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US voters are heading to the polls to choose either incumbent Donald Trump or challenger Joe Biden as their next president after a tumultuous four years under the businessman-turned-politician that have left the country as deeply divided as at any time in recent history.
The masks and boarded-up stores in many city centers were reminders of two of the issues shaping 2020’s polarising elections, with COVID-19 still ravaging parts of the country after a summer of sometimes violence-marred protests against police brutality and racism.
In New York City, some voting lines snaked around blocks. But in many places lines were short or non-existent, which poll workers guessed was due to an .
Workers board up Bergdorf Goodman department store, Monday, 2 November, 2020, in New York ahead of the presidential election. Source: AP
Mr Biden, the Democratic former vice president and a career politician, has had a strong and consistent lead in US polls.
But the Republican Trump is close in enough swing states to possibly piece together the 270 state-by-state Electoral College votes needed to hold on to the presidency, which he won in a surprise 2016 election result despite losing the popular vote to Democrat Hillary Clinton by nearly 3 million ballots.
However, it may be days before the result is known, especially if legal challenges focused on postal ballots are accepted in the event of a tight race.
Several cities are boarding up buildings in anticipation of possible protests, including around the White House in Washington DC and in New York City.
Polls opened in some eastern states at 6am local time.
The most closely watched results will start to trickle in after 7pm EST when polls close in states such as Georgia, though definitive results from across the country could take days if the contest is tight.
Many wore masks to the polls - either by choice or by official mandate - on Tuesday with the coronavirus outbreak raging in many parts of the country.
The voting caps a campaign dominated by the coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 231,000 people in the United States and put millions out of work.
The country has also been shaken by protests over racial injustice.
Mr Biden, who has framed the contest as a referendum on Mr Trump's handling of the virus, promised a renewed effort to combat the health crisis, fix the economy and bridge the country's political divide.
More than 99 million people have already voted early either in person or by mail, motivated not only by concerns about waiting in line on election day amid the pandemic but also by extraordinary levels of enthusiasm after such a polarising campaign.
Source: AAP
The record-shattering total is already more than 70 per cent of the total 2016 vote, according to the US Elections Project at the University of Florida.
Experts predict the vote could reach 160 million, far exceeding the 138 million ballots cast four years ago.
Voters will also decide which political party will control the US Congress for the next two years, with Democrats pushing to recapture a Senate majority and expected to retain their control of the House of Representatives.
Mr Trump, 74, is seeking another four years in office after a tumultuous first term marked by the coronavirus crisis, an economy battered by pandemic shutdowns, an impeachment drama, inquiries into Russian election interference, US racial tensions and contentious immigration policies.
Mr Trump held five campaign rallies in four states on Monday, returning to Washington DC at 2:35am on Tuesday.
Mr Trump was expected to spend most of Tuesday at the White House, where an election night party is planned for 400 guests, all of whom will be tested for COVID-19.
Appearing on Fox News on Tuesday morning, mR Trump said the crowds he saw on Monday gave him confidence that he would prevail.
Mr Biden, 77, is looking to win the presidency after a political career spanning five decades including eight years as vice president under Trump's Democratic predecessor Barack Obama.
He mounted unsuccessful bids for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1988 and 2008.
Mr Biden spent his last full day of campaigning in the swing states of Ohio and Pennsylvania, and was expected to spend election day in Scranton, Pennsylvania, his childhood home, and Philadelphia.
He started his day at St Joseph on the Brandywine, his Roman Catholic church near Wilmington, Delaware, where he spent some time at his son Beau's grave with Beau's daughter Natalie.
Beau died of cancer at age 46 in 2015.
The two candidates have focused on about a dozen competitive state battlegrounds, nearly all states that mR Trump won in 2016.
Much of their attention has gone to Florida, with 29 electoral votes.
The state is seen as the biggest must-win for mR Trump, as a loss there would block most of the president's viable paths to winning the Electoral College.
Results in Florida, where mail-in ballots can be counted before Election Day, are expected to begin to come in relatively quickly on Tuesday night.
But Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin will not begin counting the vast majority of mail ballots until election day, raising the possibility of a prolonged vote count that could stretch for several days.
SBS will be bringing you live coverage as the US election unfolds. Here's how and when you can tune in:
The earliest polls open at 6am local time - which is roughly 10pm AEDT on Tuesday 3 November - and the latest poll closes at 4pm AEDT on Wednesday 4 November.
You can watch live video and read our live blog on the and as votes are being tallied from Wednesday 11am (AEDT) until 6.20pm (AEDT). SBS will be streaming coverage from our partners, ABC World News America, with all the latest analysis and commentary direct from the United States.
