Americans continue to vote to choose between Democratic candidate Joe Biden and Republican President Donald Trump, in a presidential election described as historic, taking place in the midst of a sharp division in the country.
Voters - who used to wear masks and keep distances apart in short lines - stood in front of polling stations in most states, after a record number of Americans cast their votes in early voting, in light of the Corona pandemic.
The American Election Project - which is supervised by a professor at the University of Florida - announced that the number of Americans who voted in early balloting exceeded 100 million, before the official start of Election Day, a record number that constitutes more than 72% of the total number of participants in the 2016 elections.
Trump refuses to delay the results
Meanwhile, President Trump repeated on Election Day his denunciations of the possibility of delaying the announcement of the result due to the increase in voting by mail, but his tone was quieter than before.
"We have the right to know who won on November 3rd," he said while visiting the Republican campaign headquarters in Arlington, Virginia.
He stated that he had a good feeling about the election results, but said he was not thinking now about winning or losing rhetoric.
Trump visits the Republican campaign headquarters in Arlington, Virginia (Reuters)
A few hours before this visit, Trump told Fox News by phone that he had a good feeling about his chances of winning the election.
And it seemed as if he was trying to assuage fears that he might announce his victory before the official results are released in various states.
When asked when will he announce his victory?
"Only when we have achieved victory," he said, adding that "there is no reason to play games."
"I think we will win. We believe that we will achieve a very big win in Texas, a very big win in Florida, and a very big win in Arizona," he said.
He saw that he would do well in North Carolina and Pennsylvania.
By midnight Greenwich Mean Time, polling stations will begin to close in the far east of the United States, and shutdowns will continue across the country.
Biden is on a final round
On the other hand, the Democratic candidate, Joe Biden, visited his hometown in Scranton, Pennsylvania, during election day, one of the most critical states of the elections, where he met a number of his supporters, and moved from there to Philadelphia in the same state.
Biden said - in a final message he addressed to voters - that Americans are "in a battle for the soul of the nation," and that they are "at a crossroads; one of them is darkness, anger and more division, and the second is the path of light, hope and unity."
The Democratic candidate asserted that "the ultimate power to determine the outcome" is in the hands of the Americans, and that "the reputation of the United States, sympathy, morals, science and democracy are all on the ballot."
Biden with his granddaughter on a final round on election day in Pennsylvania (Reuters)
Meanwhile, Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris addressed a crowd of supporters during Election Day in Detroit, Michigan, one of the swing states, that may determine who will win the election.
Harris urged Americans to vote massively, and said that the Democrats "are able to form a force capable of change today," and saw that this "is our opportunity today to prevent another 4 years of suffering."
An investigation into mysterious calls
On the other hand, and amid concerns of possible disruptions due to the election, the FBI has reported that it is investigating recorded phone calls asking voters in some states to "stay safe in their homes" instead of going down to the vote and standing In long lines, depending on those calls.
In the same context, American media said that officials have warned citizens in several states of misleading communications calling them to vote tomorrow instead of today.