AMERICA DECIDES: Poll stations open as millions across US cast their votes
HILLARY Clinton cast her vote this morning as election day finally dawned in America after months of campaigning.
'The system is rigged': Trump SLAMS Clinton
The Democratic candidate was joined by her husband and former president Bill Clinton, as the pair voted in Chappaqua, New York.
Meanwhile Donald Trump urged American voters to “deliver justice at the ballot box” as the Presidential candidates made a last dash for votes ahead of today’s election.
The Republican candidate said that only a “totally rigged system” would prevent him from beating his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.
In the final, frantic day of campaigning both candidates blitzed the battleground states with Mr Trump visiting five of them in just one day.
Mrs Clinton is trying to shore up her Presidential bid after FBI director James Comey revealed on Sunday that he would not prosecute her after apparently scouring in a week 650,000 newly discovered emails allegedly related to a private server used by her.
A final poll by Bloomberg put Mrs Clinton up by three points, 44 per cent to Mr Trump’s 41 per cent.
Republican candidate Donald Trump and his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton
Trump and his supporters chant 'drain the swamp' in Florida
Hillary Clinton is being protected by a totally rigged system and now it is up to the American people to deliver justice at the ballot box
But surveys in Florida and North Carolina show the race for both states – key battleground contests – is on a knife edge.
Yesterday Mr Trump, 70, was due to visit Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire before arriving in Michigan for an 11pm rally.
Mrs Clinton, 69, was due to visit Pennsylvania twice and Michigan before heading to North Carolina for a midnight rally.
Hillary and Bill Clinton leaving a polling station in Chippaqua, New York this morning
Donald Trump campaigns in Raleigh ahead of election day
Mr Trump has reacted angrily to Mr Comey’s decision to clear Mrs Clinton over the emails and said that she is unfit to be President because she is “crooked”.
At a rally in Sarasota, Florida, yesterday Mr Trump said he would “drain the swamp”, referring to what he believes to be corrupt elements at the heart of power in Washington DC.
He said: “It’s time to reject a media and political elite that has bled our country dry. It’s finally time for us to fight for America.
“Hillary Clinton is being protected by a totally rigged system and now it is up to the American people to deliver justice at the ballot box.”
There was also a moment of levity when he held up a rubber mask of his face brought along by a supporter and said it had a “nice head of hair”.
Hillary Clinton has urged supporters to get out and vote today
Donald Trump campaigns in Florida one day before the presidential election
Hillary Clinton campaigns in Pittsburgh with one day to go until election day
Speaking in Philadelphia on Sunday night, Mrs Clinton said the election was a crossroads that was not just about her and Mr Trump.
She said: “Our names may be on the ballot but make no mistake: Everything you care about, everything that I care about and I have worked for is at stake.
“This election is about doing everything we can to stop the movement to destroy President Barack Obama’s legacy.”
At a rally in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Mr Obama appeared alongside Mrs Clinton’s daughter Chelsea who has herself been in the spotlight recently over the funding of her wedding in 2010 to banker Marc Mezvinsky and its alleged connection to the Clinton Foundation charity.
Mr Obama said that Mrs Clinton, as a former Secretary of State, was the “most qualified person” to run for the Presidency while businessman Mr Trump was “uniquely unqualified”.
Clinton says don’t be put off by long lines to vote
In Florida the Clinton campaign estimated that Hispanic voting was up “139 per cent” on the 2012 election.
Mrs Clinton’s campaign manager Robby Mook said: “We saw eye-popping turnout in Florida over the last two days, particularly in our strongholds in southern Florida.”
Trump campaign manager and strategist Kellyanne Conway said that her team were encouraged by early voting and that Republicans tended to vote more on election day itself.
Both candidates are having their election-night parties in New York City tonight.
Hillary Clinton campaigning in Manchester, New Hampshire
As a result, the New York Police Department has increased patrols amid claims that Al Qaeda or Islamic State could launch a terrorist attack.
Should Mr Trump win the election he is reportedly considering Rudy Giuliani, the former Mayor of New York, for Attorney General while veteran Senator Newt Gingrich could become his Secretary of State.
Wall Street rallied on the polls suggesting that Mrs Clinton was in the lead with the Dow Jones going up 266 points, or 1.49 per cent, on the opening.
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