First early votes cast in knife-edge US presidential election

A woman votes on the first day of Virginia's in-person early voting at Long Bridge Park Aquatics and Fitness Center on September 20, 2024 in Arlington, Virginia. --Andrew Harnik/Getty Images/AFP

ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA—The first early voters cast their ballots on Friday for November’s knife-edge US presidential election, as Democratic candidate Kamala Harris headed for a campaign event focused on the hot-button issue of abortion.

Three US states—Virginia, Minnesota and South Dakota—were starting early voting, a practice that Republican nominee Donald Trump has previously cast doubt on during the 2020 election.

Dozens of people waited at an early voting polling station in the center of Arlington, Virginia, just outside the capital Washington, AFP journalists saw.

Voters wanting to cast an early vote line up outside the Elena Bozeman Government Center for a polling station to open in Arlington, Virginia, on September 20, 2024. Early in-person voting for the 2024 US presidential election began in Virginia, South Dakota and Minnesota. (Photo by AFP)

A number had “Harris-Walz” shirts, while there were also some “Trump-Vance” signs in front of the building.

“I’m excited,” said Michelle Kilkenny, 55, adding that voting early, “especially on day one, helps the campaign and raises the enthusiasm level.”

Most US states permit in-person voting or mail-in voting to allow people to deal with scheduling conflicts or an inability to cast their ballots on election day itself on Nov. 5.

ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA – SEPTEMBER 20: A mail-in ballot drop box sits on a table on the first day of Virginia’s in-person early voting at Long Bridge Park Aquatics and Fitness Center on September 20, 2024 in Arlington, Virginia. Ballots have started being cast for the presidential race and local elections in Virginia, Minnesota and South Dakota. (Photo by Andrew Harnik / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

Former president Trump has lashed out against anything except on-the-day voting, repeatedly blaming mail-in ballots for his 2020 defeat by Joe Biden—while also sometimes calling early voting into question, saying it is more susceptible to fraud.

Trump, 78, faces criminal charges for allegedly trying to overturn the 2020 result, after which his supporters assaulted the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA – SEPTEMBER 20: A sample ballot is displayed on the first day of Virginia’s in-person early voting at Long Bridge Park Aquatics and Fitness Center on September 20, 2024 in Arlington, Virginia. Ballots have started being cast for the presidential race and local elections in Virginia, Minnesota and South Dakota. (Photo by Andrew Harnik / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

‘Dangerous consequences’

Every vote will count in a desperately close 2024 White House race, whose result Trump has once again refused to say he will accept.

Harris has erased Trump’s lead since sensationally replacing President Biden as Democratic candidate in July, but remains neck-and-neck with the Republican.

ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA – SEPTEMBER 20: People vote on the first day of Virginia’s in-person early voting at Long Bridge Park Aquatics and Fitness Center on September 20, 2024 in Arlington, Virginia. Ballots have started being cast for the presidential race and local elections in Virginia, Minnesota and South Dakota. (Photo by Andrew Harnik / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

The vice president is traveling on Friday to Atlanta in Georgia—one of the seven swing states expected to decide the election—to talk on the crucial issue of reproductive rights.

Harris has heavily focused on the subject, believing Trump to be vulnerable due to his frequent boasting that his Supreme Court picks paved the way for the 2022 overturning of the national right to abortion.

ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA – SEPTEMBER 20: A polling place sign is displayed outside a polling location on the first day of Virginia’s in-person early voting at Long Bridge Park Aquatics and Fitness Center on September 20, 2024 in Arlington, Virginia. Ballots have started being cast for the presidential race and local elections in Virginia, Minnesota and South Dakota. (Photo by Andrew Harnik / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

Trump wants individual states to decide the issue.

At least 20 states including Georgia have since brought in full or partial abortion bans as a result.

ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA – SEPTEMBER 20: A woman looks at a Democratic sample ballot before going in to vote on the first day of Virginia’s in-person early voting at Long Bridge Park Aquatics and Fitness Center on September 20, 2024 in Arlington, Virginia. Ballots have started being cast for the presidential race and local elections in Virginia, Minnesota and South Dakota. (Photo by Andrew Harnik / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

Her campaign said she would “speak about the dangerous consequences of Trump abortion bans.”

She would also focus on the deaths of two women in Georgia from delayed medical care caused by its restrictive measures, which were reported by ProPublica.

WILMINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA – SEPTEMBER 17: Voting machines are seen at the Wake County Board of Elections on September 17, 2024 in Wilmington, North Carolina. North Carolina will send out absentee ballots to military and overseas citizens by September 20. Other absentee ballots will be sent by September 24 to voters who requested ballots by mail. Early voting begins October 17. (Photo by Allison Joyce / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

Trump meanwhile continued to blast Harris for “opening” the border and allowing millions of illegal aliens to stream across.

He also reminded Americans of high energy and grocery prices which he blamed on the policies of Harris and President Joe Biden.

‘Sprint to the finish’

Harris met the family of one of the women, Amber Nicole Thurman, during a glitzy campaign event hosted by US chat show star Oprah Winfrey on Thursday.

The star-studded event in Michigan, another battleground state, featured a number of Hollywood supporters including actors Jennifer Lopez, Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts.

Voters arrive to cast their ballot as early voting starts in the US national elections in Arlington, Virginia, on September 20, 2024. Early in-person voting for the 2024 US presidential election began in Virginia, South Dakota and Minnesota. (Photo by AFP)

Fox News panned Harris for continuing to avoid answering simple and direct questions on her plans and policies during Oprah’s show.

It noted that at one point, Oprah had to step in to help the vice president answer an audience member’s question about fixing the border problem.

Trump—who was due to attend a fundraiser in Miami on Friday—took a darker tone at an anti-Semitism event in the capital on Thursday.

“If I don’t win this election … in my opinion the Jewish people would have a lot to do with a loss,” Trump said, repeating his grievance that Jewish voters have historically leaned towards the Democrats.

AFP

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