Americans pick between Clinton and Trump after brutal campaign

NEW YORK (Reuters)

The long and contentious race for the White House between Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump hurtled towards its conclusion on Tuesday as millions of Americans cast ballots, with only hours left to vote.

Clinton led Trump, 44 percent to 39 percent, in the last Reuters/Ipsos national tracking poll before Election Day. A Reuters/Ipsos States of the Nation poll gave her a 90 percent chance of defeating Trump and becoming the first U.S. woman president.

Trump on Tuesday again raised the possibility of not accepting the election’s outcome, saying he had seen reports of voting irregularities. He gave few details and Reuters could not immediately verify the existence of such problems.

The campaign focussed on the character of the candidates: Clinton, 69, a former U.S. secretary of state, and Trump, 70, a New York businessman. They often accused each other of being fundamentally unfit to lead the United States as it faces challenges such as an arduous economic recovery, Islamist militants and the rise of China.

Financial markets, betting exchanges and online trading platforms largely predicted a Clinton win, although Trump’s team says he can pull off an upset victory like the June “Brexit” vote to pull Britain out of the European Union.

Trump’s candidacy embodied an attack on America’s political establishment. Clinton represented safeguarding the political order.

A Clinton presidency would likely provide continuity from fellow Democrat Barack Obama’s eight years in the White House, although if Republicans retain control of at least one chamber in Congress more years of political gridlock in Washington could ensue.

A win for Trump could shake some of the basic building blocks of American foreign policy, such as the NATO alliance and free trade, and reverse some of Obama’s domestic achievements such as his 2010 healthcare law.

With more than 225 million people eligible to cast ballots, voting ends in some states at 3am Kenya time, with the first meaningful results due about an hour later. U.S. television networks called the winner of the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections at 7am Kenya time or shortly after.

Victory in U.S. presidential elections is earned not by the popular vote, but by an Electoral College system that awards the White House on the basis of state-by-state wins, meaning a handful of states where the race is close assume an outsized importance.

Voters appeared to be worried about the nation’s direction and were seeking a “strong leader who can take the country back from the rich and powerful,” according to an early reading from the Reuters/Ipsos national Election Day poll.

The poll of more than 10,000 people who voted in the election showed a majority worried about their ability to get ahead, with little confidence in political parties or the media to improve their situation.

‘NOT GOOD CANDIDATES’

Majorities of voters in opinion polls viewed both candidates unfavourably after a marathon campaign that began in early 2015.

“They’re both not good candidates, but I’d rather vote for ‘worse’ than ‘worser,'” said Estefani Rico, 20, a first-time voter who cast her ballot for Clinton in Miami. “It’s nerve racking that in my first time being able to vote I get the worst candidates ever,” she said.

Mary Wheeler, 94, held her nose when asked which candidate she was supporting as she stood in line to vote in St. Petersburg, Florida.

“I always vote Republican, so I guess I’ll do that,” Wheeler said. “He can make a fool of himself but I think he may be able to straighten things out a little bit,” she said of Trump.

Trump was expected to draw support heavily from white voters without college degrees.

Clinton was likely to draw support from college-educated voters and Hispanic and black voters.

Voting appeared to go smoothly despite allegations in recent weeks from Trump that the electoral system was rigged against him.

Asked if believed the election would not be over on Tuesday night, Trump on Tuesday told Fox News: “I’m not saying that. I have to look at what’s happening. There are reports that when people vote for Republicans, the entire ticket switches over to Democrats. You’ve seen that. It’s happening at various places.”

Local media in Pennsylvania reported that voters in several counties had reported that touch-screen voting machines had not been recording their ballots correctly.

Republicans in Pennsylvania also complained that some of their authorized poll watchers were denied access to polling sites in Philadelphia, local media said.

Trump also sued the registrar of voters in Nevada’s Clark County over a polling place in Las Vegas that remained open on Friday during an early-voting period to accommodate people, many of them Hispanic, who were lined up to cast ballots.