News24.com | LIVE | US election 2020: Incumbent Trump, Democratic rival Biden face uneasy Americans at the polls

Vote like your freedoms depend on it... because they do! This election is Freedom vs Marxism. Choose wisely and vote Trump.

Virginian voters cast their ballots in US election

Virginians cast their ballots, marking the start of US Election Day as President Donald Trump seeks to beat forecasts and defeat challenger Joe Biden.

US Election Day begins as voters decide on Trump's fate

The United States started voting Tuesday in an election amounting to a referendum on Donald Trump's uniquely brash and bruising presidency, which Democratic opponent and frontrunner Joe Biden urged Americans to end to restore "our democracy".

The country is more divided and angry than at any time since the Vietnam War era of the 1970s - and fears that Trump could dispute the result of the election are only fueling those tensions.

Despite an often startlingly laid-back campaign, Biden, 77, leads in almost every opinion poll, buoyed by his consistent message that America needs to restore its "soul" and get new leadership in the midst of a coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 231 000 people.

Despite the bad poll numbers, the 74-year-old Republican real estate tycoon counted on pulling off another upset.

"We're going to have another beautiful victory tomorrow," he told the Michigan crowd, which chanted back: "We love you, we love you!"

"We're going to make history once again," he said.

- AFP

What you need to know right now

- As the tumultuous US election campaign draws to a close, Americans head to the polls to decide who will occupy the White House for the next four years - incumbent Republican President Donald Trump or his Democratic rival, former vice president Joe Biden.

- Millions of Americans will cast ballots on Tuesday in an Election Day unlike any other, braving the threat of Covid-19 and the potential for violence and intimidation after one of the most polarizing presidential races in US history.

- While both Trump and Biden scoured the battleground states for final votes on Monday, their campaigns prepared for post-election disputes and a possible court battle that could prolong the final result.

- For many Americans, this is the coronavirus election. The pandemic which has killed more than 230 000 people in the United States and destroyed millions of jobs has defined the final year of Trump's presidency and became a rallying cry for Biden.

- A federal judge in Texas denied a bid by Republicans to throw out about 127 000 votes already cast in the US presidential election at drive-through voting sites in Houston.

- Hundreds of legal battles over how to vote in the midst of a global pandemic coupled with record-breaking numbers of mail-in ballots and early voters have made the 2020 US presidential election one of the hardest to predict. 

- The US presidential election will be decided by about a dozen states that could swing to either Trump or Biden. A look at the key battleground states that will decide who is the next US president.

- Reuters

Only 10 US presidents have not won reelection, and polling suggests Trump could join them

In recent US history, incumbent presidents have often enjoyed a significant boost in popularity while running for reelection.  

Polling from Gallup in September and October shows Donald Trump's approval rating fluctuated between 42% and 46%, averaging 44%.For months, election polling has suggested Trump's chances of reelection have been dwindling during the economic recession and the president's disastrous response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Americans head to the polls on Tuesday to conclude a bitter and divisive US election campaign, as Republican President Donald Trump seeks to overcome Democratic rival Joe Biden's lead in opinion polls to win four more years in the White House.

The voting caps a campaign dominated by the coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 231 000 people in the United States and put millions out of work. The country has also been shaken by nationwide protests over racial injustice against Black Americans.

Biden, who has framed the contest as a referendum on Trump's handling of the virus, promised a renewed effort to combat the health crisis, fix the economy and bridge America's political divide. He has kept a relatively steady lead in national polls.

But Trump is close in enough swing states to possibly piece together the 270 state-by-state Electoral College votes needed to win the presidency. He defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election despite losing the national popular vote by about 3 million ballots.

The uncertainty and the prospect of prolonged legal battles have fueled anxiety about the election's outcome and aftermath.

More than 99 million early votes had already been cast in person or by mail as of Monday night, according to the US Elections Project at the University of Florida, a record-setting pace fueled by intense interest in the election and concerns about voting in person on Election Day during a pandemic.

Trump has questioned the integrity of the election results for months, making unsubstantiated claims that mail-in voting is rife with fraud and refusing to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses.

Trump has also said votes should only be counted through election night, even though many states often take days or weeks to tally ballots.

- Reuters

Twitter says it won’t let candidates claim victory themselves in US election

Twitter and Facebook reaffirmed plans to flag tweets and posts - including those of presidential candidates - who claim a premature US election victory, as worries persist that a clear result won’t emerge till well after 3 November.

Tweets that include premature claims of victory will be labelled and direct people to Twitter’s official US election page. The kind of accounts that would be flagged would be accounts with US 2020 candidate labels, US-based accounts with more than 100 000 followers and tweets that have 25 000 responses such as “likes,” or retweets.

ANALYSIS | What is like to lose a presidential election

Chris Lamb writes that losing a US election can feel enormously crushing especially after putting in so many hours of campaigning. 

Losing the presidency is a crushing defeat. The incalculable hours of giving speeches, campaigning and fundraising came to naught. The candidate feels like they have disappointed the millions of people who believed in them, who contributed to the campaign, who voted for them and who thought they were going to win.

Why a Trump defeat will be good for the planet (and us)

Of all President Donald Trump's many sins, his reversal in four years of environmental gains made by former president Barack Obama is arguably his most destructive legacy, writes Adriaan Basson.

Another four years of Trump will be devastating, not only for America, but for the planet. His denialist approach to Covid-19, disregard of science on climate change and favouring of conspiracies over fact has made him an enemy of democracy, human rights and progress.

Biden sweeps vote in tiny New Hampshire town

Democrat Joe Biden got all five votes for President when the town of Dixville Notch voted just after midnight on election day. President Donald Trump won the midnight voting in second town, Millsfield, 16-5.

Trump suggests counting votes could lead to 'violence in the streets'

President Donald Trump made more false claims about mail-in voting on Monday, leading Twitter to label one of his posts as potentially "misleading".

Trump is pinning his hopes in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania on preventing all votes that are cast from actually being counted, with his latest dubious attack on mail-in voting flagged by Twitter on Monday as potentially "misleading."

To all of our supporters: thank you from the bottom of my heart. You have been there from the beginning, and I will never let you down. Your hopes are my hopes, your dreams are my dreams, and your future is what I am fighting for every single day! https://t.co/gsFSghkmdM pic.twitter.com/fLek4keQ1t

Biden and Trump gird for possible court battle

Trump and Biden made a last-ditch push for votes as their campaigns prepared for post-election disputes that could prolong a divisive presidential election.

Trump – trailing in national opinion polls – has continued his unfounded attacks on mail-in ballots, telling reporters that Pennsylvania’s plans to count mail ballots that arrive up to three days after Election Day would lead to widespread cheating, although he did not explain how.

He urged the US Supreme Court to reconsider its decision that left the extension in place. The court has left that possibility open.

- Al Jazeera

Election Day in the United States is officially under way! The spotlight is on the race for the White House between President Donald Trump, who is seeking a second term, and his rival, veteran Democrat Joe Biden.

Trump held five rallies in four states – North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin – on the final day of campaigning on Monday. Biden spent most of Monday in Pennsylvania and Ohio.

Trump and his team have continually pushed baseless claims that votes counted after Election Day are evidence of malfeasance.

Early voting surged to levels never before seen in US elections – 98.7 million early votes have been cast either in person or by mail.

- Al Jazeera

US election: Everything you need to know about Trump, Biden and what’s at stake

On 3 November, US citizens vote for their next president. News24 breaks down what you need to know about these elections. 

Drama expected as US goes to the polls to deliver judgement on Trump's presidency

The United States will go to the polls from 13:00 South African time on Tuesday as millions of voters in one of the world's oldest democracies will deliver judgement on the government of President Donald Trump.

While millions of Americans have already cast their ballots through a mail-in system, millions more will brave early winter as well as a resurgence of Covid-19 in that country's biggest cities to decide whether Trump, a Republican, will be re-elected, or succeeded by former vice-president Joe Biden, the Democrats' candidate.

An hour-by-hour guide to the US Elections and when to expect results

With a massive surge in mail-in voting, it's likely we won't know which presidential candidate won many states, including key battlegrounds, on election night.

Here's a guide to what South Africans should watch for on Wednesday and in the days and weeks following. 

Portrait of an election: US race boils down to six swing states

The US election on Tuesday is boiling down to a handful of battleground states that Joe Biden must flip in order to snatch the White House from President Donald Trump.

All of this year's top swing states - Florida, Pennsylvania, Michigan, North Carolina, Wisconsin and Arizona - went to Trump in 2016, including four that had voted for Democrat Barack Obama in 2012.

'Calm before the storm:' Washington DC braces for possible post-election disorder

Two days before the US election, Washington DC is holding its breath.

The nation's capital is no stranger to seeing demonstrations unfold on its streets, but this time around, the uncertainty and anticipation surrounding the 2020 election outcome feels different.

"It feels like the calm before the storm," Taylor Rea, a 27-year-old consultant who lives in Washington, told Business Insider.

Trump will declare victory if he's 'ahead' on US election night - report

US President Donald Trump will declare victory on Tuesday night if the initial results show him "ahead," according to an Axios report.For over a year, the president has raised the specter of massive voting fraud and questioned the validity of absentee ballots for the 2020 presidential election.

The report is based on private conversations from three sources with connections to the president. 

Trump says 'the great American Comeback is underway' as Covid cases surge to record highs

The president has repeatedly claimed that the US is "rounding the corner" and on the verge of a "comeback" amid the COVID-19 pandemic. But those statements aren't supported by data or scientific evidence.

Black voters in US swing states are rushing to the polls after turnout dropped in 2016

The black voter turnout rate for a presidential election dropped for the first time in decades in 2016, but experts said several factors are likely to contribute to a rise in turnout this November. 

10 moments that defined the 2020 US presidential campaign

With Donald Trump running for re-election, the 2020 US presidential election was always expected to be a dramatic and eventful ride. But nobody predicted a global pandemic that would upend every facet of the campaign.

Here are 10 pivotal moments from a dizzying election year.

EXPLAINER | Why does the US only have two dominant political parties?

News24 took a look at why the country only has two dominant political parties, and how this has played out in recent history. 

EXPLAINER | Why the US elections may be decided before 3 November

News24 took a look at what mail-in voting is, the trend for mail-in voting during the 2020 US elections, and why there are concerns over voter fraud as a result.