US News Summary: Trump's son Barron tested positive for COVID-19, says Melania Trump; Trump and Biden to headline dueling town halls and more

2020 U.S. ELECTION: What you need to know right now -Democratic leaders urge Joe Biden supporters to vote early and in huge numbers amid concerns that nothing short of a decisive win for the Democratic candidate will stave off a move by President Donald Trump to contest the result of the Nov. 3 election.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Senators to hear from legal experts on last day of Barrett Supreme Court confirmation hearing

The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday will wrap up four days of hearings on Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett by questioning experts, including two from the American Bar Association, which calls her "well qualified" for the job. Barrett will not be present, after making it through two long days of questioning by senators, in which she largely deflected Democratic committee members' concerns that she would threaten Obamacare, abortion, voting rights and same-sex marriage.

U.S. gun sales soar amid pandemic, social unrest, election fears

Andreyah Garland, a 44-year-old single mother of three daughters, bought a shotgun in May for protection in the quaint middle-class town of Fishkill, New York. She joined a new and fast-growing local gun club to learn how to shoot. She has since applied for a pistol permit and constantly hunts for increasingly scarce ammunition – making three trips weekly to a local Walmart. "They're always out," she said.

Democrats urge early voting, massive turnout as Trump stokes fears of contested election

Joe Biden supporter Cindy Kalogeropoulos took no chances when her absentee ballot arrived on Sept. 29. The Michigan retiree filled it out, drove 7 miles to the nearest drop box and hung around to make sure election officials picked it up - all within 48 hours of receiving it. In neighboring Ohio, Biden backers Eric Bjornard, 42, and his wife Abigail moved quickly too. The couple hand-delivered their mail ballots to their local elections office last month, five weeks ahead of the Nov. 3 election.

Split screen: Trump and Biden to headline dueling town halls

President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden will hold dueling prime-time town halls on Thursday instead of their second presidential debate, which was canceled after Trump declined to take part in a virtual matchup. The twin events, in which each candidate will field questions from voters, will both take place at 8 p.m. EDT (0000 GMT), with Trump on NBC and Biden on ABC.

2020 U.S. ELECTION: What you need to know right now

-Democratic leaders urge Joe Biden supporters to vote early and in huge numbers amid concerns that nothing short of a decisive win for the Democratic candidate will stave off a move by President Donald Trump to contest the result of the Nov. 3 election. -With less than three weeks to go until the election showdown, Reuters/Ipsos polling shows Trump cannot rely on last-minute deciders to save him. Only 8% remain undecided, less than half the number of undecided voters in 2016, who handed him his shock victory.

Trump's son Barron tested positive for COVID-19, says Melania Trump

President Donald Trump's 14-year-old son, Barron, tested positive for COVID-19 but exhibited no symptoms after both of his parents contracted the virus, first lady Melania Trump said on Wednesday. "Luckily he is a strong teenager and exhibited no symptoms," Melania Trump said in a statement. She said she and Barron had since tested negative for the virus.

Analysis: Trump cannot count on last-minute deciders to save him - Reuters/Ipsos poll

Four years ago, U.S. President Donald Trump rode a wave of late-deciding voters to a shocking election victory. But those voters are unlikely to rescue him again, new Reuters/Ipsos polling shows. With less than three weeks to go until the Nov. 3 vote, and Republican Trump trailing his Democratic rival Joe Biden nationally and in battleground states, his campaign is counting on a surge of last-minute votes to reverse the tide and give him a second term.

Trump's 'lucky' aides recovering from coronavirus, again spurning masks

Two weeks after the coronavirus spread through the White House, staffers have begun trickling back to the West Wing, saying they only had mild symptoms and again spurning the use of masks despite criticism that they have been careless about the outbreak. With President Donald Trump declaring himself immune after his own bout with COVID-19 required hospitalization, his aides at the White House, his re-election campaign and the Republican National Committee are steadily recovering from a sickness that sidelined many of them just weeks before the Nov. 3 election.

Explainer: 'Dueling electors' pose risk of U.S. vote deadlock

The 2020 U.S. presidential election could be the most closely contested in recent memory due to a deeply divided electorate and the possibility that President Donald Trump will challenge widely used mail-in ballots, claiming without evidence they are fraudulent. Some election law experts are concerned the combination of factors could lead to a crisis in which both political parties claim to have won the same state, a phenomenon known as "dueling electors."

Judge says absentee ballots in North Carolina must have witness signatures

A federal judge on Wednesday ruled that absentee ballots in the presidential battleground state of North Carolina must have a witness signature, a boost for Republican groups seeking to enforce stricter rules on mail-in voting. U.S. District Judge William Osteen in Greensboro issued an injunction essentially barring voters from being able to "fix" an absentee ballot they had already sent in if it lacked a third-party signature attesting that the voter, and not somebody else, signed the ballot.