North America correspondent, Lisa Millar, in Boston

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Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Broadcast: 06/11/2012

Reporter: Emma Alberici

Half an hour before the polls open for the US elections Lateline crosses live to correspondent Lisa Millar for the latest news.


EMMA ALBERICI, PRESENTER: I'm joined now by North America correspondent Lisa Millar in Boston. A very chilly Boston.

Lisa, we know this race has been incredibly tight right up to the wire, can you tell us what are the polls saying right now?

LISA MILLAR, REPORTER: Well, the polls didn't move much at all. They stayed stubbornly sticky for weeks on end after we saw that first bit of momentum for Mitt Romney. But here on election day, as Americans begin the process the voting, or continue the process of voting, the polls seem to be inching Barack Obama's way.

Nationally he appears up one or two points, and in those key battle ground states he's also slightly ahead. Not good news for Mitt Romney this morning but certainly the Republicans still putting forward that air of confidence that they can still get across the line.

Vermont is already voting this morning even though it's before 7am, the lines are forming in Virginia, the polls haven't opened there, that will be one of the first States to close this evening so we'll get a real sense of what's going on. That's one of those swing States. If Barack Obama wins it again, wins it easily as he did in 2008, perhaps we'll know what's going on in the rest of the country. If it is tight then I suspect we are going to be in for a very long night, Emma.

EMMA ALBERICI: And a long few days ahead, indeed. Now unlike Australia, of course, in America voting isn't compulsory, what are the expectations around the turn out today?

LISA MILLAR: It's why we put so much attention on this momentum and energy, why we keep harking back to that when we go to these events because it's all very well for people to register as voters or say they're likely to vote but on a Tuesday here in America are they going to walk away from their jobs for however long it takes to get into those queues to go and vote.

So these ground operations, that as you heard in my story, the parties organise busses, they go around and pick up people to take them to the polling booths. Now four years ago around 58 per cent of the American voting, eligible voters voted, that's 131 million people.

The question is, of course, how many will vote this time. Four years ago they think was a historic turn out and they're not entirely sure that that will be bettered this time but that is what is going on today. That's why the candidates were suggesting that they were just props now because really it's about this massive ground operation that the Democrats have been honing, the Republicans say they've been learning the lessons too.

EMMA ALBERICI: And Lisa, in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, what measures have been taken to ensure that people in those affected states can actually get out and vote?

LISA MILLAR: Well, New Jersey is in a situation where you've got 100 polling booths that are completely inaccessible so that state has suggested that people could email or fax their ballots. That was announced on the weekend, it caused great confusion, people were very worried it was going to be open to fraud or hacking.

New Jersey allows email votes for overseas voters and the military as well but there's been a clarification for that. People can get their ballots, print them off, scan them, email them back but they still have to mail in an original paper ballot as well in the end. New Jersey has said they really want people to be able to take part in this democratic process and they've done what they can to avoid hacking and fraud and they've cleared up the confusion, I'm sure there will still be lots of confusion but they feel like they've cleared up a little bit of it at least.

EMMA ALBERICI: Lisa Millar, in a very chilly Boston, thanks so much for coming out so early for us.


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