Meet the American voters who matter most in the 2024 presidential election

BBC

Bill Donovan knows that every vote counts in the swing state of Pennsylvania.

That's why the 78-year-old Democrat traveled from college to college across Pittsburgh approaching students in cafes and on sidewalks to make sure they registered to vote.

Mr. Donovan plans to support Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election and is volunteering with a nonprofit voter registration group aimed at increasing Democratic turnout in the state.

With 19 electoral votes – the most electoral votes of any swing state – Pennsylvania has become this election's must-win prize, turning the spotlight on ordinary voters.

Mr Donovan said they should take advantage of it.

“A lot of people say this is where the decisions will be made and I think they might be right,” he told the BBC. It gives us a little more incentive to keep going when we want to go home. »

How Pennsylvania votes is often seen as an indicator of who will win the country: The candidate who won the state in 10 of the last 12 presidential elections landed in the White House.

The state has a history of close races. Former President Donald Trump won Pennsylvania in 2016. Four years later, President Joe Biden narrowly won. And with Election Day just days away, polls show there's a deadlock between Harris and Trump.

Dimitri Chernojukov

The power that comes with voting in Pennsylvania is exactly why Dimitri Chernozhukov, a 21-year-old student at Lafayette College in Easton, chose to attend college in the state.

My vote counts here, said the future two-time Trump voter. When registering in Pennsylvania, I made sure all forms were correct because that vote counts.

The state has been flooded with campaign stops by Harris and Trump, who along with their running mates have made more than 50 total appearances in the state since mid-July.

Kari Holmes

Eastern Pennsylvania pastor Kari Holmes sees her state in the spotlight and feels the weight of being one of its coveted constituents. She worked with other faith leaders to encourage voters of color – a highly sought-after demographic – to vote.

“This is a time to feel the gravity of our vote as voters of color in this very important Commonwealth,” said Ms. Holmes, who plans to vote for Harris.

With some nine million registered voters in Pennsylvania, turnout is critical to the success of both campaigns in November.

Registration numbers show that party affiliation is split nearly 50-50, with about 3.9 million registered Democrats and 3.6 million registered Republicans. There are also about 1.4 million registered independent or third-party voters, whom both campaigns have courted.

Marc Pane, owner of an auto repair business in the city of Scranton, is one of millions of registered Republicans who are eager to vote for Trump in November.

It could come down to Pennsylvania, Mr. Pane said. We could make or break the election. It's important. Our vote is important, more than ever and I'm really happy it's us.

In Pennsylvania, Democrats are primarily clustered along the eastern and western borders, in urban areas like Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. The middle of the state, which is rural, is heavily Republican.

Two counties in particular — Erie in western Pennsylvania and Northampton in eastern Pennsylvania — are considered bellwether counties, meaning they often track how the country votes as a whole. Both counties favored Trump in 2016, but went for Biden in 2020.

Lori McFarland

They have a balance of urban, rural and suburban areas and it's really a place to look on election night to see what's happening, Christopher Borick, director of Pennsylvania's Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion, told the BBC .

Lori McFarland, chairwoman of the Lehigh County Democrats, spends her days working to ensure that Pennsylvanians in Lehigh County, neighboring Northampton County, support Harris. She is not sure that all voters understand the seriousness of their decision on November 5.

It's hard not to get overexcited, to stay calm, to stay focused and to know what the job is, Ms. McFarland said. There is pressure because the two campaigns [and] the world is not only interested in Lehigh and Northampton counties, but also in Erie County.

“We are the top three counties that feel like this is falling on us, it's overwhelming,” she told the BBC.

The emphasis on wooing voters in a swing state leads to an influx of political advertising.

Between July 22 and October 8, the Harris campaign spent $159.1 million ($122.6 million) on advertising in Pennsylvania, according to a recent AdImpact report. The Trump campaign spent $120.2 million ($92.4 million) during the same period.

Andy Jones, who is voting for Trump in Allegheny County, said TV and radio ads, billboards and street signs in western Pennsylvania are out of control. He describes it as a battle between his neighbors to see who can outdo the other in their yard.

People are definitely overworked here, he said. This is an important state.

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