America holding its breath

Americans were voting yesterday in the bitterly contested presidential race between incumbent Donald Trump and challenger Joe Biden after a tumultuous four years under the businessman-turned-politician that have left the United States as deeply divided as at any time in recent history. 

Voters lined up at polling places around the country casting ballots amid a coronavirus pandemic that has turned everyday life upside down. Biden, the Democratic former vice president who has spent a half century in public life, has held a strong and consistent lead in national opinion polls over the Republican president.

But Trump is close enough in several election battleground states that he could piece together the 270 state-by-state electoral college votes needed to win the election.

Trump is hoping to repeat the type of upset he pulled off in 2016 when he defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton despite losing the national popular vote by about 3 million ballots. Trump is aiming to avoid becoming the first incumbent US president to lose a re-election bid since George HW Bush in 1992.

It is possible that it could be days before the result is known, especially if legal challenges focused on ballots sent by mail are accepted in the event of a tight race.

There was a sense of anxiety among voters and concern about possible unrest after a campaign with heated rhetoric. There were buildings boarded up in anticipation of possible protests, including in Washington and New York city. A new fence was erected around the White House.

Polls opened in some Eastern states at 5:00pm BST (1100 GMT).  Voting will end in Alaska around 12:00pm BST today. The most closely watched results will start to trickle in after 6:00am BST (2400 GMT) when polls close in states such as Georgia.

The two candidates have spent the final days barnstorming half a dozen battleground states, with Pennsylvania emerging as perhaps the most hotly contested. Biden has made at least nine campaign stops in Pennsylvania between Sunday and election day.

Biden made another appearance yesterday morning in Pennsylvania. Speaking to supporters using a bullhorn in Scranton, the city where he was born, Biden returned to some of his familiar campaign themes, promising to unite Americans and "restore basic decency and honor to the White House."

Appearing on Fox News yesterday morning, Trump said the crowds he saw on Monday during his frenetic last day of campaigning gave him confidence that he would prevail.

"We have crowds that nobody's ever had before," said Trump, who has been criticized by Democrats for holding packed rallies in defiance of social-distancing recommendations during the pandemic. "I think that translates into a lot of votes."

The voting caps a campaign dominated by a pandemic that has killed more than 231,000 Americans and put of people millions out of work. The country this year also was shaken by protests against racism and police brutality.

Biden, who has framed the contest as a referendum on Trump's handling of the pandemic, promised a renewed effort to combat the public health crisis, fix the economy and bridge America's political divide.

Trump has downplayed the pandemic, saying the country is "rounding the corner" even as numerous states set single-day records of new infections in the final days of the campaign.

More than 100 million Americans voted early either in person or by mail, motivated not only by concerns about waiting in lines on election day amid the pandemic but also by extraordinary levels of enthusiasm after a polarizing campaign. More than 60 million of those were cast through mail.

Opinion polls suggest more Democrats voted early, whereas more Republicans waited until election day.

The record-shattering total is nearing three-quarters of the total 2016 vote, according to the US Elections Project at the University of Florida. Experts predict the vote could reach 160 million, exceeding the 138 million ballots cast in 2016.

On election day, while there were long lines in some places, in many states lines were shorter, perhaps a reflection of the massive early vote.

In McConnellsburg, Pennsylvania, about a dozen voters lined up, bundled in jackets and hats on an unseasonably chilly morning.

"He's a bit of a jerk, and I appreciate that," Martin Seylar, a 45-year-old welder who had just finished his shift, said of Trump, his preferred candidate. "He doesn't get everything that he says done, but the way I see it is he's trying, versus where everybody else blows smoke at us."

In Detroit, Republican voter Nick Edwards, 26, cast a ballot for Biden but voted for Republican candidates for Congress.

"Honestly, decency in the White House," Edwards said when asked about his main concern. "When someone leads the party, they need to hold those values, as well. I don't think Trump encompasses that."

Some crucial states, such as Florida, began counting absentee ballots three weeks ahead of election day and could deliver results relatively quickly on election night. Due to this state policy, the initial results from Florida could favor Biden due to the high volume of early ballots. If there is a "blue mirage," it will fade as more in-person ballots from election day are tallied.

Like Florida, the initial results from other swing states like North Carolina and Ohio could favor Biden because the states began to scan early ballots weeks before election day. A truer picture of the vote will emerge as more ballots are tabulated.

Others including Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin are barred from processing the vast majority of mail ballots until election day, raising the possibility of a prolonged vote count that could stretch for several days. Pennsylvania will accept mail-in ballots up to three days after the election if they are postmarked by Nov 3.

If the presidential race depends on the outcomes in these states, America could be waiting for days.

Trump's top domestic security official yesterday urged voters to be patient in waiting for election results after reports that the president could rush to claim victory.

"Voters should be patient while waiting for the outcome of this year's election," said Chad Wolf, the acting secretary of homeland security. "It is important to recognize that this process may require time."

Trump reportedly told confidants that he would declare victory late on election night if it looked like he was ahead in the voting, though he denied the accusation.

As voting opened, he told Fox News that there was "no reason to play games" over declaring victory early.

CONTROL OF CONGRESS AT STAKE

Voters yesterday will also decide which political party controls the US Congress for the next two years, with Democrats pushing to recapture a Senate majority and expected to retain their control of the House of Representatives.

Trump, 74, is seeking another four years in office after a chaotic first term marked by the coronavirus crisis, an economy battered by pandemic shutdowns, an impeachment drama, inquiries into Russian election interference, US racial tensions and contentious immigration policies.

Biden, 77, is looking to win the presidency after a five-decade political career including eight years as vice president under Trump's predecessor, Barack Obama. He mounted unsuccessful bids for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1988 and 2008.