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With a tight election race and control of Congress at stake, Democrats and Republicans are ramping up their campaigns in the hours leading up to the midterm elections. Both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump visited Pennsylvania in the last 48 hours of campaigning. There are 35 seats at stake there, which promise to be settled in a very close vote.
The United States has next Tuesday, November 8, a key electoral appointment for the political future of its citizens. These are the first elections held in the country after the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, and nervousness is in the air. This explains why the Democrats, in the final stretch of their campaign, focus on how important these elections are “for democracy”, as President Joe Biden said from Pennsylvania on Saturday.
The president traveled there to support the Democratic candidate for the Senate, John Fetterman, who also had the support of former President Barack Obama. Meanwhile, not far away, former president Donald Trump backed his candidate, Mehmet Oz, and hinted at his possible candidacy again in the 2024 elections, this time more likely to become a reality (there are rumors that he will make the announcement next November 14th).
The Big Three politicians chose Pennsylvania for their last 48 hours of campaigning and it was no coincidence. ‘The Keystone State’ (‘cornerstone state’, as it is known) is key in these elections and could determine the winning party in the Senate. There 35 seats are disputed and the results are very tight.
The situation is different in the House of Representatives, where 435 members will be elected and the latest polls point to a Republican victory. If the omens are true, Joe Biden would be hard-pressed to fulfill his political agenda in the next two years.
Some states take on more importance than others because their voters are undecided. Pennsylvania is one of them, and it has become a battlefield, a trophy that no party wants to lose.
A France 24 team has traveled there to take the pulse of the population. We are greeted at the City Hall offices by the Philadelphia Election Commissioner’s team. Commissioner Omar Sabir assures that despite the rumors and threats, everything is prepared for a calm voting day. “There are things that are better not to make public, but I want to ensure that everyone will be safe, as it always has been. We understand that there is concern, we are aware of it and we are working on it,” he says.
But finding 8,500 workers for the more than 1,700 voting centers is not being easy because there is fear. That is why it has been necessary to increase salaries, to attract a larger public. All poll workers will be paid $86 more for 12 hours of work next Tuesday.
The voting machines are ready and offer verification guarantees, Sabir explains, so that no one doubts that their vote counts. In the streets of the city, the 18,000 mailboxes to deposit the ballot are controlled by video surveillance cameras that guarantee that nothing breaks into the electoral system.
In these elections, each party focuses on convincing the undecided, and one of the most important minority groups in this regard are African Americans. They have historically supported the Democrats, but in these elections they have many doubts. Your vote could be decisive. “Only if we go out and vote,” explains Lina Smash, an African-American teacher who lives in Philadelphia.
And so it is happening in the main city of the key state: the commissioner expects one of the highest turnout figures seen in many years.