Anxiously awaiting 'judgment day'

That is the mood of many Americans with only 24 hours left until the official voting day of the presidential election that is taking place with great tension.

Waiting anxiously

When talking to me at a beer house, my acquaintance John, who lives in Arlington (Virginia) and works for an agency related to the US government, clearly expressed his concern about the scenario of former US President Donald Trump winning the election. For him, it was unacceptable but still had a high possibility of happening.

The Capitol was the site of a riot on January 6, 2021 over the 2020 election results.

“The number of rural people who support Trump,” John explained, pointing to a TV screen showing a Trump campaign ad. “People still believe things like that!” Of course, he voted for Vice President Kamala Harris.

That is his personal opinion and that is why he admits that he is anxiously waiting for the results of this election, because for him "it is the future of America".

Police car at the Capitol (photo taken on the afternoon of November 3)

Also for the sake of "the future of America", Ms. Dany, another friend who also lives in Virginia, shared that she and her husband went to vote early. Although living in Virginia, a Democratic-leaning state, her family voted for Mr. Trump with the hope that the US economy would be brighter. She shared: "Many people do not like Mr. Trump because of his "unbearable" statements, but Mr. Trump "dare to say and do" and has effective economic policies." With Virginia's tradition since 2008, if nothing changes, the final result in this state will likely lean towards Ms. Harris, helping this Democratic candidate win all 13 electoral votes of the state.

Dany's husband is also an ardent supporter of former President Trump. After dinner, he shared that he was following the election every day, but he also clearly showed his loss of faith in mainstream media channels such as The New York Times, The Washington Post... For him, those are left-leaning newspapers. I also shared that: Since their inception, long-standing American newspapers have more or less shown "left-leaning" tendencies, of course that does not mean that these newspapers always support the Democratic Party.

He introduced a news channel that he considered the most objective and standard. When he introduced it, reading through it, it was not difficult to see that according to this page, candidate Trump was almost certain to win with outstanding results. But he still anxiously waited for the vote count results.

"Maximum" vigilance

Meanwhile, as of November 3, the total number of early votes had reached about 75 million. Of these, 41% were registered Democrats, 39% Republicans, and the remaining 20% ​​were unregistered.

Police ask people carrying anti-Trump messages to leave Capitol grounds

With 160 million registered voters, the early voting rate is quite high, although lower than in 2020. However, the above figure means that about half of the voters will still vote on the official day of November 5. With the survey results not significantly different in the support rate for the two candidates in the "battleground" states, the final result this year is expected to depend on the small number of new voters (those who did not vote in 2020) and the number of voters living outside the US, expected to reach about 3 million, of which about 1.6 million votes will be counted in the "battleground" states.

The tension and intensity, amid deep divisions within the United States, have raised concerns about the risk of election-related instability. On the afternoon of November 3 (local time) at the Capitol (US Congress Building) - where the riots occurred after the 2020 election, a large number of police were on duty with many rounds of control, although people and tourists were still allowed to visit. Here, as soon as a man rode a bicycle with a small trailer with a message protesting Mr. Trump, the police force quickly intervened and asked him to leave the area for fear of leading to bad situations.

In fact, many states have also announced their readiness to increase security forces to prevent risks.

Spontaneous plans raise many concerns

The New York Times reported on November 3 that James O'Keefe, an influential conservative - founder and former leader of Project Veritas, had assembled a team of election workers and monitors to secretly film voting and counting in states across the country.

Veritas is an American far-right activist group founded in 2010. The group is accused of producing doctored videos, using secret recordings with the aim of discrediting mainstream media organizations and progressive groups.

According to The New York Times, citing several inside sources, the group assembled by Mr. O'Keefe this time planned to use hidden cameras to record and then release the videos to prove fraud or irregularities at polling places. By mid-October, nearly 70 people had signed up to participate in the above plan, claiming to be "election judges."

Mr. O’Keefe’s project is one of several conservative groups that have tried to document what they see as fraud and corruption at the polls. These groups tend to believe former President Trump’s claims that the 2020 election was rigged and need to be vigilant to prevent it from happening again.

However, such actions have worried election officials, who believe that those who assume fraud exists and are constantly looking for fault will affect the overall work, and may even seek to interfere with the vote counting process. Last month, US intelligence officials warned of an “insider threat” that could “distort or threaten a fair and transparent process” in this election.

In the US, except for unexpected cases, most states over the years have tended to choose a fixed Democratic or Republican party. California, New York, Massachusetts, Virginia... tend to support Democratic candidates (often called blue states). Of which, Virginia "changed color" since the 2008 election. On the contrary, many states such as Texas, Kansas, Wyoming... always have the Republican candidate win (often called red states). There are less than 10 states that do not choose a fixed party and are called "battleground" states. This year, the 7 decisive "battleground" states are expected to be Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/hoi-hop-cho-ngay-phan-xet-185241105000623169.htm