Polls open in US crucial elections

Polls have opened across the US after a long and bitter campaign amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Americans are voting in one of the most divisive presidential polls in decades.

The elections have Democrat Joe Biden vying to take over the White House from incumbent Republican Donald Trump. 

Biden is however not new to the White House. He served as vice President to Barack Obama for eight years before the Trump presidency. 

More than 100 million people have already cast their ballots in what is a record breaking early voting, something that has also put the country on course for its highest turnout in a century.

The stakes are high and many Americans know it including social influencers and celebrities, many of whom are vocal about the choice before them this time.

I see different Biden (signs, ed) and Trump in other yards. It just so happens my block is all Biden, and right next to me is mostly Trump supporters. So who knows? I don't know how it's going to go but I just wanted to come out and do my part."  LaVerne Williams, a Kenosha resident Wisconsin said after casting her vote.

"We still care about the future of our country. And not just how it is perceived in this country but also how it is perceived across the world." another voter  Michael Murphy in Phoenix, Arizona says. For  Arie Jones  "it's a very important time to voice your opinion instead of just sitting back and watching things happen.". 

In the US, voters decide state-level contests rather than an overall, single, national one.