A riven America and carries its hope fear into the polling stations

AMERICANS went to the polls yesterday to cast their votes for Donald Trump or Kamala Harris in one of the most fiercely contested US election races in history.

- Hanna Geissler

Voters on both sides of the political divide held their breath and the nation braced for possible unrest as the knife-edge contest reached its climax.

Trump, 78, cast his ballot in Palm Beach, Florida, before spending the day with his family at his Mar-a-Lago resort. South African-born billionaire Elon Musk - boss of X, Tesla and Space X- was reportedly set to join them.

The Republican candidate told reporters he was very confident about his chances of securing a second term in the White House.

He said he believed this campaign was "maybe the best of the three" elections he has contested, after the 2016 race which he won, and the 2020 one he lost to Joe Biden. Trump said: "It looks like Republicans have shown up in force - so we'll see how it turns out." Harris, 60, had already voted by postal ballot and planned to have a family meal before going to an election watch-party at her alma mater Howard University in Washington DC.

During a star-studded final campaign rally in Philadelphia on Monday night, the Democrat promised tens of thousands of supporters: "We will win." But the Vice-President admitted that it "could be one of the closest races in history", adding: "Every single vote matters." In battleground swing state Pennsylvania, the Daily Express witnessed long queues outside polling stations before the doors opened at 7am. The territory carries 19 critical electoral college votes, which could make all the difference with the candidates neck-and-neck.