Gwynoro takes a look at the US Elections

I follow a lot of USA politics. #Election2020 will be the most desperately crucial one in my lifetime. Unless Biden emerges as a clear winner Trump will cause mayhem in the coming week, if not longer.

The inequities and outdated #ElectoralCollege system of deciding who has won the Presidency means a handful of what are termed ‘swing states’ come into play. It is nothing to do with who wins the popular vote across the country.

The swing states include Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and Wisconsin.

In 2016 Trump won all but one of them (Minnesota). Even tho’ he lost the USA-wide vote by over 2m.

This time the electoral landscape looks different for a variety of reasons – Covid, economic situation, Trump’s record and behaviour etc.

As of voting day polling suggests there are three “toss-up” states (Florida, Georgia, and Texas), six Biden-leaning states (Arizona, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin), and two Trump-leaning states (Iowa and Ohio).

So a crucial period coming up. Not just for the USA but world order.

A record turnout is expected as voters Have been going to the polls today. It is without doubt one of the most crucial presidential elections of the last few decades.

Already before polling day began almost 100 million people have voted, that is more than 70 per cent of the total number voting in the Presidential election of 2016 between Trump and Hilary Clinton.

There were long queues to vote around the country in a campaign dominated by coronavirus, that has claimed more than 230,000 American lives. It has also wrought havoc with the country’s economy and have seen millions out of work.

During the campaign Trump supporters have been engaged in a number of threats, disruption and some violence. Election centres have been intimidated, used their cars and trucks to block a bridge in New Jersey, surrounded a Biden campaign bus on a motorway in Texas. Biden rally was cancelled in Georgia, due to concerns about a “large militia presence”.

Businesses have been boarding up their properties and cities like New York and Washington are bracing themselves for unrest.

It is also reported that a non-scalable fence is being erected around the White House site.

To cap it all should the result be a close one an army of lawyers on both sides are ready to contest the election result. If that is the case then the final result might not be known for days, if not weeks. America in turmoil that’s for sure.