Politics and views in the United States.

Local police and FBI investigate arson fires in ballot boxes, election officials nationally brace for possible threats, speakers make controversial remarks at a Trump Madison Square Garden rally, and Hispanic evangelical voters draw attention in swing states.

TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to 2024 Talks, where we're following our democracy in historic times.

In these times, we're worsening events like this morning, along with claims of rigged elections and illegal voters used as scare and avoidance tactics.

Multnomah County is committed to the fundamental protection of our democracy.

Oregon County official Jessica Vega-Peterson is promising to protect civil rights in spite of arson attacks on ballot boxes.

The FBI says it's looking for the driver of a Volvo after three fires in Portland in Vancouver, Washington, that destroyed hundreds of ballots.

Former President Donald Trump filled Madison Square Garden over the weekend.

In a warm-up speech, comedian Tony Hinchcliffe made racially charged jokes.

"There's literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now.

Yeah, I think it's called Puerto Rico."

Puerto Ricans are a key voting bloc in Florida and Pennsylvania.

Numerous Republican candidates and the Trump campaign itself are denouncing Hinchcliffe's comments, but Vice President Kamala Harris says they fit the pattern set by the former president.

"Donald Trump spends full time trying to have Americans point their finger at each other.

Fans the fuel of hate and division.

They want a president of the United States not parading, not calling America a garbage can."

Roughly 10 million Hispanics consider themselves evangelical Protestants, and one pastor says they're seeing an awakening to their political power.

Reverend Gabriel Salguero with the National Latino Evangelical Coalition says candidates' moral values are especially important to them, but there's a misunderstanding of how diverse they are.

"Politicians don't know how to speak to us.

They say, 'Oh, they're evangelical, they must be Republican.'

Or, 'Oh, they're Latino, they must be Democrat.'

Well, we're Latino evangelicals.

And so, like me, I'm a registered independent."

Salguero, who is of Puerto Rican descent, says he wants a public apology for the racist comments at the weekend Trump rally.

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner is suing Elon Musk over his daily million-dollar giveaways to registered voters who sign a pro-Trump petition.

Krasner calls it indisputably unlawful.

Machines are faster and more accurate at counting ballots than people, although some conservatives argue hand-counting can protect against software-enabled fraud.

About 150 small towns in Maine still count ballots by hand.

Secretary of State Shanna Bellows says communities can choose how they want to tally votes, and almost all use machines.

But she says some say they value tradition and community involvement on election night.

"They may prefer the old-fashioned hand count, recognizing that it's really important that they be as scrupulous as possible in ensuring the accuracy of that count."

The Washington Post is facing backlash, resignations and mass subscriber cancellations following owner Jeff Bezos' decision to block an endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris.

The State Department warns that desperately needed humanitarian assistance is not reaching northern Gaza.

Meanwhile, the Israeli parliament just banned the U.N. aid agency from operating in Israeli-controlled territory.

And President Joe Biden cast an early ballot in Delaware after waiting in line for half an hour.

When asked if it was bittersweet to vote when not on the ballot, Biden replied that it was all sweet.

I'm Farah Siddiqui for Pacifica Network and Public News Service.

Find our trust indicators at publicnewsservice.org.