11/03/2020 10:57
Clarín.com
World
Updated 11/03/2020 11:54
The United States faces an
unprecedented election day
between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, with
early voting records
forcing states to make changes to their procedures and sparking hundreds of lawsuits over how to cast votes and which ballots will be counted.
The
polls began to open
Tuesday in the
eastern United States
, while election officials warned that the millions of votes submitted to lengthen the distance could count, perhaps for days, in some crucial battleground states.
On the other hand, President
Donald Trump threatened to take legal action to prevent votes from being counted after Election Day
.
Amid those disputes, tens of millions of Americans
followed recommendations to move fast
, motivated by fears of delays at the Postal Service and concerned that the coronavirus would spread in
crowded voting centers
.
At the least
98.8 million people voted before the election day
, around a
71% of the nearly 139 million votes presented
in the presidential elections of the
United States
, according to
data compiled by The Associated Press.
Given that some states, like Texas, had already surpassed the total number of votes for 2016, experts expected a record turnout this year.
The pandemic and Donald Trump
In the months leading up to the decisive day, electoral authorities had to contend with
a pandemic that has infected more than 9 million Americans
and killed more than 230,000, forcing systemic change on the fly and with little or no federal funding.
Meanwhile,
Trump repeatedly tried to undermine confidence
in the election with unsubstantiated claims of
widespread electoral fraud
.
My #AmericanDreamPlan is a promise to Hispanic Americans to drive a prosperous economy, provide educational opportunities for all, preserve freedom, and support faith, family, and community!
https://t.co/RSuEyIFQ0W
- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 2, 2020
The president has
specifically pointed to the disputed and crucial state of Pennsylvania
, after the United States Supreme Court authorized a three-day extension to receive and count votes from a distance.
Over the weekend,
Trump said that as soon as the polls closed on Tuesday, "we will go in with our attorneys
."
Misinformation about electoral procedures,
concerns about confrontations at polling places
and reports of delays at post offices also marred the days leading up to the elections.
Millions of ballots had yet to be received in the mail Monday, including 1.3 million in Florida and 700,000 in Pennsylvania.
With information from AP