Updates: Trump resists Democrat blue wall in battleground state Ohio

The first results are trickling in, with US media projecting wins for the Republican President Donald Trump so far in 19 states including Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee and Ohio-- all states he won in 2016. But his Democratic challenger Joe Biden still believes he's on track to win.

Hamilton County election department employees handle ballot boxes from delivery trucks during the general elections at the Hamilton County Board of Elections, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, in Norwood, Ohio. AP - Aaron Doster

Wednesday 4 November

7H00 GMT Twitter flagged a Trump tweet accusing Biden's Democrats of "stealing the election" as it and other social media companies face a flood of misinformation and a test of new policies to combat it.

6H50 GMT  US President Donald Trump predicted a 'big WIN,' Wednesday, as preliminary results put him in the lead over Democrat rival Joe Biden in key battleground states.

6H40 GMT  Biden however urged his supporters to be patient. "Given the unprecedented mail-in vote, it's going to take time, it ain't over until every vote, every ballot is counted. We're feeling good about Wisconsin and Michigan. We believe we're on track," he said from the city of Delaware, Ohio.

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3H00 GMT On the streets of the Ohio capital Columbus, the atmosphere was subdued Tuesday night as voters waited for the results to trickle in.

"We're just waiting to see what's going to happen," Manny Toledo, a 44-year-old commercial designer told RFI from one of the few bars open. 

"Some people are scared, some people are at home, they don't want to come out."

Shops were barricaded during the day as businesses braced for the worst.

Businesses are being boarded up in downtown Columbus #Ohio as US braces for #USElections2020 / Des commerces dans le centre ville de Columbus dans l’Ohio se barricadent avant l’élection @RFI_En @RFI pic.twitter.com/7odXy7jJ7b

— Christina Okello (@vivalid) November 3, 2020

"People like me just want to continue our normal life and go out, have food.

Toledo, like many voters was happy to see an end to what has been a divisive campaign.

"It isolated people from each other because if you didn't vote like your friends they would not talk to you. A lot of people took it personal. It's something that's never happened before at least not in my lifetime," he said.

***

Tuesday 3 November

21H GMT At polling stations, voters also expressed their relief at the end of the election. Voters expressed their desire for their new leader to tackle social issues, with one man calling for police reform.

Although all eyes were on the presidential election, voters were also tasked with choosing the new members of the Senate.

There are 35 seats up for grabs, and at the Noor Islamic Center on the outskirts of Columbus, Democrat candidate Crystal Lett was out trying to convince voters to choose her party. She faced a tough challenge.

Crystal Lett is running for the Ohio Senate, one of several Democrat candidates hoping to take back control of the Senate from the Republicans. © Christina Okello for RFI

"The statehouse here in Ohio has a super majority of Republicans in both the House and the Senate," she tells RFI of the party's 53-47 majority.

"For us as Democrats this year, it's really important to us to try and break that supermajority so that we can bring about that balance of power, and a balance of representation in the Ohio State House," she said.

Thirty-five seats up for re-election ad will probably come down to seven key races.