US rivals in last ditch effort to win photo finish

Democratic Harris, and Republican Trump remain with margin of error in all seven swing states

WASINGTON:

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump began a frantic last push across US swing states on Sunday, with less than 48 hours of campaigning left to secure a decisive edge in a bitterly fought and historically close presidential election.

Over 76 million people have cast early ballots ahead of Tuesday's climax and the battle is down to the wire—with more states functionally tied in polls. A final New York Times/Siena poll on Sunday said the results from all seven swing states were within the margin of error.

The closeness of the race is all the more remarkable given its dramatic twists and the fact that the candidates could hardly be further apart in their campaign styles and visions for the future.

"The fate of our nation is in your hands. On Tuesday, you have to stand up," Trump told his first rally of the day in Pennsylvania, where he doubled down on unfounded claims of election rigging.

Harris—desperate to shore up the Great Lakes states seen as essential to any Democratic ticket—was to spend the day in Michigan, beginning in Detroit before a stop in Pontiac and an evening rally at Michigan State University.

Trump's Sunday timetable centred on Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia, the three biggest prizes in the "Electoral College" system that awards states influence according to their population.

Trump is expected to reject the results if he loses, as he did four years ago. On Sunday, he seized on isolated irregularities caught by election officials to amplify his claims of widespread "cheating". "They are fighting so hard to steal this damn thing," he insisted at the rally.

Republicans are also scrambling to contain fallout in Pennsylvania—home to a large Puerto Rican community—after a speaker at Trump's New York rally prompted outrage by describing the US territory as a "floating island of garbage."

Like Pennsylvania, Michigan is among the seven closely watched battlegrounds. Trump flipped the state, a former Democratic stronghold, on his way to defeating Hillary Clinton in 2016. Joe Biden returned it to the Democratic column in 2020, buoyed by unionised workers and a large Black community.

But this time, Harris risks losing the support of a 200,000-strong Arab-American community that has denounced Biden's handling of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

Pollsters have noted an erosion in Black support for the Democratic ticket and Harris's aides acknowledge that they still have work to do to turn out enough African American men to match Biden's winning coalition in 2020.

But with reproductive rights emerging as a top voter concern, her campaign has taken some comfort from the large proportion of women turning out among the early voters.

Harris wrapped a day on the campaign trail Saturday with a surprise appearance on "Saturday Night Live," mocking her presidential election rival Donald Trump on the iconic sketch show.

"Keep Kamala and carry on-ala!" the vice president said in a well-received appearance alongside Maya Rudolph, the comedian who has been playing her as "America's fun aunt" on the show.

Keen on as much TV exposure as possible, the Harris campaign has booked a two-minute spot to air during Sunday's NFL football games, including the matchup between the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions, both from crucial swing states.

In the ad, Harris pledges to be "a president for all Americans" and promises to "build a brighter future for our nation."

Her campaign said its own research shows the "last week has proven decisive in cementing the choice in this election with both undecided and lower-propensity voters," particularly the contrast of two candidates' closing argument rallies.

Harris, 60, got a boost on Saturday in Iowa as the final Des Moines Register poll before Election Day—seen as a highly credible test of wider public sentiment—showed a stunning turnaround, with Harris ahead in a state won easily by Trump in 2016 and 2020.

At his morning rally in Pennsylvania, Trump dismissed the findings as a "fake poll."