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The COVID-19 pandemic has made many Americans ask a question they’ve likely never pondered before: Is casting a ballot in person a risk to your physical health?With the November election three weeks away and daily COVID-19 case counts rising in virtually every state, voters have been hearing a confounding barrage of mixed messages regarding the safest — and most reliable — way to cast a ballot during a pandemic. (Isaacs-Thomas, 10/12)

Early voting opened Monday in Georgia for the 2020 general election — but the first day was marred by technical issues and lines that in some locations stretched more than five hours long, particularly in the Atlanta metro area. Voters arriving in the morning at Atlanta's State Farm Arena, the home of the NBA's Hawks — and the state's largest early voting site, with 300 voting machines — encountered technical issues, which election officials blamed on problems with the electronic poll pads. (Tsioulcas, 10/12)

California officials on Monday sent the state Republican Party a cease-and-desist notice to remove unofficial ballot drop boxes, while Gov. Gavin Newsom slammed the party as "willing to lie, cheat, and threaten our democracy all for the sake of gaining power." The controversy comes as the two major parties feud nationally over how the November election is being conducted during the pandemic. (Bermel, 10/12)

Weeks from the election, three of North Carolina’s most populous counties are often taking two weeks or more to send absentee ballots out to voters who request them, an Associated Press analysis shows. Understaffing, outdated technology and voter registration groups are straining a system that has struggled to handle an unprecedented surge of requests as many seek to avoid the risks of in-person voting during the coronavirus pandemic. (Anderson and Fassett, 10/12)

The nation’s top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci demanded that the Trump campaign refrain from using him in future campaign ads, saying Monday that it would be “outrageous” and “terrible” if he was featured in another commercial and it could “come back to backfire” on Team Trump. Asked by The Daily Beast if his comments were a thinly-veiled threat to leave his post if he ended up in a new campaign spot, Fauci replied: “Not a chance.” "Not in my wildest freakin’ dreams,” he said, “did I ever think about quitting." (Banco and Baragona, 10/12)

President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden are both looking to harness the credibility of America’s best-known infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, as they make their case to American voters. Trump is quoting him out of context, the doctor says. Biden, for his part, is eagerly promising to seek Fauci’s advice if elected. Overall, it’s an uncomfortable season for Fauci, who’s been studiously apolitical over a five-decade career in public health. The doctor is calling out the Trump campaign for taking one of his quotes and popping it into a campaign ad to suggest Fauci is in the president’s corner. (Madhani, 10/13)

The cost of prescription drugs has taken center stage in congressional races all over Texas. In battles from Austin to San Antonio to Houston, candidates are insisting they are committed to tackling the high price of prescription drugs while they claim their opponents can’t be trusted on the issue. (Wallace, 10/12)

In their only debate before the November election, Democratic Rep. Ben McAdams and Republican Burgess Owens sparred over some of Owens’ more controversial statements during the campaign, as well as issues including health care and whether there is systemic racism in the United States. (Riley Roche, 10/12)