'He's a lunatic!' High anxiety as Americans take to the polls

America had previously always been "somebody else's country," said Christopher La Rose, a health researcher, as he waited just before 7am in Pine Lake, a village too small for postal delivery, outside Atlanta, Georgia.

- George Chidi

America had previously always been "somebody else's country," said Christopher La Rose, a health researcher, as he waited just before 7am in Pine Lake, a village too small for postal delivery, outside Atlanta, Georgia. But that changed recently for La Rose, who is of Guyanese descent, when he became an American citizen. He had the jitters on Monday, before using his first ever vote in a US election to back Kamala Harris. "I am sincerely concerned about the way that the country could devolve if the other chap got into office," he said. "I'm concerned about the political party that has coalesced around him, and how they have, in my mind, lost their way. I'm voting to protect my kids."

Georgia is one of the key swing states where election results are close enough to fight over and voters in all of those states say they definitely feel fought over.

At a busy polling place in Scottsdale, Arizona, the conservative youth organization Turning Point brought out a bright pink party bus adorned with "Trump train" signs, which will be used to take voters to other polling places if the lines become too long. The group also put up signs imploring voters to stay in line: "Stay in line, don't leave your country behind," one sign said.

A man was also gathering signatures for America PAC, Elon Musk's group that is paying circulators to sign up others who could win a $1m prize. "Elon Musk needs our help," one voter was told.

Musk's controversial effort to drive turnout is late to the race. In many swing states, most people who are going to vote, already have. More than 80 million people cast ballots before election day across the country, with four million in Georgia alone - 80% of Georgia's 2020 vote total.