Agencies
Washington
The US Election Day voting continued in the high-stakes presidential race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump, which polls show to be incredibly close and is likely to be decided by voters in a handful of battleground states. Control of the House and Senate were also on the line on Tuesday as Americans make consequential decisions about the country’s future.
The Democratic and Republican candidates have each urged their supporters to cast their ballots, mid-way through an Election Day that polls have predicted to be among the most closely contested in decades.
"Today we vote for a brighter future”, Harris wrote in a post on X, linking to a national directory of polling sites.
Trump, on his X account, told voters: "I need you to deliver your vote no matter how long it takes”, slamming his opponents as "radical communist Democrats”.
The Republican has addressed the media after casting his ballot in Palm Beach, Florida, saying he feels "very confident” about his election odds.
"It looks like Republicans have shown up in force,” Trump said. "We’ll see how it turns out”.
He added, "I hear we’re doing very well.” Speaking to the press after casting his ballot, ex-President Donald Trump said he is "very confident” he will win the election and that "it won’t even be close,” while expressing frustration that it may take a while to call the results.
"I feel very confident,” Trump said. "I hear we’re doing very well everywhere.” He added that this was the "best” of the three campaigns he ran.
"It won’t even be close,” Trump said. "But it’s gonna take a long time to certify.” There has been a steady stream of voters at polling locations in the Arab-majority Detroit suburb.
The final six public polls that have been released pretty much tell the same story as each other and the previous polls in October. The race to become the 47th president of the United States is on a razor-thin margin. Three of those last six polls were actual ties; one has Kamala Harris ahead by three points; the others have Donald Trump up by one point and two points.
Several voters told Al Jazeera the war in the Middle East is their number one issue. Democrats won more than 80 percent of the votes in the predominantly Arab neighbourhoods of Dearborn in 2020.
But this year, many residents are backing Trump or third party candidates to express their anger at the Biden-Harris administration’s support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza and the attacks on
Lebanon.
Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz addressed voters in key battleground state Pennsylvania ahead of election night.
"We have the fairest, the freest, the safest elections. We have a free press that moderates the elections, make sure things are done right,” Walz told a crowd during the campaign stop in Harrisburg. "So just stay calm. Stay with it.” A Pennsylvania court granted the request by Cambria County election officials that voting hours be extended until 10 p.m. ET after a software malfunction disrupted ballot scanning. Ballots cast after 8 p.m. ET will be provisional ballots, the court’s order said.
"The Cambria County Board of Election learned early this morning that a software malfunction in the County’s Electronic Voting System has prevented voters from scanning their ballots. This should not discourage voters from voting at their voting precincts,” the Office of County Commissioners said in a statement earlier Tuesday.