Polls open as Americans vote to elect next president

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON

Millions of Americans across the U.S. began voting for the country's next president early Tuesday.

Roughly 90 million Americans are expected to vote in addition to millions of others who cast early ballots.

Polls opened in waves moving west across the United States as local times reached either 6 a.m. or 7 a.m. depending on state regulations. Voting will end on a state-by-state basis anywhere from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. local time in each state.

Going in to Election Day, most polls have Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton leading Republican Donald Trump by a narrow three- to five-point margin.

But two early polls Tuesday showed Trump leading Clinton by two and three points respectively, highlighting uncertainty heading into the election’s final hours.

The election has been one of the most divisive on record with backers of either major party nominee steadfastly defending their choice.

In the Eastern Market neighborhood of Washington, DC, Laura Babinski, a 29-year-old resident of the nation’s capital said she voted for Clinton because she is “excited to see the first woman president.

“Beyond that I respect her and the work she's done throughout her life and I like her policies," she told Anadolu Agency.

For Max Charnley, also a 29-year-old district resident, his support for the Democratic nominee was personal.

"I feel like she represents my interests as a person of the LGBT community, as well as a person who values immigrants in this country,” he said. “I find that kind of acceptance and tolerance is an important choice in who is elected president."

But just outside of DC in the Virginia suburb of Leesburg, voters held vastly different views.

Clinton is "the enemy of the American people," said Ron Kokinda, a 67-year-old resident who did not disclose his ballot choice.

"I voted against Hillary Clinton mainly because there's a danger of World War III with her policies," he said. "What she's proposing in Syria, or a no-fly zone, would lead to World War III very quickly with Russia."

Barbara Boyd, also 67, echoed the sentiment just after she cast her vote for Green Party nominee Jill Stein.

"If you vote for Clinton you're going to war with Russia in the Middle East," she said.

"Clinton is following Obama's policies and that's going to end up in war. It's very, very simple," she added.

Initial results will begin rolling in Tuesday evening as Americans across the country prepare to find out who will sit in the nation's highest office for the next four years.