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Tensions rise ahead of US presidential election

Oct 30, 2024

Washington [US], October 30: Regarding the US presidential election situation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is calling on people to provide information to support the investigation that the agency is coordinating with local authorities, related to the arson at ballot boxes in the two states of Washington and Oregon.
KATU quoted a statement from the Vancouver Police Department (Washington) saying that police discovered a ballot box, used for the US presidential election, on fire at around 4 a.m. on October 28, so they put out the fire and seized a suspicious device. In Portland (Oregon), evidence from an incendiary device at a ballot box showed that the incident was related to the Vancouver incident, according to the Portland Police Department. CNN quoted election officials as saying that most of the votes in the Portland incident were not affected, but hundreds of ballots in Vancouver were canceled.
The incidents occurred just before the official voting day for the US president, in the context of former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris running for election and criticizing each other.
Campaigning in Atlanta (Georgia) on the evening of October 28 (local time), Mr. Trump affirmed that he was "not a Nazi", after being attacked by the Democrats on this issue. "The latest statement from Ms. Harris and her campaign is that anyone who does not vote for her is a Nazi. I am not a Nazi. I am the opposite of a Nazi," he emphasized and criticized Ms. Harris as a "hater". Speaking to reporters before going to Michigan to campaign on October 28, Ms. Harris accused Mr. Trump of "wanting unchecked power". "He is really focused on his grievances, on himself and dividing our country. That is not what will strengthen American families and workers ," she criticized.
In another tense development, several Republican officials claimed they had discovered thousands of non-citizens on the voter rolls and sued, accusing the government of withholding crucial information that would allow them to verify the facts. However, after a thorough review of many cases, the people suspected by Republicans of not being US citizens were actually legal voters, including naturalized citizens.
More than 47 million Americans have already voted early, with President Joe Biden voting near his home in Delaware on October 28 and reiterating his belief that Harris will win, according to AFP. According to NBC News statistics, the number of early voters is 46,472,709, of which 42% are registered Democrats, 40% are registered Republicans and 18% are from other groups. In terms of age, the largest group is over 65 years old (46%), followed by the 50-64 age group (27%), 40-49 age group (11%), 30-39 age group (9%) and the rest are under 30 years old. 51% voted in person and 49% voted by mail.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper