By Aaron Miller-
The U.S election is officially open after North Carolina on Friday launched its vote-by-mail operations for the November 3 contest between President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden, which is getting uglier by the hour.
The 643,000 ballots requested in the initial wave in North Carolina were more than 16 times the number the state sent out at the same time four years ago.The requests were overwhelmingly from Democratic and independent voters in advance of the November 3 election.
U.S President Donald Trump is believed to be seizing on fears over violent protests in US cities and questioning the integrity of voting by mail. His political rival Biden intensified his criticism of a “deplorable” leader who he said is not fit for office.
Ballots cast by mail are expected to be the main mechanism of voting as millions seek avoid polling stations. The Covid-19 crisis coupled with tense race relations in the U.S will be critical issues of consideration in this year’s elections.
Demand Spike
North Carolina has already started mailing out more than 600,000 ballots, in response to a major spike in demand. Other key battleground states such as Wisconsin – which both candidates visited in recent days – will follow in the coming weeks.
A recent poll by USA Today and Suffolk University showed that 56 per cent of Republican voters surveyed said they would go in person to vote, while only 26 percent of Democrats plan to do the same.
One out of every four Biden voters said that if the Democratic former vice president loses on November 3, they would not be ready to accept a Trump victory as “fairly won.” About one in five Trump voters said a similar thing.
Trump has repeatedly cast doubt on the reliability of mail-in voting, which he insists could lead to widespread fraud.
Recent reports claiming that Trump had referred to US Marines buried in a World War I cemetery in France as “losers” and “suckers” for getting killed in action has intensified feelings against the president in some quarters. The president denied the statement which was apparently confirmed from anonymous sources.
Anniversary
Trump and Biden come face to face, as both have scheduled appearances in Shanksville, Pennsylvania to mark the 19th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
Asked if he would share a stage with Trump if invited, Biden said yes: “He is still the president of the United States.”
Victory Pathways
Joe Biden’s presidential campaign sees Arizona, Texas and Georgia as potential pathways to victory and ousting Donald Trump from the White House.
During a press briefing with reporters top Biden campaign officials displayed a map of the states that they see as winnable. The map showed Arizona, Texas and Georgia in the light pink color marked as “expand” states.
Democrats have not won any of those three states in the past two election cycles. They all have Republican governors. Texas in particular is a state Democrats have long hoped to put in their column, but so far to no avail.
Image: Nati Harnik/AP]