"US Battleground States Expected to Have Higher Voter Turnout Than 2020... Pennsylvania Is Key"

"High Female Voter Turnout... Harris Shows Confidence"

On the 5th (local time), as the U.S. presidential election took place, Seungmin Guk, a professor of political science at Michigan State University, reported the local election enthusiasm, saying, "Voter turnout in all battleground states will be significantly higher than in the 2020 presidential election."

Professor Guk appeared on SBS Radio's 'Kim Taehyun's Political Show' on the 6th and said, "Looking at the current announcements, female voter turnout is very high. Although female voter turnout is usually higher than male turnout, there are talks that female turnout will be even higher this time," adding, "The Kamala Harris campaign is making announcements showing great confidence."

Kamala Harris, Vice President of the United States, and former President Donald Trump. Photo by Yonhap News

The voting for the 47th president of the United States has begun. It is expected to take several days from the announcement of the election results to confirm the winner.

Professor Guk explained, "Because people in the U.S. vote in various ways, exit poll results tend to be very inaccurate," and added, "Also, the closing times for voting differ by state, and new information is continuously announced as each state finishes voting."

Regarding the presidential election outlook, he said, "All seven battleground states are within the margin of error, making it difficult to determine who will win." Professor Guk noted, "Michigan and Wisconsin in the Rust Belt have a slight Democratic advantage, while Georgia and Arizona in the Sun Belt have a slight Republican advantage," and added, "The remaining states?North Carolina, Nevada, and Pennsylvania?are very close, especially Pennsylvania, which is even harder to predict. Ultimately, I think the party that wins Pennsylvania will win."

The outcome of the U.S. presidential election is expected to have a significant impact on South Korea's diplomacy and security. However, it is anticipated that the U.S. North Korea policy will not change significantly regardless of who becomes president.

On the same day, Geon Kim, a member of the People Power Party, said on YTN Radio's 'News Fighting,' "(The improvement in North Korea-U.S. relations during the Trump administration) was because Kim Jong-un, Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of North Korea, came out to negotiate with the U.S. with the stance of complete denuclearization," adding, "Under any other preconditions, any deal made would likely not be welcomed domestically in the U.S." He further added, "Given the current situation, the possibility of immediate revitalization of dialogue between the U.S. and North Korea is low."