US election: First results from Kentucky and Indiana suggest Donald Trump support is still strong
Both of the earliest states are strongly Republican, but the vote shares offer an early insight into how votes are working out
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The first results from the US election are showing that Donald Trump's support is staying strong.
Initial indications from Kentucky show that the Republican candidate is dominating the voting in that state, with 79 per cent of the ballots yet counted.
Only 1 per cent of the vote is in so far, and the state was always likely to support Donald Trump. But the results show that Mr Trump's support is still holding strong.
US Presidential election: key moments in pictures
Show all 12Kentucky was one of the first states to close at 6pm eastern time and is likely to be one of the first to declare its results. It is almost certain that voters there will back Donald Trump, but the margin of victory might prove a useful way of understanding the support he is generating across the country.
The results may change over time, since so small a proportion of the electorate has voted so far.
Similar results were seen in Indiana, with early votes showing strong results for Mr Trump. But that state too was always expected to be won by the Republicans – not only has it historically supported the party, it is the home state of Mike Pence, Mr Trump's running mate and Indiana's governor.
One of the nastiest elections in modern US history is almost over. Hundreds of thousands of voters have already made their way to polls and cast their votes for either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton.
Ms Clinton has a slight edge in the polls, but the real estate real estate magnate has kicked off his five-state blitz in Florida in hopes of closing that gap in critical swing states.
"My only special interest is you," Donald Trump told a crowd of supporters in Florida.
Hillary Clinton will make her final pitch to US voters Monday evening during a two-minute ad on NBC and CBS. The ad will air during "The Voice" and "Kevin Can Wait."
"Tonight I'm asking for your vote, and tomorrow let's make history together," Ms Clinton says in the commercial.
She adds: "Our core values are being tested in this election, but everywhere I go people are refusing to be defined by fear and division. Look, we all know we've come through some hard economic times and we've seen some pretty big changes, but I believe in our people."
Donald Trump came under fire over the weekend for his closing ad, criticised for being anti-Semitic.
"Whether intentional or not, the images and rhetoric in this ad touch on subjects that anti-Semites have used for ages. This needs to stop," said Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt on Sunday. "In the final days before the election, tensions are extremely high. It's a time when all candidates need to be especially responsible and bid for votes by offering sincere ideas and policy proposals, not by conjuring painful stereotypes and baseless conspiracy theories."
In the ad, Mr Trump decried "global special interests" and "those who control the levers of power in Washington" alongside images of financier George Soros, Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen, and Goldman Sachs chief executive Lloyd Blankfein – all of whom are Jewish.
The US Department of Justice will deploy more than 500 poll watchers across 28 states on Election Day.
While that sounds like a lot, it is only about 60 per cent of those sent out in 2012. The reduction comes following the 2013 ruling by the Supreme Court that essentially gutted the Voting Rights Act. The law gave the DOJ the authority to monitor polling places in jurisdictions covered by the law.
The reduction will lessen the opportunity for DOJ personnel to spot voter irregularities in areas found to have illegally discriminated against voters.
"The bedrock of our democracy is the right to vote, and the Department of Justice works tirelessly to uphold that right not only on Election Day, but every day," Attorney General Loretta Lynch said in a statement. "The department is deeply committed to the fair and unbiased application of our voting rights laws and we will work tirelessly to ensure that every eligible person that wants to do so is able to cast a ballot."
Donald Trump is continuing has attack on music megastars Beyoncé and Jay Z after they appeared at a campaign event for Hillary Clinton on Friday.
"You know the other day, you read where Hillary Clinton called entertainers because she can't get anybody – nobody wants to go [to her rallies]," he said. "Nobody goes to her rallies, so she got Jay Z and Beyoncé, and the language they used was so bad. And as they were singing? Singing, right? Singing. Talking? Was it talking or singing? I don't know. ...
"And isn't it amazing that when Jay Z and Beyoncé use the filthy language that they use, using words that if I ever said those words it would be the reinstitution of the electric chair right?"
(Getty)
The latest cover of the New Yorker perfectly sums up the atmosphere in the US ahead of the election.
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