♪ amna: good evening. geoff: on the news hour tonight, kamala harris, donald trump, and their running rates in critical swing states. with only a few days until voting ends.

amna: we examine the trends from early voting data and what they signal about this year's election. geoff: and the growing divide over whether to trust election results despite no evidence that the vote has been compromised. >> we know it is not easy because we know that people have been fed lies about our election system now for literally four years. ♪ announcer: major funding for the pbs news hour has been provided by -- the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions and and friends. the judy and peter blum kovler foundation. upholding freedom by strengthening democracies at home and abroad. >> it really matters when you

have an opportunity to give back. >> being part of something that is bigger than myself. >> being able to integrate your professional career with other things that are important to you. >> this is also our community and we want to give back to it. >> people want the opportunities to make an impact and a difference. ♪ >> the knight foundation, fostering informed and engaged communities. more at kf.org. ♪ announcer: and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions -- ♪ and friends of the news hour -- ♪

this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. geoff: welcome to the news hour. with four days to go until election day kamala harris and donald trump have dueling rallies planned in wisconsin tonight mere miles away from each other. amna: the homestretch is not without bumps. foreign threats of election interference sprang up in georgia. we begin in michigan with donald trump's latest stop on the campaign trail. ♪ reporter: donald trump rounding the final lap of his third presidential campaign today sticking with his anti-immigrant closing message.

>> all of those people that illegally come across the border are taking the african-american jobs away. reporter: the former president rallied in warren, michigan after stopping at a cafe in dearborn where he doubled down on comments you made last night. in glendale, arizona he sat down with a controversial ally, tucker carlson. at the center of their conversation, one of donald trump's most outspoken republican critics. >> is it weird for you to see liz cheney running against you with kamala harris? reporter: liz cheney, the former wyoming representative, crossed party lines to endorse harris. donald trump spoke about cheney in violent and threatening terms. >> she could not stand me. she wanted to go to war with me. his daughter is a very dumb individual.

she is a radical warlock. let's put her with a rifle standing there with nine barrels shooting at her. let's see what she feels about it. when the guns are trained on her face. >> this must be disqualifying. reporter: today harris pulled reporters got donald trump's rhetoric is dangerous. >> representative cheney is a true patriot who has shown extraordinary courage. donald trump is someone who considers his political opponents the enemy, he is permanently out for revenge and is increasingly unstable. reporter: cheney gave a cautionary response writing -- this is how dictators destroy free nations. arizona's top prosecutor is reportedly investigating whether the remark crosses into a death threat under state law. that kind of rhetoric from donald trump in addition to his racist madison square garden rally has voters breaking for

harris by double digits according to a harris accounting from internal data. harris is also in the midwest making a final push with her first stop in janesville. >> we have four days left. in one of the most important elections of our lifetime. we have a lot of hard work to do. hard work is good work. hard work is good forward. and we will win. reporter: both vice presidential candidates were in nearby michigan today. governor tim walz in detroit -- >> folks, i get it. you are tired, stressed and ready for this to be over. there is one antidote for this, and it is the best one? go out and vote for kamala harris. >> to vote for kamala harris is to vote for more of the same.

>> jd vance was off to north carolina. >> it is a vote for more incompetent and failed leadership. we will vote for change. reporter: in the final days donald trump's campaign has steadily ramped up lies about election fraud as foreign it all comes as foreign adversaries are interfering. this video purports to show haitian immigrants illegally voting for harris in several counties in georgia. u.s. intelligence officials say the video was manufactured by russian influence actors to raise unfounded questions about the integrity of the u.s. election and stoke divisions among americans. georgia's republican secretary of state called the video of haitians voting obviously fake and urged elon musk and other social media leaders to take down such disinformation. on the campaign trail it is full speed ahead before the polls close on tuesday.

both candidates will end their nights in the milwaukee area, the heart of the badger state where polls say it is a complete tossup. for the pbs news hour. geoff: tens of millions of americans across the country have already cast their ballots by absentee or early in person voting. amna: what does those early turnout tell us? where are we when it comes to early voting? reporter: we are in an extraordinary moment when it comes to early voting. 47 states have early voting. only three, new hampshire, alabama and mississippi do not

have early voting. right now more than 55 million americans have already cast their ballots at this point. how does this compare to this point in 2020? it is last but it was a pandemic and many people were forced for health reasons to vote. this is a history making record number of votes outside a national health crisis. geoff: what can we tell so far based on who has voted? reporter: right now we see by far more women than men are voting, by 10 points which is something that harris campaign likes. our poll in october shows harris dominating with women. i will note this is the same proportion as we saw in 2020 in that election. joe biden won in part because of the gender gap here this is early votes. we don't know if the women are republicans or democrats and there is reason to believe there are more conservative women voting this year. at least early. in 2020, if you look at the data for rural and urban voters, it was about the same proportion of early votes. this year we have rural voters

making up a larger proportion of the early vote than they did in 2020 and i can testify from being in georgia and virginia. this has to do with donald trump and his campaign pushing to try to get out there read voters especially in rural areas. they are showing up. are these new voters or voters that would vote anyway? amna: the big question is, where are the early votes going? what do we know about turnout by party? reporter: not every state tells us the party identification of the early voters but those that do, it is close. 39% of the early vote that we know about from democrats and 36% from republicans. democrats had an advantage before in early vote. republicans can -- have cut into

that with their strategy. this is a national vote. the swing states will decide the election. look at pennsylvania. two counties are still early voting. because of various problems, lehigh county was extended one day and bucks county is still voting today. democrats had a free one early vote advantage last election but it is cut down to 2-1. some experts say those are not new voters but republicans are up early and pennsylvania. geoff: a question about nevada because there are democrats concerned about the early vote in nevada because republicans are voting in greater numbers and voting early as compared to 2020. reporter: right now it is overall for the state, 34% of the early vote for democrats and for republicans, 30 nine. one reason is because clark county with las vegas is about

even on early votes. republicans are happy about that. they say it bodes good signs for them and the stage. something to pay attention to in nevada is those that have no party registration which is the largest group of voters in this state. many of them automatically registered and democrats believe many might be young voters don't fall into these categories. geoff: thank you so much, lisa desjardins. reporter: you are welcome. geoff: top united nations officials called the situation in northern gaza apocalyptic. an unusually stark warning as israel enters the second month of an operation targeting the

area where hamas has regrouped. nick schifrin joins us. reporter: u.n. and u.s. officials are alarmed about conditions in the northernmost part of gaza where israel launched a new operation a month ago where thousands are perhaps tens of thousands of people have little food access. today, leaders of 15 u.n. humanitarian organizations including oxfam, the high commissioner of refugees, the american heads of unicef and the world health organization said the situation unfolding in northern gaza is apocalyptic. the entire palestinian population in north gaza is at imminent risk of dying. a blatant does regard for basic humanity and for the laws of war must stop. the statement also called for an arms embargo. the u.s. has been pushing israel to allow more aid into northern gaza and warns that if later this month the u.s. has

determined that israel is arbitrarily blocking aid, some arms could be blocked. geoff: and what has israel said in response to this? reporter: israel says that this area is full of hamas leader's. the fighting there is absolutely intense. one official told me israeli soldiers had killed were detained more than 1000 hamas fighters and it is too dangerous to allow humanitian workers into the area. humanitarian officials also point out that most of the civilians have evacuated. we can see the drone footage. geoff: thank you, nick schifrin, as always. reporter: thank you. >> hear the latest headlines. the pentagon announced today it has order the deployment of

additional military assets to the middle east. this is part of an effort to defend israel. the assets include ballistic missiles, destroyers, bombers, and a fighter squadron. they are set to arrive in coming months. the nation saw slower job growth last month. the monthly tally shows that the u.s. economy added just 12,000 jobs in october, down sharply from the 223,000 new jobs we saw a month earlier. economists say the impact of recent hurricanes and corporate strikes are partly to blame. the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.1%. speaking in philadelphia this afternoon, president biden told union workers that the economy remain strong thanks in part to them. >> i'm proud to be listed as the most prounion president.

the middle class is growing. the middle class is growing. we have the best economy in the world right now because of you. >> looking forward, the u.s. federal reserve is expected to cut interest rates for a second time next week as inflation has cooled dramatically since its recent peak. that comes as consumers and voters remain frustrated by the nation's high prices. in spain ,the death toll from this week's flooding has spiked to at least 205 with many more still missing. it is one of europe's worst disasters in decades and the deadliest in living memory in spain. in parts of valencia more than a years worth of rain fell in less than eight hours on tuesday. the floodwaters piled up cars and smashed infrastructure. volunteers are working to help those affected but for residents, the impact of the flooding will be lasting.

>> there are a lot of dead people. what do you want me to say? no matter how much help we get, it is not enough. we need more help and no matter how much help comes, this is not going to be fixed in a month or two of you well. it has done a lot of harm. >> india's capital was shrouded by a thick layer of toxic smog. new delhi's air quality index plummeted to a reading of severe as smoke from firecrackers polluted the air. in many areas levels of deadly particulate matter were several times the safety limit. this is one of india's most popular holidays. authorities have banned the use and sale of traditional firecrackers in new delhi since

2017 but people often ignore the rule. a u.s. district judge has rejected elon musk's bid to move a pennsylvania lawsuit to a federal court. the decision comes a day after a philadelphia judge put the state challenge on hold. city prosecutors sued the billionaire and his super pac's sagan the sweepstakes may elect -- may violate election law. it is unclear whether today's ruling will stop the giveaways before tuesday. still to come, the unusual way that nebraska allots its college electoral votes could be a factor. our guests on the final days of the presidential race. and universities transform their art museums into spaces of voting and political discourse. ♪

>> this is the pbs news hour from the david rubenstein studio in washington and from the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at the arizona state university. amna: returning to our top story, the race for the presidency. once the final votes have been cast and tallied, the final chapter of this election season may hinge on a blue dot far from any swing state battleground. reporter: omaha democrats in deep red nebraska and body the symbol of their movement. a blue dot on the state's political landscape. nebraska law gives each congressional district its own electoral vote and the dot has come to represent how the area around omaha could go to and be critical for kamala harris. >> there is a focus on our district and you feel like you

matter. >> we love the light shining on us this round. we are not being ignored. reporter: it started almost accidentally after kamala harris became the presumptive democratic nominee, jason brown sprayed a blue dot on an old sign to represent democrat leaning omaha. >> i thought, a blue dot. i love it. reporter: and then the neighbors wanted one and then the neighborhood. and then dot dot dot. >> i looked like i was an extra on the blue man group. reporter: they have printed and handed out 15,000 signs and everyone sees them including republicans. >> i have a blue dot across the street from me one house down. it is fine. i really think we need to be more accepting of the other side . there is one sign that is a big

red dot eating the little blue dots, if you i've seen that one. it is fun. it is another way to express yourself. reporter: mary harper is a grandmother, a retiree and a volunteer champion with red state no roscoe supporting gop candidates up and down the ballot. >> both sides say this is the most consequential raised in the history of the country. we do hear that every four years. >> every single electoral vote will matter but here is why nebraska could be the decider. there is a plausible scenario where pennsylvania, michigan and wisconsin go for harris and the remaining swing states all go for donald trump. that leads to a scenario where nebraska's one electoral vote, we marked it here, could be the deciding factor. if it goes for trump, it is a tie which would likely lead to his win in the house of representatives but if it goes for harris, it gives her the

presidency. tim walz was born in nebraska and was in omaha last month underscoring the importance to their campaign. >> hello again, neighbors. reporter: a recent new york times see nepal found trump up 55-40 statewide but harris ending 54-42 in the blue district. if she won omaha she would repeat joe biden's victory in the district and be the third democrat to win it in the last 30 years. >> i'm probably not that unique of a voter in no roscoe. i am splitting my ticket. reporter: she has mixed political feelings. she supported nikki haley but left the republican party after donald trump won the primary. she will vote for harris. she is still weighing her

options in the surprisingly tight u.s. senate race. >> i think the future direction of our country is at stake this year. reporter: the gateway to the west, a theme. they feel they are the gateway to the next presidency. >> the stakes seem frightening. >> we have such different approaches for how we think the country should go and how we think it should be run. it is huge this year. reporter: many visions for the country and one potentially decisive electoral vote. ♪ geoff: a recent survey from the pew research center found more than 40% of 12 supporters don't believe next week so election be run well despite efforts from lawmakers and election officials to address their concerns dense

2020. judy woodruff explores what the gap in election trust may mean as part of her series, "america at a crossroads." >> is america's lineup to vote early and person, many officials are bracing for an onslaught of conspiracy theories, protests, legal challenges and even violence. >> my concerns are not with the administration or the process. i am confident in the process. but im confirmed -- concerned and hopeful that our country will accept whatever the outcome of this election is. >> we know it is not easy because we know unfortunately people have been fed lies about our election system now for four years. >> there have always been a few doubters and conspiracy theorists worried about whether

someone was rigging the counter. reporter: morton is a senior advisor at the brennan center for justice, a nonpartisan think tank at new york university where he has been studying how to protect democratic norms and institutions. >> they were never very large numbers in part because their political leaders did not validate those false concerns. but that has changed. and it has had corrosive effects on the confidence in the elections. reporter: he is a former pulitzer prize-winning journalist who warned that then president donald trump could attempt to subvert the election results to hold onto power. on election night in 2020 donald trump claimed victory well before counting had ended. >> we were getting ready to win this election. frankly, we did win this

election. reporter: in the days and weeks after, his supporters protested the results through "stop the steel" rallies and dozens of court challenges. nearly all were rejected on the merits. ultimately donald trump attempted to stop the boat certification on january 6. >> we will never give up and we will never conceived. you never conceived when there is theft involved. reporter: more than 1000 people have been found guilty for their actions that day. in 2022 congress passed the electoral count reform act strengthening counting procedures and clarifying roles between federal and state actors. in a recent cover story for time magazine, gelman examined the

law and other updates to our electoral system. speaking with officials across the country including in key battleground states about whether our voting system will hold up against baseless challenges this time around. >> i asked election officials in those states how confident they are that the ballots would be counted as cast. when they were canvassed and audited, that the counts would hold up and whoever won the most votes in their states would get that steeds electoral votes. when it went to congress. and all of them said 100%. they were completely confident. i found that the system has worked very hard to address the worries that people had about the last election. it is worked hard to address a false rumors that were spread or the farro -- false accusations that were made about the 2020 election. reporter: according to a recent survey by the pew research center, most americans do trust that the election will be run

well but like many things that trust tracks partisan lines. nine in 10 harris supporters told them that they believe the election will run smoothly, just over half of trump supporters agreed. this is a marked change from 2018. when the data shows high confidence among both parties candidates that the election would be run well. >> as things stand now, there is a zero chance of a free and fair election. reporter: earlier this year, two conservative think tanks held an event marking their release of a 2024 transition report. they conducted an exercise with participants from varied backgrounds to look at scenarios that would threaten the legitimacy of the election. the report asserted the lawlessness of the biden

administration makes clear that the current president and his administration not only possesses the means but perhaps also the intent to circumvent constitutional limit and disregard the will of the voter should they demand a new president. >> the main findings are that we have seen an acceleration of l awfare and the weaponization of government institutions that in name should be neutral but have cast their lot more or less with the democratic party. reporter: i spoke this week with the reports principal author, professor of english at the university of houston downtown who was a fellow at the claremont institute, another conservative think tank. >> i think the american people may be tempted when we hear kamala harris saying that donald trump is a fascist, that this is

literal hitler --normal americans think this is an exaggeration. i think we need to take them at their word. if you believe a literal hitler is poised to take over the government of the u.s., you will not honor that results. reporter: harris says she believes trump is a fascist but did not call him hitler. the report did not mention the events of the last presidential election or donald trump's refusal to accept the election results in 2016, 2020 or in the run-up to the current election were he to lose. and each of the two scenarios they considered, trump won. the project contemplated some unusual hypotheticals like arbor at streisand being -- like our breast dries and being kidnapped

and the fbi resting donald trump at mar-a-lago two days after the election. >> the last 10 years of american life in politics has been defined by scenarios we could not have anticipated. if we said we would see a presidential administration doing an armed raid of a former president's residence, i think we would have said, that is preposterous. for these reasons, we decided that we needed to really test the system by running scenarios with events that would be highly unanticipated. reporter: he also questioned whether harris in her role as vice president will certify the election results in the senate should president trump win. the format clarified this is a ceremonial duty.

>> will kamala harris do a transfer of power when she oversees the joint session of congress? no one has asked her so we don't know. reporter: the vice president has been asked if she would respect the results of the election no matter what they are, she has said yes. she has said she would respect the results whatever happens. as you know, former president trump, so far he has not said he would accept the results of the election. >> is there a question? reporter: you just said she has not been asked or she has not said this and she has said. >> if you would like a response to that i would say she has said lots of things and then changed her mind after the fact on many issues. reporter: he also warned that if results are not known on election day, they should be questioned. for people that support him to say there was

something wrong and this lays out what is going to happen. is it a pretext in so many words? >> i don't think it is a pretext. i do think that many of the fantastical situations that we have imagined have already occurred. i invite your viewers to read the report. things that only three months ago people had said would not happen, they happened. reporter: he pointed to ongoing conservative efforts in a number of states to prevent noncitizens from voting including from purging names from voter rolls. the department of justice has sued to block as a violation of law. , the supreme court ruled that virginia's purge of 1600 names could go forward despite the fact that officials there have not proven any of the names actually lacked citizenship. and some u.s. citizens said they

had been removed. stepping back, it is illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections and studies have found almost no cases of it happening. despite the heritage foundation and other groups continuing to assert it is an issue. >> i mean this in all respect, but you keep citing that these institutions have said there is no evidence of this or that. the problem here is that they have said this so many times where there is evidence of this or that that is later proven or where they have said there is evidence of this or that, say russian collusion or a lab leak with covid where we later found out when they said there was no evidence that there was we simply feel like we cannot trust these institutions. >> what heritage is doing with that exercise is to amplify what

donald trump himself is doing which is to try to convince the public that our election is going to be corrupt. that you cannot count on the institutions of democracy to run a fair election. reporter: returning to his own reporting, gelman says americans should feel confident that official results will accurately reflect the outcome but that getting to the result will require patience. >> what is going to happen is that the votes will be counted and you will get unofficial results early. over a period of days and in some cases a week, you will get a canvassed, audited, verified, official result.

and that is when litigation will be coming in to play. if trump loses, he will try to overturn the election. reporter: words of confidence and trust in a country where those are becoming more rare and more partisan notions. for the pbs news hour, i am judy woodruff in new york. ♪ amna: for what to watch for in the final days of voting, let's turn to the analysis of brooks and capehart. new york times columnist david brooks and jonathan capehart, associate editor for the washington post. the race for the white house is as tight as ever. nothing markedly different in the latest: going to show you it

gives us a sense of where we are still in pennsylvania, michigan and in wisconsin, these key battleground states. vice president harris has a 2-3 point lead within the margin of error. i want to step back. we are in the final days of a truly unprocessed -- unprecedented presidential election cycle. who these candidates are and how they got to the top of their tickets. when you step act from the daily headlines, how would you describe this race at this moment in american political history? >> praise jesus we are four days out and this is almost over. but in all seriousness i would say that of all the presidential campaigns i have watched and covered, this is one where the contrast between the candidates

could not be more stark, could not be more plainly evident. i think that what we are about to see and this election -- there are a lot of polls and they are all over the place. come election night we will see or hear what the american public has to say. i am optimistic but not overly -- yes, so and so is going to win. i'm more worried about what happens when the winner is declared. and the reaction from the american people who did not win. >> i see two plot lines. every policy including the immigration policy, education, trade and social policies have been directed and benefited those of us who are college-educated. a lot of folks, not only in our country but around the world are

saying that was wrong. those people have benefited and we have been left behind and we need someone that will write around for us less educated. the most interesting polling data of the week for me is if you contrast college-educated women and high school educated men there is a 43% gap. between these populations and do they are going to vote for. that is one massive story line. the second is the more obvious one. we have had norms of institutions and structures in our society based on liberal democracy that politics is a competition with partial truths. if we lose this time, we will win the next time and it is all within bounds and that is being eroded by donald trump. and not only that, basic norms of our democracy and of the western alliance. i worry that nato will not be around in three years is donald trump wins. those are the big storylines. one is supportive of donald

trump and makes a clear why he is here and the other one makes you want to run for the hills. amna: and there are norms around our discourse. the things that are said and acceptable. "garbage" was one of the most frequently used words. donald trump had speakers that called kamala harris the antichrist, they called her a prostitute, they called her low iq. is this the new low we are at when it comes to the discourse? >> how far beneath the sea can you go? and whatever that number is, that is where we are and where we have been hearing i think what donald trump has been doing in the closing days of this campaign is shameful. last night, in addition to saying what he said about

congresswoman liz cheney, he called, harris a "sleaze bag." that is the language he has been using not just yesterday or at the rally on sunday but throughout his campaign. and that gets to why looking forward to election day because the american people will choose -- not just what kind of country they want but what kind of person they want to lead them. someone who embodies or tries to embody the aspirations of the american people or someone who plucks at grievances and threatens retribution and uses language that belittles, disrespects and makes it possible for him to do a whole manner of things that even 10 years ago would not of been imaginable. amna: you mentioned it is donald trump that has upended many of these norms. does it change if he loses? >> i went to a christian nationalist church in tennessee. the congregation was sincere in its faith. sometimes you think christian

nationalism is all about politics. the pastor in the pulpit is calling kamala harris satanic. i was at the church and i thought, it donald trump fit into something. it was not only in professional wrestling, it was in churches, it was pre-existing in churches and neighborhoods and it was the culture of the narcissistic cult leader. i saw it at the church. i think trump is a version of that. if trump exits the scene, we have the professional wrestlerization of american society out there. amna: jonathan mentioned the liz cheney comments. he said that liz cheney was a war hawk and that she should have guns trained on her face. what happens if his supporters listen to him again? >> then we are in for dark times. the key is his vocabulary is an

attempt to offend us. his supporters thrive off our offense. all of the populist leaders around the world are doing the same sort of stuff but it means you cannot have politics and friendship amidst political difference. i just read a long politico story of two brothers. they are on different sides. when one side is trying to event and the other is naturally offended, it is hard to have relationships across political differences. >> this whole campaign and what we have had to witness particularly from donald trump has been painful. as an american, i think i've

said this before on this show, i grew up under two terms of reagan, under a term of h w bush and two terms under w bush. i thought i knew what republicans stood for. i thought i knew run republican -- what republican leaders stood for. and they were completely obliterated in one presidential term of donald trump. and over these last four years we have seen not just the lines obliterated but completely gone to the point where republican leaders of conscience and goodwill are cowed not to say anything, to not do anything to try to turn the tide and take their party back from this man and to bring back decency to our

political discourse. people ask me, what would it take and i say it would take a republican party that en masse would come forward and say, that is not right and that is not mean what we do as a party and that is not who we are as a country and hold that person accountable. they did not do it with trump. they have not done it with him for the nine years he has been and our faces and i don't expect him to do it again which means come tuesday night we will be a different america. amna: four days until the last day of voting. does it feel like either candidate has momentum and do you care to make a prediction? >> when kamala harris replaced joe biden she clearly had the momentum. she clearly plateaued and it looked like trump had the momentum for probably 2-3 weeks. i don't hear a thing right now. i believe in the wiggle. i think there is always a wiggle. and the wiggle shifts people but

i don't know where it is or what is causing the wiggle. i don't want to say the word "wiggle" so many times but i have never in my life been so confused about what is going to happen. i have no clue. amna: are you equally confused? >> i would not say confused but to answer your question i do think the vice president has momentum but i'm not making any predictions. we just don't know. what i'm looking forward to on election night is hearing from the american people. there is one thing we all need to have in our profession at this time is a sense of humility. we do not know matter what the polls say. amna: jonathan capehart and david brooks, always great to see you. jonathan and david will both be with us next tuesday when we will have live election night coverage. join us for in-depth coverage. our coverage begins at noon

eastern and special coverage begins at 7:00 p.m. geoff: ahead of election day a project at several universities as fostering a different type of civic space to encourage young people to discuss issues, engage with each other and vote. senior arts correspondent jeffrey brown went to the university of michigan to see how this works as part of our series "art in action." reporter: last saturday in ann arbor, the university of michigan was alive with energy. a big football game and the first day of early voting with a long line of students in an and up -- unexpected place, the university's art museum.

christine olson -- >> we are in a state that is hyper polarized. there has been recent history here of violence and extreme rhetoric around elections, around politics generally, i think museums are fantastically great places in which people can, especially students, especially young people, can book -- can begin their careers as voters. reporter: in an ugly time in american politics, can beauty play a small role in serving democracy? that is the goal in the project of art and civic engagement involving university museums from across the big 10, maybe -- many in midwest battleground states like here in michigan. the principles of design are being applied to voting itself. >> we realize there was a big gap between registration rates

and voter rates. some of the barriers are psychological. where can design play a role? reporter: stephanie and another professor had the creed of voting project with partnered with the clerk's office to turn museum space into a voting hub where students can ask questions, register and vote in a space designed down to the smallest details to make it a welcoming experience. >> it is an interesting and creative problem. it has so many different dimensions to its. we got to think about color and form and space and we are able to also think about the social relational element happening here. this is both -- voting is an individual experience but it is

also a collective experience. reporter: this senior never imagine he would cast his first presidential vote in a museum. >> it does feel a little scary to vote or have conversations with friends about who you are voting for it. any effort made to familiarize the vote whether it is putting it in a museum or spreading education about the ballot as a whole will always be positive. reporter: several university museums including at the university of wisconsin madison and rutgers are also serving as registration or voting centers. others have special exhibitions focused on issues of democracy and civic engagement. among them penn state's palmer museum of art has a range of imagery. michigan states museum is presenting a poster project on gender representation. and at the university of oregon, a focus on what is happening in latin american countries where the rule of law breaks down.

in ann arbor there is also an exhibition with colorful walls and a provocative title -- we need to top. >> if we cannot speak to each other, i don't know how we have a democracy. reporter: so philip created a space within the museum commissioning wallpaper art with the flowers of all 50 states and choosing works from the museum's collection and making talk happen by bringing together people from different political points of view for dinner. a kind of art work she says it requires an action from its participants. >> the first action is to have a conversation. it sounds simple and kind of obvious except for having a conversation today feels like a radical thing to do. reporter: hughes calls it a social sculpture. >> i've created a space for a relationship to happen but the artwork is incomplete until the dialogue takes place. once people come and sit at the table, the artwork is complete.

reporter: chloe nichols and sebastian garcia, both voting for kamala harris, have taken part in past dinners. she said she was surprised by the tone and topics. >> i was expecting a political conversation. we had a serious conversation about the way the current generation is thinking having this access to technology and been through so many life-changing events in our lifetime and how we are treating this election and looking at our future. reporter: for rojas garcia the conversation reflected the debates he has had with his more conservative family. >> people feel like choosing one side is so divisive they don't want to talk about it because it will open up an argument.

but when my family is arguing, individuals want what is best for the country and i would rather have the argument. reporter: so does kyle brown, junior voting for donald trump who took part on the evening of our visit. >> if you told me it was going to be a nonpartisan talk i would not have expected the art museum. i think it was a cool thing. i am not an artistically inclined person but i like to see this and i thought it was interesting. reporter: changing minds is not the intent but changing civic engagement and tone is a definite goal of this entire project. and an important one for public universities says the museum director, christina olson. >> it mean something to be a public institution.

to have public goods like museums and libraries. they are not a given. they do really important work for the civil society and the democracy even if it is often invisible the people. i think it is worth naming so you can protect it. reporter: for the pbs news hour, i'm jeffrey brown at the university of michigan in ann arbor. ♪ amna: our weekly digital show will look at the promises donald trump and kamala harris have made along the campaign trail on climate change, health care, and foreign policy. you can find pbs news weekly on our youtube page. geoff: and don't forget to watch washington week as the presidential campaign comes to a close. the moderator, jeffrey goldberg, and his panel discussed the closest race in memory and how we got here and read the country is headed with a new president.

amna: and tomorrow we checked in on wisconsin politics as the control of congress and the white house hang in the balance. geoff: for all of us here at the pbs news hour, thank you for spending part of your evening with us and have a great weekend. announcer: major funding for the pbs news hour has been provided by -- ♪ and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions and friends of the news hour including kathy and paul anderson and camilla and george smith. the walton family foundation, working for solutions to protect water during climate change so people and nature can thrive together. the william and flora hewlett foundation, for more than 50 years advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world at hewlett.org.

and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions -- ♪ and friends of the news hour -- this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> the final night of an extraordinary campaign. will voters send donald trump back to the white house? >> we stand on the verge of four great years. >> or will kamala harris make history? >> are you ready to make your voices heard?

>> a pbs news special, election 2024, tuesday, november 5 at 7:00. >> this is the news hour west, for my studio in washington and from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] ♪

>> if elected, donald trump would walk into that of this with an enemies list. >> you are fired. get out of here. >> this is it. buyer next show, we will know the identity the next president of the u.s., except if we don't.