Taranaki on tenterhooks awaiting the results of the American elections

The exciting US elections are going straight to the wire, with President Donald Trump gaining traction in key states and squashing thoughts of a landslide for challenger Joe Biden.

Democratic hopes of an outright coast-to-coast repudiation of Trump for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, the economy and race relations did not immediately materialize.

“We are BIG, but they are trying to STEAL the election,” Trump wrote to his followers on Twitter. “We will never allow them to do so. No votes can be cast after the Poles (sic) are closed!”

Despite key states like Florida, Texas and Ohio falling into the hands of the Republicans, the Democratic candidate did not lose hope of reaching the 270 electoral college votes needed to win the presidency.

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“Keep the faith, guys. We are going to win this, ”Biden told his fans.

While the country relies on the possibility of unrest, the election has had a record result, with 100 million Americans voting early by mail.

And this could make a crucial difference to the overall result, as mail-in votes take longer to count.

Those early voters included Thomas Thurston Crow, who sent his ballots to the United States from New Plymouth, where he now lives.

When he looked at the results Wednesday afternoon, he had “a little hope” that Joe Biden would win.

But when the Texan returned a couple of hours later, everything had changed.

“How can it be so close?”

Thurston Crow voted for Biden because his preferred candidate, Bernie Sanders, was out of the race.

“I think one of the things that we’ve discovered in the last four years or more is that we have some really systemic problems in the United States, and we can’t ignore them anymore.” They are broken beyond repair. We need someone who is happy to make systemic change.

“No matter what the outcome is, I am anxious and scared for the next several months to see how it unfolds.”

Tay McDonald, also from Texas and now from New Plymouth, had voted for Trump.

“I think it’s the early days, but if I had to put money into it, I would put everything I had into Trump,” he said.

“I’m looking at three different news cycles and one is focused on how well Biden is doing and if Trump wins, he’s stealing it and then you look at the other two, and they are somewhat moderate.

“Speaking to the people who voted at home, I think the silent majority will win.”

Californian Jake Hechter said he had voted for Biden and admitted to being nervous when the results came in.

But he wasn’t planning on staying up to watch the result unfold.

“ It is a useless exercise to overemphasize it at the moment. ”