No Systemic Problems With US Election Day Proceedings, Foreign Observers Say

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Despite the pandemic, the lawsuits and the acrimonious political rhetoric, foreign election observers had good news. They did not find systemic irregularity or wrongdoing by either major party. Ursula Gacek, who headed a foreign team of observers that arrived in the U.S. in late September to study the conditions leading up to election day,  noted there were isolated cases of irregular behavior – what she called “small incidents – personal, human incidents,” a couple of which were described in detail in footnotes to the report. “But nothing,” she said, “that would impact and really fundamentally shake the confidence in themore

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No Winner Yet, But Biden’s Lead Grows in US Presidential Election

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U.S. news organizations on Wednesday projected former Vice President Joe Biden as the winner in the battleground states of Michigan and Wisconsin, putting him almost within reach of victory in the U.S. presidential election.“I’m not here to declare that we’ve won. But I am here to report that when the count is finished, we believe we will be the winners,” Biden said Wednesday afternoon.Biden could reach the 270 Electoral College vote threshold needed to win the election if in addition to Michigan and Wisconsin, he holds on to his leads in Arizona and Nevada. All but Nevada went for Donaldmore

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Another Night of Uncertainty as Americans Wait for Election Result

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A day after voting ended, Americans continued to wait for the final vote tally in the presidential election. All eyes are now on a few battleground states where partial results are close and which may determine victory between Democratic nominee Vice President Joe Biden and incumbent Republican President Donald Trump. White House Correspondent Patsy Widakuswara has the latest. Producer: Barry Unger …

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Protests in Several US Cities as Presidential Vote Remains Undecided

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Protesters turned out in multiple U.S. cities Wednesday to call for a complete count of presidential election votes, while smaller pro-Trump groups rallied outside vote-counting centers in Michigan and Arizona.Police in New York arrested dozens of people Wednesday night after what had been peaceful demonstrations. Officials say a small group of people “attempted to hijack” the protest by setting trash fires and clashing with officers.Protesters also marched in Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle, Houston, Pittsburgh, Minneapolis and San Diego. In addition to calling for the votes to be counted, the demonstrators also highlighted racial inequality, the subject of numerous protests throughoutmore

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What Divides the US?

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Many Americans are surprised that the U.S. presidential election has been so closely fought, reflecting the deep divide within the country. VOA’s Elizabeth Lee hears from two different realities in America. Camera: VOA    Producer: Elizabeth Lee …

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US Youth Vote of Color Highest for Democrats

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While the 2020 U.S. presidential election remains undecided, data show that the youth vote— specifically youth of color — in most states widely supported Democratic candidate Joe Biden.Citing data compiled by the National Election Poll exit polls and AP VoteCast data from the Associated Press, the youth vote in key states the morning after Election Day was:Pennsylvania: Youth made up 14% of the vote and supported Biden by +23.Michigan: Youth made up 15% of the vote and supported Biden by +29.North Carolina: Youth made up 16% of the vote and supported Biden by +16.Georgia: Youth made up 21% of themore

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US Voters Weigh In on a Variety of Ballot Initiatives

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Americans voted on a variety of ballot initiatives during the 2020 elections, in addition to president and members of Congress.     According to CBS News, at least 120 initiatives were on the ballot in 32 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia.   Ballot initiatives offer voters a chance to directly change state laws or a state constitution.     The highest profile initiative was in California, where Proposition 22 determined if app-based companies like Uber, Lyft and others could continue classifying workers as independent contractors instead of company employees. Fifty-eight percent voted in favor of the proposition.more

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Vote Counting Continues in Tense US Presidential Race

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The winner of the U.S. presidential election remained in doubt Wednesday, with the outcome hinging on a handful of states where a flood of mail-in ballots sparked by the coronavirus pandemic remained to be counted.President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden both won states they were expected to win in their bid for a majority in the Electoral College that determines who wins the White House in the country’s indirect form of democracy.But the outcome of contests in several states — Georgia and Pennsylvania in the nation’s East and Arizona and Nevada in the West — was unsettled as officials counted millionsmore

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North Dakota Candidate Wins Election Weeks After Dying of COVID-19

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Election officials in the upper midwestern state of North Dakota say a 55-year-old candidate who died of COVID-19 in early October, has been elected to a seat in the state legislature.Officials say David Andahl, a Republican candidate for the state 8th District legislative seat, contracted the virus during a surge in infections and died October 5.  His family, in a posting to Facebook, said he suffered from other health issues that complicated his infection, though they did not elaborate.Election officials chose to leave Andahl’s name on the ballot after the state attorney general said, should he win, his replacement could bemore

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Race for the White House is Too Close to Call

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Americans are still waiting for the final vote tally in battleground states to determine whether incumbent Republican President Donald Trump will continue to be the country’s chief executive for the next four years, or be replaced by his Democratic challenger, former Vice President Joe Biden. White House Correspondent Patsy Widakuswara has the latest.Produced by: Barry Unger    …

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US Officials Confident in Secure Election, Turn Focus to Disinformation

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U.S. security officials are bracing for a new round of potential attacks on the country’s election, with polling sites across the country starting to shut down and unofficial results starting to come in. “We’re not going to let our guard down,” a senior official with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) told reporters late Tuesday, speaking only on the condition of anonymity. “It’s presenting a whole new attack surface,” the official added. U.S. election security officials had expressed confidence the 2020 election would be “the most secure election in modern history” heading into the nationwide vote. Some officials Tuesday even described the threatmore

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Americans Go to the Polls

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More than 100 million Americans had already made their choice before Election Day, in early voting and voting by mail. Amid a pandemic, and ready for possible protests, tens of millions cast their ballots on Election Day.  Camera: Vero Balderas, Matteo Ghidoni, Esha Kaur Sarai, Gary Jaffe, Adam Greenbaum, Carolyn Presutti …

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Who Will Control the US Senate?

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Control of the U.S. Senate remained uncertain early Wednesday as a handful of races in states including North Carolina, Maine and Georgia remained too close to call.   In Colorado, Democrats made a key pickup when Republican incumbent Cory Gardner lost to Democratic challenger John Hickenlooper, the former governor. Gardner is the last remaining Republican statewide official in a state that was once considered an election battleground.   According to the non-partisan Cook Political Report, just seven of the 35 Senate seats up for election Tuesday were rated true toss-ups. Senate Republicans went into Tuesday holding a 53-47 majority, but faced a tough election cycle since they aremore

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US Among Top Contributors to Ocean Plastic Pollution

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The United States contributes much more to ocean plastic pollution than previously estimated, according to a In this April 23, 2019, aerial photo, plastic bottles and other garbage float in river Drina near Visegrad, eastern Bosnia-Herzegovina.In 2016, the U.S. recycled just 9% of its total plastic waste. About half of this was recycled domestically and half was shipped overseas. The researchers estimate that up to 1 million metric tons of U.S. plastic waste entered the environment from these exports in 2016.“For years, so much of the plastic we have put into the blue bin has been exported for recycling tomore

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Trump, Biden Locked in Tight Contest for the US Presidency

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U.S. President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden were locked in a tight contest for a four-year term in the White House early Wednesday, with the national outcome of the election hanging on undecided contests in key political battleground states. “Keep the faith guys, we’re going to win this,” Biden told cheering supporters near his home in Wilmington, Delaware, as they honked car horns.  But as vote counting continued in several key states where he trailed Trump, Biden warned, “We’re going to have to be patient.”  From the White House, Trump tweeted, “We are up BIG, but they are tryingmore

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US Confident in Election Security as Voters Cast Ballots

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Efforts to secure U.S. voting infrastructure and to hunt down potential cyber threats appear to be paying off as millions of Americans cast ballots for president and local and state officials.U.S. election security officials continue to express confidence, hours after the first polling centers opened their doors to voters on Tuesday, the last day for citizens to cast a ballot.A senior official with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), briefing reporters only on the condition of anonymity, described the threat to the country’s election infrastructure as “much quieter” than in 2016, when Russian hackers targeted systems in all 50more

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Record Turnout Expected Among US Millennial, Gen Z Voters

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Millennial and Generation Z voters are expected to turn out in record numbers for the Nov. 3 presidential election, experts say, continuing a trend of increased participation since the midterm elections in 2018.  “A lot of students are back in their hometowns, so they are more likely to be able to vote easily,” said Josh Kutner, a senior at the George Washington University and chairman of GW College Republicans. Josh Kutner (courtesy photo)“Campaigns are really looking to young people to be leaders and help fight for their values and their visions for their community, so I think that’s been a prettymore

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Trump Claims Extended Vote Counting in Pennsylvania Could Spark Violence 

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In his final day of campaigning, U.S. President Donald Trump warned of post-election violence due to a Supreme Court decision to allow extended ballot counting in what may be the pivotal state of Pennsylvania.  Polls show former Vice President Joe Biden with a slight lead in the state where mail-in ballots, expected to favor the Democrats, might not be tabulated for days following Tuesday’s election.   In between his Monday rallies in Traverse City, Michigan, and Kenosha, Wisconsin, Trump tweeted that extended counting of such ballots in Pennsylvania “will allow rampant and unchecked cheating and will undermine our entire systems of laws. It will also induce violence in the streets. Somethingmore

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COVID-19, Race, Climate Change Dominate Youth Vote Issues

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Health care and racism dominate the issues important to young people in the presidential election, according to poll trackers.Climate change is also among the top three issues to young voters, the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (FILE – Ashley Nealy waits in line to cast her ballot during early voting for the presidential elections inside of the Atlanta Hawks’ State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, October 12, 2020.“We have issues like climate change, student loans, free college tuition, free two-year community college, and affordable health care being addressed, and I think those are all reallymore

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Judge Rejects Republican Effort to Toss Out 127,000 Houston Votes

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A federal judge on Monday rejected a Republican effort to invalidate nearly 127,000 votes in Houston because the ballots were cast at drive-thru polling centers established during the pandemic.  The lawsuit was brought by conservative Texas activists who have railed against expanded voting access in Harris County, where a record 1.4 million early votes have already been cast. The county is the nation’s third largest and a crucial battleground in Texas, where President Donald Trump and Republicans are bracing for the closest election in decades on Tuesday.  U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen’s decision to hear arguments on the brink ofmore

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Anxious World Watches in Countdown to US Election

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Governments across the world are anxiously watching the race for the White House, as they prepare for either Republican Donald Trump securing a second term as U.S. president or for an electoral win by his Democratic challenger, former Vice President Joe Biden.  Who will be the international winners and losers from Tuesday’s U.S. election?  “The last four years have confirmed that the choices the U.S. makes are highly consequential for international politics,” according to a commentary by Britain’s leading foreign policy research group, Chatham House.  Chatham House added, “The next president will determine how America’s diplomatic, economic and military resources are invested, and,more

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Twitter to Label Tweets with Premature Election Claims

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Social media giant Twitter said Monday it will put warning labels on tweets from U.S. election candidates that claim victory ahead of official results.  In a blog post Monday, the company said an election win must be “authoritatively called” before tweets without warning labels will be allowed by candidates or campaigns.  To determine election results, Twitter said it would require an announcement from state election officials or a “public projection from at least two authoritative national news outlets that make independent election calls,” citing examples that included ABC News, The Associated Press, CNN and Fox News. Tuesday’s U.S. election has amore

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