Washington: Polling opened in the US early on Tuesday for the highly-anticipated presidential elections, with pollsters giving a slight edge to Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton over her rival Republican Donald Trump.
Around 90 million voters are expected to cast their votes to elect the country’s 45th president. Voters are also to cast ballots for vice president, their representatives in Congress and Senate and other elected officials. Also on ballots are various proposals, called propositions, for legal changes in several states
East Coast states have already kicked off voting. Polling has begun in Florida, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina and Tennessee. The three sleepy hamlets in rural New Hampshire, with their residents fewer than 100, became the first in the nation to cast their ballots.
In Dixville Notch, Hillary Clinton beat Donald Trump 4-2. Libertarian Gary Johnson received one vote, and the 2012 Republican candidate, Mitt Romney received a surprise write-in ballot.
In the slightly larger burg of Hart’s Location, Clinton won with 17 votes to Trump’s 14. In Millsfield, Trump won decisively, 16-4. In the three New Hampshire towns with midnight voting, Trump came out ahead 32-25, reported USA Today. The polls in most areas open at either 6 a.m. or 7 a.m., while poll closing times range from 6 p.m. to as late as 9 p.m. local time.
Hillary Clinton and husband and former President Bill Clinton turned up at their local voting booth in Chappaqua, New York, to vote. Voters cheered as the duo arrived, but Hillary didn’t speak to media, though she waved. Many people crowded around her with cellphones taking photos.
In Florida, the biggest swing state in the country, 50 per cent of the state’s 13 million voters have cast their vote.
Earlier, Trump asked if he would regret running if he doesn’t win, said that others have told him he’s started a political movement and that he should be proud of that. He said that he has spent over $100 million of his own money on the campaign.
All 50 states and Washington D.C. go to the polls across six different time zones on election day. Thirteen of the states are operating with split time zones. The US’ system is a race to secure 270 out of the 538 votes in the electoral college.
Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine said he feels “really comfortable” heading into Election Day. Speaking to reporters Tuesday morning in his hometown of Richmond, Virginia, the senator said: “It’s kind of like we’ve done all we can do and now it’s in the hands of the voters, but we feel really comfortable about it.”
More than 396,135 ballots had been cast as of Monday afternoon, including early, grace-period and mail-in voting totals, according to the Cook County Clerk’s office. Once the polls across the US have closed, there will be a projection for each state based on opinion polls taken throughout the day, which are a good indication of the results – but not always correct.
