DIXVILLE NOTCH, United States / WASHINGTON - Voters in Dixville Notch, New Hampshire, went to the polls early Tuesday morning, marking the official start of Election Day voting for the 2024 US presidential election.
Six registered voters of the tiny town in northeastern United States cast their ballots at midnight, following a tradition that dates back decades ago. Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and Republican candidate Donald Trump are tied in the town in a 3-3 vote.
Amid heightened security for fears of violence and chaos, the vast majority of polling stations across the country open on Tuesday morning and will remain open until the evening.
Local officials are taking elaborate measures to fortify election-related sites, including plans for snipers on a rooftop to protect a key vote-counting headquarters, panic buttons for election workers and surveillance drones buzzing overhead, The Washington Post reported.
Tens of millions of voters across the country have already cast their ballots early, either by voting in person at polling stations or by mail. According to data from the University of Florida's Election Lab, as of Monday night, more than 82 million voters had already cast their ballots.
This election is widely regarded as one of the most divisive in American history. Harris and Trump have repeatedly warned against potentially catastrophic consequences inflicted on the country if the other is elected. Voters hold vastly different views on key issues such as the economy, immigration, and abortion rights.
According to an annual survey conducted by the American Psychological Association, 77 percent of US adults said the future of the nation was a significant source of stress in their lives. Additionally, 74 percent said they were worried that the election results could lead to violence.
"I would hope that whoever wins the presidential election will handle it gracefully, and whoever doesn't win, likewise, will handle it gracefully," Annmarie Pintal, one of the just six voters registered to vote in Dixville Notch, told Xinhua.
"We need unity. We need to come together on the common ground, and, be willing to set aside our differences," said Scott Maxwell, another voter in the small town.
Opinion polls in the campaign's final days have shown the candidates running neck and neck in each of the seven states likely to determine the winner: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
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Reuters/Ipsos polling shows a significant gender gap, with Harris leading among women by 12 percentage points and Trump winning among men by 7 percentage points.
Control of both chambers of Congress is also up for grabs. Republicans have an easier path in the US Senate, where Democrats are defending several seats in Republican-leaning states, while the House of Representatives looks like a toss-up.
The candidates spent the final weekend barnstorming the swing states in search of every available vote. Trump staged his final rally on Monday evening in Grand Rapids, Michigan, while Harris held twin rallies in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.
Dark rhetoric
During the campaign, Trump hammered first Biden and then Harris for their handling of the economy, which polls show is at the top of voters' concerns despite low unemployment and cooling inflation. But he showed a characteristic inability to stay on message, at one point questioning Harris' Black identity and vowing to protect women "whether they like it or not."
His unbridled approach seemed designed to fire up his supporters, rather than expand his appeal. Even more than in 2016 and 2020, Trump has demonized immigrants who crossed the border illegally, falsely accusing them of fomenting a violent crime wave, and he has vowed to use the government to prosecute his political rivals.
Polls show he has made some gains among Black and Latino voters, despite the historic nature of Harris' candidacy. Trump has often warned that migrants are taking jobs away from those constituencies.
By contrast, Harris has tried to piece together a broader but challenging coalition of liberal Democrats, independents and disaffected moderate Republicans, describing Trump as too dangerous to elect.
She campaigned on protecting reproductive rights, an issue that has galvanized women since the US Supreme Court in 2022 eliminated a nationwide right to abortion.
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Harris has faced anger from many pro-Palestinian voters over the Biden administration's military and financial support for Israel's war in Gaza. While she has not previewed a shift in US policy, she has said she will do everything possible to end the conflict.
After Biden, 81, withdrew amid concerns about his age, Harris sought to turn the tables on Trump, pointing to his rambling rallies as evidence he is unfit. Her campaign's embrace of viral memes and a parade of celebrity endorsements gained her traction with young voters seen as a critical voting bloc.
Trump countered the likes of Harris supporters Taylor Swift and Beyonce with Elon Musk, the world's richest man, who played an increasingly visible role as a surrogate and a top donor to Trump's cause.
Tuesday's vote follows one of the most turbulent half-years in modern American politics.
In May, a New York jury found Trump guilty of falsifying business records to hide hush money payments to a porn star. Four weeks later, Trump and Biden met for their only debate, where the incumbent president delivered a disastrous performance that supercharged voters' existing concerns about his mental acuity.
In July, Trump narrowly escaped a would-be assassin's bullet at a Pennsylvania rally, just before the Republican National Convention. Barely a week later, Biden exited the race, bowing to pressure from Democratic leaders.
Harris' entry into the race re-energized her party, and she raised more than $1 billion in less than three months while erasing Trump's lead over Biden in public polls.
