Millions of Americans voted yesterday in a presidential election defined by drama and uncertainty, with Kamala Harris and Donald Trump awaiting the outcome of a desperately close and hugely consequential race.Polls show Democratic Vice-President Kamala Harris, 60, and Republican former president Donald Trump, 78, may be heading for a photo finish after a head-spinning campaign.Harris made a late, dramatic entrance into the race when President Joe Biden dropped out in July, while Trump has ridden out two assassination attempts and a criminal conviction.Tens of millions of voters were expected to cast their ballots yesterday, on top of the 83mn who have already voted early, and both candidates put in a final word to try to sway the last undecided voters.“We’ve got to get it done. Today is voting day, and people need to get out and be active,” Harris, who had already voted by mail, told Atlanta station WVEE-FM.She described her opponent as “full of vengeance. He’s full of grievance. It’s all about himself.”Trump voted in Florida near his Mar-a-Lago residence, saying he felt “very confident” and that he wanted to be “very inclusive.”But he aired concerns about the vote count — heightening fears he will reject the result and cite fraud if he loses.“If it’s a fair election, I would be the first one to acknowledge it,” he said.Trump has said he would not seek election again in 2028, but he also recently has repeated baseless claims of election fraud while saying he should “never have left” the White House in 2021.Across the country, voters lined up including in Black Mountain, North Carolina, where the voting station was a makeshift tent due to recent hurricane damage and flooding.Long queues also formed in Erie, a critical city in battleground Pennsylvania.“It’s way, way, way more people here than the last” election, Marchelle Beason, 46, told AFP after casting her ballot for Harris at an elementary school.“We’re so divided right now, and she’s about peace. And everything that her opponent has to say is really negative,” she added.At the same school, 56-year-old Darlene Taylor noted her main issue is to “close the border.”“We don’t need another four more years of high inflation, gas prices (and) lying,” said Taylor, who wore a homemade Trump shirt.Control of Congress, and by extension the ability for the new president to enact their agenda, is also at stake. All 435 seats in the House of Representatives are up for grabs, as are 34 of the Senate’s 100 seats.A final presidential outcome may not be known for days if the results are close, adding to tensions in a deeply divided nation.And there are fears of turmoil and even violence if Trump loses, and then contests the result as he did in 2020. Barriers have been erected around the White House, and extra security provided for election workers.
