evening New York Gov. Kathy Hochul provoked a few cheers from the crowd by quipping that ‘Trump hasn’t spent much time in New York lately, except that is to get convicted of 34 felonies. And that’s just fine with us.’

For her part, Clinton touted Harris’ political resume as a prosecutor in California.

‘On her first day in court, Kamala said five words that still guide her,’ Clinton told the crowd. ‘Kamala Harris for the people. That is something that Donald Trump will never understand. So it is no surprise, is it, that he is lying about Kamala’s record? He’s mocking her name and her laugh. Sounds familiar. But we have him on the run now.’

‘So no matter what the polls say, we can’t let up. We can’t get driven down crazy conspiracy rabbit holes. We have to fight for the truth. We have to fight for Kamala as she will fight for us. Because you know what? It still takes a village to raise a family, heal a country and win a campaign.’

Clinton continued, ‘On the other side of that glass ceiling is Kamala Harris raising her hand and taking the oath of office as our 47th President of the United States.’

Clinton told the crowd that ‘we need to beat back the dangers that Trump and his allies pose to the rule of law and our way of life.’

‘Don’t get distracted or complacent. Talk to your friends and neighbors. Volunteer. Be proud champions for the truth and for the country that we all love.’

In closing, Clinton said that she wants her grandchildren and their grandchildren to ‘know I was here at this moment’ and that ‘we were here’ and ‘with Kamala Harris every step of the way.’

This is our time, America,’ Clinton said. ‘This is when we stand up. This is when we break through. The future is here. It’s in our grasp. Let’s go win it.’

New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez slammed former President Donald Trump in her DNC speech as a man who would ‘sell’ the U.S. ‘for a dollar’ if he’s re-elected come Election Day. 

‘We have to help [Vice President Kamala Harris] win because we know that Donald Trump would sell this country for a dollar if it meant lining his own pockets and greasing the palms of his Wall Street friends,’ Ocasio-Cortez said Monday evening from the convention’s stage at the United Center. 

‘And I, for one, am tired … of hearing about how a two-bit union buster thinks of himself as more of a patriot than the woman who fights every single day to let working people out from under the boots of greed trampling on our way of life. The truth is done. You cannot love this country if you only fight for the wealthy and big business. To love this country is to fight for its people. All people. Working people. Everyday Americans like bartenders and factory workers and fast food cashiers who punch a clock and are on their feet all day in some of the toughest jobs out there,’ Ocasio-Cortez continued. 

The DNC kicked off on Monday in Chicago, with a handful of high-profile Democrats addressing the convention, including former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Ocasio-Cortez and brief remarks from Harris before her full address on Thursday evening. 

‘I want to kick us off by celebrating our incredible President Joe Biden who will be speaking later tonight,’ Harris said of President Biden, adding ‘we are forever grateful to you.’

‘This November, we will come together and declare with one voice as one people, ‘we are moving forward with optimism, hope and faith,” she said.

‘When we fight, we win.’ 

Ocasio-Cortez made similar remarks amid her speech, arguing the country has been presented with a ‘rare and precious opportunity’ with Harris’ run, and that Democrats must ‘pour every ounce’ into ‘making history’ by electing Harris. 

‘Over the next 78 days, we will have to pour every ounce, every minute, every moment into making history on November 5th. But we cannot send Kamala and Tim to the White House alone. Together, we must also elect strong Democratic majorities in the House and in the Senate so that we can deliver on an ambitious agenda for the people,’ she said. 

The DNC has included massive protests from anti-Israel activists who held a march just blocks away from the convention center earlier Monday, demanding Democrats cease funding Israel as the country continues battling Hamas. 

‘We expect just empty phrases, lip service, lies and deception,’ a communist protester told Fox Digital Monday of what he anticpates from President Biden’s anticipated speech Monday evening. 

‘We don’t, you know, necessarily believe the Democrats are capable of doing anything for the Palestinian people,’ the group’s co-founder added.

The protests escalated Monday evening as the convention center began to fill with high-profile elected officials, delegates and supporters of the Harris-Walz ticket. Protesters managed to dismantle at least three panels of fencing surrounding the convention early Monday evening before police detained a handful of protesters.