The US votes in elections that also define the future of Biden and Trump

First modification: 11/08/2022 – 09:56

With Cristóban Vázquez, RFI correspondent in Washington, and AFP

More than 43 million Americans have already voted early. The states with the most votes so far are California, Texas and Florida. In the country, polling stations will open at six or seven in the morning (11:00 or 12:00 GMT) depending on the state, on the Tuesday following the first Monday of November, according to the tradition of national elections in the United States. The vote already has about 120 demands, which come from groups that tried to justify the alleged electoral fraud in the 2020 elections.

Many of the lawsuits filed question the voting processes and how the counting is done. In this regard, local governments have erected barriers and requested police reinforcements to protect the buildings where the votes will be counted. Additionally, election officials have prepared quick responses on social media to false claims of voter fraud.

In these elections, the entire House of Representatives, a third of the Senate and a series of governorships and local positions are at stake. There are also referendums on abortion rights in four states: California, Vermont, Kentucky and Michigan.

After a tough campaign focused on inflation, Republicans are confident they can strip Joe Biden of his majorities in Congress on November 8.

If you want to end the destruction of our country and save the American dream, you must vote Republican tomorrow,” former President Donald Trump, who is omnipresent in this campaign, said at a rally Monday night in Ohio, one of the strongholds industrialists of the country.

Surrounded by a tide of red caps, the 76-year-old millionaire announced that he would make “a big announcement on Tuesday, November 15 at Mar-a-Lago,” his Florida residence, knowing that a victory for his lieutenants at the polls this Tuesday could offer him the ideal springboard for a candidacy in the 2024 presidential election.

For his part, Elon Musk, the new owner of Twitter, who said he was going to maintain independence in his social network, published a tweet today saying that shared power (referring to the power that Democrats have today of the legislative branch and executive) leads to the worst excess of power for any party, therefore, taking into account that the president is a Democrat, he recommended voting for the Republicans to Congress.

traditional vow punishment

The president’s party is rarely spared the punishment vote. Until the end, Joe Biden’s Democrats tried to attract the vote from the left and center by saying that the Republican opposition is a threat to democracy and social achievements, such as abortion rights.

“Our democracy is in danger,” the 79-year-old president declared during a final rally Monday night in Maryland, outside Washington.

But the rise in prices – 8.2% on average – remains by far the main concern of Americans and Joe Biden’s efforts to pose as “president of the middle class” do not seem to have paid off.

According to the most recent polls, the Republican opposition has a chance of winning at least 10 to 25 seats in the lower house, more than enough to have a majority.

There is less clarity about the fate of the Senate, but the Republicans could get it too.

Losing control of both houses of Congress would have serious consequences for the Democratic president, who has so far said that he “intends” to run again in 2024, which would be a duel like the one in 2020.

The results of some of the closest duels could take days to announce.

Duels to watch out for

All the spotlights are on Pennsylvania, a former steel industry stronghold, where millionaire Republican surgeon Mehmet Oz, backed by Donald Trump, is up against small-town Democratic former mayor John Fetterman for the most contested seat in the Senate.

Because the balance of power in the upper house, with immense power, very possibly depends on this seat.

As in 2020, Georgia is also in the spotlight. Democrat Raphael Warnock, the first black senator elected in this southern state with a strong segregationist past, is seeking re-election against Herschel Walker, a former African-American athlete, backed by the former president.

Arizona, Ohio, Nevada, Wisconsin and North Carolina are also the scene of fights between the Democrats and Donald Trump’s candidates, who swear absolute loyalty to the former White House occupant.