Today, 5 November, is the 60th presidential election in US history. The results will reveal the name of the 47th president of the United States. Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris are running for the post. The FACT news agency is closely following the latest news and developments in the election.
In addition to the presidential election, Americans are also electing representatives to Congress. At stake are 34 seats in the Senate out of 100, as well as a complete renewal of the 435-member House of Representatives. At the same time, gubernatorial elections are taking place in a number of states, including Indiana, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Washington, Delaware, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Utah, Vermont and West Virginia.
A number of important issues are on the ballot this year. In 10 states, including Arizona and Nevada, the issue of abortion rights is being addressed, which has already caused considerable controversy. Also, in four other states – Florida, Nebraska, North and South Dakota – voters are weighing in on the legalisation of medical or recreational use of marijuana.
The Associated Press reports that Republican candidate Donald Trump voted in Palm Beach, Florida, with his wife Melania. In an interview with journalists, he said that he ‘feels very confident’ and considers his campaign to be the most successful of the three previous ones. He stressed that he had been successful in his first campaign, the second was even better, but this one was ‘the best of all’.
After the vote, Trump also said that he was ready to accept the election results if they were ‘fair’, but did not explain what he meant by this term, the Associated Press reported. In addition, he noted that he did not intend to call on his supporters to refrain from violence in the event of his defeat: ‘I don’t have to tell them that because they are not violent people.’
According to the Financial Times, Kamala Harris’s campaign is feeling optimistic due to high early voter turnout in several key states, including Pennsylvania, where the Democrats are expected to win by 43,000 votes. The suburbs of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh are expected to see particularly high turnout, which creates favourable conditions for Harris in these competitive races. There is also an increase in voter activity in Virginia, Michigan, and Georgia, which may be in the Democrat’s favour.
However, in north Milwaukee, campaigners report a certain reluctance among black voters to support Kamala Harris because of her gender, as reported by The New York Times.
An ABC poll, as of 5 November, shows a slight advantage for Harris over Trump – 48% to 46.8%. Bookmakers are cautious about favourites. While some platforms, such as Polymarket, still estimate Trump’s chances at 58%, this figure is down significantly from last week’s 67%. Kalshi also recorded a decline from 65% to 53%. At the same time, PredictIt gives Harris the edge for the first time in a month, estimating her chances of winning at 53% against Trump’s 51%.
This year’s voter activity is a record high, with more than 82 million Americans having already exercised their early voting rights. Despite this, the election process is not without its challenges: The FBI has reported a number of bomb threats against polling stations in several states, which they believe came from Russian email domains. Despite this, none of these threats have been found to be credible so far.
Meanwhile, the US Department of Justice sent its lawyers to monitor compliance with voting rules at polling stations in 86 jurisdictions in 27 states, including Texas and Missouri. However, both states attempted to block this process through the courts, but their motions were rejected. Deploying observers is standard practice for the DOJ during national elections to ensure the integrity of the vote.
Some 82 million US citizens have already exercised their right to vote early in recent weeks.
The US Federal Bureau of Investigation reported that a number of bomb threats against polling stations in several states originated from Russian email domains. According to the FBI, these threats are not currently considered credible. CNN previously reported that US intelligence agencies are investigating emails from a Russian Internet domain as a possible source of the threats sent to polling stations in Georgia.
The FACT news agency continues to monitor the course of events in order to promptly inform its readers.
