The first US electoral colleges they began to close their doors this Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. local time (23:00 GMT) on a day in which US President Joe Biden faces his first electoral examination since he came to power in January.
The first schools to close were those in the state of Virginia, where the polls give a tie between Democratic candidate the Governor, Terry McAuliffe, and the Republican, Glenn Youngkin.
In addition, the Virginians elect this Tuesday a lieutenant governor, an attorney general and the 100 seats of the state Lower House, which Democrats won in 2019 after two decades of Republican rule as part of the “hello blue” that mobilized progressive voters against then-President Donald Trump (2017-2021).
Just an hour before the polls closed, dozens of people came dropper to cast their ballot at an elementary school in Arlington, a town in northern Virginia, adjacent to Washington and considered a Democratic stronghold.
As one of the officials in charge of the electoral center told Efe, participation was quite staggered without anyone having to wait to vote, although there was more crowding around 7:00 local time (11:00 GMT), an hour after schools opened across the state.
Outside of school, five Democratic Party volunteers and only one from the Republican Party offered information to Virginians and invited them to vote for their party.
The Republican emissary, Janet, 58, told Efe that this is the first time getting involved in an election campaign.
He decided to take the plunge because he believes Youngkin, a businessman with no political experience, will know “solve problems instead of creating them” as would in his opinion McAuliffe, a centrist democrat close to Bill Clinton (1993-2001) and who, for decades, has been part of the party apparatus.
Janet was also very angry that the schools will close during the pandemic, an issue that Youngkin has made one of his campaign axes.
Faced with Janet’s views, the voter Jennifer Brown, 32, told EFE that she had voted for McAuliffe in order to reverse all the “terrifying policies” implemented by the Trump administration.
Although the Virginia gubernatorial election has received the most attention nationally, this Tuesday dozens of contests were also held across the U.S.
New Jersey, like Virginia, elects governor, while many cities such as New York, Boston, Atlanta, Miami or Seattle they vote for their new mayors.
In addition, in Minneapolis (Minnesota) the most striking referendum of the day. Its inhabitants will have to decide whether to abolish the local Police Department, tainted by several cases of police abuse, most recently the murder of African American George Floyd.
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As the night progresses the rest of the polling stations will be closing of the United States, a country that is divided into six time zones.
The The last polling stations to close will be those in the state of Washington, on the west coast, at 8:00 p.m. local time (03:00 GMT on Wednesday).
Reference-www.elperiodico.com