US President Donald Trump on the result day thanked the people of the state and expressed hope of winning the elections. Trump took to Twitter and wrote, “We are looking really good all over the country. Thank you.” Democrat leader Joe Biden, on the other hand, tweeted urging the voters to stay in line.

As polls close in a number of Eastern states, results are beginning to trickle in. The Associated Press has projected a win for US President Donald Trump in West Virginia, Indiana, Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina and Tennessee, while his Democratic challenger Joe Biden has take New York, Virginia, Vermont Illinois, Maryland and Massachusetts.

The United States of America is heading towards a historic election with 160 million voter turnout. Voting across the nation was largely smooth as voters lined up early in the morning across polling stations in the country to cast their ballots in one of the most consequential and polarised elections in US history that took place in the shadow of a devastating coronavirus pandemic.

The pandemic as well as a strong drive among Americans to have their voices heard on the ballot box resulted in a record 101 million early votes cast in person and by mail before the polls even opened on Election Day.
The New York Times reported that the 2020 presidential campaign was shaping up to be one for the record books, on pace to attract the highest turnout in more than a century.

The NYT quoted University of Florida professor Michael McDonald, who compiles data from across the nation, as saying that America appeared to be on track to see roughly 160 million total votes cast. “That would mean a turnout rate of about 67 per cent of the eligible voting population — higher than the United States has seen in more than a century,” the NYT said, adding that the last time the turnout was more than 65 per cent was 1908, according to the United States Elections Project.

“The huge turnout appeared to be spurred by the momentous issues that have upended the lives of nearly every American, including the surging coronavirus outbreak and the struggling economy, the political passions of the Trump era, and the steps that many states took this year to make voting easier and safer during the pandemic,” the NYT report said.

The NYT reported that at least six states — Texas, Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Hawaii and Montana — recorded more votes in early voting than they did during the whole 2016 election. Several battleground states, including Florida, Georgia and North Carolina, were nearing their 2016 totals.

Throughout the day, Trump and Biden were on the road to continue to meet with party workers and exhorting voters to turn up at the polling stations to cast their ballots.

(With agency inputs)