Voters choose between Trump and Biden

American voters are voting in one of the most divisive and divisive electoral contests in decades, in which the Democratic candidate, former Vice President Joe Biden, is competing with Republican President Donald Trump.

The first polling stations opened their doors at 10:00 am GMT on Tuesday in the state of Vermont.

And nearly 100 million voters had already cast their votes before voting day, indicating that this election will see the largest turnout in nearly a century.

The two candidates spent the last hours of their campaign attending election rallies held in various inconclusive (or undecided) states.

Despite Biden’s leadership in most national polls, these polls indicate that the race will be intense in the states that can decide the outcome of the election.

American voters are reported to vote at the state level rather than the national level to elect their president.

To win the presidency, a candidate must obtain at least 270 votes in the so-called electoral college. Each state gets a certain number of members from this complex, depending on the conditions, one of which is the population. The total number of electoral college votes is 538.

The mechanism by which the US electoral system operates may explain why a candidate can win the majority of the votes nationally, as Hillary Clinton did in the 2016 election, but still lose.

The 2020 presidential elections coincide with the spread of the Corona virus. The United States has recorded more infections and deaths from the virus than any other country in the world, registering more than 84,000 new cases on Monday alone.

As the countdown to the start of actual voting continues, there are concerns that outbreaks of violence could emerge after the voting period ends.

Where did Biden and Trump spend the last hours of their campaign?

On Monday, Trump visited just four of the swing states. In North Carolina, he addressed his supporters and said: “Next year will be the largest economic year in the history of our country.”

The US economy had seen record growth of 33 percent in the third quarter of this year, after the economy witnessed a 31 percent contraction in the second quarter as a result of the spread of the Corona virus epidemic. Economists warn that repairing the damage caused by the epidemic, which caused the economy’s biggest contraction in 80 years, may take several years.

Trump flew from North Carolina to Scranton, Pennsylvania, where his rival Biden spent his childhood until age 10. Trump reminded his supporters in Scranton that he won the majority of Pennsylvania’s votes in the last election, despite poll expectations to the contrary.

Biden also made his way to Pennsylvania, where singer Lady Gaga joined him at a rally in Pittsburgh. Musician John Legend also delivered a speech alongside Vice President candidate Kamala Harris.

In Ohio, Biden has repeated his key campaign message, telling voters that the current presidential race is a race for the soul of America. He said the time has come for Trump to “pack his bags,” adding: “Enough of tweets, anger, hatred, failure and avoiding responsibility.”

On Monday, Trump attended election rallies in Traverse City, Michigan and Kenosha, Wisconsin. Notably, Kenosha witnessed violent protests last August, which followed the police shooting a black man, seriously injuring him.

Trump, in his Traverse City speech, called on black Americans to vote for him.

Trump attended his last rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the same city where he held his last meeting in the 2016 campaign.

Meanwhile, Trump and his campaign have indicated that they intend to prosecute the important and vital state of Pennsylvania by counting the votes that arrive by mail at polling stations three days after the election ends.

The United States Supreme Court had upheld an earlier lower court ruling to allow late vote counting to continue, but several conservative Supreme Court justices indicated they could reconsider the matter after the election.

Disputes over postal and late voting have also flared up in Minnesota, North Carolina and Texas.

Will the election night results be normal?

Counting all the votes after a US presidential election can take several days, but the identity of the winner is usually clear in the early hours of the day after Election Day.

In 2016, Trump took to a stage in New York City around 3 a.m. local time to announce his victory, in a speech he delivered at a meeting of his supporters.

But don’t set the alarms yet. Officials have been warning that we have to wait longer – it could take days or even weeks – before the results become apparent this year due to the large increase in vote-by-mail.

The last time the election result was not announced for a few hours was in 2000, when the identity of the winner was not decided until the Supreme Court issued a ruling about a month later. However, Trump decided to hold an election night party at the White House, which was invited by about 400 guests.

About 10,000 protesters are expected to gather on election night at “Black Souls Matter” plaza in Washington, DC, and in a public park near the White House, CBS News reported.

As for Biden and Harris, they will see results in the first city, Wilmington, Delaware.

Different states follow different regulations and conditions on how – and when – votes received by mail are counted, which means that results will be announced by far, and in some states this will take several weeks.

And a report released by the Axios news site on Sunday had stated that Trump would announce his election victory Tuesday night if it appeared he was the leader at the time.

Trump denied it, but said the vote count after Election Day was “a terrible thing.”

Meanwhile, Biden vowed to stop Trump from “stealing” the election.

What are the differences between the promises of the candidates?

The two candidates adopt completely different and different policies on a number of important issues.

Regarding the spread of the coronavirus epidemic, Trump formed a task force last January and said he has now shifted his focus to “the security and reopening of the country (to economic and other activity).” Trump also prioritizes the rapid development of treatments for the Covid-19 disease and vaccines that prevent it, allocating an amount of $ 10 billion for this.

As for Biden, he wants to establish a comprehensive national program to track and diagnose cases of infection, and establish 10 centers for this purpose in each of the US states, in addition to providing free screenings for all. Biden supports issuing special instructions for wearing face masks and forcing people to wear them in central government facilities.

On climate change, Trump, who is skeptical of the existence of this phenomenon in the first place, wants to expand the non-renewable energy sector, and has pledged to withdraw the United States from the Paris Climate Pact.

As for Biden, he says he will immediately bring the country back into compliance with the aforementioned charter, and wants greenhouse gas emissions in the United States to reach zero by 2050.

On the economic front, Trump promised to create 10 million new jobs in ten months, in addition to creating a million small businesses and companies. Trump also wants to cut income tax and give companies tax breaks to encourage them to keep their jobs in the United States and not export them abroad.

As for Biden, he wants to raise taxes on those who earn high wages to finance investment in public services, but says this increase will only include those who earn wages or income greater than $ 400,000 annually.

Biden also supports raising the minimum wage level to $ 15.