The US presidential race is expected for a tight finish with the margin between US President Donald Trump and his rival Joe Biden decreasing, particularly in key battle ground states, latest opinion polls indicated.

Voting will be different this year as the whole world grapples against COVID-19 - the most affected country being US with over 9 million cases.

HIGH LEVEL SECURITY

Security measures have been heightened all across the country in the wake of poll-related violence. A USAToday poll showed that three out of four Americans were concerned about election day violence and only one in four were confident that the transfer of power would be peaceful if the Democratic Party candidate Joe Biden defeated President Donald Trump. Military.com reported that ten states were actively planning to deploy the National Guard for election-related missions and 15 have indicated they might.

In Washington, hotels, office buildings, coffee shops and restaurants were all covered in plywood, with some of the makeshift barriers stretching blocks.

Jeh Johnson, who was the Homeland Security Secretary under former President Barack Obama has warned about the possibility of election unrest. He told a CBS network programme that he could "not rule out the possibility of tensions, some unrest on election day and in the immediate aftermath", adding that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was "very, very focused on this issue".

EXIT POLLS

A New York Times/Siena College poll showed Joe Biden ahead in states such as Pennsylvania, Florida, Arizona and Wisconsin while a CNN poll reported Biden up in Arizona, Michigan and North Carolina, also states Trump won in 2016.

In all four states, Biden was seen as the more assumed candidate. An ABC/Washington Post poll had less good news for him, showing Donald Trump narrowly ahead in Florida.

Opening of polls and results

The opening and closing of polls vary from state to state. They open at 6 am and close at 9 pm local time on November 3. India is between 11-13 hours ahead, depending on which state of the country you are looking. However, early voting has been open since mid-September and till Monday, over 96 million had already cast their votes.

About the results, the count is not officially finalised for weeks. There is widespread anxiety that a clear winner will not emerge on November 3 or even the day after unless any one candidate wins in a landslide.

(With inputs from IANS)