President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden fought Monday through the eve of an election threatened by legal chaos and fears of violence after Trump, down in the polls and with only hours to go, pushed hard to discredit the US voting process.
On Tuesday, the world will witness a country more divided and angry than at any time since the Vietnam War era of the 1970s.
In a sign of how volatile the election could be, buildings in several cities were boarded up, including along several blocks around the White House and in New York City including the iconic Macy's flagship.
Tuesday is formally Election Day but in reality it marks only the culmination of a drawn-out election month. With a huge expansion in mail-in voting to safeguard against the Covid-19 pandemic, more than 95 million people are estimated to have already cast ballots, highlighting the raw passion in what is turning into a referendum on the norm-shattering Republican's first term.
A helicopter passes over the White House, seen behind a fence and protest posters, the day before the US presidential election in Washington, DC, November 2. — Reuters
Democratic US presidential nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden speaks at the Get Out The Vote event in Cleveland, Ohio, US, November 2. — Reuters
Workers board up a Chanel store in anticipation of unrest related to the presidential election on November 2 in New York City. — AFP
A person wearing a 'Make America Great Again' cap stands in front of a screen showing Democratic US presidential nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden at US President Donald Trump's campaign rally at Fayetteville Regional Airport in Fayetteville, North Carolina, November 2. — Reuters
Election workers process mail-in ballots ahead of Election Day in Houston, Texas, US, November 2. — Reuters
Supporters listen from their cars as Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden speaks at a get-out-the-vote drive-in rally at Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport on November 02 in Cleveland, Ohio. — AFP
US President Donald Trump delivers remarks during a campaign rally at Fayetteville Regional Airport on November 2 in Fayetteville, North Carolina. — AFP
Dwayne Scheuermann, left, and Christopher Wilson, right, deliver voting machines to a polling location at the Mount Kingdom Missionary Baptist Church in New Orleans, Monday. — AP
Democratic US vice presidential nominee Senator Kamala Harris speaks to vote canvassers during a bus tour in Pennsylvania the day before Election Day in Pittston, US, November 2. — Reuters
Volunteer election poll worker Cecilia Chaboudy-Dow joins demonstrators as they stand across the street from the federal courthouse in Houston, Monday, Nov 2, before a hearing in federal court involving drive-thru ballots cast in Harris County. — AP
US President Donald Trump holds a campaign rally at Fayetteville Regional Airport in Fayetteville, North Carolina, US, November 2. — Reuters
Voters drop ballots into the vote by mail drop box behind the Broward County Government Centre in Fort Lauderdale, Monday, Nov 2. — AP
Header image: Supporters of President Donald Trump scream at supporters of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden queueing in their cars before attending a campaign event with Democratic US vice presidential nominee Sen Kamala Harris on the eve of the general election in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. — AFP
6