U.S. presidential vote begins, security tight...'Unpredictable' of the competitive stock market

[Anchor]
The presidential vote to elect the 47th president of the United States began this afternoon in our time.Security around polling stations is also getting tighter in preparation for an accident in

The two candidates, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump
, are engaged in a last-minute battle in a contested state that will determine victory or defeat.

I'm connecting with the reporter. Reporter Cho Soo-hyun, please tell us the voting status first.

[Reporter]
Yes, the U.S. presidential vote ended at 0:00 p.m. on the 5th in Eastern time, and at 2:00 p.m. today in our time.

The first vote was held in Dixville Notch, a small mountain town in northeastern New Hampshire.

It follows the tradition of going to work early in the morning after voting when there was a mine.

Six voters voted for Vice President Harris and former President Trump, with three each voting tied.

The rest of the country will start at 5 a.m. Eastern time, 7 p.m. today in our time, starting in Vermont, going through central Texas, and western areas such as California, and Hawaii and Alaska.

Voting hours vary slightly from state to state, from 12 to 15 hours, and there is a time difference between regions, so the deadline is sequentially from the eastern part of the country.

Voting will close at 8 a.m. tomorrow in Indiana and Kentucky, reaching 3 p.m. when voting in the western Alaska island area is completed.

[Anchor]
As the curtain rises on voting, security is being tightly guarded in each region in case of an emergency?

[Reporter]
Yes. First of all, Washington's security is stronger than anywhere else.

A large black iron fence was installed in front of the White House, and there is also a tight perimeter in front of the Capitol and the Supreme Court.

This is to prevent the re-enactment of the violence of the January 6th Capitol, which took place in 2021 due to former President Trump's disobedience to the presidential election.

Voting stations across the U.S. are also increasing police presence and installing bulletproof glass in election offices.

In particular, in competing states, a large number of people will be deployed to monitor polling stations 24 hours a day, more than four times higher than during the last presidential election.

Security fences were installed around the contested state capitol, and main facility doors and surveillance equipment were supplemented.

In some areas, emergency bells were also given to the on-site management officers at polling stations to wear on ID strings.

It is reported that some places have prepared protective suits and antidote as well as bulletproof vests in preparation for chemical attacks through mail.

[Anchor]
The approval ratings of the two candidates are still going up and down, what are the most recent polls like?

[Reporter]
Yes, in NBC's last poll just before the presidential election, released on the 3rd, Harris and Trump's national approval ratings were tied at 49%.

In the U.S. presidential election, what is more important than the national approval rating is the competitive state.

Seven contending states to watch are Pennsylvania and Michigan, North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona, Wisconsin, and Nevada.

A New York Times poll of contending states released on the same day showed Harris leading Nevada, North Carolina, Wisconsin and Georgia.

In Arizona, Trump was found to be ahead, while Pennsylvania and Michigan were tied.

Harris has a slight advantage in four of the seven places, but they are all within the margin of error, so we have to wait and see.

As the issue of abortion rights has emerged as a key issue in this election, experts believe that female voters' votes will be an important variable.

Exit polls and counting of votes will be held from the week when voting is completed tomorrow.

The outline of the winner could be revealed as early as tomorrow afternoon, but there is a possibility that it will be delayed further depending on the unpredictable state of the vote count until the last minute.

I'm Jo Suhyun of YTN in the international department.