(UTV | USA ) – Early results from the US presidential election between incumbent Republican Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger Joe Biden show a tight race in a number of battleground states.
Donald Trump leads Joe Biden in the potentially pivotal race of Florida with almost all votes counted.
But other key states of Georgia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona, Ohio, Texas, and North Carolina are toss-ups.
The vote caps a long and bitter race.
More than 100 million people cast their ballots in early voting before election day on Tuesday – setting US on course for its highest turnout in a century.
Control of Congress is also at stake. As well as the White House, Republicans are vying to hang on to a Senate majority.
The House of Representatives is expected to stay in Democratic hands.
Appearing earlier on election day in Delaware, Mr Biden said he was “hopeful” and highlighted the “overwhelming turnout particularly of young people, of women”.
A senior Biden adviser told CBS the Biden team “feel good”. Florida was in the balance, but Democratic numbers were strong in a swathe of swing states, including Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia and Arizona, said the aide.
Speaking in Virginia earlier, Mr Trump said he expected “a great night”.
An exit poll conducted by Edison Research and just published by Reuters suggests that four out of 10 voters nationally think the handling of the coronavirus pandemic in the US is “going very badly”.
A third of voters cited the economy as the issue that most concerned them, according to the poll.
Both candidates have been using election day as an opportunity to drive home the messages they have been hammering to voters for the last few weeks.
The two rivals have radically different policies on key issues. They have clashed bitterly during the campaign over how to handle the Covid-19 pandemic, and how to best handle the economy during this difficult period.
Mr Biden has accused Mr Trump of a haphazard response to the pandemic that he says has needlessly cost too many lives. But Mr Trump has downplayed the impact of Covid-19, saying the country is “rounding the corner”.
Mr Trump’s term has also been marked by contentious immigration policies.
Earlier on Tuesday, Mr Trump, sounding a little hoarse, spoke to Fox News by phone, saying he felt good about his chances of victory and predicting he would win “big” in key states such as Florida and Arizona.
“I think we have a really solid chance of winning,” he said. Asked when he would declare victory, he added: “When there’s victory. If there’s victory… there’s no reason to play games.”
Mr Biden also visited his childhood home in Scranton in Pennsylvania – a key swing state – and addressed a crowd in the town, saying: “We’ve got to restore the backbone to this country. The middle class built this country – Wall Street didn’t.”
(Courtesy BBC)