Americans choose between Clinton and Trump after divisive campaign
After a long and exceptionally negative campaign, millions of Americans voted on Tuesday for their next president as opinion polls showed Democrat Hillary Clinton with a narrow lead over Republican Donald Trump.
In a battle focused on the character of the candidates, Clinton, 69, a former U.S. secretary of state, and Trump, 70, a New York businessman, accused each other of being unfit to lead the United States against challenges like an arduous economic recovery, Islamist militants and the rise of China.
As he did during the campaign, Trump on Tuesday raised the possibility of not accepting the election’s outcome, saying he had seen reports of voting irregularities. He gave few details and Reuters could not immediately verify the existence of such problems.
“We’re going to see how things play out today. Hopefully they’ll play out well and hopefully we won’t have to worry about it, meaning hopefully we’ll win,” the former reality TV star said in a telephone interview on Fox News. “I want to see everything honest.”
Trump also sued the registrar of voters in Nevada’s Clark County over a polling place in Las Vegas that had been allowed to remain open late last week during an early voting period to accommodate people, many of them Hispanic, who were lined up to cast ballots.
Clinton, aiming to become the first woman U.S. president, cast her ballot at an elementary school near her home in Chappaqua, New York early on Tuesday morning.
“It is the most humbling feeling. I know how much responsibility goes with this. So many people are counting on the outcome of this election, what it means for our country. And I’ll do the very best I can if I’m fortunate enough to win today,” Clinton said.
Trump, in his first bid for elected office, received a mixture of cheers and jeers as he arrived to vote at a school in Manhattan.
Clinton led Trump, by 44 percent to 39 percent, in the last Reuters/Ipsos national tracking poll before Election Day.
A Reuters/Ipsos States of the Nation poll gave Clinton a 90 percent chance of defeating Trump and said she was on track to win 303 Electoral College votes, with 270 needed for election.
Trump’s candidacy embodied an attack on America’s political establishment. Clinton represented safeguarding the political order.
A Clinton presidency would likely provide continuity from fellow Democrat Barack Obama’s eight years in the White House, although if Republicans retain control of at least one chamber in Congress more years of political gridlock in Washington could ensue.
A win for Trump could shake some of the basic building blocks of American foreign policy, such as the NATO alliance and free trade, and reverse some of Obama’s domestic achievements such as his 2010 healthcare law.
