Millions of people have voted in one of the most consequential elections in the history of the United States and while most surveys show Kamala Harris and Donald Trump in a tight race, polling aggregator FiveThirtyEight has switched from Republican to Democratic candidate winning. Has stated his favorite for. Candidate.
The aggregator, which is a leading election forecaster, had named Mr Trump as its favorite to win for almost two weeks and its simulations showed that, out of 100, Mr Trump won 53 times and Ms Harris 47 times. However, for the first time since October 17, Ms Harris became the favorite on election day, leading Mr Trump 50 to 49.
The Economist’s final forecast said Ms Harris had a 56% chance of winning, but noted the lead was narrow and Mr Trump could also win.
Polymarket, a betting platform, said former President Trump has a 62.3% chance of winning compared to Vice President Harris’s 37.9%.
Speaking to NDTV on Tuesday, Alan Lichtman, known for his 13 ‘White House Keys’ system, predicted that Ms Harris would be the first female President of the United States.
He said, “Set them (opinion polls) on fire. Yes, we are going to get Kamala Harris, a new trailblazing President, the first woman President and the first President of mixed African and Asian descent. This is a sign that Where is America going? We are increasingly becoming a majority-minority country, old white guys like me, we are in decline,” Mr. Lichtman said.
‘If it’s fair’
Both the candidates also spoke to the media on the election day.
“We have to get this done. Today is voting day and people need to get out and be active,” Ms Harris told Atlanta station WVEE-FM. He described Mr Trump as “full of vindictiveness”. He is full of complaints. All about yourself.”
The former president, who voted near his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, said he felt “very confident” and that he wanted to be “very inclusive.” But he expressed concerns about the vote count – raising fears that if he lost he would reject the results, citing fraud. “If it is a fair election, I will be the first to accept it,” he said.
In Pennsylvania, the state’s most critical state, a court approved a county’s request to extend voting hours after voting machines experienced software glitches.
The ruling means polls will remain open for an additional two hours in Cambria County, which voted for Mr. Trump by nearly 70% to 30% in 2020. The case was brought by the local elections board, which said that a “software malfunction” of the electronic voting machines “had prevented voters from scanning their completed ballots”. The Cambria County Court of Common Pleas ordered that Voting time should be extended from 8 pm to 10 pm local time (0830 IST).
Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley said after the case was filed, “This morning there was a delay due to ballot processing issues in Cambria – that’s unacceptable, plain and simple.” “Our legal team took immediate action to support extended hours to give voters the opportunity to vote – we need voters to stay in line!” He added.
