#ElectionInAmerica2020

The world holds its breath as final day of voting begins in America

Published On: November 3, 2020 03:14 PM NPT By: Republica  | @RepublicaNepal


More than 96 million Americans have already cast their ballots in the United States presidential election, beating all the previous early voting numbers. Some estimates say more than 150 million Americans are expected to vote in the election. President Donald J. Trump, 74, and Joseph R. Biden Jr., 77, were in the competitive states on the final day of the campaigning. President Trump was in Michigan, a state he narrowly won in 2016, and Biden was in Pennsylvania with singer Lady Gaga. A candidate needs 270 electoral votes to win the election. Pennsylvania has 20 electoral votes, and Biden is currently leading in the polls there. 

More than 9.3 million Americans have been infected with COVID-19, and the cases are surging in many of the states where Trump held rallies in the last few weeks. The pandemic and economic anxiety have been the dominating issues in the final weeks of the heated campaign. Democratic candidate for president, Biden, has shattered fundraising records, beating Trump in monthly fundraising numbers. He raised record $383 million in September alone. This flush of cash allowed the Biden campaign to go aggressively in reliably Republican states like Arizona, Georgia and Texas. 

The two candidates have presented a sharply different vision for America for the next four years. President Trump has been arguing that he will continue to grow the economy like the pre-pandemic period, and will be tough on immigrtion. He has been painting Biden as a socialist who will destroy people’s social security, medicaid, and ship jobs to China. “Sleepy Joe” has been Trump’s attack against Biden since the beginning of the campaign. 

Biden, on the other hand, has been arguing that this election is a referendum on Trump, and his poor handling of the pandemic. He has vowed a health care for all, and lower taxes to the middle class and higher taxes to the rich. Biden has focused on compassion and empathy as a dominant theme on the campaign trail. He has also put a huge emphasis on climate change, and is proposing sweeping changes to help fight the crisis. Biden said that the United States will rejoin the Paris Climate Accord after he is elected. He has also vowed to restore America’s place in the world; rebuilding ties with friends and going tough on countries like North Korea. 

Americans do not choose their president based on popular votes. Hillary Clinton in 2016 won 2.9 million more votes than Trump, but lost the presidency. A candidate needs 270 votes to win the presidency.  These six states will likely decide the winner of the presidential election:  Arizona with 11 electoral votes, Pennsylvania, 20; Texas, 38;  Florida, 29;  Georgia, 16;  and Wisconsin, 10.  

Five Thirty Eight, a popular news portal, puts Biden’s chance of winning the presidency at 89%; and the Democrats controlling the House, Senate and the presidency at 72%. 


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