Trump and Biden, make last call to voters hours before election day

In North Carolina, the president stressed an economic recovery between the coronary pandemic, promising “that we will mass the vaccine”.

Health officials, including those in the president's administration, predict that most Americans are unlikely to take the vaccine before or mid-2021.

Mr. Trump, in the first of five Monday's gatherings in four states, said his rival, former Vice President Joe Biden, if elected, “will turn America into a state-of-burg” through closures to fight the virus.

Mr. Biden said Monday in Cleveland, Ohio, that the first step to defeat the virus is to win Donald Trump”.

Pandemia has overshadowed other issues in the presidential campaign, while COVID-19 cases have increased in many of the states expected to determine the outcome of the presidential elections.

Coronavirus has caused the death of at least 231 thousand people and has infected more than 9.2 million people in the United States, the highest number anywhere in the world, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Mr. Biden is campaigning Monday in two neighbouring states that are crucial, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

“We don't want chaos, tweets, anger,” said Mr. Biden told Mr. Trump at the midday rally in Cleveland. America's “character is being cast to vote. ”

Nationally polling shows the former vice president has an eight per cent advantage, but the gap is much smaller in undecided states that will determine the winner.

The joint stop on the route of the two candidates is Pennsylvania, an eastern state of the United States where Mr. Biden had the upper hand in recent polls but where Mr. Trump won in 2016. The Pennsylvania winner secures 20 out of 270 electoral votes that a candidate needs to win a four-year term at the White House.

Mr. Trump on Monday is holding a rally at Wilkes-Barre Scranton International Airport, while Mr. Biden is addressing supporters in another event where participants are present by car in Pittsburgh.

The president will end his campaign with a late evening rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, a repeat of his final in 2016 in a state that Hillary Clinton was supposed to win.

Mr. Trump reiterated Monday the desire to learn the outcome of the elections by late Tuesday. He again criticised the Supreme Court of the United States that allowed Pennsylvania to count the ballots in absentia until Friday, as long as they are posted by Tuesday, November 3rd.

This “decision puts our country at risk”, the president said in North Carolina. “I am tired of these terrible political decisions being taken” by judges, he said.

During numerous campaign stops Sunday, Mr. Trump, without evidence, said he thought a lot of fraud and manipulation” with mail balloting could occur.

He signalled that his campaign is preparing legal challenges for counting such ballots in Pennsylvania.

That night, as soon as the elections are over, we will act through our lawyers,” Mr. Trump told reporters Sunday.

Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Way told lawmakers in September that the US has not seen “any kind of co-ordinated national effort for vote manipulation ever in a major election, whether by mail or not, ”.

Mr. Trump denied media reports that he has told his loved ones that he will declare victory on election night, even if the outcome of the Elexorial College is still unclear.

Mr. Biden commented on this announcement among his campaign stops Sunday in Philadelphia.

The president will not steal this election,” said the former vice president.

The results are not expected to be officially announced within weeks of election day. The deadlines vary from state to state. Some are expected to make them known within a week, but many should wait for the announced final results by the end of November or early December.

For many years, the winner has been clear before announcing official results due to predictions made by media organisations based on data from polling areas. This year, a record number of Americans have voted in advance, nearly 100 million by Monday evening, and in conditions where many of the votes are cast by mail because of concerns related to the coronary, counting in some countries may be slower than usual. / VoA