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North Carolina Republican lawmakers voted to strip the state’s incoming Democratic governor and attorney general of key powers, passing a sweeping bill before the GOP likely loses their veto-proof supermajority in the Legislature next year. That power currently lies with the governor's office, which will remain in Democratic hands after Attorney General Josh Stein defeated Republican Lt. Gov. Republicans have long sought control of the state Board of Elections, which is historically controlled by the same party as the current governor, but their past efforts have been foiled by the courts. That means they would be unable to override any future vetos from Stein without Democratic support. Stein is succeeding outgoing Cooper, whose administration repeatedly clashed with the Republican-led Legislature in the battleground state.

Persons: Dave Boliek, Jessica Holmes, Josh Stein, Mark Robinson, Roy Cooper's, ”, Karen Brinson Bell, Jeff Jackson, Stein, Cooper Organizations: North, North Carolina Republican, Democratic, GOP, Republican, Gov, Republicans, Democratic Gov, Board, State Board, North Carolina Legislature Locations: North Carolina, Stein

A Pennsylvania judge on Monday declined an effort by the Philadelphia district attorney to stop Elon Musk’s America PAC from doling out cash prizes to registered voters. The judge's injunction means Musk's PAC will be able to do one last giveaway on Tuesday, the last day of the offer. The America PAC giveaway has promised million-dollar checks to some voters and $47 and $100 payments to other registered voters who signed a political pledge in swing states. Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner sued Musk and America PAC last month, alleging that the giveaways were an illegal, unregulated lottery, but at a hearing Monday, America PAC attorney Chris Gober said it wasn’t a lottery because winners aren’t determined by chance. Musk’s legal team delayed this hearing last week, filing to move the case to federal court.

Persons: Larry Krasner, Musk, Chris Gober, Gober, John Summers, “, ” Krasner, Andy Taylor, ” Organizations: Elon Musk’s America PAC, America PAC, Philadelphia Locations: Philadelphia, Michigan, Pennsylvania

With Pennsylvania expected to be a close and crucial state in the 2024 race for the presidency, it's unusual election laws are again under the microscope. Election experts say Pennsylvania's laws make it fertile ground for rigged election claims to flourish. “The Pennsylvania legislature had multiple opportunities to clarify and improve the state’s election law,” said Nate Persily, an NBC News election law expert and professor at Stanford Law School. Vance, was "voter fraud" perpetrated by Democrats. Trump supporters on county boards across the country have sought to block the certification of election results by delaying or voting against the certification in the past.

Persons: it's, —, ”, Nate Persily, Donald Trump, J.D, Vance, Al Schmidt, “ They’ve, they’ve, ‘, ” Trump, Wendy Weiser, Weiser, isn’t, “, Michael Morse, Morse, Trump Organizations: Pennsylvania, NBC, Stanford Law School, Brennan Center for Justice, NYU Law School, NBC News, Trump, University of Pennsylvania Law, Court of, Electoral Locations: Pennsylvania, Bucks County, Lancaster, Lancaster County , Pennsylvania, ”, Court of Pennsylvania

Michigan:Mail ballots: Larger Michigan jurisdictions can begin processing mail ballots on Oct. 28, giving election officials a much-needed early jump on verifying mail ballots. North CarolinaMail ballots: Mail ballots must be received by Election Day and are partially processed throughout October. PennsylvaniaMail ballots: Election officials must receive mail ballots by the close of polls on Election Day. Provisional ballots: County boards must review and decide whether to count provisional ballots within a week of the election. WisconsinMail ballots: Mail ballots must be received on Election Day at the latest.

Persons: couldn’t, Provisionals, they’ll Organizations: NBC, Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin Locations: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin

Trump supporters spread videos on Tuesday of long lines in Buck County, Pennsylvania, where voters were waiting to request a mail-ballot in person. Election officials allow voters to request, fill out and return their mail ballots in person at the county elections office, casting a mail ballot early. Trump and his supporters have pointed to other incidents in Pennsylvania in recent days to advance a narrative of election fraud. Trump claimed on Monday night that there were thousands of fake ballots and fraudulent mail ballot applications in two Pennsylvania counties, Lancaster and York. Whatley, the RNC chairman, also posted a photo Monday of a woman being arrested at a voting service center in Delaware County, Pennsylvania.

Persons: Donald Trump, Trump, James Blair, ” Blair, Elon Musk, James O’Malley, Michael Whatley, “ I’m, Vance, ”, Nate Persily, Kamala Harris, “ It’s, ” Persily, ” Trump, Whatley, Val Biancaniello, Donald J, Josh Shapiro, Shapiro Organizations: Trump, Republican National, Bucks, NBC News, Stanford Law School, RNC, Pennsylvania, Democrat Locations: Pennsylvania, Buck County , Pennsylvania, Bucks County, Allentown, Bucks, Lancaster, York, PENNSYLVANIA, Delaware County , Pennsylvania, Delaware, Delaware County, “ Pennsylvania

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner is suing Elon Musk and his super PAC to block their million-dollar giveaway to registered voters, seeking to halt the lottery-style stunt that election experts, and the Justice Department, have warned might violate federal law. It’s illegal under federal law to pay someone to vote, but Musk insists he isn’t paying people to register. Musk and America PAC have said that their monetary giveaways are to encourage petition signatures. Still, his contest is only open to those in key battleground state and favors Pennsylvania voters by awarding them all $100 each. An attorney representing America PAC did not respond immediately to a request for comment on the suit.

Persons: Larry Krasner, Elon Musk, Krasner, —, Musk, Donald Trump, It’s, ” Organizations: Philadelphia, PAC, Justice Department, “ America PAC, Commonwealth, Pennsylvania, Musk’s America PAC, America PAC, SpaceX Locations: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

Election officials — and reporters like me — have spent years explaining that voter fraud is incredibly rare. We know that because voting systems are designed with checks and balances to make it pretty hard to cheat. Election officials will then check your information against government databases, which typically verify your identity and citizenship. Checking the countAfter the results are tallied, the state conducts a risk-limiting audit by physically counting randomly selected batches of ballots and hand-counting them. The state also runs all the ballot images through a computer program that tallies the results.

Persons: —, you’ll, ERIC Organizations: Social, U.S . Postal Service, Georgia, Registration Locations: Georgia, Arizona, Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania officials said Friday they are investigating as many as 2,500 fraudulent voter registration applications in Lancaster County that election workers flagged during routine reviews of the forms. She added that at least two other counties may have received fraudulent registration applications, too. Election officials notified law enforcement authorities of the issues they discovered while reviewing the voter registration forms and a wide-scale investigation was launched, prompting police to reach out to voters whose information was listed on the forms. After undergoing extensive review of registration applications, at least 60% of the forms that have been investigated so far have been determined to be fraudulent so far, Adams said. “I want to stress this, no eligible voter will be turned away.”The forms were all dropped off at or near the voter registration deadline, which was Oct. 21 in Pennsylvania, a key battleground state.

Persons: canvassers, Heather Adams, ”, Adams, Ray D’Agostino, “ Organizations: county’s Locations: Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Michigan

Postal Service mailbox in Phoenix, Arizona, was set on fire at approximately 1:20 a.m. local time Thursday morning, damaging several ballots and other pieces of mail, according to the Phoenix Fire Department. McDade originally said Thursday that approximately 20 ballots were damaged, but Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes later said that five ballots were affected. McDade said authorities with the fire and police departments are investigating the incident and that the Postal Inspector took possession of the damaged mail. Federal authorities have warned in the lead-up to Election Day that ballots could be intentionally damaged in transit. “I’m deeply troubled by the arson attack on a USPS collection box in Phoenix, which damaged 5 ballots.

Persons: Rob McDade, McDade, Adrian Fontes, Rob Scherer, “ I’m Organizations: . Postal Service, Phoenix Fire Department, Post, Phoenix Police Department, Fontes Locations: Phoenix , Arizona, Arizona, Phoenix

It's a dynamic that has forced many election officials out of the industry, while those who remain have taken in some cases dramatic steps to protect poll workers and voters ahead of Election Day. Some poll workers are also receiving pay bumps as incentives to stay on through a stressful voting period. In interviews, county and state election officials shared details of security plans with NBC News. The county allocated money for so-called panic buttons that would allow election workers to quickly contact authorities in emergencies. They decided to give police radios to election workers instead.

Persons: Donald Trump, “, they’re, Stephen Richer, enforcement’s, “ They’re, ”, Zach Manifold, Daniel Baxter, Aaron Dobson, State Jena Griswold, Griswold, they’ve Organizations: NBC News, Republican, Milwaukee County Sheriff's, State Locations: America, Maricopa County , Arizona, Maricopa County, Cobb County , Georgia, Gwinnett County, Detroit, Milwaukee County , Wisconsin, Colorado

The Nebraska Supreme Court ruled that convicted felons who served their sentences are allowed to vote, after the state's top election official sought to keep them from casting ballots ahead of the Nov. 5 election. Nebraska has historically restored the voting rights of former felons two years after they completed the terms of their sentences. While Nebraska is solidly Republican state, it awards an electoral vote to the winner of each of its congressional districts. The Sentencing Project, criminal justice reform advocacy group, estimated that eliminating the waiting period for convicted felons in Nebraska would restore voting rights for 7,000 people. Far more completed their felony sentences more than two years ago, too, and were affected by the state officials prohibition on their voter registration.

Persons: Mike Hilgers, Robert Evnen Organizations: Nebraska Supreme, Nebraska, Republican Locations: Nebraska, Nebraska's, L.B, While Nebraska, Omaha

☆ Harris faces historic challenge in running as a sitting VP: From the Politics Desk
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-15 | by ( The Politics Desk | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +13 min

In today’s edition, national political correspondent Steve Kornacki breaks down the historical challenges Kamala Harris faces running for president as a sitting VP. Harris faces historic challenge in running as a sitting VPBy Steve KornackiKamala Harris is the third presidential nominee in the last half-century to run as a sitting vice president. Measures like more Secret Service agents and bulletproof glass are now common on the campaign trail. Read more → 🔑 It all comes down to yinz: The Harris campaign believes its path to winning all-important Pennsylvania runs through the suburbs. Read more →The Harris campaign believes its path to winning all-important Pennsylvania runs through the suburbs.

Persons: Steve Kornacki, Kamala Harris, Michelle Obama hasn't, Harris, Hakeem Jeffries, Steve Kornacki Kamala Harris, Joe Biden’s, it’s, Biden, Donald Trump, Trump’s, VPs, Al Gore, George H.W, George H.W . Bush, Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, “, ”, ” Reagan, Bush, Michael Dukakis, Gore, Clinton, Hubert Humphrey, Lyndon Johnson, Johnson, Humphrey, Republican Richard Nixon —, they’d, Michelle Obama, Monica Alba, Carol E, Lee, Kristen Welker Barack Obama, Trump, ” Michelle Obama, Ali Vitali, Kyle Stewart ALBUQUERQUE, Democrats haven’t, “ we’ve, ” Jeffries, Jeffries, Nancy Pelosi speakership, Kevin McCarthy, Mike Johnson, ️, abou, l, ord, O Organizations: NBC, White House, Capitol, Democratic, White, ABC, Democratic Party, Republican, Biden, Democratic National Convention, Service, Democrats, NBC News, GOP, Republicans, aig Locations: George H.W ., midstream, Vietnam, N.M, D, Jeffries, New York, California

County election boards in Georgia are not allowed to refuse to certify election results, a state judge ruled on Tuesday. “If election superintendents were, as Plaintiff urges, free to play investigator, prosecutor, jury, and judge and so -- because of a unilateral determination of error or fraud -- refuse to certify election results, Georgia voters would be silenced. McBurney said the law was clear when it says that county officials "shall" certify the results. She is one of a growing number of Georgia officials who have refused to certify election results since 2020, worrying election experts that county officials might try and block the routine certification of election results in the name of baseless conspiracy theories. Adding to these concerns, the Republican-controlled Georgia State Election Board voted earlier this year to allow local boards to conduct “reasonable inquiry” into election results.

Persons: Robert McBurney, Donald Trump, McBurney, Lord, construe, Julie Adams, Adams, Cleta, Gabriel Sterling Organizations: Republican, Fulton County, Registration, Trump, Network, Georgia Locations: Georgia, Fulton County, Fulton

1 function is to monitor the election to make sure that proper voting procedures are being followed,” Ray said. “We have to keep our eyeballs on the whole system, and we know why,” Lake said at the August training session. “The bedrock of a free and fair democracy is the citizens doing their civic duty of participating as poll inspectors, poll challengers and other oversight positions,” she said. Michigan conservatives have spent the last two years organizing around election issues, former Trump election lawyer Cleta Mitchell said. At the August RNC training session, an attendee asked what would happen if the events at the TCF Center repeated themselves.

Persons: “, ” Ray, Ray, ”, Ann, Jack Posobiec, Kari Lake, ” Lake, Sandy Kiesel, Trump, Cleta Mitchell, Mitchell, ” Mitchell, Dixon Organizations: RNC, NBC, Republican, Challenge, Arizona, Fund and Force, TCF Center, Fund, Force, NBC News, wasn’t Locations: Detroit, Michigan, Ann Arbor , Detroit, Grand Rapids, Lansing , Kalamazoo, Muskegon, Warren

North Carolina’s election board voted Monday to give residents in the western part of the state, which was hit hardest by Hurricane Helene, greater flexibility to vote by mail and run their elections. Previously, voters were limited to dropping absentee ballots off at the board of elections or early voting sites in their counties. Some of the planned voting sites are being used as shelters and warehouses for incoming sites, state officials said, while others were damaged or made inaccessible by the storm. The state’s voter registration deadline of Friday was not extended. South Carolina extended its voter registration deadline to Oct. 14, while Georgia officials say election operations are expected to continue smoothly.

Persons: Hurricane Helene, Karen Brinson Bell, Brinson Bell, Ron DeSantis Organizations: Voters, State Board, Florida Gov, Associated Press Locations: Carolina, Georgia

Vice presidential candidates JD Vance and Tim Walz faced off in their first and only debate Tuesday night, squaring off over everything from foreign policy and the economy to the 2020 election and abortion rights. Contemporaneous newspaper reports — first reported by Minnesota Public Radio News and APM Reports — place Walz in Nebraska at the time. Fact-check: Is housing 60% more expensive during the Biden administration? “Iran, which launched this attack, has received over $100 billion in unfrozen assets thanks to the Kamala Harris administration," Vance said. As part of a prisoner exchange the Biden administration negotiated with Iran last year, $6 billion more in Iranian assets were unfrozen.

Persons: Vance, Tim Walz, Walz, “, America —, ”, —, That’s, Kamala Harris, Biden, Harris, hasn’t, " Walz, Harris “, she’s, Donald Trump’s, You’ve, Donald Trump, Obama, Harris wasn’t, unfroze, Trump, Trump “, I’ve, Mike Pence Organizations: America, CNN, Minnesota Public Radio, APM, U.S, Center for American Progress, Economic, Global, Washington Post, Social Security, Immigration, Department of Homeland Security, NBC News, Biden, Democratic, Health Affairs, Customs, Capitol, Centers for Disease Control, Minnesota Health Locations: China, Nebraska, Hong Kong, Beijing, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Ireland, Norway, Spain, Lechleitner, U.S, Iran, Minnesota, ”

Hurricane Helene has caused significant disruptions for election officials in North Carolina and across the Southeast, scrambling preparations for early and mail voting that have been in the works for months. North Carolina officials mailed 190,000 ballots last week, some of which may be delayed or destroyed by flooding. Early in-person voting is scheduled to begin Oct. 17 across more than 400 locations in North Carolina. North Carolina is among the core battleground states former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are competing in this fall. The area of North Carolina hit by the hurricane tends to lean Republican politically, aside from Democrat-heavy Asheville.

Persons: Helene, Karen Brinson Bell, ” Brinson Bell, Corinne Duncan, Brinson Bell, Gerry Cohen, ” Cohen, . Cohen, they’re, Robert F, Kennedy Jr, Cohen, — haven’t, Donald Trump, Kamala Harris, Robert Sinner, TJ Lundeen, Doug Kufner, “ Organizations: North, State Board, “, Wake County, Democrat, South Carolina, Commission Locations: North Carolina, Buncombe County, Wake, Wake County, Raleigh, Carolina, Asheville, Florida , Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Jenkins

A Democratic group is launching a legal fund to help secretaries of state in key states defend against an anticipated post-election deluge of lawsuits. The group began aggressively raising money and campaigning to elect Democratic secretaries of state, who oversee elections in many states, in the wake of former President Donald Trump's false claims of voter fraud in 2020. It first funneled money to deal with postelection litigation to then-Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs in 2022 to deal with postelection litigation. “We have a bunch of pro-democracy secretaries of state that we want to support. The initial four states were chosen in part because the group believes state laws will allow it to effectively send money to boost the secretaries of state.

Persons: Donald Trump's, Katie Hobbs, ”, Travis Brimm, “, Trump's, Trump, eyeing Maine's, Jared Golden Organizations: Democratic, NBC News, Democratic Association of, State, Trump's Republican, Electoral, Congressional Locations: Maine , Michigan, North Carolina, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Maine

The Georgia state election board on Friday voted 3-2 to require counties to hand-count ballots cast on Election Day, a move that could drastically lengthen the amount of time to tally results in a critical battleground state. Number one is the actual counting of the number of ballots that you have at the precinct. Georgia's rule only requires election workers to count the number of ballots — not every votes on the ballot — but election officials are still worried about the impact. In August, the same Georgia board members passed other new rules that would allow county election board members to conduct “reasonable” inquiries before they certify results. Speaking of the trio of board members who voted for them at a rally last month, Trump said, “They’re on fire.

Persons: who've, Donald Trump, “, John Fervier, Fervier, Brian Kemp, Sara Tindall Ghazal, Brad Raffensperger, ” Raffensperger, Elizabeth Young, Janelle King, ” King, ”, —, Charlotte Sosebee, Sosebee, wasn't, Trump, ” “ Janice Johnston, Rick Jeffares Organizations: Georgia GOP Gov, Democratic, NBC, NBC News, Democratic National Committee, Democratic Party of Georgia Locations: Georgia, Mohave County , Arizona, Clarke County , Georgia

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Battleground state election officials from both parties are pushing back against a falsehood that has proven pervasive ahead of the 2024 reaction: that noncitizens are voting in widespread numbers. The comments came as former President Donald Trump and his GOP allies have talked up efforts to crack down on noncitizens voting, which is already illegal. Maricopa County has sued seeking clarity on whether those voters can vote in state and local elections this fall. Republicans at the national and state level have fueled unfounded noncitizen voting claims in the run-up to this year's presidential election. Election officials said Thursday they were taking steps to debunk conspiracy theories ahead of the 2024 election.

Persons: Donald Trump, “, ”, Al Schmidt, Schmidt, they’re, Jocelyn Benson, Benson, ” Benson, —, Bob Bauer, Ben Ginsberg, Brad Raffensperger, ” Raffensperger, we’re, Mike Johnson, Ken Paxton, they're, it's, Karen Brinson Bell, It's, Stephen Richer, Katie Hobbs, Richer, Kim Pytleski Organizations: GOP, Department of Transportation, The, Republican, Republicans, Texas, Arizona Gov Locations: Mich, —, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Michigan, American, Arizona, Maricopa County, Georgia, Oconto County , Wisconsin

The NAACP plans to spend $20 million encouraging Black Americans, a critical voting bloc in the presidential race, to turn out to vote across 12 states this fall. The NAACP’s campaign is not geared toward benefiting specific candidates, but rather is designed to broadly mobilize and educate Black voters ahead of the 2024 election. The group plans to engage more than 14.5 million Black voters. While Black voters traditionally overwhelmingly support Democrats, the margin of victory and turnout levels among the group can make a major difference. By comparison, exit polls across those same states showed President Joe Biden won 89% of Black voters, compared with 9% for Trump.

Persons: Georgia —, ” Derrick Johnson, ”, Kamala Harris, Donald Trump, Harris, Joe Biden Organizations: NAACP, Black Americans, NBC, Black, “, White House, Howard University Initiative, Public, Trump Locations: Arizona, North Carolina , Michigan, Nevada , Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Georgia, Arizona , Georgia, Michigan, Nevada , North Carolina , Pennsylvania

That cleared the way for counties to start preparing, printing and distributing mail ballots to those who request them. Most rejected ballots are tossed out for arriving after Election Day, but thousands have been rejected for missing signatures and similar paperwork errors. Pennsylvania's mail ballots have once again been the subject of a major election-year legal battle. The state Supreme Court ruled last week that mail ballots with improper dates can't be counted. Looking ahead to November, clerks in Pennsylvania still won’t be able to process any mail ballots before Election Day, meaning it could again take days to count them.

Persons: Commonwealth Al Schmidt, Cornel, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, —, Trump baselessly, won’t Organizations: Commonwealth, Pennsylvania, Officials Locations: Pennsylvania, In Pennsylvania, Dauphin County, Harrisburg

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled Friday that mail ballots that are improperly dated won't be counted in November, a move that could have major implications in the closely divided battleground state. The decision reverses a lower court ruling from last month that found it was unconstitutional to reject mail ballots that had a missing or incorrect date. "This makes mail voting in the Keystone State less susceptible to fraud," he said. "Today’s procedural ruling is a setback for Pennsylvania voters, but we will keep fighting for them. Democrats have utilized mail voting more heavily than Republicans in recent elections in Pennsylvania and elsewhere.

Persons: Michael Whatley, Steve Loney, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Votebeat, Kamala Harris, Democratic Sen, Bob Casey, Dave McCormick Organizations: Republican National Committee, Pennsylvania Republican Party, Commonwealth, ACLU, Public Interest Law, Pennsylvania, Trump, Democratic Locations: Pennsylvania, Keystone

A Delaware judge agreed to send another 2020 election defamation case to trial Thursday, ruling that the Newsmax Media published false claims saying Smartmatic voting machines rigged the 2020 election. Florida-based voting machine company Smartmatic, alleging defamation, sued Newsmax Media, also based in Florida, in 2021, arguing that the network claimed its devices rigged the 2020 election. Former President Donald Trump and his allies have repeatedly claimed that the 2020 election was rigged. But in wins for Smartmatic, he ruled firmly that the rigged election claims were definitely false, published by Newsmax and specific to Smartmatic. Smartmatic's case is quite different, in large part because the voting machine company was used only in Los Angeles during the 2020 election.

Persons: Newsmax, Smartmatic, Eric Davis, Donald Trump, Davis, ” Davis, “, ” Erik Connolly, Smartmatic’s Organizations: Media, Associated Press, Newsmax Media, Smartmatic, Dominion Voting Systems, Fox News, One America News Network Locations: Delaware, Florida, Los Angeles

The first ballots of the 2024 general election are heading to voters, as Alabama officials started mailing them out Wednesday. Alabama requires that voters have a reason to vote by mail, such as being absent from the county or working during Election Day. In 2022, just over 45,000 voters cast absentee ballots, accounting for roughly 3% of all the state's ballots. Officials in Alaska, Idaho, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Arkansas, Minnesota, South Dakota, Virginia, West Virginia, Wyoming, Colorado, Louisiana, Maryland, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Texas, Mississippi, Oregon, and Vermont will begin sending mail ballots later this month. And Virginia voters will be the first to cast in-person ballots in significant numbers, with early in-person voting kicking off on Sept. 20.

Persons: Robert F, Kennedy Jr, Donald Trump, Kennedy, Kamala Harris, Jill Stein, Chase Oliver Organizations: Voters, ., North Carolina, Republican, Trump Locations: Alabama, . North Carolina, North Carolina, Alaska , Idaho , Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin , Arkansas, Minnesota, South Dakota, Virginia, West Virginia , Wyoming , Colorado , Louisiana , Maryland , New Jersey , Oklahoma, Rhode Island , Texas , Mississippi , Oregon, Vermont

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