US Presidential election 2024 - the hour glass empties to November 5

                                                                                                Shutterstock

As of the current date, it's now 7 days to the election day (November 5) for the US President, the Houses of Congress and some governorships. Polls of all shapes and sizes have been taken to try and gauge the likely outcome and voter intentions. Some polls have shown the contest between Trump and Harris to be neck-to-neck, others have Harris leading by a single percentage point while still other polls have measured Trump as being marginally ahead. In professional betting platforms, Trump is more favoured than Harris and commentators of all persuasions have given their views about the candidates. It is not possible to predict the outcome is the reality at this moment in time.

36 states offer early voting and 40.7 millions Americans have cast their ballot in the pre-poll period whether through postal voting or in-person at voting centres. The Secretary of State for Georgia expects that 70% of ballots will be cast in that state before the actual polling day. 

From outside of the United States, the contest is perceived as one that intrinsically is about more than the two candidates. It is also about the very viability of democratic functions and institutions in that country. Serious efforts have been made and continue to be made to control and manipulate elections by various measures such as limiting the locations where voters to actually vote, denying their right to vote through various rules of eligibility, trying to invalidate votes cast in methods such as postal voting to name a few. In this respect the ''Make America Great Again" (MAGA) version of the Republican Party is where attention has to remain focussed.