America approaches election day and a stark choice between Trump and Harris

WASHINGTON (AP) — A presidential campaign marked by turmoil and rancor has reached its finale. Election Day as Americans decided whether to send Donald Trump back to the White House or elevate Kamala Harris to the Oval Office.

Polls opened across the country Tuesday morning as voters faced a stark choice between two candidates who offered vastly different temperaments and visions for the world’s largest economy and dominant military power. Millions of Americans have already cast their ballots by voting by mail and voting early in person.

HarrisVice President from the Democratic Party, if elected, she will become the first female President. She promised work in parallel to address economic and other challenges without deviating radically from the course set by President Joe Biden. Trumpformer Republican President swore replace thousands of federal workers with loyalists, impose massive tariffs on allies and enemies alike, and organize the largest deportation operation in US history.

Both candidates held last hours of the campaign overlapping in Pennsylvania, the largest battleground state. They tried to energize their base, as well as Americans who were still hesitant or debating whether to vote at all.

“It’s important, it’s my civic duty, and it’s important that I vote for myself and for the democracy and country that I’ve supported for 22 years of my life,” said Ron Kessler, 54, an Air Force veteran from Pennsylvania, who said: This was only his second time voting.

Harris and Trump entered Election Day focusing on seven battleground states, five of which were carried by Trump in 2016 and then went to Biden in 2020: the blue wall of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, as well Arizona and Georgia. Nevada and North Carolina, which were won by Democrats and Republicans respectively in the last two elections, also generated intense competition.

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump will make their final statements to voters in key battleground states. (CNN, HOUSE TV, SENATE TV

The closeness of the race and the number of states involved raised the possibility that the winner would again not be known on election night. There was one early harbinger from the village of Dixville Notch in New Hampshire, where voting is traditionally held after midnight on Election Day. Dixville Notch was split between Trump and Harris, receiving three votes each.

In the 2020 presidential race, it took four days to declare a winner. Despite this, Trump has baselessly claimed that if he loses, it will be because of fraud. The Harris campaign was preparing for him try to declare victory before the winner is revealed on Tuesday night, or try to challenge the result if she wins. Four years ago Trump made an attempt overturn the will of the voters, that ended with an uprising on January 6, 2021. at the US Capitol.

Trump planned to vote Tuesday in his adopted home state of Florida and then spend the day at his Mar-a-Lago estate before a party at a nearby convention center. Harris has already voted by mail in her home state of California. She will host the party at her alma mater, Howard University in Washington.

Each candidate will take the country to a new level

Harris, 60, will become the first woman, Black woman and person of South Asian descent to serve as president. She will also become the first sitting vice president to serve in the White House in 32 years.

Victory would cap a whirlwind campaign unlike any other in American history. Harris rose to the top of the Democratic ticket less than four months after Biden, facing massive pressure from his party following a disastrous debate performance, abandoned his re-election bid.

Trump, 78, will oldest president ever elected. He would also become the first defeated president in 132 years to win another term in the White House and the first person convicted of a felony to lead the Oval Office.

Having left Washington abandoned some allies after Trump’s January 6 defeated younger opponents in the Republican primary and won the support of longtime allies and harsh critics within his party. He survived one assassination attempt by millimeters at the July rally. Secret Service Agents failed the second attempt in September.

The presidential campaign is down to a final push in several states ahead of Election Day. (Source: CNN)

A Trump victory would confirm that enough voters rejected warnings from many former Trump aides or instead prioritized concerns about Biden and Harris’s management of the economy or the U.S.-Mexico border.

This almost guarantees that he will avoid going to prison. after being found guilty about his role in hiding hush money to an adult film actress during his first presidential run in 2016. A verdict in this case could be handed down later this month. And once in office, Trump could stop the federal investigation in his attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

The election has enormous stakes for America and the world.

The potential turbulence of Trump’s second term has been heightened by his support for the far right in the Republican Party and his disregard for long-standing democratic norms.

Trump used harsh rhetoric against Harris and other Democrats, calling them “demonic”, and proposed military action against people he calls “enemies from within”

Harris, pointing to warnings from former Trump aides, labeled him “fascist” and accused Trump of endangering the lives of women, appointment of three judges which overturned Roe v. Wade. In the final hours of the campaign, she tried to strike a more positive tone and did not mention the name of her Republican opponent throughout the final day of Monday.

As many states conduct early voting, officials across the country are working to ensure the security of the presidential election. (CNN, POOL)

As Election Day approaches, federal, state and local officials expressed confidence in honesty electoral systems of the country. Still, they were prepared to combat what they said was unprecedented levels of foreign disinformation – especially from Russia and Iran – as well as the possibility of physical violence or cyber attacks.

Both sides have armies of lawyers awaiting litigation on Election Day and beyond. And law enforcement agencies across the country are on high alert for potential violence.

The outcome of the race was closely watched around the world, with the future of American support for Ukraine, US loyalty to its global alliances and the country’s willingness to stand up to autocrats hanging in the balance.

Harris has vowed to continue to support Defending Kyiv from a full-scale Russian invasion in 2022. Trump has sharply criticized Ukraine, praised Russian President Vladimir Putin offered him will encourage Russia to attack NATO allies The USA, which Trump considers to be lawbreakers.

Voters across the country were also deciding thousands of other races that will decide everything from control of Congress to state ballot measures on abortion access.

More than 82 million people voted early — falling short of the record set during the 2020 pandemic, when Trump urged Republicans to continue voting on Election Day. This time, he called on his voters to block their ballots in advance, and they complied en masse.

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Associated Press writers Jill Colvin in Palm Beach, Florida, Darlene Superville and Eric Tucker in Washington, and Mark Levy in Allentown, Pennsylvania, contributed to this report.