Heavy turnout marks tough US contest: Spotlight on Florida, Ohio; scattered reports of irregularities
WASHINGTON, Nov 2: Unusually large numbers of voters turned out on Tuesday to choose between US President George W. Bush and Democratic Sen John Kerry after a deadlocked White House campaign marked by deep divisions over the war in Iraq, the battle against terrorism and the economy.
With the electorate polarized over the country's direction three years after the Sept 11, 2001 attacks inspired a short-lived unity, as many as 125 million Americans were voting to set the nation's course for the next four years.
Polls showed the race was extraordinarily close, with surveys showing a dead heat nationally and indicating most of the 10 hardest-fought battleground states could tip either way.
Long lines formed at polling stations and voters were unusually motivated amid lingering bitterness over the 2000 election, when Bush lost the popular vote to Democrat Al Gore but narrowly won the Electoral College after the US Supreme Court stopped the vote recount in Florida.
As in 2000, the presidential spotlight on Tuesday will be on Florida along with the new showdown state of Ohio, both won by Bush four years ago and the biggest toss-up states in the quest for the 270 Electoral College votes needed for victory. Officials in Florida, where more than 10 million people are eligible to vote, reported long lines but no early problems at polling stations.
There were scattered reports of voting difficulties and irregularities elsewhere, including slashed tires on cars that were to take voters to the polls in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and allegations of ballot stuffing in a poor black Philadelphia neighbourhood. The Philadelphia allegations were quickly denied by the District Attorney.
ARMIES OF LAWYERS: Republicans and Democrats said the election outcome may not be known quickly, and both sides fielded armies of lawyers to challenge close results and girded for the possibility of another long legal fight like the five-week battle in 2000.
Bush said he was confident after voting at the firehouse near his Crawford, Texas, ranch and said the election boiled down to whom voters trusted to secure the country.
"I believe I'm going to win," Bush said before flying to the battleground state of Ohio to call voters from a Republican phone bank and then returning to Washington. "My hope, of course, is that this election ends tonight." "I've given it my all," he said.
In his own drive to get people to the polls, Sen Kerry met Democratic activists in La Crosse, Wisconsin, a battleground state that is one of the few to allow same-day registration, and hammered Bush over the Iraq war.
"You have a choice, all Americans have this choice today," the Massachusetts senator said. "George Bush made his choices ... He made a choice without a plan to win the peace."
"I am very confident we made the case for change," he later said after voting at the Massachusetts State House in Boston.
Sen Kerry must win either Florida or Ohio to have a realistic shot at victory, while a Bush loss in Florida would leave him in danger unless he took Pennsylvania or some states such as Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa - all won by Gore in 2000.
Independent candidate Ralph Nader could play the role of spoiler, although his support in polls this year is much less than in 2000, when some say he helped tip the race to Bush.
In addition to the presidential race, Americans will also decide which party holds power in Congress and will vote on governorships in 11 states, with Bush's Republicans favoured to retain control of the Senate and House of Representatives.
MILLIONS MORE: More than 105.4 million Americans voted in 2000, representing 51.21 per cent of the voting-age population, but as many as 20 million more could vote in the current election.
According to Federal Election Commission figures, the highest turnout in recent decades was in 1960, when about 63 per cent of the voting age population cast ballots.
Poll monitors in Philadelphia reported numerous problems especially in black neighbourhoods that included broken voting machines and alleged attempts to intimidate voters.
In one legal battle, US Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens allowed Republicans to challenge voter qualifications inside polling stations in Ohio, a development that Democrats fear could be used to intimidate their core voters.
KERRY VOTE: US Senator John Kerry, cast his vote in his hometown of Boston after making final campaign stops in Ohio and Wisconsin.
The senator said both he and his Republican challenger, President George W. Bush, loved their country, but "I'm very confident that we made the case for change ... and a fresh start."-Reuters/dpa
EXIT POLLS GIVE EDGE TO KERRY
WASHINGTON, Nov 2: The National Elections Pool (NEP), which has been selected by major US news outlets to conduct exit polls this year, showed Sen John Kerry taking leads in key battleground states.
But American news organizations, particularly television networks, are careful not to make any prediction based on the exit polls because of their experience in 2000.
By 4.00 Tuesday afternoon, the NEP had polled early voters in 13 states, including Florida, and released the following pattern:
Earlier in the day, the Washington-based Zogby survey projected a 252-252 in the electoral votes between Mr. Bush and Mr. Kerry. But later, another exit poll gave Mr. Kerry 262, and Mr. Bush 261 electoral votes.
The polls showed Virginia and Pennsylvania still tied but gave Ohio, Wisconsin and Colorado to Mr. Bush.
AZ CO LA PA OH FL MI NM MN WI IA NH
Kerry 45 48 42 60 52 51 51 50 58 52 49 57
Bush 55 51 57 40 48 48 47 48 40 43 49 41
(The abbreviations stand for: Arizona, Colorado, Lousiana, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida, Michigan, New Mexico, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and New Hampshire)
