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US voters decide
Tim Witcher
Posted Tue, 02 Nov 2004
Americans vote on Tuesday in one of the closest presidential elections in decades after a long and often bitter campaign between Republican incumbent George W. Bush and his Democratic rival John Kerry.
After Bush and Kerry ended a frenzied final day of campaigning, during which their paths crossed at Milwaukee airport as one left and one arrived for rallies, the traditional first votes were to be cast in the New Hampshire hamlet of Dixville Notch at midnight (0500 GMT).
A big turnout has been predicted. And with Iraq and the war on terror dominating the campaign, and widespread fears expressed of a repeat of the 2000 election debacle, the rest of the world is also anxiously awaiting the outcome.
Legal advisors at the ready
But with neither candidate able to build a decisive opinion poll lead, the Republican and Democrat parties have each prepared one million volunteers to mobilise voters and thousands of lawyers for possible legal battles over contested results.
Bush went to six states and Kerry four on Monday as they fought for the attention of the undecided voters expected to decide the next occupant of the White House.
The two campaign teams crossed paths at Milwaukee airport in Wisconsin. Kerry, who was arriving for a rally that went ahead in pouring rain, had to wait while Bush left on Air Force One.
"This election comes down to who do you trust. Who do you trust to make this country secure?" Bush said in Pennsylvania, the second stop on a campaign blitz that also took in Ohio, Wisconsin, Iowa, New Mexico and Texas.
Iraq a major election issue
Bush's presidency was transformed by the September 11, 2001 attacks and he has styled himself as the "war president". But the March 2003 invasion of Iraq has divided the United States and caused friction with its allies.
The 58-year-old president touted himself as tougher than Kerry on terrorism, closer to voters on loaded issues like abortion and gay marriage, and warned that the Massachusetts senator would raise taxes that the president dramatically cut.
Kerry opened with a rally in Florida then headed through the Midwest battleground states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio.
"I believe we deserve a president who knows how to fight a more effective war on terror and make America safer," the 60-year-old Massachusetts senator, a decorated Vietnam war veteran, told supporters.
"This is the choice, this is the moment of accountability for America, and it is the moment that the world is watching what you do," said Kerry, who has vowed to increase international involvement in Iraq and end tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.
Polls undecided
Hundreds of millions of campaign dollars and months of gloves-off television attack ads have failed to reward either candidate with a breakout lead in the overall White House race, which has divided the country.
Four of the latest polls called the contest a dead heat and six others gave the president a statistically insignificant lead of one to three points.
The verdict appeared to hinge on the result in Florida, where tens of thousands of people have queued to vote in advance, and a handful of northern states such as Pennsylvania and Ohio.
Bush and Kerry have said the United States cannot afford a repeat of the 2000 election debacle in Florida that held up the result for 36 days.
"I really think it's important not to have a world of lawsuits that will stop the will of the people from going forward," Bush said in an interview with NBC television.
Election decided outside courts?
Kerry said he was confident the election would be decided outside the courts, but added that he had "10 000" lawyers scrutinising the polling process.
"We're not trying to stop anybody from voting. We want to make sure people vote," he told NBC.
Whoever wins on Tuesday faces the enormous challenge of uniting a bitterly partisan and suspicious electorate, as well as mending diplomatic rifts caused by the Iraq invasion.
Voters "scared" - poll
A New York Times poll published Monday said 52 percent of voters said they were "scared" or "concerned" about what Bush would do if re-elected, and 54 percent said the same of a Kerry presidency.
The victor requires a majority of the 538 electoral college votes that decide the presidency and are awarded in separate, mostly winner-take-all races, in the 50 states.
All signs indicated that the turnout would be significantly higher than the 106 million who voted in 2000.
Analysts have not ruled out a candidate winning the popular vote and losing the election — as Democrat Al Gore did in 2000 — or a 269-269 tie in the electoral college vote that could force Congress to decide the outcome.
The first votes close at 7pm eastern time (0000 GMT) in Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, South Carolina, Vermont and Virginia. The last polling stations close in Alaska at 0600 GMT on Wednesday.
AFP
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