Increase in migrants amplifies importance of Latino voters in US presidential election

The votes of Latino voters are becoming increasingly significant in the US, especially given the growing number of migrants, according to Mexican expert and professor at the Colegio de la Frontera Norte, José María Ramos García.

"Just as in the 2020 election, the importance of Latino votes has increased, primarily because the number of migrants has risen in recent years. Over the past two years, during the administration of President Joe Biden, the influx of people from Latin American countries has grown substantially […], and in 30% or even 40% of cases, these migrants have relatives who will go to vote," the analyst tells Sputnik.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

US city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, will recount about 30,000 absentee ballots after finding evidence that the doors of the counting machines were not closed properly, city spokesman Jeff Fleming said.

All tabulating machines are being set to zero and the ballots will be put through the machines again, CNN quotes Fleming as saying.

“We don’t want any questions about the accuracy of the results,” Fleming said. “So we’re going to make sure that they are run correctly.”

Wisconsin is a key swing state in the 2024 US presidential election.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Voters in Maryland complain: machines reportedly mistakenly credit votes to Green Party candidate Jill Stein instead of Harris.

In total, more than a dozen voters in Prince George's County filed complaints, the Washington Post reports.

Earlier, faulty ballot machines were reported in Arizona — some voters were unable to vote because of them.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

THROWBACK: Putin ‘endorses’ Harris saying she has an infectious laugh
 

"We had a favorite, the incumbent, Mr. Biden, but he was yanked from the race. Nevertheless, he recommended to all of his supporters to back Ms. Harris. Well, that's what we're going to do; we're going to support her," Vladimir Putin said with a grin during the Eastern Economic Forum discussion in September 2024. 

 
He added that Harris has an “infectious laugh", which shows that “she is doing well.”

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

⚡️First polling stations close in 2024 US election

The first polling stations start closing in the United States at 6:00 p.m. Eastern time (23:00 GMT) as the country is electing its next president.

The first state polls to close are located in the eastern counties of Indiana and Kentucky, while the final state polls are set to close in Hawaii (midnight) and Alaska (midnight-01:00 a.m. ET).

The incumbent vice president, Kamala Harris, a Democrat, and former President Donald Trump, a Republican, are vying for the country's top job. The close race is expected to come down to a handful of battleground states - Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, Michigan, Arizona, Wisconsin, and Nevada.

All 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 34 of the 100 seats in the Senate are also up for election on November 5.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Miles apart, worlds away: Biden passes on Harris’s election night gathering

President Joe Biden will not attend Vice President Kamala Harris's election night watch party, the Washington Examiner reports, which, probably, speaks volumes.

While Biden and the first lady will stay at the White House for election updates, Harris is hosting her event at Howard University, just two miles away.

The Biden-Harris relationship has been strained, with Harris positioning herself as a fresh start, promising a “new way forward” and saying “We are not going back.” Yet, her career owes much to Biden, who chose her as his running mate in 2020 and endorsed her after withdrawing from the race.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

'It took several days to count every ballot in 2020' - Obama

Former US President Barack Obama has warned that the results of the US presidential election are unlikely to be known today.

🤔Why does it take several days to count the votes???

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Detailed breakdown: What are the exit polls saying as 2024 results begin rolling in?

US pollsters are having their biggest night of the year, with exit polling asking Americans not who they voted for, but the issues bringing them to polling places. Here’s what major polls are saying:

🔸Edison Research, conducting exit polling for ABC, CBS, CNN and NBC, found 43% of respondents ‘dissatisfied’ about how things are going in the country, with 29% downright ‘angry’, 19% ‘satisfied’ and just 7% ‘enthusiastic’.

🔸58% disapprove of Joe Biden, compared to 41% who approve (that’s compared to Trump’s 50% approval in exit polling from 2020). 45% said they’re worse off financially now than four years ago, compared to 25% who say they’re better off.

🔸The economy and the state of democracy are top concerns in 2024, according to Edison’s polling, with 35% citing the latter, and 31% the former, as the issues that matter most. 14% listed abortion, while 11% listed immigration. Only 4% listed foreign policy.

🔸Broken down by candidate, 58% of Harris voters listed the state of democracy as their top issue, compared to 13% of Trump voters. 49% of Trump voters listed the economy as their top issue, compared to 12% of Harris voters.

🔸7 in 10 voters admitted to fears of election-related ‘violence’, with 94% of voters for both candidates saying they’d feel ‘scared’ or ‘concerned’ if the other candidate won. Two thirds feel democracy is under threat.

🔸88% of Harris voters expressed confidence in the fairness of results, compared to just 47% of Trump voters.

🔸Broken down by race, 49% of white voters, 42% of Latinos and 14% of blacks showed a ‘favorable’ opinion of Trump in 2024, with his performance slipping among whites (from 57% in 2020), but rising with Latinos and blacks (38% and 10% compared to four years ago, respectively).

🔸Fox News does its own exit polling. It shows that 70% of respondents think the country is on the wrong track, with 63% ranking economic conditions “not so good” or “poor.” 39% ranked the economy and jobs their number one issues, compared to 20% who listed immigration and 11% abortion.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Trump win may ease global tensions, Harris victory could escalate conflicts, Mexican analyst warns

The outcome of the US presidential election will be a decisive factor among others influencing the country's actions regarding various geopolitical issues, such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Mexican international relations expert Rubén Ramos Muñoz tells Sputnik.

“The [candidates’] positions are very different. Speaking of the Republican candidate, I believe that his foreign policy would be less aggressive, and he would aim for conflicts, both in Ukraine and the Middle East, to end as soon as possible,” he states. However, in the case of current Vice President Kamala Harris, representing the Democratic Party, the situation would be different, in his view.

“This should concern the international community because if she becomes president, tensions might increase rather than decrease in both the Middle East and Ukraine. Clearly, this would not be a positive signal for people, as the scale of conflicts could grow, putting not only the population of those regions at risk but the entire world,” the expert emphasizes.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt