(US election) Americans vote to elect next U.S. president in one of most contentious elections

 American voters began going to the polls Tuesday to decide who will lead their country for the next four years in one of the most contentious presidential elections in recent history and one that could turn out to be the most scandalous one as well.

Voting began in the small town of Dixville Notch, New Hampshire, where its small population traditionally gather at the turn of midnight to cast their ballots, with the results often declared in minutes afterward.

More than 94 million voters have already cast their ballots — about 60 million in mail-in votes and 34 million in early, in-person voting.

The race between President Donald Trump and his Democratic rival Joe Biden is also closely watched by many countries, including South Korea, as the stark difference between their views on nearly every issue points to drastic changes in how the U.S. will interact with the rest of the world over the next four years.

Trump has vowed to continue putting “America first” as the world’s most powerful nation continues to struggle with the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic fallout.

The worst pandemic in decades, and possibly in the entire U.S. history, has consumed nearly all campaign efforts, and whoever wins the election will face a daunting task of keeping Americans safe from the novel virus and preventing the economy from falling into a deep recession.

As of Sunday, over 9.1 million Americans have been infected by the new coronavirus, while more than 234,000 have died from the infectious disease, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Both numbers account for around 20 percent of global tallies, while Americans account for only about 3 percent of the world population.

Biden says he will begin to tackle the pandemic from the very first day of his presidency, if elected, but also notes one of the first things he will do as president is to restore his country’s leadership in the international community.

The former vice president accuses Trump of undermining the country’s relationship with other countries, especially its traditional allies, with his America First policy.

Whoever wins a majority of the 538 electoral college votes will become the next U.S. president, but unlike in past elections, the winner of Tuesday’s presidential election may not be declared for days, if not weeks, partly because of the record number of mail-in votes.

Many states do not allow the counting of mail-in ballots until after the end of the election, while some even accept mail-in votes that are postmarked on the day of the election.

Also, Trump is widely expected to dispute the election results should he find himself on the losing end.

He has repeatedly claimed the only way he is going to “lose this election is if this election is rigged,” leaving many suspecting that he may challenge the outcome regardless of how many votes he loses by if he does not win.

Also at stake in Tuesday’s election are 35 Senate seats, as well as all 435 seats in the House of Representatives.

Trump’s Republican Party currently has a majority of Senate seats but is defending 23 of the 35 seats up for grabs.

The Democratic Party needs to take four or more seats, in addition to the 12 seats it is defending, for a Senate majority.

The liberal party currently holds a House majority of 232 seats over 197 held by the conservative party.

The winner of the presidential election will be sworn in on Jan. 20 but may face difficulties for years to come without a majority of seats in either house of U.S. Congress.