- Election Day is under way in the US. The spotlight is on the race for the White House between President Donald Trump, who is seeking a second term, and his rival, veteran Democrat Joe Biden.
- Trump addressed supporters in Virginia and will watch results come in from the White House. Biden made last-minute stops in Pennsylvania and will spend the night at home in Delaware.
- The first states have been called by the Associated Press, with Trump taking Kentucky and West Virginia and Biden taking Vermont.
- Coronavirus and the economy are top issues for voters, exit polls show.
- Early voting surged to levels never before seen in US elections, just over 100 million early votes have been cast either in person or by mail.
Hello and welcome to Al Jazeera’s continuing coverage of the US elections. This is Joseph Stepansky taking over from Creede Newton and Jihan Abdalla.
Pennsylvania girds for long count
Al Jazeera’s Kristen Saloomey, reporting froom Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Kristen Saloomey said the state is in for a long count.
“The polls have only just closed in Pennsylvania and in addition to all of the ballots that were cast today, the state now has to count some 2 and a half million mail-in ballots, and that is only just beginning that process… which can only begin on election day by Pennsylvania law,” she said.
“So this could take a while, officials are predicting it might be before the end of the week before we have really clear results, but it’s interesting to point out that Democrats returned nearly three times as many mail-in ballots as Republicans did that’s maybe why President Trump has been very worried about those mail-in ballots,” she said. “He has been attempting to discredit or delegitimise those mail-in ballots, so we had an issue earlier in the day where a judge expressed concern about some missing mail-in ballots and has ordered about two dozens mail processing centres to be searched for possible missing ballots.”
‘AU calls on Americans to remain calm’: Best #ElectionDay tweets
People across the United States have voted in one of the most polarising presidential elections in the country’s history – and the race is also playing out on social media.
The #Vote2020 and #ElectionDay hashtags are trending in most countries on Twitter, as the world closely follows the hard-fought matchup between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, on Tuesday.
Read more here.
Washington, DC called for Biden
The AP has called the District of Columbia for the Democratic Party, giving Biden 3 more electoral votes.
Pennsylvania governor says vote count will take longer than normal
The governor of Pennsylvania has confirmed that the vote count in the battleground state will take longer than expected, amid a surge in mail voting.
Pennsylvania does not start counting mail voting untl Election Day and will accept ballots post marked by November 3 for three days after. Some districts have said they will not start counting mail votes until Wednesday morning.
Thousands ‘march to the polls’ in Graham, North Carolina
Al Jazeera’s Laurin-Whitney Gottbrath has sent this report from Graham, North Carolina
The message on Election Night in Graham, where police pepper-sprayed protesters just three days before, was one of outrage and urgency – but also of hope and love.
Led by Reverend Greg Drumwright, hundreds of people from across North Carolina marched quietly several blocks to two polling locations, before making their way to the central square, where a Confederate monument stands.
“In the absence of hope, what do we have?” Drumwright told the crowd as they raised their fists in the air.
“Therefore we cling to hope tonight,” he added. “I want you to cling to change tonight; I want you to believe that this is a shifting and a turning and a dawning of a new area; that things will not stay the same; that white supremacy will come down; that racism will come down; that love will be lifted up.”
The marchers’ cheers drowned out the taunting by a small group of counterprotesters who gathered with confederate and Trump flags across the square.
30 Nevada polling stations to stay open an hour later
A judge in Nevada has ordered 30 Las Vegas-area voting sites to stay open for an extra hour tonight, after a lawsuit was filed by Donald Trump’s campaign and state Republicans.
They had argued that 22 polling places did not open on time, and wanted the time extended. Lawyers for Democrats then requested that eight additional sites also stay open later.
The judge granted both requests and said anyone in line at 8pm local time (04:00GMT) would be allowed to cast a ballot.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada shared a list of the Clark County polling sites that will stay open later.
More Senate results come in: AP
Republican US Senator Ben Sasse has defeated Democrat Chris Janicek in Nebraska’s US Senate race.
Republican US Senator Mike Rounds has defeated Democrat Daniel Ahlers in South Dakota’s US Senate race.
Republican Cynthia Lummis has defeated Democrat Merav Ben-David in Wyoming’s US Senate race.
Trump claims 21 more electoral votes
The AP has called Louisiana , Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming for the Republican Party, giving Trump 21 more electoral votes.
New Mexico, New York called for Biden
The AP has called New Mexico and New York for the Democratic Party, giving Biden 34 more electoral votes.
Polls close in more states
It’s 21:00 ET (02:00GMT) and the polls have closed in Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
Al Jazeera’s Patrick Strickland filed this report from Glendale, Arizona
Early Tuesday afternoon voters came in and out of Glendale Community College, not spending more than a few minutes inside the polling station.
Glendale, 11 miles (18km) northwest of downtown Phoenix, sits in Maricopa County, Arizona’s most populous county.
Volunteers instructed voters where to go as they arrived at the community college’s student union. “Thank you for voting,” the volunteers said as voters left.
By 16:00 ET (23:00 GMT), a line had formed outside the college, although the polling station remained calm throughout the afternoon.
Blake Spanko, 22, wore a “Keep America Great – Trump 2020” hat and said he also voted for Donald Trump in 2016.
“I voted for him in 2016 just because he’s a smart businessman,” he told Al Jazeera. “I figured if he can make billions of dollars he can run a country successfully – and I think he did that.”
Describing himself as a “traditional Christian”, Spanko said abortion was another important issue that drove him to cast his vote for Trump again.
“I think [Arizona] will stay red,” Spanko added when asked whether he believed the battleground state could give its 11 electoral votes to a Democratic nominee for the first time since 1996.
Another voter Michael, who declined to share his surname, said he voted “against Trump” whom he feels has spread hatred. “I definitely am against hatred and I was raised to be kind,” he said.
Speaking to Al Jazeera by telephone, Democratic legislator Cesar Chavez, who represents legislative district 29 in the Arizona House of Representatives, said his party was confident it would outperform Republicans on Tuesday.
“I don’t think we’ve felt any better than we do,” he said. “Really, this is a work in progress for the last 50 years.”
In the parking lot outside Glendale Community College, pro-Trump activists handed out fliers that said “Keep America Great – 2020” and signs reading “Latinos for Trump”.
Indiana called for Trump
The AP called Indiana for the Republican Party, giving Trump 11 more electoral votes.
Iranian American Sima Ladjevardian loses congressional race
Iranian-American progressive Sima Ladjevardian has lost her congressional race with staunchly conservative House Republican Dan Crenshaw, according to The Associated Press.
Ladjevardian had garnered national attention while encapsulating the shifting demographics in the one-time Republican bastion of Texas.
Crenshaw and Ladjevardian were competing to represent the state’s 2nd congressional district, which includes parts of Houston.
Ladjevardian was born in Iran and immigrated to the United States as a child. She is running to represent Texas’s 2nd congressional district.
Read more here.
Arkansas called for Trump
The AP calls Arkansas for the Republican Party, giving Trump 6 more electoral votes.
Republican Senator Tom Cotton wins in Arkansas
Republican Senator Tom Cotton wins Arkansas’ Senate race, according to the Associated Press.
Former Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway tells US broadcaster ABC News that several hundred people will be at the White House and that the President Trump will address the nation ‘tonight’ from the East Room.
Battleground update
While several non-competitive states have been called already, winners have not been projected yet in any of the competitive battleground states whose polls have closed.
Georgia, North Carolina, Ohio, Florida, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania are all too close to call, per the Associated Press. Trump won all but New Hampshire in 2016. And there are some signs in the exit polls and the vote count that show some early positive signs for Trump and Biden in different states.
In Florida, Trump is keeping Biden’s margin of victory down in Miami-Dade, the state’s most populous county.
In North Carolina and Ohio, exit polls suggest Biden is receiving more support among suburban voters than Trump did in 2016.
The Associated Press, which is one of several US media organization making calls, waits until a significant number of votes have been counted, while also analyzing exit polling data, in competitive states before they make projections.
North Carolina Trump supporters: ‘He’s one of the most pro-life presidents we’ve had’
Al Jazeera’s Laurin-Whitney Gottbrath filed this report from New Hanover County
Trump supporters in North Carolina were energised at polling stations across the beach town of Wilmington. They were confident New Hanover County, where Wilmington is located, and the state will go red.
“Trump has done a lot,” Char Marker said. “He’s done a lot of things to tackle our child sex trafficking problem that we have, which is huge to me.
“I am a pro-life voter. And, you know, Trump has been one of the most pro-life presidents we’ve had yet. They say Trump is kind of like a party of his own. And if that’s the case, I’m in that party.”
Across town, 22-year-old Brandon Panameno, said he voted for Trump because he is not the “typical politician”.
“The economy has been doing well” under Trump, he said. “I think he has a pretty good chance of winning again.”
Rural Kenosha supports Trump, with exceptions
Al Jazeera’s Cinnamon Janzer has sent this report from rural Kenosha county, Wisconsin
In rural Kenosha, Trump signs abound but not everyone is on boardIn the village of Bristol, in central Kenosha county, a short line of voters are waiting to enter Bristol Village Hall where voting booths are delineated by yellow and orange traffic cones strung together with yellow rope.
Tony Chacon, who moved to Bristol nine years ago from Kenosha, had just completed voting. “It’s better over here on this side of the Interstate. I feel a lot safer,” the 26-year-old said.
“I’m in trade work so I’m big on keeping work in the United States,” he told Al Jazeera of his decision to vote for Trump.“He’s a businessman … someone who knows how money moves and how to move it,” said Chacon.
For him, when Biden was vice president, “things were getting rough when it comes to prices of fuel.” He added that ultimately “our choices aren’t really the best” before turning to greet fellow Bristol resident, Brian Chwaszczewski, 33, who had also just voted.
While he was reluctant to name the candidate he voted for, Chwaszczewski did say that “being out here in more of a rural area, I’m sure there [are] plenty of Trump supporters. I just wanted to kind of not support that.” He feels like something of an outlier in his community. “It’s Trump signs everywhere,” he said, as darkness set in.
Senate races called: AP
Democratic Senator Chris Coons defeated Republican Lauren Witzke in Delaware’s Senate race.
Democratic Senator Dick Durbin defeated Republican Mark Curran in Illinois’ Senate race.
Democratic Senator Ed Markey defeated Republican Kevin O’Connor in Massachusetts’ Senate race.
Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen defeated Republican Corky Messner in New Hampshire’s Senate race.
Democratic Senator Cory Booker defeated Republican Rik Mehta in New Jersey’s Senate race.
Democratic Senator Jack Reed defeats Republican Allen Waters in Rhode Island’s Senate race.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell wins reelection
Republican Senator Mitch McConnell has defeated Democrat Amy McGrath in Kentucky’s US Senate race, according to the AP.
Biden takes 69 electoral votes: AP
The AP has called for the Democratic Party, giving Biden 69 electoral votes.
Trump takes 33 more electoral votes: AP
The AP calls Alabama, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Tennessee for the Republican Party, giving Trump 33 electoral votes.
Polls close in several eastern states
It’s 20:00 ET (01:00GMT) and the polls have closed in Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee and Washington, DC.
South Carolina called for Trump
The AP calls South Carolina for the Republican Party, giving Trump 9 electoral votes.
Polls close in battleground North Carolina
Al Jazeera’s Laurin-Whitney Gottbrath filed this report from Wilmington, North Carolina
Polls started to close in North Carolina where voters from both parties expressed optimism all day.
Michael Master said he was hopeful Trump would pull out another victory in the state.
“As a person, Trump puts Americans first,” Master said at a polling location in Wilmington. “And he puts especially the average American worker first.”
Across the parking lot, Biden supporter Nick Rhodes, said he was confident Biden would win.
“We need to bring our country back together in terms of getting rid of division, and start embracing science and start bringing people together, because we cannot have another four years of this,” he said.
A handful of precincts in the state will stay open later because of delayed openings. We’re expecting to see results from early and absentee voting to start rolling in within the next hour. In-person results will follow later this evening.
Trump campaign files lawsuit to extend voting in Las Vegas
The Trump campaign and Nevada Republicans are asking a state court judge to extend voting by one hour at 22 Las Vegas-area polling locations, according to the Associated Press and Nevada Independent newspaper
.An Election Day lawsuit filed in Clark County claims the 22 voting locations did not open on time. It was getting an immediate hearing before Judge Joe Hardy.
“If immediate action is not taken, appellants will never have the opportunity to vindicate their rights,” attorneys for the two groups wrote in the filing. “More troubling, Nevadans – and the rest of the country – will be left wondering whether the results of the election are legitimate.”
Election officials keep sites open until the last person in line at closing time can vote. Polling places in Nevada are scheduled to close at 10:00 PM ET (02:00 GMT).
Why Florida matters
All polls will close in the battleground state of Florida at 20:00 ET (01:00 GMT)
Here’s why the state’s so significant.
Virginia called for Biden
The AP calls Virginia for the Democratic Party, giving Biden 13 electoral votes.
The ‘super’ seven states to watch tonight
A helpful road map, if you want to figure out how election night is going to shape up, is to keep an eye on seven states’ results, which we’ll dub the “super” seven.
If Biden can win early on any of the following states that Trump won in 2016, it could indicate a positive evening for him. If Trump holds them, that will likely delay a projection of an overall winner.
Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, North Carolina, Ohio and Texas are the states that are expected to count votes fairly efficiently and, if there’s a clear winner, are expected to be projected for one of the two candidates.
If Biden picks up one, assuming he also wins all of the states Hillary Clinton won in 2016, he’ll be well on his way to 270 votes, as it will be a state flipped from Republican to Democrat. If he picks up two, that makes things even clearer and puts Biden well down the path to a potential win.
Note that other key Trump states – Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania – aren’t part of that list. Those states are expected to count their votes much more slowly and if Trump holds onto the other seven, will factor into many more hours, if not days, of waiting for a winner to be projected.
AP: Republican US Senator Shelley Moore Capito defeats Democrat in West Virginia
Repulican Moore has defeated Democrat Paula Jean Sweareng in West Virginia’s US Senate race.
West Virginia called
The AP calls West Virginia for the Republican Party, giving Trump 5 electoral votes.
Polls close in North Carolina, Ohio and West Virginia
It’s 19:30 ET (00:30GMT) and polls have closed in North Carolina, Ohio and West Virginia.
Exit poll: Biden running strong among key Georgia voter groups
Biden is outperforming Hillary Clinton among key voters in Georgia, according to exit polls from the Associated Press.
Suburban voters, who Trump won by 5 points in 2016, are backing Biden by double digits in this year’s exit polls. Among suburban women, Biden has the support of 6 in 10 of them.
Turnout among Black voters has kept pace with 2016, as they make up around 3 in 10 voters this year. Biden has also kept pace with Hillary Clinton, with 9 in 10 Black voters saying they support Biden.
If Biden is to flip Georgia to the Democrats for the first time since 1992, he’ll need robust turnout from Black voters and a strong showing among suburban voters.
Georgia’s polls closed at 19:00 ET/00:00 GMT, but the Associated Press has not called the race as of yet.
The AP exit poll surveyed over 106,000 voters over eight days, including Election Day. The margin of error is +/-0.4 percent.
What time do polls close in your US state?
Despite the US witnessing a record number of early votes in the presidential election, tens of millions of American voters headed to polling stations across the country on Tuesday.
Polls began closing in the United States at 18:00 Eastern Standard Time (23:00 GMT) and closing times vary by state.
Find out when the polls close in each state here.
Democrat Mark Warner defeats Republican challenger in Virginia: AP
Democratic US Senator Mark Warner defeats Republican Daniel Gade in Virginia’s US Senate race, according to AP.
Vermont called for Biden
The AP calls Vermont for the Democratic Party, giving Biden 3 electoral votes.
Kentucky called for Trump
The AP calls Kentucky for the Republican Party, giving Trump 8 electoral votes.
Polls close in Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, South Carolina, Virginia and Vermont
It’s 19:00EST (00:00GMT) and the polls have closed in Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, South Carolina, Virginia and Vermont.
What are swing states?
Swing states, also known as battleground states, will have an outsize influencing in deciding the next president of the US.
Watch our one-minute explainer on why.
Racial justice on minds of US voters
Racial justice is one of several major issues on the minds of US voters today, as the country for months has seen mass protests demanding an end to systemic racism and police violence against Black people.
Janelle King, a Republican strategist, defended US President Donald Trump, saying he has helped the Black community by tackling unemployment and funding various programmes, such as historically Black colleges and universities.
“He provided the Black community with policies,” she told Al Jazeera.
But Derrick Plummer, a Democratic strategist, said it is false to say that Trump has done a lot to help the Black community.
“When you had peaceful African Americans, Black people, in the streets saying that we want to end systemic racism, we have a president that doesn’t even think systemic racism is real,” he told Al Jazeera.
Exit poll: Majority of US voters unhappy with country’s direction
Voters are quite unhappy with the direction of the country and how the federal government is working, according to the Associated Press’ VoteCast data.
About three-quarters of voters said they are dissatisfied or angry with the way the government is working and 6 in 10 say they’re unhappy with the direction of the country.
The poll surveyed over 106,000 voters over eight days, including Election Day. The margin of error is +/-0.4 percent.
Trump tweets ‘we’re looking really good all over the country’
Trump has tweeted “we’re looking really good all over the country”.
“Thank you,” the president tweeted shortly after the first polling places, in parts of Indiana and Kentucky, closed on Election Day.
Indications on who is ahead in preliminary state results are expected to take hours.
First polls close
The first polls have closed on Election Day in Indiana and Kentucky.
Polls closed in parts of the two states that lie within the Eastern Time zone, but those within the Central Time zone will remain open for an additional hour.
Both states are considered Republican bastions, but results are not expected to begin coming in until later Tuesday.
Strong voter turnout ‘gives me hope,’ says Rashida Tlaib
With only a few hours before polls close in Michigan on Election Day, Rashida Tlaib said she is optimistic she will be heading back to Washington, DC.
An outspoken progressive, the Palestinian American legislator is up for re-election in the 13th District of Michigan – a Democratic stronghold that she is almost certain to carry.
She says strong voter turnout so far in the US elections is very encouraging.
“I’ve not, in all the years I’ve run for office, seen lines like this,” Tlaib told Al Jazeera, crediting the crowds in part to a desire to vote President Donald Trump out of office.
“[It] gives me hope that the turnout is going to be high enough where it’s very clear that Donald Trump is not wanted as the president of the United States any more.”
Read more here.
FBI investigating robocalls urging people to ‘stay home’ on Election Day
The FBI and the New York attorney general were looking into a spate of mysterious robocalls urging people to stay home on Election Day as the nation remains on high alert to ensure voting is not compromised, according to Reuters news agency.
US state and local officials have been raising the alarm over at least two separate automated call campaigns as millions of Americans cast their votes on Tuesday to decide between Trump and Biden. Experts who spoke to Reuters say they are mystified by the most prominent robocalling campaign, which has been running for months and tells people to remain home but does not explicitly mention voting.
“There’s a little bit of confusion about this one across the industry,” said Giulia Porter, vice president at RoboKiller, a company that fights telemarketers and robocalls and has been tracking the campaign.
Audio of the calls, which RoboKiller shared with Reuters, features a synthetic female voice saying: “Hello. This is just a test call. Time to stay home. Stay safe and stay home.”
Porter said the call had been placed millions of times in the past 11 months or so but had on Tuesday shot up to number 5 or number 6 in the list of top spam calls. A Department of Homeland Security official said the Federal Bureau of Investigation was investigating the calls. The FBI said only that it was aware of reports of robocalls and had no further comment.
Biden optimistic
Biden made a couple of last-minute campaign visits to Pennsylvania, stopping by his childhood home in Scranton and speaking to volunteers in Philadelphia.
Biden told reporters in Wilmington, Delaware, he expects to win Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, the three Midwest states known as the “Blue Wall”.
“I think we are going to do well. We’re going to re-establish that Blue Wall,” Biden said, referring to Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.Trump won those states in 2016, turning them Republican for the first time in decades.
Biden said this year is interesting.
“You can’t think of an election in the recent past where so many states are up for grabs. The idea that I’m still in play in Texas, in Georgia, in Florida,” he said. And said he would wait for a result before speaking later on election night.
“There’s so much in play out there and an overwhelming vote out there. If there’s something to say tonight, I’ll come out and say it, otherwise I will wait until all the votes are counted.”
Biden not making predictions about outcome, says ‘superstitious’
Speaking to reporters Tuesday outside a Delaware community centre, Biden said he’s “superstitious” about offering predictions for election night but remains “hopeful”.
He added he’s heard from aides that there’s “overwhelming turnout” among young people, women and older Black adults in places like Georgia and Florida.
“The things that are happening bode well for the base that has been supporting me – but we’ll see,” he said. “It’s just so uncertain” because of how many states are in play.
Voting in Florida’s most important swing county
Al Jazeera’s Chris Moody has sent this report from Safety Harbor, Florida
Desirae Braverman, a 20-year-old who was eager to vote in her first presidential election this year, showed up in person in the final hours on Election Day after her father accidentally threw away the mail-in ballot she ordered.
“He doesn’t pay attention sometimes,” she said of her dad after voting in person in the town library. “I was like, I have no choice but to come down here now last minute. I wanted to do my little part, even if it doesn’t mean that much. I wanted to get out there and say, ‘My vote counts’.”
To both presidential campaigns this election cycle, Braverman’s vote actually matters quite a lot: Her small bayside town, Safety Harbor, is located in Pinellas County, one of the most important swing counties in Florida, which is in one of the nation’s most critical battleground states.
Pinellas voted for George W Bush in 2004, then supported Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, only to swing back into Republican hands and vote for Donald Trump in 2016. And this year, it is once again up for grabs in a state likely to face a close outcome. The county is narrowly split between registered Republicans and Democrats, making turnout numbers essential in a tightly contested place like this.
Biden’s campaign sent the Democratic nominee’s wife, Jill Biden, to make a last-minute stop on the morning of Election Day to encourage voters.Braverman, a college student who said she cares about social issues such as preserving rights to same-sex marriage and abortion, cast her vote for Biden.”It kind of felt a little liberating because it was my first time,” she said. “It felt good. And I got my little sticker.”
Exit poll: Coronavirus is voters’ top issue
Coronavirus and the economy are the top issues among US voters, according to the Associated Press’ VoteCast data. And voters don’t have positive feelings about how both are being dealt with.
About 4 in 10 voters named the pandemic as the top issue facing the US, while 3 in 10 said the economy and jobs were most important.
Around half of US voters said coronavirus is not at all under control. On the economy, 6 in 10 said the economy is in poor shape.
On the issue of law enforcement, of which Donald Trump has made the former a major campaign theme, only 4 percent said that was the country’s top issue. The poll surveyed over 106,000 voters over eight days, including Election Day. The margin of error is +/-0.4 percent.
Group feeds voters in Arizona
Al Jazeera’s Patrick Strickland filed this report from Phoenix, Arizona
A slow but steady stream of voters arrived at the Epworth United Methodist Church in Phoenix, Arizona’s capital. Poll volunteers informed new arrivals where to go to cast their ballots, while another group handed out free meals to voters as they left.
Feed the Polls is a volunteer initiative that brings together organisations and eateries to keep voters fed while they are waiting at the polls.
“Today we are set to give out 2,000 meals,” said Maria Parra Cano of Sana Sana Foods, one of the groups that teamed up with Feed the Polls.
“It’s been a constant flow [of voters] all morning until now,” she told Al Jazeera. “We are really just aiming to try to solve food insecurity on this day.”
Justin, 19, said he cast his first-ever vote for President Donald Trump, the Republican incumbent.
“The most important thing for me is obviously the economy – we need a strong economy,” said Justin, who declined to provide his surname. “And then law and order is a big thing for me.”
Justin also lauded Trump’s foreign policy, citing the recent normalisation agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates.
“It’s a crazy world we live in right now and this election is a big election, just like any election,” Justin added.
His friend Robert, a 26-year-old old business student, said the most important issue for him is taxation. On Tuesday he voted for Trump, just like in 2016.
“The civil unrest and everything – I feel like there needs to be something done,” said Robert, who also declined to provide his last name.
“And then I think Trump is going to be the one to stop the lockdown,” he added, referring to restrictions over the coronavirus pandemic. “I think it’s time everybody goes back to work.”
DJs get out the vote in South Philadelphia
Al Jazeera’s Hilary Beaumont has sent this update from South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
DJs Ronald Coleman, 33, and Jarkeer Lassiter, 29, danced to Come Closer by Whiz Kid ft. Drake outside a South Philadelphia polling station. They already voted for Biden with mail ballots and now their goal is to get out the vote for Biden by DJing at the polls. They are part of an effort across Philadelphia bringing DJs and free food to voters.
Philadelphia voter turnout is high this election, but it is still unclear if it will be high enough to help the Democrat win Pennsylvania.
Asked why he voted for Biden, Coleman said, “My mom.” He wants Biden to follow through on his promise to improve healthcare. “Medicare, all the stuff for the older people,” Coleman added. He said people in Philadelphia have been rioting for their rights after the police shooting of Walter Wallace Jr, who was Lassiter’s cousin.
“It just hit too close to home for me,” Coleman said. “I just hope it gets better.”
Coleman and Lassiter said a lot of first-time voters were making their voices heard in Philadelphia this election. Lassiter said he voted for Biden because Trump failed to contain the pandemic and had stoked racial tension. “It’s like, if he’s in the White House, it’s OK to be [openly racist].”
Electing Biden will send a message, he said. “If we get Biden in there, we have to do better.”
Voters cast ballots in Kenosha, Wisconsin
Al Jazeera’s Cinnamon Janzer has sent this report from Kenosha, Wisconsin
The Kenosha Unified School District is a sprawling, yet nondescript building on the city’s 52nd Street thoroughfare.
On Election Day, its parking lot is brimming with cars including one with a man playing guitar and singing from the bed of a pickup truck.The glass doors of the building’s entrance are flanked by two pairs of volunteers wearing yellow crew-neck sweatshirts that read “Election Defender”.
“It’s a nonpartisan group that is organising … to make sure that voters are taken care of, especially in places where there are long lines,” explained Rena Singer. “It felt good to have something to do today,” she said of the group’s efforts to hand out snacks, personal protective equipment and anything else voters need to make it through the process.
Inside, the sterile and fluorescent-lit hallways and rooms are dedicated to same-day voter registration and in-person voting.
“Everybody has been in such a good mood, even the voters,” said the location’s chief inspector, Shawnna Smith. “I’m pretty proud of how well curbside voting is going – we don’t usually have that,” she said of the pandemic-inspired practice.
Volunteers in yellow vests gather voters’ information, grab a ballot from inside that the voters complete from outside before the voters return them indoors to be counted. “People are taking advantage of it. Instead of risking coming in here, they’re just doing it curbside. It’s safe for them and everybody else,” Smith said.
Dow closes up 550 points on hopes for clear US election winner
Wall Street’s main stock indexes rallied as investors hope a clear winner will emerge from an exceptionally divisive US presidential election.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished the session up more than 554 points or just over 2 percent at 27,480.03 – it had been up more than 700 points earlier in the session.
The S 500 – a gauge for the health of US retirement and college savings accounts – closed up 1.78 percent while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index finished the session up 1.85 percent.
Tuesday’s strong finishes extended Monday’s gains. Though storefronts across the country have been boarded up in case violence erupts once the polls close, Wall Street is optimistic that a clear winner will be determined.
Read more here.
‘Come together with courage and grit,’ says Jill Biden
Al Jazeera’s Chris Moody sent this report from West Tampa, Florida
Jill Biden, wife of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, made a last-minute appearance in a predominantly Latino neighbourhood of West Tampa today to boost turnout in this crucial battleground state.
Speaking to only a few dozen supporters, mostly volunteers who have backed her husband’s campaign, she emphasised unity before the polls close later tonight. “There is nothing – nothing – we can’t do when we come together with courage and grit,” she told the crowd, who wore masks and stood several feet apart from each other.
“Donald Trump is in this for himself. Nothing more, nothing less. And he wants us to believe that we’re all the same, that we’re unhopeful and angry and selfish and divided. But today, we are going to show him who we are.”
The appearance outside “Casa Biden”, an independent volunteer office where people have spent months drumming up support for Biden in an area with large Cuban and Puerto Rican populations, was scheduled at the 11th hour to try to increase voter turnout.
“This is where the highest concentration of Hispanic voters are,” said Elio Muller, who directs the volunteer operations. “Our precincts are usually 60 percent turnout Democrat.”
Voting with gratitude: Reporter’s notebook
Al Jazeera’s Jennifer Glasse reflects on casting a ballot in the US after decades abroad.
First-time voter perspective: ‘It was like the first day of school
Al Jazeera’s Laurin-Whitney Gottbrath has sent this update from Wilmington, North Carolina.
Ricardo Thomas woke up this morning feeling energised. The 35-year-old Wilmington, North Carolina-native was anxious to get to the polls to cast his first-ever ballot.
“It was like the first day of school,” he told Al Jazeera. Upon leaving the polling station, Thomas said he was “feeling good”.
Thomas explained that while he did not really have an interest in voting before this election, but when COVID-19 hit him and his community especially hard, he started to learn more about the candidates.
“I live below the line anyway, so [often election outcomes] would never affect us,” he told Al Jazeera. “Because we don’t know what it is to have the amount of money that the people around us that we provide our services for have,” he said.
“When the COVID came, I lost my job, and it really set me back, back, back.” And that’s when he says he knew he had to vote, and “be a part of change and history”.
Wisconsin’s Kenosha County central count is calm – but busy
Al Jazeera’s Cinnamon Janzer has sent this dispatch from Kenosha, Wisconsin
Election Day is off to the races in Wisconsin.
Erin Decker, chair of the Republican Party of Kenosha County, said she expects “record-high turnout” today, while Lori Hawkins, chair of the Kenosha County Democrats, said she told her children that they are witnessing history.
Inside Kenosha’s municipal building, hallways dedicated to central count efforts – to tally absentee ballots separately from the polls – are bustling with volunteers and city officials. Dressed in neon green shirts, dozens of poll workers are steadily counting the 57,650 ballots that have been returned so far at tables of two, spaced six feet apart.
A handful of retired men wearing bright orange lanyards attached to white placards reading “election observer” around their necks are mingling among the first-floor crowd.
Outside the building, resident Dennis Phillips said he had not voted yet, but that he would likely cast a ballot later for Trump – just as he did in 2016. “He’s been doing pretty good I guess,” Phillips said.
Read all the updates from earlier in the day here.
