If the final sprint to Election Day appeared superficially familiar, with President Trump and former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. making their closing arguments to swing state voters, there were plenty of reminders Monday that the 2020 campaign has been anything but normal.
There were the staggering early vote totals, with a record 97.6 million people already casting their ballots by mail or in person — a tectonic shift from one-day voting that has been the staple of the American electoral system — and predictions that the total turnout would break the record set in 2016, when nearly 139 million people voted.
There was the legal wrangling that has been a feature of this campaign even before Election Day, with a federal judge in Texas on Monday rejecting Republican efforts to invalidate more than 127,000 votes that were cast at drive-through locations in a Democratic stronghold.
There was the plywood going up in Washington and other cities around the country, amid fears that the passions being stirred up by the campaign could lead to unrest or even violence, with some states readying members of the National Guard.
And there were efforts to set expectations, as the Biden campaign and social media giants like Facebook and Twitter reminded voters that the results of the election may not be known on Tuesday.
All of that unfolded in a country where more than nine million people have been infected with the coronavirus and at least 231,400 have died, according to a New York Times database. More than 93,000 cases and more than 530 deaths were announced in the United States on Monday, and the U.S. has averaged more than 85,000 cases a day over the last week, the most of any point in the pandemic.
Dr. Deborah L. Birx, who helps lead the Trump administration’s coronavirus response, delivered a stark private warning to White House officials on Monday, telling them that the pandemic is entering a new and “deadly phase” that demands a more aggressive approach.
Dr. Birx predicted that the United States would continue to see days when the number of new cases exceeded 100,000, and warned against the type of rallies that Mr. Trump has been holding, in which many attendees pack in close together without wearing masks.
The president, meanwhile, stuck to his usual campaign playback of blitzing from rally to rally and state to state.
At a stop on Monday in Avoca, Pa., Mr. Trump criticized a recent Supreme Court decision allowing Pennsylvania to accept absentee ballots for several days after Election Day, suggesting cryptically that it could be “physically dangerous,” an apparent prediction of postelection violence.
Later, on Twitter, he complained without evidence that the decision would lead to “rampant and unchecked cheating” and told reporters in Wisconsin, “I hope the Supreme Court has the wisdom to change it.”
Mr. Biden, appearing in the battlegrounds of Ohio and Pennsylvania, had a more disciplined closing message.
“Tomorrow we have an opportunity to put an end to a presidency that’s divided this nation,” he said at a drive-in rally at an airport hangar in Cleveland. “Tomorrow we can put an end to a presidency that has failed to protect this nation. And tomorrow we can put an end to a presidency that’s fanned the flames of hate all across this country.”
As the campaign ended, voters were speaking their minds.
In Des Moines, 18-year-old Mikayla Simpson stood in line to cast her first vote for president wearing earbuds and a tan Trump 2020 baseball cap. A student at Drake University, she said she was unfazed by the long wait. “I’d stand here all day if I had to,” she said.
In Monroe, Pa., Millie Cooper, 63, a retired health care administrator, dropped off her mail-in ballot and was zipping up her coat against the wind. “I pray Biden wins,” she said. “We need stability, and we don’t have it.”
In Detroit, Gary Bennett, 67, said he, too, wanted to see a change in the White House. Unemployed, but getting by with odd jobs at restaurants and as a handyman, he said he was ready for life to return to normal. He is not a huge fan of Mr. Biden, he said, “but he’s got to be better than what we’re going through now.”
Amid the exasperation and unease, Audrey Haverstock, an administrative assistant at a Minnesota church, expressed a more uncommon emotion: excitement.
“I’m excited for the election tomorrow,” she said. On Tuesday, she planned to put on a mask and vote in person. “I’m not anxious about the election,” she said. “Being anxious doesn’t solve anything.”
"last" - Google News
November 03, 2020 at 05:52PM
https://ift.tt/3kSVqSl
A record early vote, and last-minute lawsuits, mark the end of a campaign transformed by the pandemic. - The New York Times
"last" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2rbmsh7
https://ift.tt/2Wq6qvt
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "A record early vote, and last-minute lawsuits, mark the end of a campaign transformed by the pandemic. - The New York Times"
Post a Comment