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In Pictures: Americans vote amid a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic

Americans are voting in an election that has the country on edge and is being closely watched around the world.

Caution tape closes off a voting stall to help keep distance between voters to prevent the spread of the coronavirus during Election Day at the East End School in Portland, Maine, the United States. [Robert F. Bukaty/AP Photo]
Caution tape closes off a voting stall to help keep distance between voters to prevent the spread of the coronavirus during Election Day at the East End School in Portland, Maine, the United States. [Robert F. Bukaty/AP Photo]
3 Nov 2020

Millions of Americans are voting on Tuesday amid a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic to decide whether to re-elect Donald Trump, one of the most polarising presidents in United States history, or to send Democrat Joe Biden to the White House.

A record-breaking number of early votes, more than 100 million, have already been cast in an election that has the country on edge and is being closely watched around the world.

The 77-year-old Biden, who served for eight years as vice president to Barack Obama, leads Republican incumbent Trump in national polls and in many of the battleground states that will decide the race.

The first polls close in several eastern states at 7:00pm (00:00 GMT), but the winner may not be known on election night because of the huge number of mail-in ballots that need to be counted.

Voters line up to cast their ballots at Savannah Grove Baptist Church in Effingham, South Carolina. [Randall Hill/Reuters]
Voters line up to cast their ballots at Savannah Grove Baptist Church in Effingham, South Carolina. [Randall Hill/Reuters]
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King County elections worker Sibyl Adams helps a voter at a polling station in the CenturyLink Field Event Center in Seattle, Washington. [Lindsey Wasson/Reuters]
King County elections worker Sibyl Adams helps a voter at a polling station in the CenturyLink Field Event Center in Seattle, Washington. [Lindsey Wasson/Reuters]
First-time voters Diana Coronel, 20, and Natalia Duran, 21, wait in a line at a polling station in 5 Estrellas Restaurant in Chicago, Illinois. [Daniel Acker/Reuters]
First-time voters Diana Coronel, 20, and Natalia Duran, 21, wait in a line at a polling station in 5 Estrellas Restaurant in Chicago, Illinois. [Daniel Acker/Reuters]
A voter uses curbside voting, casting his ballot from his car outside an election polling station in South Tucson, Arizona. [Cheney Orr/Reuters]
A voter uses curbside voting, casting his ballot from his car outside an election polling station in South Tucson, Arizona. [Cheney Orr/Reuters]
Jamia Farley, 29, receives a temperature check before boarding a bus to a polling station in Stone Mountain, Georgia. [Brandon Bell/Reuters]
Jamia Farley, 29, receives a temperature check before boarding a bus to a polling station in Stone Mountain, Georgia. [Brandon Bell/Reuters]
Election inspectors Beatrice Antwi (right) and D Jones (left) look over a manual at a polling station in the Bronx borough of New York City. [Mark Lennihan/AP Photo]
Election inspectors Beatrice Antwi (right) and D Jones (left) look over a manual at a polling station in the Bronx borough of New York City. [Mark Lennihan/AP Photo]
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Election inspector Ron Takala processes ballots as the counting of absentee votes begins at City Hall in Warren, Michigan. [David Goldman/AP Photo]
Election inspector Ron Takala processes ballots as the counting of absentee votes begins at City Hall in Warren, Michigan. [David Goldman/AP Photo]
A woman waits to vote at the Cathedral of Praise church in Nashville, Tennessee. [Mark Humphrey/AP Photo]
A woman waits to vote at the Cathedral of Praise church in Nashville, Tennessee. [Mark Humphrey/AP Photo]
Arriving voters are given safety instructions by a poll worker at the Living Word Bible Church voting station in Phoenix, Arizona. [Dario Lopez-MIlls/AP Photo]
Arriving voters are given safety instructions by a poll worker at the Living Word Bible Church voting station in Phoenix, Arizona. [Dario Lopez-MIlls/AP Photo]
Election workers check mail-in and absentee ballots at West Chester University in West Chester, Pennsylvania. [Matt Slocum/AP Photo]
Election workers check mail-in and absentee ballots at West Chester University in West Chester, Pennsylvania. [Matt Slocum/AP Photo]
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