‘Terrified’: US election voters panic at the polling stations as Kamala Harris and Donald Trump face off
US voters have been flocking to the polls but in one Democratic stronghold there is a noticeable sense of panic emerging.
IN THE US
In New York City, anxiety levels are palpable in the polling stations this election day.
In just hours – or possibly days – either Kamala Harris or Donald Trump will become the president-elect.
When news.com.au spoke to voters, we were met with fear, trepidation - and also some insight into a key tactical error Ms Harris made which could cost her a pivotal swing state.
“I’m terrified,” Upper East Side resident Bari Zhan said after she voted at the Art and Design High School, about 10 minutes’ walk from Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan.
“It’s really scary, I mean we just don’t know. It’s shocking to me that’s is so close.
“I hope the orange man doesn’t win,” she said.
“If he gets in I will worry for anyone that’s not a white Anglo Saxon Protestant male Republican”.
The Trump campaign has been quick to rubbish such claims as they have arisen during the campaign.
They point to support for the Republican candidate from women, Latino and black Americans. But comments at Trump rallies, such as the one in New York, where a warm up act called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage”, haven’t helped Mr Trump.
The Democrats have been keen to claim a future Trump administration will backslide on democracy and freedom.
New York may be Mr Trump’s home town, but he has no home town advantage.
In 2020, Joe Biden won almost 61 per cent of the state wide vote.
Bar Staten Island and some pockets of Brooklyn, New York City is solidly Democrat for presidential elections. The Upper East Side went 80 per cent for Mr Biden in 2020.
There’s little doubt Ms Harris will also perform strongly here. But even on the Upper East Side, supporters of Mr Trump can be found.
“I’m here today to vote for Trump,” an elderly voter told news.com.au.
“He seems to know what he’s doing.”
Asked what she thought of Ms Harris, the woman tersely replied: “Nothing, I think nothing”.
Could all come down to one state
Manhattan is in the bag for the Democrats. The White House is not.
Most national aggregate polls have Ms Harris a point or so ahead of Mr Trump. But in the US a candidate can win the national poll and lose the election due to the vagaries of the Electoral College.
That’s has happened in 2016 when Hillary Clinton received almost three million more votes than Mr Trump. But a huge chunk of these were in safe states – like New York. Mr Trump had been better at winning the swing states which gave him a healthy majority of the Electoral College votes needed.
In the battleground states this year, he appears to have a slim advantage. It could all come down to Pennsylvania and its 19 Electoral College votes.
At a Trump rally in Pittsburgh on Monday, steel workers featured heavily. It’s a blue collar demographic the Democrats once relied on but some have drifted to Mr Trump over his promises of tariffs and more US jobs.
While men have tended to break for Mr Trump, Ms Harris has been courting votes from women, many of whom appear to have galvanised by efforts in Republican control states to wind back abortion. Older voters also appear be leaning towards the Democrats.
‘Whole thing’s a mess’
Adil, originally from Manchester in the UK, said the election “was a whole mess”.
“It was a difficult choice because I don’t necessarily agree with either of the candidates on certain policies.
“So I picked the lesser of two evils,” said Adil.
“I have feeling that Trump is going to win.
“A lot of people don’t want to admit but they’re going to vote for someone like him”.
Voters in New York have to go through a three step process to vote.
First they identify themselves at the polling station and have to be electronically crossed off the list.
Then they get the various ballot papers, which include not just the Presidential race but also elections for the House or Representatives, one third of the seats in the Senate, and a series of local referendums. As such the ballot paper is Australian levels of massive and unwieldy.
After the privacy of the polling booth, voters walk over their papers, covered by dedicated pieces of card to hide their choices, to a machine.
The ballot paper is fed in and it’s both scanned and then stored should it need to be re-examined.
‘Optimistic about Harris’
Nancy Colbert said she was “feeling optimistic” about a Kamala Harris win.
“It just feels that way. And there’s no poll that has Trump ahead. So I hope she will pull it off.
“And I don’t want a dictator”.
Ms Colbert told news.com.au she was worried about the Supreme Court decision earlier this year that said sitting presidents couldn’t be held liable later for decisions they made while in office. So long as it was part of their duties.
“I just hope Trump doesn’t happen. I think she’s going to win it”.
Mistake Harris made
Lawyer John French said the result was a toss up.
“I’ve been through lot of elections and I honestly just don’t know with this one.
“It’s well within the margin of error and I’m concerned.
“The last time that I thought Trump was going to lose he actually won because the polls were the opposite way,” the born and bred New Yorker said.
He added that in his mind Ms Harris made an unforced error.
“I do think if Kamala Harris had picked the governor of Pennsylvania (the well regarded Josh Shapiro) he would have been a very effective candidate,” he added.
But he expressed “joy” at the democratic process he was part of.
“It’s peaceful here and it’s happening in an orderly manner.”
Joy was not an emotion being expressed by another voter, Zach.
“I’m very anxious,” he told news.com.au.
“I think it could be Kamala, the polls are in her favour, but I remember 2016.
“The polls can be wrong even if they say one candidate is favourable.
“I learned my lesson then not to trust the polls”.
Trump reveals another shock nomination
Donald Trump has unveiled his latest controversial nominee for a senior position in the US government.
Missiles fired, Putin updates nuclear doctrine
The chances of Putin using nuclear weapons against Ukraine has just increased after a shock move that marks a dramatic escalation in tensions.
‘Saw him having sex’: Stunning claim
Controversy continues to swirl around Donald Trump’s pick for one of America’s most important jobs – and it’s only getting worse.