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Voters in Dixville Notch, a village of 12 residents in the US state of New Hampshire, kicked off Election Day at the stroke of midnight by voting unanimously for Democratic candidate Joe Biden.
Voting and counting only took a few minutes, with five votes for Biden and none for President Donald Trump, who is seeking a second term.
The small northeastern town in the middle of the forest near the Canadian border has traditionally voted “first in the nation” since 1960.
Neighboring Millsfield village also begins voting at midnight local time, but a third village in the area, generally following the same tradition, canceled nightly voting due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Election laws in New Hampshire allow municipalities with fewer than 100 residents to open their polling places at midnight and close them when all registered voters have fulfilled their civic duty.
Most of the polling stations on the East Coast will open today at 6 a.m. or 7 a.m. local time, but with a big expansion in voting by mail to protect against the Covid-19 pandemic, a record of almost 100 million people already they have cast their votes.
While many of the first votes are believed to have been cast by Democrats, encouraged by Biden to seize the opportunity, the Trump campaign expects a massive wave of Republican supporters to vote in person.
Latest stories from the 2020 U.S. elections
The election is seen as almost a referendum on Donald Trump and his presidency that Biden urged his supporters to end, restoring “our democracy.”
Despite a relatively relaxed campaign, Biden tops almost every opinion poll, buoyed by his consistent message that America needs to restore its “soul” and gain new leadership amid a coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 231,000 people. .
“I have the feeling that we are coming together for a great victory,” Biden said yesterday in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a vital electoral battleground where he was joined by pop superstar Lady Gaga. “It is time to get up and take back our democracy.”
But Trump was characteristically defiant, campaigning at a frantic pace with packed rallies in four states and repeating his claims without evidence that polls are at risk of being rigged against him.
After nearly nonstop speeches in a final three-day sprint, he finished in the early hours of this morning in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the same place where his 2016 campaign ended, where he defeated apparent leader Hillary Clinton.
Despite poor poll numbers, the Republican real estate mogul was counting on another surprise.
“We’re going to have another beautiful win,” he told the Michigan crowd, who chanted, “We love you, we love you!”
“We are going to make history one more time,” he said.
While today is formally Election Day, Americans have actually been voting for weeks.
With a huge expansion in voting by mail to protect against the Covid-19 pandemic, nearly 100 million people have already made their decision.
In a major political gamble, Biden held on to socially estranged gatherings with small crowds until the very last moment, in contrast to large and constant Trump rallies in which few supporters bothered with masks.
But the Democrat, making his third attempt at the presidency, clearly feels that his calmer approach and strict attention to pandemic protocols is what Americans want after four stormy years.
“It’s time for Donald Trump to pack his bags and go home,” Biden told supporters in Cleveland.
“We end the chaos! We end the tweets, anger, hatred, failure, irresponsibility.”
Trump plans to visit his campaign headquarters in Virginia, while Biden will travel to his birthplace of Scranton, the Pennsylvania city where Trump also visited yesterday.
There is concern that if the elections are closed, it could lead to prolonged legal chaos and perhaps violent unrest, especially since Trump has spent months trying to undermine public confidence in the voting process in a nation that is already bitterly divided by political dividing lines.
He intensified these warnings in recent days, focusing especially on the Pennsylvania rule that allows absentee ballots received within three days of today to be counted.
In a tweet marked with a warning tag by Twitter yesterday, he said this “would allow for rampant and uncontrolled deception.”
The Supreme Court’s decision to vote in Pennsylvania is VERY dangerous. It will allow rampant and uncontrolled deception and undermine our entire system of laws. It will also induce violence in the streets. Something must be done!
– Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 3, 2020
“It will also induce violence in the streets. Something must be done!” Trump tweeted.
Direct voting continues in Texas while judge blocks Republican offer to reject ballots
A federal judge in Texas denied an offer by Republicans to discard about 127,000 votes already cast in elections at polling places in Houston.
The plaintiffs had accused Harris County Clerk Chri sHollins, a Democrat, of acting illegally when he allowed direct voting as an alternative during the coronavirus pandemic.
In a written order, Federal District Judge Andrew Hanen said the plaintiffs were not entitled to present the case and waited too long to sue.
“Depriving more than 120,000 voters who voted as directed the day before the scheduled election does not serve the public interest,” the judge wrote, adding that early voting by cars is permitted under Texas law.
In a minor setback for Harris County officials, Judge Hanen said that direct voting today likely violated Texas law. But it did not stop him due to the lack of standing of the plaintiffs.
Based on that part of the ruling, Hollins said on Twitter that nine out of 10 of the self-service voting sites would be closed on Election Day to ensure votes are counted.
He said the decision was made because Judge Hanen said the tents used at most of the sites would not qualify as “buildings,” which are required for polling places on Election Day.
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