Analysts: Swing voters may have decisive say in US presidential election outcome

MOSCOW, November 1. /TASS/. Swing voters are capable of causing the decisive influence on the outcome of the presidential election race in the United States, Russian analysts told a news conference ahead of the US presidential election due November 8.

"Those who say that everything will depend on swing voters certainly do have a point," the director of the Institute of US and Canada Studies, Valery Garbuzov, said. "Today’s situation is that of equal opportunities for both candidates. Their popularity rankings are about the same."

Candidates’ equal chances may throw US society off balance, says the head of the international organizations and world political processes department at the Moscow State University, Andrey Sidorov. "After this election we may well see a rerun of the 2000 situation (the number of votes cast in favor of Democratic candidate Albert Gore and Republican candidate George Bush Jr. was a matter of great controversy - TASS). The winner was in fact appointed by the US High Court. Today’s situation is very close to what we saw then."

He believes that "if Donald Trump gets a majority vote, this will be tantamount to protest voting."

"Nothing will be over after November 8. Trump’s hypothetical win may spark minority unrest, in particular, by Hispanics," said Sidorov, adding that all these groups might firmly oppose Trump the President, who has repeatedly declared his intention to launch a crusade against illegal migration.

Both candidates ride high in unpopularity ratings

As for the chances of the two presidential candidates, Andrey Sidorov said that both had very high "unpopularity ratings."

"That both parties have come up with such candidates surely means that the political system is fundamentally ill," he said about the emergence of such ill-famed personalities in the capacity of presidential candidates from the United States’ leading political parties.

Garbuzov agrees.

"Clinton is an embodiment of both popularity and unpopularity. So is Trump. Sadly, the US people will have to choose from what there is on offer.

"If they opt for Clinton, they will do so just for the sake of keeping the Democrats in power," Sidorov said.

Also, he pointed to the media reports saying both US presidential hopefuls’ health was not impeccable at all.

Problems with vote-counting likely

"The US election system is very archaic. It has not undergone any reform for decades. The Americans are very conservative in that respect," Garbuzov said.

He speculates that the vote counting procedure is vulnerable to violations, because there is no central federal authority to keep an eye on it.

"It’s entirely the responsibility of the authorities of individual states and counties. The federal authorities are unable to control that at all," he said.

Yet, the American society is unprepared to change anything.

"It’s a tradition. The United States is very sensitive about any advice or hint this system should be revised," Garbuzov explained. "The Americans are not prepared for having it reformed today or tomorrow.".