With the hours ticking down to the 2024 presidential election on Nov. 5, many voters on both sides of the political aisle worry about the outcome, they told Epoch Times reporters dispatched across the country.
It’s no wonder. It’s been a long—and unusually chaotic—election cycle.
After being beaten as the incumbent in 2020, former President Donald Trump announced his intention to run again in mid-November 2022, just shy of two years before Election Day 2024.
At the time, there was uncertainty about whether he ultimately would see a rematch with President Joe Biden.
Biden was declared the victor over Trump in 2020 thanks to slim margins in a handful of swing states.
Then, in April 2023, Biden announced his bid for reelection, starting a rematch.
The process was thrown into chaos in June when Biden faced massive pressure from within his party after a poor debate performance. In July, the president withdrew from the race and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, who quickly became the Democrats’ presumptive nominee.
Now, with the long-anticipated election nearly here, voters feel anxious, many told The Epoch Times.
Trump’s backers said they’re worried about what will become of the nation if Harris wins.
Harris supporters expressed fears over access to abortion and the future of democracy if Trump wins.
Voters Weary of Election Ads
One complaint emerged again and again—voters are tired of the politicking.Adam Stankus, a resident of Farmington, Michigan, is one of those.
“Anytime there’s going to be a tight race, they’re always trying to put pressure on us,” the Harris voter said of election season in Michigan, considered a swing state that could go either way. “It’s nothing new.”
Nathan Rehm, a student at Michigan State University, described a high-pressure environment on his college campus.
“There’s a lot of people stopping you on the side saying, ‘Here, take this pamphlet,’” Rehm said. “There’s a lot of money going into this.”
In Kenosha, Wisconsin, David Munson said all the advertising was “a little annoying.” He'd already cast an early ballot.
“I sit there with the mute button in my hand when I’m watching TV because you can watch two hours of TV and get 50 political commercials,” he said.
Fellow Wisconsin voter Tom Hinz said the print material mailed to him sometimes persuades him.
“I read ‘em first, then they go in the circular fire,” he joked.
Adalyce Cruz, a teenage, single mother in Wisconsin, also is tired of all the ads.
Relationships Strained By Politics
The increasingly polarized environment has strained relationships, voters told The Epoch Times. Because of that, many felt the need to hide their political beliefs from friends, family, and colleagues.It’s a problem Harris supporters mentioned, too.
Bill Keller, also of Farmington Hills, figures he’s the only one in his workplace with pro-Harris views.
“I try to be civil, but I get so incensed,” he said.
Cruz, the teenage, single mother, said she’s faced a lot of pressure from her family to back Trump.
Her family is “very political,” she said. Her brother and uncle urged her to vote for the former president.
“Everybody’s like, ‘Vote for Trump! It supports us in this, this, and this way.’ But I’m like, ‘How’s that supporting me and my child?’… There’s nothing coming out of it for me.”
Adela Luna, a 42-year-old from Houston, Texas, is backing Harris. But members of her extended family espouse competing political ideas this election cycle, she said.
Although Texas is predominantly Republican, she’s noticed a significant political divide between urban and rural communities. Her mother, she said, is a Democrat, and her father is a Republican.
“Even within my own family, it’s a battleground, because part of my family lives in the city, while my dad’s side is rural,” Luna said.
Political polarization also divides young people, said Ryder Shaw, a Trump supporter and student at East Carolina University.
“At least in our generation, it’s definitely become more split,” he said outside an early-voting site in Apex, North Carolina.
“Same for the old people,” injected his mother, Trump voter Ashley Anderson.
She’s noticed people “unfollowing” each other on social media over political disagreements.
At Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, Georgia, some students said they felt uncomfortable talking about politics. Several cited what seemed to be an unspoken campus norm making the mention of political preferences taboo.
Students Amon Matar-Philpot and Jaala Hudson said their families discouraged them from revealing voting choices.
“Growing up, they always said ‘Oh, you’re not supposed to expose who you’re voting for,’” Hudson said. “Who you vote for is a private thing.”
Anxiety About the Outcome
Another common thread on both sides is anxiety about the future of the country, voters told The Epoch Times.Farmington Hills resident Andy Kollin reflected on his position as a battleground state voter in Michigan.
“From my perspective,“ he said, ”It’s just, ‘Don’t let Trump have another term.'”
“I can’t take four more years of open borders and Kamala,” said Jack, a voter in Mt. Pleasant, Wisconsin, who declined to provide his last name.
He had shown up to cast his in-person absentee ballot wearing an “IBEW Union Proud” T-shirt, accompanied by his wife.
“I’m diehard MAGA,” Jack said.
It’s his third time voting for Trump.
Fellow Mt. Pleasant Trump voter Anne Brosier shared concerns about the economy, a common worry for voters interviewed by The Epoch Times, especially for those backing Trump.
“I really can’t afford much more of the Biden–Harris administration,” the retired paralegal said.
Ethan Jones, 41, of Traverse City, Michigan, said a Trump loss would cause him to feel panic.
“This country hasn’t done the best in the last four years, and to continue down that path, I feel, would be devastating for every generation, living and coming,” Jones said.
The uncertainty of the election outcome has become a source of anxiety for fellow Traverse City Trump supporters Ian and Karina Thompson, as well.
“I feel nervous,” Ian Thompson, 28, said. “We know where we’re siding, but you don’t know where everybody else is.”
“It’s scary for the future,” his 27-year-old wife added.
Rising international tensions and the threat of war worry them both, they said. Those have been common concerns among Trump supporters who’ve chatted with Epoch Times reporters.
John Haynes, an industrial engineering major at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta—better known as Georgia Tech—said he was alarmed about a possible Harris victory.
“Honestly, I don’t think that much will change in my life,” he said. “But I am nervous for the rest of the world, given the unrest in Ukraine in the Middle East. I think that Donald Trump will, you know, do a much better job of ending those world wars.”
Wendy Sherman, a resident of Elkhart, Indiana, has the opposite view.
She’ll be “absolutely devastated” if Harris loses, she said.
“The last time Donald Trump won, I cried.”
Tiffany Darby, 42, of Belleville, Michigan, also backs Harris.
“I feel confident she’s going to win,” Darby said.
But “if it doesn’t go in our favor,“ she added, ”I’m very worried about the future for us.”
Debi Steward, a 58-year-old from Gobles, Michigan, said she’s anxious but hopeful. She believes Harris will win.
The alternative would be depressing, she said.
“I cried last time” Trump won, she said.
“I’m nervous as hell,” said her husband, John Steward, 62.
‘The World’s Not Going to End’
Other voters told Epoch Times reporters that they’re not so worried. Though they expressed a strong preference for one candidate, they said that their lives—and the world—would continue just fine if their choice lost.
Craig, a young Trump voter who works at a Kwik Trip in Wisconsin, said a Harris win would be “stressful.” But he drew the line at using more forceful language.
“At the end of the day, it is not the end of the world,” he said. “This is not the last election.”
Kristin Short, 42, of Bay City, Michigan, said she was undecided about her vote. But she wasn’t terribly concerned about the implications of a win by either candidate.
“Because I don’t feel strongly about either one, it’s going to be a little anticlimactic no matter who wins,” Short said. “Either way, we'll be fine. The world’s not going to end.”
Harris supporter Jodi Wiersma, 51, of Kalamazoo, Michigan, had an equally sanguine outlook. She expressed hope that, no matter the outcome, it would inspire more cooperation between the two major political parties.
“I would feel that it’s only four years and that you would have to be kind and respectful and learn how to work with what we have so that it doesn’t make it worse,” Wiersma said. “We have to learn how to have tough discussions and work together … It’s only four years.”
Malik Jones, 25, who canvasses for Harris in Georgia, feels that the contest could go either way.
”I want her to win, but I feel like the other party is also strong,” he said. “They have some faithful believers that can’t change their mind for nothin’.”
But Jones made clear he wouldn’t despair if Harris lost.
Some Fears of Unrest
A handful of voters spoke of the prospect of political unrest in the aftermath of the Nov. 5 election.Some are concerned because American politics have become increasingly confrontational in recent years, sometimes physically. And Americans on both sides of the political aisle have hurled accusations of election tampering at opponents in recent years.
Following Trump’s 2016 victory, many mass protests were held across the United States. In some places, such as Portland, Oregon, there were outbreaks of violence.
Many Democrats asserted that Trump’s 2016 victory was enabled by Russian collusion. That claim later was debunked by several multi-million-dollar federal investigations.
In 2020, politically charged protests espousing the values of Black Lives Matter and Antifa devolved into violent riots that caused billions of dollars in property damage.
Then after the 2020 presidential election, the results that put Biden in the White House sparked lawsuits and challenges. Those kept the election results in question and propelled Trump supporters to breach the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Many Republicans contend the 2020 election was stolen, blaming many factors, including last-minute election-rule changes related to COVID-19, the pre-election suppression of information about revelations from Hunter Biden’s laptop, and alleged fraud by elections workers and others.
This cycle, Trump supporters have expressed hope to The Epoch Times that clear election results will come in closer to Election Day. A quick resolution this time could increase trust in the outcome, they said.
That’s the opinion of Jack, the retired IBEW worker.
“If [Trump] lost on Election Day, that’s fine. But if it’s a week later, two days, or a week later, how would you feel?” he asked.
He'd feel the same sense of dread if a protracted count ended in a Trump victory.
He'd prefer more limits on voting ahead of Election Day.
As Blake Marnell of San Diego, California, drove toward Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 27 —one of many rallies he’s attended—he felt fairly confident about the election, he said.
When asked how he would handle it if the opposing candidate won, Marnell paused before answering.
He‘d spoken with other media outlets, he said. And he’d bristled when other reporters questioned if he would “accept” the election results.
“That is a lot like asking a lawyer if they will accept the verdict of a trial before the trial,” Marnell, 60, said. “Asking somebody if they’re going to accept the verdict of an election, or that you know the outcome of an election prior to the election actually taking place—it’s just kind of a trap.”
However, Marnell said, “If there is nothing untoward about the way it is run, I honestly feel that ... President Trump will win.
“But if not, and it’s a fair election, and it’s demonstrably fair ... I feel like I have done almost as much as I can do as a private citizen in supporting his candidacy.”
And if Trump loses?
“I'll cross that bridge when I come to it,“ Marnell said. ”But I wasn’t happy with the last election, and I didn’t do anything crazy.”
If Trump prevails, North Carolina resident Todd Andrews—a strong supporter of the former president—expects that unrest could break out across the country.
“We’re going to have all of these people who want to sow chaos, and they’re going to start the riots up again,” he said.
Some Democratic voters said that if Harris loses, they'll remain politically engaged to oppose Trump’s priorities.
“I’m not one of the most political guys, but I’ve been getting into it more and more,” said Perry Ashtrove, a 42-year-old railroad worker in Palmyra, Pennsylvania.
If Trump wins, “I’m not going to stop following politics,“ he said. ”I’m going to try to find ways to get him out…Freedom [is at stake].”
Debbie White, a native of Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, echoed that sentiment.
‘Voting for the Kids’
Valeria Angon attended Harris’s Oct. 31 rally at the Craig Ranch Regional Park Amphitheater in North Las Vegas.The vice president has a secret weapon, Angon said. It’s “girl power.”
She’s proudly planning to vote for the first time on Nov. 5 for a woman to be president.
“I believe [Harris] has a lot of belief in me,” she said. “So I believe in her.”
This vote should be about the children, parents in Las Vegas told the Epoch Times. Which candidate can best serve the nation’s young families was a matter of opinion—and votes.
Phoenix Collins cast her early ballot at the Cambridge Recreation Center, not far from the Las Vegas Strip.
“This year’s vote is very important,“ Collins said. ”Honestly, I don’t like either one of them.”
Like the rest of the nation’s voters, she had to make a choice.
“I’m going with the lesser of the two evils—Harris,“ she said. ”She’ll be better for the kids. I’m voting for the kids.”
Austin Kloos of Las Vegas doesn’t agree. As a father, he worries about “the open border and grocery prices.”
He’d already voted for Trump when he attended a Nov. 2 rally headlined by Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance.
For Kloos, the choice was also clear: “I voted for our kids, our future.”
