Tinaye Agere
Zimpapers Politics Hub
GLOBAL attention is focused on the United States elections that are underway.
The United States is a global superpower and any change of guard at the White House has a bearing on global geo-politics.
In this year’s election, the battle is between Vice President Kamala Harries (Democratic Party) and former President Donald Trump (Republican Party).
When are results expected?
In the previous elections, the victor would be named late on the election night, or early the next morning. But this year’s election appears very tight in many states and this could mean waiting longer before voters get to know the winner.
Narrow victories could mean recounts. Various multinational media houses point at Pennsylvania, for example, where a state-wide recount may be required if there is a half-percentage- point difference between the votes cast for the winner and the loser. In the last election, 2020, the margin was just over 1.1 percentage points.
There is also a possibility of court challenges as more than 100 pre-election lawsuits have already been filed, including challenges on voter eligibility and voter roll management, by Republicans.
Other scenarios that could cause delays include any election-related complaints, especially at polling locations.
As of today, vote counting is moving very fast in some areas, including in the crucial state of Michigan, and fewer votes will be cast by mail than in the last election, which was held under Covid-19 conditions.
Michigan, is after Pennsylvania, the state where the campaigns for both Vice President Harris and former President Trump and their allies have spent the most money on television advertising.
It is the only state where both candidates, both of their running mates and both the Obamas campaigned with both presidential candidates holding two rallies each.
On paper, many pundits think Michigan would be an easy take for Democrats as the State once helped Democrats win back the White House in 2018, gave President Biden his biggest margin of victory among the swing states in 2020, and handed Governor Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, an 11 percentage-point victory after the Dobbs decision in 2022.
Several polls have predicted a deadlock in Michigan. Trump supporters believe that Vice President Harris’s troubles with the Arab American voters frustrated with the Biden administration’s handling of the Palestine/Israel conflict might tilt the odds in the Republican’s favour.
Online Reporter