Many political observers billed the unpredictable race for the 47th President of the US as the most consequential one in decades while appearing to project a grim picture for the country's future under a Trump presidency
Tens of millions of Americans have already cast their ballots on Tuesday. Those include record numbers in Georgia, North Carolina and other battleground states that could decide the winner
Despite long lines in some places and a few hiccups that are common to all elections, early in-person and mail voting proceeded without any major problems
State and local election officials, benefiting from changes made by the Republican-controlled legislature, pulled off a herculean effort to ensure residents could cast their ballots as they dealt with power outages, lack of water and washed out roads
The early turnout in Georgia, which has flipped between the Republican and Democratic nominees in the previous two presidential elections, has been so robust over 4 million voters that a top official in the secretary of state's office said the big day could look like a “ghost town” at the polls
Besides the hurricanes in North Carolina and Florida, the most worrisome disruptions to the election season so far were arson attacks that damaged ballots in two drop boxes near the Oregon-Washington border. Authorities there were searching for the person responsible
In Georgia, Republicans sought to prohibit voters from returning mailed ballots to their local election office by the close of polls on Election Day, votes that are allowed under state law. A judge rejected their lawsuit over the weekend
Trump has mischaracterised an investigation underway in Pennsylvania into roughly 2,500 potentially fraudulent voter registration applications by saying one of the counties was “caught with 2600 Fake Ballots and Forms, all written by the same person.” The investigation is into registration applications; there is no indication that ballots are involved
While there have been no major reports of any malicious cyberactivity affecting election offices, foreign actors have been active in using fake social media profiles and websites to drum up partisan vitriol and disinformation. In the final weeks, US intelligence officials have attributed to Russia multiple fake videos alleging election fraud in presidential swing states
Jen Easterly, the nation's top election security official, urged Americans to rely on state and local election officials for information about elections
ADVERTISEMENT
