By the time Americans started lining up at the polls on Tuesday, an unprecedented number of their fellow citizens — just under 100 million — had already voted, either by mail or via in-person early voting. Both candidates and their star campaigners dashed across swing States urging Americans to vote and to vote for their vision of the future. Also unprecedented in the modern history of a country that likes to be called the “world’s oldest democracy” was the anticipation of possible violence and civil unrest in the event of a contested election.
U.S. President Donald Trump, who wrapped up his campaign on Monday night in Grand Rapids, Michigan, as he had done in 2016 continued to question the legitimacy of some mail-in ballots. Democratic candidate Joe Biden concluded his campaign on Monday where it began — in Pittsburgh.
Mr. Biden began Tuesday with a visit to St. Joseph on the Brandywine Roman Catholic Church in Wilmington, Delaware, with his wife Jill and their granddaughters, visiting the graves of his late son Beau and his first wife and their daughter. Mr. Biden, then flew to Scranton, Pennsylvania, his birth place, for a “get out the vote” event. Mr. Trump had an interview with Fox News on Tuesday morning followed by a trip to his campaign headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, to thank staffersMr. Trump is expected to receive the election results at the White House.
Virus continues to rage
The U.S. witnessed a record 99,000 COVID-19 cases in a single day (Friday) and the case load was in key swing States like Michigan and Pennsylvania.
At a drive-in rally in Pittsburgh on Monday, Mr. Biden addressed black voters, highlighting the fact that COVID-19 has hit blacks and other racial minorities disproportionately and talking about other ways in which the current administration has adversely impacted the African America community.
“Tomorrow, we can put an end to a presidency that has fanned the flames of hate across this nation, pouring gasoline on every racial incident in the country,” he said. “It’s going to be very clear what this country is tomorrow,” singer Lady Gaga, who sang at one of Mr. Biden’s Pittsburgh events, said.
Over in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Vice President Mike Pence took the stage before Mr. Trump at a final rally. “Under President Donald Trump, we’re going to defeat the virus and the best is yet to come,” he said.
Mr. Trump flipped Michigan in 2016 from the Democrats, beating opponent Hillary Clinton by 0.3 percentage points. Going into the elections, Mr. Biden was leading Mr. Trump in the polls in the State. “We made history together four years ago and tomorrow we’re going to make history once again,” Mr Trump told the crowd at Grand Rapids.
Postal ballots
On the campaign trail, Mr. Trump has criticised the counting of postal ballots received after November 3. He also took to social media to amplify his message. “The Supreme Court decision on voting in Pennsylvania is a VERY dangerous one,” Mr. Trump said on Twitter. “It will allow rampant and unchecked cheating and will undermine our entire systems of laws. It will also induce violence in the streets. Something must be done!”
The Supreme Court has refused (thus far) to interfere in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s decision to permit counting of ballots till Friday — providing they were postmarked on or before November 3. Mr. Trump’s post was hidden by a Twitter notice that said the tweet was “misleading”. Facebook also announced that a team would be monitoring attempts on its site to suppress the vote and intimidate voters.“ This team is also tracking other issues that arise, like the potentially dangerous activity we saw with the swarming of Biden campaign buses this weekend. We are monitoring closely and will remove content calling for coordinated harm or interference with anyone’s ability to vote,” Facebook said in a tweet.
Facebook (including Instagram) and Twitter will label attempts to declare victory prematurely. Facebook will add a label saying “Votes are being counted” and direct users to agencies like the Associated Press and Reuters.
Twitter will permit a candidate to declare victory only after they confirm the results (relying on election officials and verification from at least two major news outlets). They will also use algorithms and people to tackle misinformation spread via bots.
Axios reported Mr. Trump as saying he would declare victory on Tuesday night if it looks like he is “ahead”.
“We’re ready for it all,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said to HuffPost on the issue of a contested election. “I would just like him [Mr. Trump] to know it ain’t going to happen for him at the end of the day,” she said.
Civil unrest
Local governments, businesses and citizens across the country prepared for civil unrest over a bitterly contested election. In downtown Washington DC, construction teams were seen using plywood to board up the ground floors of several glass buildings in the run up to November 3. The White House built a “non-scalable” fence around its perimeter. Additional fencing has gone up in Lafayette Square — the site of summer protests against racial injustice. Six hundred troops of the National Guard have been put on standby to assist any state or the District of Columbia.