A voter fills in his ballot at a polling station in Brooklyn, New York, the United States, on Nov. 8, 2016. The U.S. presidential elections kicked off on Tuesday. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)
NEW YORK/WASHINGTON/SAN FRANCISCO/LOS ANGELES/CHICAGO, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) -- Voters headed to the polling stations all over the United States on Tuesday, but many still felt disappointed by the presidential candidates and found it a hard choice to decide who should become the country's next leader.
Both U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and Republican nominee Donald Trump cast their ballots along with their families in the empire state on the morning of the election day on Tuesday.
However, their fate as well as the country's future will be decided by the American voters across the country. Although Clinton is leading Trump by a few percentage points in the latest national polls, the competition is still considered neck-to-neck.
At a local polling place in the Borough of Brooklyn, New York, dozens of voters had been lining up outside the building as early as 7:00 a.m.. Many poll workers were busy helping voters to find their registration, fill in their ballot and cast their vote.
Peter Vanden Bos said he voted for Hillary because he thought Trump was divisive, totally unqualified and unfit for the presidency.
"I wish the campaign would not have been so contentious and negative," he said, "I'm just glad it's over."
Wearing a bright red cap with "Make America Free Again," Trump supporter Alex Burlak was a rare sighting in the Borough that was considered more liberal than the rest of the city.
Burlak, a pharmacy owner, said he believed Hillary Clinton was the most corrupt politician in U.S. history and "never told the truth in public, ever."
He said he have met plenty of Trump supporters in his daily life, and even though New York is a deep blue state that will eventually go to Hillary Clinton, he still wanted his voice to be heard.
In Frederick Samuel Community Center in Harlem, northern New York City, voter Desiree Kennedy did not want to disclose whom she had voted for, but said that "honestly, I don't care about either of the candidates."
"It is very scary that in 2016, there are still a lot of people who have very racist views, negative views and sexist views," Kennedy said, adding that "hopefully it will change."
At the same polling station, 44-year-old Pauline Grant said she voted more for moral than for value.
She said, for five generations since her great great great parents, her family had voted for the Democrats. "It's a family tradition."
When asked whether she thought Clinton can reunite the country and make the country great if Clinton was elected, she said she didn't think so. She said she believed that the media was biased against Trump.
In Williamsburg Community Center in Brooklyn, Scott, a startup owner in his 30s who only gave his first name, said: "I voted for Donald Trump, because I want something completely different."
"I appreciate Trump's business spirit because I am a small business owner. It was a difficult choice for me because they both want to get a lot of media attention. You cannot get to know the truth. I think media has been manipulated towards Clinton," Scott said.
In the neighborhood of Pasadena in Los Angeles, voter Judith Alonso said she had voted for Hillary Clinton. "I was in line for an hour and when I left, the line was still very long."
"Trump is a terrible mistake, I don't think he will win," said Judith.
In San Francisco City Hall voting center, Mary Hansbury said the election campaign made her nauseous, and really stressed out. "I've been fighting with my parents who have different views."
"I vote for Hillary because she is qualified, and she's gonna do a good job," Hansbury said.
About 19.4 million Californians are registered to vote in this year's general election, up from 18.2 million in 2012, according to California Secretary of State Alex Padilla. Over 78.04 percent of eligible Californians are registered, which represents the highest percentage of eligible California citizens registered to vote.
More than 8.7 million voters were registered as Democrats, accounting for 44.9 percent of the total registered voters, while more than 5 million voters were registered as Republicans, about 26 percent of the total.
In a polling station at the Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership in downtown Chicago, lawyer Bonnie Miller said that she voted for Trump because Hillary was dishonest, and she did not trust her.
"I think that her Clinton foundation has serious problems. I operate a foundation and there is no way I could get away with what they are doing," Miller said.
"If Trump is elected, I think he will undo a lot of the executive orders from the Obama administration. And I think he is in good likelyhood of surrounding himself with people who actually know what they were doing. I think a lot of the people are just really frustrated with the way Washington works right now," she said.
At Jefferson Junior High School voting station in the capital Washington D.C., 55-year-old Tammy Green said he voted for Hillary Clinton. "Hillary has the knowledge, she can control her emotions and is experienced."
"She has learned lessons from her rivals such as Bernie Sanders to absorb their opinions in her policies," said Green.
"Donald Trump took advantage of the underprivileged people, the poor people and the laborers," she said, adding that she felt "this presidential election has been awful."
At RH Recreational Center voting station in Washington D.C., Marina, a European who recently obtained U.S. citizenship, voted for the first time but declined to reveal her decision.
Marina compared the political system here and back home, saying "the U.S. government is paralyzed because the two major political parties are at odds. It's frustrating."
"Big money influenced the election, and Hillary Clinton relied heavily on big money and super PACs, but she had more understanding of politics," she said.
