Upcoming US Presidential Election Leaves Brits Nervous.
The US Presidential Election may seem remote, but when America sneezes, we all stand to catch a cold.
The US presidential elections are underway and with polls due to close tomorrow, this is set to be a fifth of November that will not be forgot.
With many all over the world holding their breath awaiting the results of a deeply polarised election.
Republican candidate, former president Donald Trump, has long criticised the system of mail in votes accusing the democratic party and electoral volunteers of using this to rig elections against him.
This is heavily disputed by the Democratic party.
Polling by the Elections Performance Index suggests that in the 2020 presidential election 58 percent of mail in ballots were cast in favour of Democratic candidates, with 29 percent voting for Republicans.
This recent shift in trust towards the mode of voting, and the system itself is part of a deepening polarisation between Republican and Democratic voters.
Meanwhile in the UK a poll by YouGov found that 31 percent of those polled reported being “anxious” about the upcoming with a further nine percent said they were “scared”. However 19 percent reported feeling optimistic.
Robert Smith is an expert in international relations at Coventry University in the midlands and is a long time watcher of American politics.
We spoke to him to find out more about the differences between the UK and the US political landscape, and the impact this election could have in Britain.
“The level of polarisation that there is now in American politics, in Britain we are lucky because we have the BBC, we have a national broadcaster. Although there is PBS in the US they are tiny in comparison.
You have political coverage that is siloed into political opinion, so the debate has become incredibly polarised.
And that was true before Trump came along, but what that has done is turbo-charged it”.
FOX, CNN and MSNBC, the leading broadcasters in America are all for profit commercial enterprises, with FOX, which endorses the Republican party, taking 50 percent of the viewing figures and raking in annual profits of $1.2 billion in 2022.
The political landscapes of both Britain and the US may have a shared language however the differences are much understated.
Polls open tomorrow at varying times based on the state.