USA
Chronology of Tuesday's US presidential election
Posted Wed, 03 Nov 2004
The following is a chronology of Tuesday's US presidential election:
Tuesday AM
Voting begins at 7am in nine states as the first of 156 million registered voters go to the polls to choose between President George W. Bush and Democratic challenger John Kerry. The final opinion polls show the race in a dead heat.
Bush, accompanied by his wife, Laura, and twin daughters, Barbara and Jenna, votes at a fire station in Crawford, Texas, where he owns a ranch. "My hope, of course, is this election ends tonight," he says. "I am confident in the judgment of the people."
Bush flies to Columbus in the midwestern state of Ohio for a final campaign event. "I have made the differences as clear as possible about why I think I am the best leader for the country for the next four years," he says.
Long queues form outside polling booths around the country, an indication of heavy turnout. "The turnout has been larger than we expected in our
Democratic precincts," Joe Lockhart, a key adviser to Kerry, says. "We are encouraged by that."
Kerry holds a final get-out-the-vote event in La Crosse, Wisconsin. "We're going to link hands and hearts and we're going to take America to a better place," he tells cheering supporters. "Let's get the job done."
Tuesday PM
Kerry flies home to Boston to cast his ballot with his daughters, Alexandra and Vanessa, before lunching at the city's Union Oyster House — a tradition for the four-term senator on election day. Kerry is joined by his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, and her sons Chris and Andre.
Bush returns to Washington to watch the election results at the White House with family members, including his father, former president George Bush, and mother Barbara Bush.
The US Supreme Court gives the Republican Party the go-ahead to place thousands of representatives inside Ohio polling centers to challenge the eligibility of
voters.
Political web sites known as blogs cite leak exit poll figures indicating Kerry is performing strongly in battleground states. The numbers, which later prove to have been inaccurate, spark euphoria in the Kerry camp and gloom in the Bush campaign.
US stocks dip on the Internet reports. Miller Tabak equity strategist Peter Boockvar says there is a "sort of panic" as traders hear the news of Kerry's lead.
The first polls close, at 7pm in the states of Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, South Carolina, Vermont and Virginia.
The US television networks make their first projections, giving Georgia, Indiana and Kentucky to Bush and Vermont to Kerry. The crucial battleground states of Ohio, Florida and Pennsylvania are said to be too close to call.
Bush tells reporters at the White House he is "very upbeat." "I believe I will win," he says.
Kerry strategist Lockhart says he is "very bullish" about the Democratic challenger's
chances in Ohio.
Pennsylvania goes to Kerry while Bush snags Florida.
Wednesday AM
Fox and NBC say Bush has won Ohio but the other three networks say the state is too close to call. A victory in Ohio would put Bush just one vote away from the 270 electoral college votes needed to win. The Kerry campaign refuses to concede defeat in Ohio. "The vote count in Ohio has not been completed. There are more than 250,000 remaining votes to be counted. We believe when they are, John Kerry will win Ohio," Kerry campaign manager Mary Beth Cahill says.
Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards vows the party will "fight for every vote." "It's been a long night. But we've waited four years for this victory. We can wait one more night," he tells a rally in Boston.
Nicolle Devenish, a top Bush campaign aide, says the Kerry campaign is "delusional about their chances of overturning the vote of the people of
Ohio".
White House chief of staff Andrew Card says Bush will declare victory Wednesday after giving Kerry "the respect of more time to reflect on the results of this election."
AFP
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