US election: America heads to the polls with 100m votes already cast
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Polls have now opened across the US on election day, with almost 100m votes already cast through mail-in and absentee ballots.
The first polls will close at 11pm London time in parts of Indiana and Kentucky, with a stream of states closing their polls every hour from this point onward.
Crucially, not all states will count their mail-in ballots tonight, with the battlegrounds of Pennsylvania and Wisconsin counting those ballots from tomorrow night.
It has been speculated this will could lead to a slew of legal challenges from Democrats and Republicans if the race is close.
The 2020 presidential election has been one like no other, with Covid severely disrupting the campaign and forcing many people to vote early.
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Of the 100m people who have cast their votes already, it is believed about 30 per cent did not vote in the 2016 election.
The bitter campaign has seen Democratic nominee Joe Biden lead President Donald Trump consistently in national polling by around eight to 10 points and is the bookmakers’ favourite to win.
Biden also has solid polling leads in key swing states, such as Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota.
Polling is neck and neck in Florida, Arizona, Texas, Pennsylvania and North Carolina – all states Trump won in 2016.
Biden began the day by attending church in Wilmington, Delaware, and visiting the graves of his deceased wife, daughter and son.
He next visited his birthplace of of Scranton, Pennsylvania, with his grandchildren to visit his childhood house.
“It’s good to be home,” he told supporters gathered out the front.
Trump also held a rally in Scranton yesterday as both candidates closed out their campaigns by rallying hard in Pennsylvania.
Trump is expected to make an appearance in Virginia this morning to address local Republicans.
He was questioned this morning by Fox News if he would attempt to prematurely declare victory before all ballots are counted as sensationally reported by Axios on Sunday.
Trump made it clear that he would not try to prematurely claim victory.
“I think the polls are, you know, suppression polls,” he said.
“And I think we will have victory. But only when there is victory. You know, there is no reason to play games.”
Authorities in Washington have installed a large non-scaleable fence around the White House as fears mount of potential civil unrest tonight.
The majority of buildings in Downton D.C. have been boarded up in preparation for potential riots and gun sales have skyrocketed.
The feeling is widespread across major cities in the US, with a Fox News poll on Friday showing that 75 per cent of Americans were concerned about the prospect of post-election violence and civil unrest.
A YouGov poll said 56 percent of people anticipated “an increase in violence as a result of the election.”
Trump has stoked tensions by saying that mail-in voting may not be valid and that there will be attempts to rig the election through artificially inflating early voting numbers.