Long lines, enthusiasm but no major problems as US votes
Amid a global pandemic that defined a tumultuous presidential campaign, voters across the U.S. on Tuesday braved worries about getting sick, threats of polling place intimidation and expectations of long lines caused by changes to voting procedures.
The U.S. was on pace to exceed the 2016 presidential vote, driven largely by the nearly 102 million ballots cast ahead of Election Day, part of an early-voting push prompted by the pandemic. At the same time, coronavirus cases were on the rise, with new daily confirmed cases up 43 percent over the past two weeks in the U.S., according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
“A lot of people were fearful to come out and vote today and for me I didn’t want fear to stop me from voting on Election Day,” said Sadiyyah Porter-Lowdry, 39, who cast her ballot at a church in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Minor problems occur every election, and Tuesday was no different given the level of voter enthusiasm, the decentralized nature of U.S elections and last-minute voting changes brought on by the global pandemic. But stakes were high with so much scrutiny on voting this year and the potential for further litigation.
President Donald Trump has already threatened legal action to prevent the counting of ballots that arrive after Election Day, which some states allow. Meanwhile, concerns about mail delivery delays prompted a federal judge in Washington, D.C., to order postal workers in major cities to sweep processing facilities for any remaining ballots before the end of the day.
Officials have already warned that counting ballots could take days due to the avalanche of mail votes, which take more time to process and could result in another round of court battles.
On Tuesday, there were long lines and sporadic