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WILMINGTON, DELAWARE – The polls began closing in the United States on Tuesday (November 3) after millions of Americans turned out on Election Day to cast their vote for either Donald Trump or Joe Biden.
The first polls have closed in several eastern Indiana and Kentucky counties, although polls in the western parts of those states will be open for another hour, and results should start coming in soon.
Polls will close at 7 p.m. (8 a.m. Singapore time) in Georgia, Indiana, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, and more than 30 states will close between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. local time.
Results will start coming in after 7pm EST (8am Singapore time), but the count could continue for several days.
Nearly 100 million voters had already cast their ballots before Election Day by mail or in person through early voting, more than 70 percent of the total in 2016. That election had set the current record of 139 million voters .
Some 240 million Americans are eligible to vote this year, out of a population of approximately 330 million.
According to the U.S. Election Project, 2020 votes have already exceeded 2016 votes in Colorado, Hawaii, Montana, Oregon, Texas, and Washington state.
By the end of the night, the same could easily happen in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina and Utah, all of which had reported more than 90 percent of their 2016 totals early Tuesday. .
Both Trump and Biden said they were confident in their chances.
Trump said there were good signs for his campaign in troubled states of Florida, Arizona and Texas, while Biden said the same separately of turnout in Georgia and Florida.
“What I hear is that there is overwhelming turnout. And overwhelming turnout, particularly from young people, from women, and overwhelming turnout from African American voters over 65 in places like Georgia and Florida,” Biden told reporters in the middle. . campaign events.
Trump again sought to undermine the legitimacy of votes counted after Election Day, despite the fact that it is a long-established practice in the US and a Supreme Court ruling last week that allowed doing so in Pennsylvania. and North Carolina.
“You have to have a date, and the date is November 3. And we should have the right to know who won on November 3,” Trump said on a visit to the Republican National Committee offices in Virginia.
When asked if he would declare victory if the first numbers showed him ahead, as news outlet Axios reported over the weekend, Trump told Fox in a morning interview: “I think we will have victory. But only when there is victory. You know, there’s no reason to play. “
When asked what he would do if Trump claimed victory early, Biden said: “Presidents don’t decide what votes are counted and what are not counted. Voters determine who the president is. No matter what he does, no matter what. Say, the votes are going to be counted. “
He added: “Your talk about disruptions and things like that is embarrassing Republicans.”
Biden began his day by attending a mass service at a church near his home in Wilmington, Delaware, after which he visited his family’s grounds at the church cemetery, where the graves of his son Beau, his first wife. Neilia and her daughter Naomi.
He then traveled to Scranton, Pennsylvania, where he lived until he was 10 years old. Mr. Biden visited his childhood home, where he wrote a message on the living room wall: “From this house to the White House with the grace of God.”
Biden was scheduled to speak in Wilmington, Delaware, on election night, but later said he would speak only if there was something to address.
“If there’s something to talk about tonight, I’ll talk about it. If not, I’ll wait until the votes have been counted the next day,” Biden said.
Trump plans to be in the White House. The president said he did not have an acceptance or concession speech prepared, adding: “You know, winning is easy. Losing is never easy, not for me it is not.”
For live results and updates, follow our live coverage of the US elections.
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