- With the U.S. election just one day away, both U.S. presidential candidates are spending their last hours in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, which may hold the key to the White House
- The states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin all went to current U.S. President Donald Trump in 2016 and are credited with securing him the election
- President Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden have both been lobbying heavily in these key states and are now zeroing in on Pennsylvania on their last day of campaigning, as it currently holds a substantial portion of the electoral votes still on offer
- Current Vice President Mike Pence and Biden’s running mate Senator Kamala Harris will also head to Pennsylvania today, to shore up support for their respective nominees before the polls open on Tuesday, local time
- Major U.S. indexes made a surprising jump ahead of election day, with the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq rising around one per cent during trading on Monday
Both U.S. presidential nominees are spending their last day before the election in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, which may hold the key to the White House.
With the polls opening in less than 24 hours, Democratic nominee Joe Biden has been tipped by many – but not all – polls to win the popular vote.
Nevertheless, similar predictions were made about previous Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, who succeed in gaining a majority of votes in 2016 but ultimately failed to secure the presidency, losing to current U.S. President Donald Trump.
With that in mind, much of the focus of both campaigns has centred the key states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, all of which went to President Trump in 2016 and are credited with securing him the election.
With polls showing tight margins in all three states, both candidates and their running mates are spending much of their last day before the election in Pennsylvania, which holds substantial portion of the electoral college votes still on offer.
President Trump has already spent much of the last week of his campaign focusing in on Pennsylvania, hoping to once again swing the state’s voters in traditionally Democrat-leaning state.
In a whirlwind final day, the President will follow up his rally in Pennsylvania with other events in Michigan, North Carolina and Wisconsin.
Meanwhile, Biden, in an attempt to weaken his opponent’s position in the key state, will also spend the majority of the day Pennsylvania, after campaigning across the country this week with former U.S. President and previous running mate Barrack Obama.
Current Vice President Mike Pence and Biden’s running mate Senator Kamala Harris are also heading to Pennsylvania to advocate alongside their respective candidates.
However, all this late-stage campaigning may prove fruitless, as more Americans than ever have already cast their vote via mail or early balloting. The ongoing COVID-19 crisis in the U.S. has driven a record 94 million Americans to vote before election day, around 70 per cent of the 2016 voter turnout, meaning less votes than ever will be on the table come November 3.
Turning to the markets, major U.S. indexes made a surprising jump on the day before the election. The Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq all made around a one per cent jump during trading yesterday, in preparation for a potentially volatile week ahead.