4 years ago
New Delhi:
The United States started voting Tuesday to either choose a new President in Joe Biden or stick with Donald Trump for his second term.
A record-breaking number of early votes -- some 100 million -- have already been cast in an election that has the country on edge and is being closely watched in capitals around the world, AFP reported.
The Americans started to queue up to vote for the next President amid the chaotic environment, due to the pandemic and misinformation regarding in-mail voting.
While President Donald Trump is seeking a return to the office for a second term, his rival, Democrat Joe Biden has campaigned aggressively to grab the White House for himself. Biden, 77 is ahead in almost every opinion poll, buoyed by his consistent message that America needs to restore its "soul" and get new leadership in the midst of a coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 231,000 people.
Polls opened in some Eastern states at 6 am EST (1100 GMT). The most closely watched results will start to trickle in after 7 pm EST (2400 GMT) when polls close in states such as Georgia, though definitive national results could take days if the contest is tight.
Here are the Live Updates on US Presidential Election 2020:
Nervous Americans cast their ballots amid unemployment, COVID-19 uncertainty
The 2020 US Presidential election is much different than previous elections owing to people being nervous about the country's future amid nearly 8 per cent unemployment and more than 231,000 COVID-19 deaths, ANI reported.
On US election day, Trump says he feels "very good" about chances
President Donald Trump said he felt good about his chances for victory as the US election opened Tuesday, predicting that he would register big victories in key states such as Florida and Arizona.
"We feel very good," a hoarse-voiced Trump told Fox News in a phone interview. "I think we'll have victory."
Trump said he expected victory in all the key states that will decide the election, AFP reported.
Biden leads Trump narrowly in Florida on eve of election: Reuters/Ipsos polls
Democrat Joe Biden appeared to take a narrow lead over President Donald Trump in Florida in the final days of the 2020 US election campaign, with the two candidates locked in a dead heat in North Carolina and Arizona, according to Reuters/Ipsos opinion polls released on Monday.
A week earlier, Reuters/Ipsos polls showed Trump and Biden in a statistical tie across the three states.
Prayers held for Kamala Harris in ancestral Indian village, for Trump in Delhi
Supporters of US vice-presidential candidate Kamala Harris held prayers near her ancestral village in India ahead of Tuesday's US election, while a Hindu fringe group sought divine blessings for her rival Donald Trump.
The southern Indian region where Harris' maternal grandfather was born is rooting for the Democratic Party to win because of the family connection.
Meanwhile, a group that claims to have the support of 5 million Hindus says it wants Trump to be re-elected in order to keep India's main rivals - Pakistan and China - in check, Reuters reported.
Anxious Americans brace for Election Day with faces masked, stores boarded up
Millions of Americans will cast ballots on Tuesday in an Election Day unlike any other, braving the threat of COVID-19 and the potential for violence and intimidation after one of the most polarizing presidential races in US history.
In and around polling places across the country, reminders of a 2020 election year shaped by pandemic, civil unrest and bruising political partisanship will greet voters, although more than 90 million ballots have been already submitted in an unprecedented wave of early voting.
Many will wear masks to the polls - either by choice or by official mandate - with the coronavirus outbreak raging in many parts of the country, Reuters reported.
US Election Day begins as polls open in New York, New Jersey, Virginia
Polling stations opened in New York, New Jersey and Virginia early Tuesday, marking the start of US Election Day as President Donald Trump seeks to beat forecasts and defeat challenger Joe Biden.
The vote is widely seen as a referendum on Trump and his uniquely brash, bruising presidency that Biden urged Americans to end to restore "our democracy."
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says Iran's US policy not affected by who wins election
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Tuesday the US presidential election's result will not impact Tehran's policy towards Washington.
"Our policy towards the United States is clearly set and does not change with the movement of individuals. It does not matter to us who comes and goes," Khamenei said in a speech carried live on state TV.
Khamenei was speaking on the anniversary of the 1979 seizure of the US embassy in Tehran, which coincided with the birthday of Islam's Prophet Mohammad, Reuters reported.
US business leaders urge calm, brace for mayhem around election
US business leaders are calling for calm following Tuesday's election even as they brace for potential trouble on the streets and inside their companies in case of a disputed result.
The fears were highlighted in many US cities where retail stores were being boarded up, as some key executives expressed concerns about public reaction, AFP reported.
Trump wraps up campaign with late-night Michigan rally
The final rally in Donald Trump's grueling re-election battle came to an end early Tuesday morning with the president promising he would once again defy the polls and political wisdom.
His final appearance after a marathon 17 public appearances saw Trump take the stage in Grand Rapids, an industrial city in the midwestern state of Michigan, AFP reported.
Donald Trump predicts 'another beautiful victory' in final campaign stop
President Donald Trump on Tuesday predicted a "beautiful victory" in his final reelection campaign stop hours before polls open across the United States.
"We're going to have another beautiful victory tomorrow," he told a crowd in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the same place where he held the climactic rally of his 2016 campaign, when he upset the polls to beat Hillary Clinton.
"We're going to make history once again," he said.
Texas drive-through voting upheld as judge blocks Republican bid to reject ballots
A federal judge in Texas on Monday denied a bid by Republicans to throw out about 127,000 votes already cast in the US presidential election at drive-through voting sites in Houston, a Democratic-leaning area.
The complainants had accused Harris County Clerk Chris Hollins, a Democrat, of acting illegally when he allowed drive-through voting as an alternative during the coronavirus pandemic, Reuters reported.
New Hampshire hamlet casts first US Election Day votes
Voters in Dixville Notch, a village of 12 residents in the US state of New Hampshire, kicked off Election Day at the stroke of midnight on Tuesday by voting unanimously for Democratic nominee Joe Biden.
The vote and count only took a few minutes, with five votes for Biden and none for President Donald Trump, who is seeking a second term, AFP reported.
