Published 06:35 IST, November 4th 2020
Barack Obama makes big US Elections 2020 claim: Some folks trying to make it hard to vote
Ex-President Barack Obama has urged voters to exercise their right to vote & to stay in line as long as it takes. He shared a hotline number to assist voters
More than 100 million Americans had already voted early before the election day, November 3, dawned, putting the country on course for its highest turnout in a century. As the voting continues in one of the most divisive and bitter presidential elections in decades, in which incumbent Republican Donald Trump is challenged by Democrat Joe Biden, former President Barack Obama has urged voters to exercise their right to vote and to stay in line as long as it takes. In a tweet, Obama claimed that "some folks" are trying to make it hard for people of America to vote.
Sharing a voter hotline number (833-336-8683), Obama said that any questions can be directed to this and added that people trying to stop American voters from voting know that their vote will change the future of the US. "It's to turn out like never before and show them what this country stands for," he said.
Meanwhile, a similar pitch was made by Donald Trump junior who also claimed that Trump is looking good in all places. At the time of publishing, Joe Biden has won 85 electoral college votes, while Trump has 55, as per AP.
The Election Day
Millions of voters braved coronavirus concerns and occasional long lines on Tuesday to choose between President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden in an epic election that will influence how the US confronts everything from the pandemic to race relations for years to come. Those who turned out in person joined 102 million fellow Americans who voted days or weeks earlier, a record number that represented 73 per cent of the total vote in the 2016 presidential election.
No major problems arose on Tuesday, outside the typical glitches of a presidential election. Some polling places opened late, robocalls provided false information to voters in Iowa and Michigan, and machines or software malfunctioned in some counties in the battleground states of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Georgia and Texas. The cybersecurity agency at the Department of Homeland Security said there were no outward signs by midday of any malicious activity.
(With AP inputs)
Updated 06:35 IST, November 4th 2020