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PHILADELPHIA (REUTERS) – Supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump and his Democratic rival Joe Biden staged competitive rallies on Thursday (November 5) at polling stations in U.S. states, where final vote counts could determine who will occupy the White House for the next four years.
The protests have been scattered, small and largely peaceful since Americans went to the polls on Tuesday, defying pre-election fears that tensions could erupt into violence or unrest.
But Facebook Inc said it had taken down a fast-growing group that the social networking site said pro-Trump activists had posted with violent rhetoric calling for “boots on the ground” to protect the integrity of the election.
Biden’s supporters have adopted the slogan “count all votes,” saying that a complete and accurate tabulation in the remaining states on the battlefield would show that the former vice president had won the 270 electoral votes needed to win.
Trump activists responded with chants of “protect the vote” as the president goes to court in several states to challenge some categories of ballots, such as those that arrive in the mail after Election Day, or to demand recounts.
Both sides held rallies in Philadelphia on Thursday, where election staff slowly counted thousands of mail-in ballots that could cast the crucial 20 votes from the Biden Electoral College or Trump Pennsylvania.
Trump activists waved flags and carried signs reading “Voting Stops On Election Day” and “Sorry, Polls Are Closed” as Biden supporters danced to music behind a barricade across the street. Street.
‘TRUTH AND JUSTICE’
“We cannot allow ballot counters to be intimidated,” said retired social worker Bob Posuney, a 70-year-old Biden supporter who wore a “count all votes” t-shirt while Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On show it filled the air.
In Harrisburg, about 100 Trump supporters gathered on the steps of the Pennsylvania State Capitol building Thursday afternoon as part of a “Stop the Steal” rally organized by conservative Virginia activist Scott Presler.
Some carried Trump posters, others American flags, and some wore T-shirts emblazoned with a logo denoting the conspiracy theory known as QAnon.
“This is not a rally that supports a particular candidate,” Presler said. “This is a rally that fights for two things: truth and justice.”
He said in an interview that he planned to raise funds for an audit of the state’s vote count.
United States Republican Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, an outspoken Trump supporter, said at the state capitol building that he was concerned the ballots would arrive in the mail without a clear postmark.
“The administration wants to count every legal vote, every legitimate ballot,” Jordan said.
“This is the closest election we’ve ever had. He doesn’t want the ballots to arrive after Election Day with an indistinguishable postmark.”
Earlier Thursday, a state appeals court ruled that Republican observers could enter the building in Philadelphia where poll workers counted ballots.
Although the count has already been completed in Michigan, projected by several major media outlets as a victory for Biden, a few dozen Trump supporters waved flags and banners in front of a Detroit tally center.
SCOREBOARDS IN WISCONSIN
Elizabeth Fohey, a 74-year-old retired dental hygienist from Troy, Michigan, said she was skeptical that election officials were counting all conservative votes.
“My message is that the vote is done correctly,” she said, dressed in a windbreaker with the American flag.
In Wisconsin, Bobbie Dunlap, an information technology worker living in the city of Genoa, complained that she had voted in person for Trump on Election Day, but her vote has yet to be marked as processed on the site. Wisconsin website.
“We are organizing a peaceful march in the capital to ask for a full audit of the elections here in Wisconsin,” he said.
The Trump campaign has called for a recount in the state, where news organizations have declared Biden the winner by a very narrow margin.
In Washington, DC, a procession of cars and bicycles sponsored by activists from a group called Shutdown DC slowly paraded through the streets of the capital to protest what they called “an attack on the democratic process” by Trump and his “enablers.” , according to their website.
Most of the demonstrations in cities across the country have been peaceful and small, sometimes with just a few dozen people holding signs in the center of town, as Biden’s path to victory seemed a bit safer than Trump’s. Either outcome is still possible.
Police in New York City, Denver, Minneapolis and Portland, Ore., Said they had arrested some protesters, often accused of blocking traffic or similar misdemeanors.
Hoping to avoid the crowds on Election Day during the coronavirus pandemic, more than 100 million Americans cast their ballots during early voting this year, a record high.
For live results and updates, follow our live coverage of the US elections.
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