Voters in Dixville Notch, New Hampshire, went to the polls on Tuesday morning, marking the official start of Election Day voting for the 2024 US presidential election. Six registered voters from the tiny town in the northeastern United States cast their ballots at midnight, following a tradition that dates back decades.
Amid heightened security to fears of violence and chaos, the vast majority of polling stations across the country opened on Tuesday morning and were due to remain open until the evening.
In Dixville Notch, the first polling station that started, three votes were recorded for Trump and three for Harris on Tuesday.
As the tumultuous US presidential election season approached a climax on Tuesday, the pitched battle between the two major candidates showed no signs of abating.
The Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, and the Republican candidate Donald Trump, both made appearances in the crucial battleground state of Pennsylvania on Monday.
Focusing on Pennsylvania’s southeast corner, Trump took the stage in Reading, about 48 kilometers from Allentown, where Harris held her own event about a half hour later.
“If we win Pennsylvania, we win the whole ball of wax,” said Trump, who was headed to Pittsburgh later on Monday.
A Trump victory in Pennsylvania with its 19 Electoral College votes would puncture the Democrats’ “blue wall” and make it harder for Harris to win the required 270 votes.
“We need everyone in Pennsylvania to vote,” Harris said. “You are going to make the difference in this election.”
She also visited Scranton — the birthplace of US President Joe Biden — and Reading, and had a stop planned in Pittsburgh before concluding with a late-night rally in Philadelphia that included Lady Gaga and Oprah Winfrey.
Most divisive
This election is widely regarded as one of the most divisive in US history. Both candidates have not relented on personal attacks and have repeatedly warned against potentially catastrophic consequences inflicted on the country if the other is elected. Their supporters also seem convinced that the opposing candidate is bad for the country.
Harris has called Trump a “fascist”, and Trump has repeatedly questioned her intelligence.
Trump held a rally on Oct 27 at Madison Square Garden in New York, the heavily Democratic city where he was born, at which a comedian called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage”. Trump said he had no prior knowledge of what the comedian would say.
Biden, in response to the comedian’s remark, said: “The only garbage I see floating out there is his (Trump’s) supporters — his — his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American.”
The president later said he was referring to the comedian, not all Trump supporters.
Seizing on Biden’s comments, Trump, took a ride in the passenger seat of a garbage truck, preceding a campaign rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on Oct 30.
“How do you like my garbage truck?” Trump said. “This is in honor of Kamala and Joe Biden.”
Harris made a surprise appearance on NBC’s TV show Saturday Night Live over the weekend, playing herself as the mirror image of Maya Rudolph’s portrayal of her in the comedy show’s cold open.
Rudolph and Harris said supporters need to “Keep Kamala and carryon-ala”, and delivered the show’s signature opening line, “Live from New York, it’s Saturday night!”
Harris’ appearance raised an objection by the top Republican member of the Federal Communications Commission, or FCC, who questioned whether it was a violation of the FCC’s “equal time” rule, which ensures that one candidate doesn’t get significantly more air time than the other, The Wall Street Journal reported.
NBC notified the FCC on Sunday that Harris “appeared without charge” on Saturday Night Live “for a total period of 1 minute and 30 seconds”.
On Sunday, NBC gave Trump 90 seconds of equal time, showing him addressing voters during a NASCAR auto-racing event and a National Football League game.
What makes this election unique is that Harris, 60, became the nominee when Biden, 81, decided not to seek reelection following a halting debate performance against Trump, 78, in June.
Whether Biden, who was the winner in the Democratic Party primaries, willfully stepped down is still a topic of political debate in the United States.
In Michigan, another battleground state, both candidates have looked to appeal to the state’s Muslim population. The Israel-Hamas conflict is a contentious issue in the Midwestern state, and some have contended it affected Harris’ choice of a running mate.
The governor of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro, was among the leading contenders for the vice-presidential spot, but many pundits said he was not chosen because he is Jewish, arguing that Harris did not want to lose support from Muslim voters, with tensions high over the yearlong conflict in Gaza.
On the other hand, Harris’ decision could affect the backing of Jewish voters, who traditionally have voted largely for Democrats. Trump has emphasized his staunch support for Israel, while the Biden administration has aimed to find a middle ground in its stance on the war.
Different approach
Trump took a barnstorming approach to campaigning, while Harris has been selective with her interviews. Trump recently did a three-hour interview with podcaster Joe Rogan and spoke on Oct 17 at the traditional Alfred Smith dinner in New York City, hosted by the city’s Catholic Archdiocese. Harris did not attend but filmed a comedic video aired at the dinner.
On the issues, Trump has hammered the Democrats on illegal migration and inflation, both of which have soared during the Biden administration.
Harris has embraced abortion rights in a bid for women voters following the Supreme Court’s overturning in 2022 of the 1973 Roe vs Wade ruling, which had established a constitutional right to abortion.
Harris has argued that Trump and Republicans seek to ban abortion, which Trump has denied. The issue has resonated with single women and women in affluent suburbs. Harris also has repeatedly argued that Trump is not worthy of the office of the president.
There have been signs of some shifting in voting preferences among black and Hispanic voters — in particular, men — who have largely favored Democrats in the past.
On China, Trump has floated the idea of 60 percent tariffs on all imported Chinese goods. Harris hasn’t specified what approach she would take on tariffs, but the Biden administration has kept in place most of Trump’s tariffs and substantially raised some duties on Chinese products such as electric vehicles and batteries, and solar panels.
Agencies contributed to this story.
