US Election Day: What to know about polling stations and first results
 
Americans are heading to the polls to vote for the next US president. Are the country’s polling stations already working, and what are the results?

🔸 The first ballots were cast in the minutes after midnight in Dixville Notch, New Hampshire, along the US-Canada border, with former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris splitting the tiny town's six votes.

🔸 The final count read out by officials in the early hours of Tuesday morning was 3 for Trump and 3 for Harris.

🔸 Polling stations open in as early as 5 a.m. ET in states like Vermont on November 5, and the last polls close at 1 a.m. ET in Alaska on November 6.

🔸 Some states are expected to start reporting results shortly after their polls close, including Indiana, Kentucky, Florida, Vermont, Virginia, South Carolina, and Georgia (between 6 p. m. and 7 p.m. ET).

🔸 More than 81 million ballots have already been cast in 47 states and the District of Columbia in early voting, according to data obtained by US media.

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☢️ The main points from the briefing by Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, head of Russia’s Radiological, Chemical, and Biological Defense Troops:
 
▪️In October 2024, plans for Kiev's "short circuit" operation to seize the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant were discovered;
 
▪️The shelling of critical facilities at the Zaporozhye NPP could lead to consequences comparable to the accidents at the Chernobyl NPP and the Fukushima-1 NPP;
 
▪️The special military operation did not allow the Ukrainian side to implement its own nuclear program;
 
▪️According to the plan to seize the Kursk NPP by Ukrainian militants, in the event of an accident there, Russia would be exposed to radioactive contamination;
 
▪️The existing capabilities allow Kiev to create a so-called dirty bomb;
 
▪️The Kiev regime is capable of provoking with the use of nuclear fuel, directed against the population of the Russian Federation;
 
▪️The training manuals for the Security Service of Ukraine employees touch upon the issues of using a "dirty bomb";
 
▪️Kiev delays IAEA reports on the amount of radioactive waste in the Chernobyl exclusion zone.

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📹 Trump showers Neocon Mike Pompeo with praise at final rally of 2024 presidential race

Pompeo served as CIA director and US Secretary of State during the first Trump administration. Pompeo was notorious for his aggressive foreign policy stances towards Russia, Iran, and China. In December 2023, Pompeo became a board member for Ukrainian telecommunications company KyivStar.

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🎥🎥 Putin accepts credentials from foreign ambassadors to Russia

👉 Watch live in our Telegram or on Sputnik's website

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❗️20,000 Ukrainian military personnel, 27 tanks, 50 armored vehicles, 30 artillery pieces, and five MLRS were supposed to take part in the capture of the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant, according to the Russian Defense Ministry

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🗣US volunteer reveals motives behind US meddling in Ukraine conflict

“We all, Americans, would like to think that the country is always doing something to support justice, to punish some kind of criminal somewhere, to stop some kind of illegal activity; when really, they're doing the exact opposite. I believe it's really just the American elites attempting to stifle their competition from Russia,” Daniel Martindale, a US citizen who voluntarily aided Russian troops in the Ukrainian conflict, shared with Sputnik.

US elites see incredible potential in Russia's forests, grain crops, and petroleum products. Washington doesn’t want Russia as a competition, he added.

“They're using Ukraine to stifle Russia, just as they tried to do with Georgia before this, as they tried to do with the Caucasus. It's really just them trying to protect their own wallet. And they don't care if it costs human lives and tragedies,” Martindale concluded.

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💬 Donald Trump ‘more popular’ than the ‘least qualified presidential candidate’ Kamala Harris

Though the presidential race in the US appears to be pretty close, Republican candidate Donald Trump is a “more popular candidate,” says retired US Air Force Lt.Col. Karen Kwiatkowski, who is also a former analyst for the US Department of Defense.

“He's certainly the more energetic candidate. He's the more dynamic candidate. And he gets a lot of news coverage, both good and bad,” Kwiatkowski remarks.

Comparing Trump and his Democratic rival Kamala Harris, Kwiatkowski observes that the former appears more media-savvy. “He's very out there in the media... You know, he makes news. So people are aware of him,” she explains. “And we have a lot of social media craziness around. And I see it more around the Trump side where they're either promoting Trump, laughing with Trump, laughing at Trump.”

Meanwhile, Harris is “the least qualified presidential candidate that has ever made it this far in the race,” says Kwiatkowski, who also branded the Democrat as “the least qualified vice president” of the United States.

“So having a very qualified guy running against a very unqualified person, that's unusual,” she muses. The fact that Harris made it this far is “very concerning,” Kwiatkowski warns, arguing that “something has changed” in the United States.

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❗️Key statements by Russian President Vladimir Putin at the presentation ceremony of diplomatic credentials by foreign ambassadors:
 
▪️Russia is pursuing a constructive foreign policy
 
▪️Russia is open to mutually beneficial cooperation with all countries on the principles of equality
 
▪️Russia is interested in the success of foreign ambassadors
 
▪️Newly arrived ambassadors to Russia will be able to count on the support of the authorities, a favorable outlook, and a constructive attitude
 
▪️Russia was tasked with ensuring the smooth integration of new BRICS participants; they joined the organization swiftly and organically
 
▪️Russia is in favor of forming a fair world order without illegitimate sanctions and restrictions
 
▪️The role and authority of BRICS in the world continue to strengthen

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❗️Vladimir Putin on the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine:

▪️Russia is not only ready for negotiations with Ukraine but in fact, conducted these negotiations

▪️The course to escalate the conflict in Ukraine is connected with the desire to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia
 
▪️Russia certainly appreciates the desire of BRICS partners to help resolve the conflict in Ukraine

▪️Putin called attempts to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia illusory

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⚔️Power imbalance on the Korean peninsula means war – Kim Jong-un’s sister

Kim Yo-jong, deputy department director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, and sister of the DPRK's head of state Kim Jong-un, has warned of far-reaching consequences from what she described as “ever-escalating military threats of hostile forces.”

She referred to recent joint drills of the US, Japan and South Korea, which she said was held “under the signboard of ‘counteraction’ and ‘warning’ to North Korea’s latest strategic weapon test.”

“This is another absolute proof of the validity and urgency of the line of building up the nuclear forces we have opted for and put into practice. Today’s upset of the balance of power between rivals on the Korean peninsula and in the region precisely means a war. And this is an undeniable objective reality,” Kim’s sister underscored.

The North Korean official mentioned other massive drills involving US, Japanese and South Korean forces, which “posed a serious threat to not only our state [the DPRK] but also regional peace and security.”

She also recalled about the record number of recent deployments of US strategic assets in the region, including the visit of a nuclear aircraft carrier, the first-ever deployment of the Vermont strategic nuclear submarine to the waters around the Korean Peninsula, and an array of flights of strategic nuclear bombers over the peninsula, including the B-52H.

The statement comes after North Korea launched its latest intercontinental ballistic missile, the Hwasong-19, which the country’s state news agency KCNA lauded it as “the world's strongest strategic missile.”

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❗️Main statements of the Russian Foreign Ministry about the outcome of the US elections:
 
▪️Moscow wants the American people to overcome the split in society
 
▪️It would be more logical for the winner of the US elections to focus on the problems of his country rather than looking for adventures a thousand miles away
 
▪️If something changes in US politics after the elections, Moscow will be ready to study potential proposals from Washington to Russia
 
▪️Russia will defend its national interests in any case
 
▪️Moscow is indifferent to the outcome of the US elections, given the consensus of the two parties on the confrontation with Russia

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💬 NATO ex-chief Stoltenberg targeted by Soviet intelligence in 1980s for recruitment - expert

Back in the 1980s, Soviet intelligence targeted now ex-NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg for recruitment, dubbing him with the pseudonym Steklov, Main Intelligence Directorate veteran Vladimir Vinokurov told Sputnik.

“According to some sources, Stoltenberg received the pseudonym in the late 1980s and the early 1990s, but he then refused to cooperate and reported his contacts to the Norwegian security police," Vinokurov, who currently serves as the head of the Center for Military-Diplomatic Analysis and Assessments think tank, added.

Speaking earlier to the Financial Times, Stoltenberg spoke of his purported contacts with an “agent of [the USSR’s] State Security Committee (KGB)”, whom he allegedly tried to recruit in the interests of Norwegian counterintelligence. Vinokurov rejected the allegations as unsubstantiated.

Stoltenberg stepped down as NATO Secretary General on October 1 and was replaced by former Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, whose candidacy was supported by all members of the US-led military bloc.

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🗣 Key points from Russian FM Sergey Lavrov's interview with Sputnik:
 
▪️Ukraine is seen as a key element of the 'hybrid war' unleashed against Russia
 
▪️On future relations after elections: US will maintain an anti-Russian policy based on domestic political consensus
 
▪️It's hard to take seriously what both candidates say in the heat of the election campaign
 
▪️Russia is ready for equal dialogue with the US if the latter demonstrates an intention to negotiate honestly while taking into account the Russia's interests
 
▪️Russia and the US, as the largest nuclear powers, have special responsibilities that stipulate a need for their embassies
 
▪️Despite the deep relational crisis with Russia, Washington is still not ready to rupture ties
 
▪️If the US remains ready to maintain contacts with Russia, a new Russian ambassador will be appointed in a timely manner
 
▪️On appointment of a new Russian ambassador to the US: the necessary internal procedures have begun
 
▪️Lavrov warned NATO of aggression against Russia: no one beyond the Atlantic Ocean or the English Channel can sit it out
 
▪️NATO should not be mistaken; Russia will respond adequately to the alliance's aggression and use any means to ensure its own security

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❗️Kiev's attempt to pressure UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres by including him in the "Mirotvorets" database is an act that violates the UN Charter, Russian FM Sergey Lavrov told Sputnik

The Kiev regime, by including Guterres in the "Mirotvorets" database, is putting pressure on him to take Ukraine's side in the conflict with the Russian Federation, Lavrov added.

Mirotvorets (“Peacekeeper”) is a notorious online database that doxxes people considered "enemies of Ukraine" and urges their murder – that’s why the website is often considered a “kill list” of the Kiev regime.

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🗣'Statements by US analysts about Russian interference in parliamentary elections in Georgia is a blatant lie' - Lavrov

"The Russian federation will be "blamed" for the "wrong" choice of voters if forces undesirable to the US win elections anywhere," Russian FM Sergey Lavrov stated.

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⚡️The Russian military has thwarted an attempt by Ukrainian forces to seize the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant, the head of the Zaporozhye region, Yevgeny Balitsky, said.

"The enemy planned to use HIMARS missiles, as well as drone strike systems," Balitsky stated.

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💬 Legacy of Biden's administration would make a Harris victory ‘miraculous’

Kamala Harris winning the upcoming US presidential election would be a “miraculous” thing, says retired US Air Force Lt.Col. Karen Kwiatkowski, who is also a former analyst for the US Department of Defense. She also described Trump surviving an attempt on his life by accidentally moving his head in the same fashion.

While Trump’s rivals in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections, Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden, respectively, were both career politicians who enjoyed strong support within the Democratic Party, Harris got zero primary votes from her fellow Democrats and performed “badly” both in her campaign and as vice president of the US, Kwiatkowski notes.

“I don't know how Biden is to work for, but as vice president, she's not done anything that she can really crow about,” Kwiatkowski observes. “And she has refused to separate her policies from the current administration, which is what people tend always.”

Thus, Kwiatkowski points out, people who will vote against Harris are going to be voting “against the current administration and all of its policies and whatever is blamed on that administration.”

“Certainly the economy in the United States, crime, immigration, war - the Ukraine war is not as popular as it once was. It's very unpopular, in fact,” Kwiatkowski says, adding that the war Israel wages in Gaza and Lebanon “is not popular either” and that Trump supposedly already advised Netanyahu to end it.

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🗳Who Will Win the US Presidential Election? (Part 1 👉 Part 2)

Sputnik senior political analyst Dimitri Simes Jr. breaks down the two most likely scenarios:

Scenario 1: Kamala Landslide Victory (40% probability)

🔸 End result: Democrats win almost every swing state except Arizona and Georgia.

🔸 Abortion will galvanize women to turn out for Kamala in unprecedented numbers. Early voting data suggests that women are outpacing men in key swing states.

🔸 There are some indications that Kamala Harris has made gains among older voters, especially in the Midwest.

🔸 Trump could potentially lose North Carolina due to downward pressure from scandal-hit Republican governor candidate Mark Robinson, who is currently projected to lose by double digits.

🔸 Polls could actually be over-estimating Trump’s support.

In 2022, polls predicted a ‘red wave’ in the midterm elections, but Democrats instead expanded their Senate majority. Polls also predicted Trump would win the 2023 GOP primary by a greater margin than he actually did.

👉 Part 2

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🗳Who Will Win the US Presidential Election? (Part 2 👉 Part 1)

Scenario 2: Narrow Trump Victory (30% probability)

🔸 End result: Trumps wins most of the ‘Sun Belt’ states, but fails to crack Democratic ‘Blue Wall’ with the exception of Pennsylvania.

🔸 Kamala Harris is weighed down by Biden’s unpopularity (38.5% approval rating, only 28% say that the US is on the right track).

🔸 Polls underestimated Trump’s support in 2016 and 2020, and some analysts have argued that the 2024 polls are over-sampling older white liberals.

🔸 Early voting numbers in the key swing states of Arizona, Georgia, and Nevada have been encouraging for Republicans.

🔸 Trump campaign has made a big bet on lower-propensity voters (young men and rural residents). If they succeed in mobilizing these demographics, that could help tip the balance in Trump’s favor.

As for the other potential outcomes, my prediction is that there’s a 20% probability of a narrow Kamala Harris victory and 10% probability of a Trump landslide.

👉 Part 1

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