Historic turnout expected in US as Donald Trump and Joe Biden race to finish line

More than 93 million Americans have voted so far

From left, Doug Emhoff, husband of Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, Harris, President-elect Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden on stage together, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2020, in Wilmington, Del. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, Pool)

US President Donald Trump claps alongside US First Lady Melania Trump after speaking during election night in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, early on November 4, 2020. AFP

Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden wave to supporters, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, in Wilmington, Del. AP Photo

Supporters of U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham react at his election night party in Columbia, South Carolina, U.S. November 3, 2020. REUTERS

Trump supporters react to Minnesota being called for former Vice President Joe Biden on Fox News during the 2020 presidential election at the DoubleTree Hotel in Bloomington, Minnesota, U.S. November 3, 2020. REUTERS

US President Donald Trump visits his campaign headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, November 3, 2020. AFP

Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden pauses in front of a mural during visit to The Warehouse teen centre in Wilmington, Delaware, November 3, 2020. AP Photo

A broken Make America Great Again hat model lies on the ground as people gather at Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington. Reuters

Biden supporters face off a Trump supporter outside of a polling site, on Election Day in Houston, Texas, U.S. November 3, 2020. Reuters

Election officials wait near a long line of hand sanitiser bottles at the Kentucky Exposition Centre on November 3, 2020 in Louisville, Kentucky. AFP

Adri Perez, with Common Cause 866ourvote, on his way to return to polling place with an emergency ballot from a person hospitalized with Covid-19 at Las Palmas Medical Centre in El Paso, Texas on November 3, 2020. AFP

A two-year-old waits for his mother to cast her ballot at the Granby Town Hall, November 3, 2020. AFP

Cookies representing the presidential candidates for sale at the Oakmont Bakery in Oakmont, Pennsylvania, on November 3, 2020. AFP

US President Donald Trump gestures next to Vice President Mike Pence, as he holds a campaign rally at Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids , Michigan, US, early November 3, 2020. Reuters

Voters in Dixville Notch, a village of 12 residents in the US state of New Hampshire, kicked off Election Day at the stroke of midnight on Tuesday by voting unanimously for Democratic nominee Joe Biden. AFP

A supporter gestures before a campaign rally from Donald Trump Jr for US President Donald Trump ahead of the Election Day, in Scottsdale, Arizona, November 2, 2020. Reuters

Joe Biden gestures at a drive-in campaign rally at Lexington Technology Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US, November 2, 2020. Reuters

Lady Gaga speaks during a drive-in campaign rally held by former Vice President Joe Biden at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, November 2, 2020. Reuters

Workers board up a store ahead of election results in the Manhattan borough of New York, November 2, 2020. Reuters

President Donald Trump jokes about the cold as he arrives for a campaign rally at Michigan Sports Stars Park, Sunday, November 1, 2020, in Washington, Michigan. AP Photo

Democratic US vice presidential nominee Senator Kamala Harris responds to supporters as she arrives for a drive-in campaign rally in Fayetteville, North Carolina, US, on November 1, 2020. Reuters

New York police officers arrest a protestor on a sidewalk during an orderly protest, which was planned in opposition to a pro-Trump car parade planned on the same day, in New York, New York, USA, 01 November 2020. EPA

A person holds real life action figures depicting democratic US presidential nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden and former US President Barack Obama during a campaign canvas kickoff in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, US, October 31, 2020. Reuters

US President Donald Trump is seen between pumpkins during a campaign rally at Pittsburgh-Butler Regional Airport in Butler, Pennsylvania , US, October 31, 2020. Reuters

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, his wife Dr. Jill Biden, Democratic Vice Presidential nominee Kamala Harris and her husband Douglas Emhoff raise their arms on stage outside the Chase Centre after Biden delivered his acceptance speech on the fourth night of the Democratic National Convention from the Chase Center, on August 20, 2020. AFP

Supporters of US President Donald Trump are pictured at Rochester International Airport in Rochester, Minnesota, US, October 30, 2020. Reuters

Seven-year-old supporter Lexi Katzman draws campaign slogans on her father's car as Democratic Presidential candidate and former US Vice President Joe Biden delivers remarks at a Drive-in event in Coconut Creek, Florida, on October 29, 2020. AFP

US President Donald Trump rallies with supporters at Phoenix Goodyear Airport in Goodyear, Arizona, on October 28, 2020. Reuters

Jessie Dales entertains supporters as they wait in line to enter the venue where US President Donald Trump will speak on a campaign stop, outside the venue at Goodyear Airport in Phoenix, Arizona, on October 28, 2020. EPA

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio stands in line with other voters to cast his ballot during early voting in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, New York, US, October 27, 2020. Reuters

Democratic US presidential nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden attends a campaign stop in Atlanta, Georgia, US. October 27, 2020. Reuters

Former President Barack Obama speaks at a rally while campaigning for Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2020, in Orlando, Florida. AP Photo

Turnout is expected to surge as the US enters the last 48 hours of a highly consequential and polarising US election.

More than 93 million Americans have already voted, according to the US Elections Project, more than 67 per cent of the total votes cast in the 2016 presidential election.

California, Texas and Florida lead the states in early voting and Democrats lead Republicans 45.6 per cent to 30.3 per cent in turnout.

These numbers suggest there will be a record turnout in this election, surpassing the nearly 139 million votes cast in 2016.

In an effort to pull in the last voters, President Donald Trump and Joe Biden will campaign in five swing states that will probably decide the outcome.

Final polls before the vote show a competitive race between the two candidates who set out their closing messages in drastically opposing ways.

Mr Trump touted reopening the US economy and “getting back to normal” despite a second wave of Covid-19 infections and more than 230,000 dead in the country.

Mr Biden made much of his campaign about a tougher approach to handling the pandemic and reopening safely.

The latest polls show a close race in Florida, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Michigan.

A Washington-ABC poll released on Sunday showed Mr Trump ahead of Mr Biden by 2 per cent in Florida but trailing him by 7 per cent in Pennsylvania.

An Emerson poll showed Mr Biden leading by 7 per cent in Michigan, while Mr Trump led by 1 per cent in Iowa.

In the last hours before election day, Mr Trump was due to travel to Michigan, Florida, Georgia and Iowa, states he won in 2016 but where he is defending or trailing now.

Mr Biden will spend the last day in Pennsylvania, with four stops planned in the state that holds critical 20 electoral votes.

His nominee for vice president, Kamala Harris, will be in Georgia and North Carolina.

No Democrat has won Georgia since 1992 but polls show a lead for the Biden-Harris ticket there.

As he trails with seniors and the young, Mr Trump is trying to make inroads with black and Hispanic voters.

On Sunday, he tweeted an unsubstantiated claim that Mr Biden called black men “super predators".

But it is an uphill battle for Mr Trump to win the votes of black men.

The country’s first black president, Barack Obama, accompanied his former vice president Mr Biden in the last stretch of the campaign.

“Remember when Republicans were saying, ‘Let Detroit go bankrupt'? Now they might as well be saying, ‘Let America get Covid’," Mr Obama said in Michigan.

A video of him scoring a three-pointer on a basketball court went viral.

The surge in turnout includes younger voters.

Democratic analytics company TargetSmart says more than 6 million under the age of 30 have voted, which is three times the number of those early votes in 2016.