Americans go to the polls this Tuesday in an atmosphere of nerves, suspicion and hope with armored voting centers and the objective of choosing between the vice president and the Democratic candidate, <a href="http://www.world-today-news.com/donald-trump-whats-behind-the-us-presidents-baltimore-attack/" title="Donald Trump: What's behind the US President's Baltimore attack”>Kamala Harrisand his rival, the former Republican president Donald Trump (2017-2021).
As EFE was able to verify in the states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, Arizona, Virginia, Texas and New York, the flow of voters was constant since the centers opened. The first to receive voters were those of Vermont, at 5:00 a.m. local time (10:00 GMT), followed by the rest of the states in a staggered manner.
In Philadelphiathe most populated city in the key state of Pennsylvania, dozens of people waited in line before the opening of the Cook-Wissahickon polling station at 7:00 a.m. local time (12:00 GMT).
In that center of Philadelphia, a predominantly Democratic city, few were those who collected the Republican ballots offered by volunteers at the entrance.
Evangeline, 58, and Abraham, 59, a couple of African origin, voted for the Democratic candidate, expressing concern about the future of democracy, abortion rights and Trump’s anti-immigration rhetoric.
“The race is very close, but we hope the right candidate wins because it seems like we have forgotten about the previous four years (of Trump’s term)”Evangeline told EFE.
Abraham, for his part, explained that his parents emigrated from Africa and that he does not want to live in a “country where people are hated because of their origin.”
In the same center, Roger, a 60-year-old white man, showed his support for Trump with a t-shirt commemorating the failed attack suffered by the former president.
«Democrats have been destroying our cities and our country for many years. “Trump is the only one with common sense”he told EFE. Regarding his neighbors, most of them Democrats, he added: “They are idiots.”
Uncertainty
The tension was also perceived in the primary school of Sibleyin Grand Rapids (Michigan), where Trump held his last campaign event on Monday night.
Among the voters was Lea, a 21-year-old student who exercised her right to vote for the first time and, although she did not want to say who she had chosen, she expressed doubts about the transparency of the process, echoing Trump’s accusations.
Yolanda, a Colombian who has lived in the US for 42 years and who stressed the importance of voting, also did not reveal her vote: “It is our future. If we don’t decide who we want to vote for, someone else will decide for us. And also by voting we are telling the government that we (as Latinos) are important,” he told EFE.
Hope and nerves were also repeated at polling stations in New York, where voters like Karen Rieger and his daughter Sarah Amoy They maintained their tradition of going together on election day.
In Alexandria (Virginia) some citizens confessed to being overwhelmed by uncertainty. Margot, 30, commented that she feels “excited and hopeful” about an eventual Democratic victory, but also “nervous” about the possibility of a Trump victory.
Security operations
In Arizona, a state where incidents with Trump supporters calling for a recount were reported in 2020, security had been beefed up at some buildings, such as a counting center in Maricopa County, where 60% of the state’s population resides.
EFE was able to see in that center how a fortress was erected around the voting building, with groups of police waiting at the entrance to direct voters to the polls.
Additionally, the building was surrounded by a spiked wall fence and guarded by security trucks. In that center there were only two doors, one entrance and one exit, which they enabled for voters to come with their vehicles.
The first polling stations in the US will close at 6:00 p.m. local time (23:00 GMT) in Indiana and Kentucky, and the rest will follow in a staggered manner.
From that moment on, the first signs of the will of the citizens will begin to emerge after a year of campaigning and hundreds of polls. In total, 244 million Americans are called to the polls.
Polls anticipate a very close race between Trump and Harris in the seven key states that will decide the election: Georgia, North Carolina, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Arizona and Nevada. EFE (I)
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