Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are making a final push for votes on the day before Election Day in the United States.
Harris is spending the day in the state of Pennsylvania, looking to win its 19 Electoral College votes. In addition to Pennsylvania, Trump holds campaign events in North Carolina and Michigan.
About 77 million Americans have already voted early. The total is nearly half of the 158 million who voted through Election Day in 2020. Harris and Trump are now pushing for the votes of remaining supporters and undecided voters as voting ends on Election Day, Tuesday, November 5.
Electoral College
In U.S. presidential elections, the candidate who captures 270 or more Electoral College votes is the winner, regardless of the popular vote.
In 2016, Democrat Hillary Clinton received nearly 3 million votes more than Trump nationwide. But Trump won 304 Electoral College votes and the presidency. In 2020, Democrat Joe Biden received 7 million votes more than Trump and also won 306 Electoral College votes.
This year, the race comes down to results from seven states, called battleground or swing states, because of changing results from election to election. The states are Nevada, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Arizona.
Trump won Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin in 2016 but lost all five states to Biden in 2020. This year, opinion studies from all seven states suggest that Harris and Trump are basically tied.
The vice president became the Democratic candidate after President Biden withdrew from the race in July. The 81-year-old Biden said he would not seek reelection after a poor performance debating Trump in June.
Trump survived an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, also in June when a bullet struck his right ear. The gunman was killed after firing several shots. One other person was killed and two were injured at the Trump campaign event.
Trump on the issues
Trump launched his third campaign for the White House by renewing his “Make America Great Again” message and calling for a severe policy on illegal immigration. He promised to deport, or expel, 15 to 20 million illegal immigrants from the country.
Trump blamed Biden and Harris for the inflation that came after the worldwide pandemic. He said his administration would increase taxes, called tariffs, on imported goods, cut taxes for Americans, open more lands for oil and gas exploration and reduce regulations for businesses.
On foreign policy, Trump has criticized NATO and suggested that the U.S. should step back from other defense treaties. Trump has not said whether he would send more military aid to Ukraine and claimed that he could end the war in the country. Trump said he supports Israel in its war in Gaza and Lebanon. He condemned pro-Palestinian protests in the U.S. and told Time magazine that the two-state solution might not be possible.
Harris on the issues
Harris, at the age of 60, is projecting her campaign against the 78-year-old Trump as a generational change saying, “We’re not going back.”
Harris brings attention to her support for abortion rights after the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision overturning the earlier Supreme Court decision known as Roe v. Wade. Harris said that she “will sign a law restoring and protecting reproductive freedom in every state.” While president, Trump appointed three conservative justices to overturn Roe v. Wade, and he said the issue belongs to the states.
On immigration, Harris has spoken of her support for a bipartisan proposal for border security that would increase officers to deal with asylum seekers among other things.
On the economy, Harris said she supports higher taxes for companies and wealthy Americans and lower taxes on people making less than $400,000 a year. She calls Trump’s proposed tariffs a tax increase on everyday Americans. Some tariffs put in place during Trump’s term in office have remained in place under Biden.
On foreign policy, Harris supports an active role for the U.S. in NATO and other military alliances. She supports continuing U.S. aid to Ukraine against the Russian invasion there. Harris has said that Israel has a right to defend itself against Hamas’s terrorist attacks. She has called for a cease-fire so that all hostages can be released and has described the situation in Gaza as a “humanitarian catastrophe.” She also supports a two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians.
A Trump victory would make him the first incoming president to have been indicted and convicted of a felony in a New York trial. Trump denied any wrongdoing and is appealing the verdict.
A Harris victory would make her the first woman, the first Black woman and the first person of South Asian ancestry to win the U.S. presidency.
And now it is up to the American people.
I’m Mario Ritter, Jr.
Hai Do wrote this story for VOA Learning English with additional information from VOA News, The Associated Press, and the Federal Election Commission.
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Words in This Story
regulation –n. a rule or law especially for industries that says how something should or should not be done
projecting –n. to believe or imagine that (your ideas, feelings, etc.) are shared by (another person)
abortion –n. to end a pregnancy by killing the fetus
catastrophe –n. a disaster or horrible event