- Title: Facing industrial decline, Ohio town heads to the polls
- Date: 7th November 2016
- Summary: YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO, UNITED STATES (NOVEMBER 7, 2016) (REUTERS) WIDE OF YOUNGSTOWN CITY SKYLINE CLOSE OF "OHIO" SIGN VARIOUS OF CAMPAIGN SIGNS OUTSIDE MAHONING COUNTY CLOSE OF TRUMP-PENCE SIGN LINE FOR VOTING VOTERS BEING CHECKED IN ELECTION OFFICIAL READING INSTRUCTIONS TO VOTER MORE OF LINE OF VOTERS (SOUNDBITE) (English) OHIO VOTER AND DEMOCRATIC ACTIVIST, DORANNE LANCASTER, SAYING: "He addresses a lot of issues that we are concerned with but one of the primary reasons we are against him is because of the racism that he portrays. And we feel that will affect the rest of the world on our policies, our foreign policies, on how they view our country. We are about change. And that's what we want - change. Change for the people. And that will affect the rest of the world." WIDE OF MAHONING COUNTY VOTING CENTRE AMERICAN FLAG VOTERS IN BALLOT BOXES CLOSE OF MAN VOTING MAN BEING DELIVERED A BALLOT BALLOT BEING DROPPED INTO BOX OFFICIAL CHECKING OFF VOTER MAN PICKING UP "I VOTED" STICKER (SOUNDBITE) (English) RETIRED CORRECTIONS OFFICER AND DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER, PHIL DITTRICH, SAYING: 'I don't think steel will is ever going to come back. We can try but not in the way it was. It's going to be in a different form. Mega-companies are probably gone. Hey, anything that's coming back is better than nothing. Nothing's getting back in eight years. It just hasn't. So why not a change. The only thing that's different is the police are the bad guys and the criminals are the good guys now." WIDE OF ABANDONED REPUBLIC RUBBER COMPANY PLANT, WHICH CLOSED in 1989 CLOSE OF ABANDONED PLANT INFRASTRUCTURE EXTERIOR OF ABANDONED BUILDING WITH BLOWN OUT WINDOWS INTERIOR OF ABANDONED PLANT WITH STREWN ABOUT FURNITURE BROKEN PHONE ON FLOOR WIDE OF FACTORY INTERIOR BUSTED OUTLET TIRES ON GROUND VARIOUS OF ABANDONED SOFA OUTSIDE FACTORY (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNIDENTIFIED OHIO LATINO VOTER WITH BABY, SAYING: "They're [the elections] scary. You know, being the fact we don't know where our fate is going to take us next. Trump is a little radical. Very crazy. And then, you have Hillary, where she had her e-mail scandals and you know we don't really know who to trust. This election from what I have heard from everyone is that we don't really know which presidential candidate to trust. VARIOUS OF VOTER BABY LEAVING CENTRE (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNIDENTIFIED OHIO LATINO VOTER WITH BABY, SAYING: (REPORTER SAYS: "You say it's scary?") “It's scary. For us you know the minorities, it's like we don't know what's going to happen to us.” VARIOUS OF VOTERS SIGNING IN TO VOTE LINE OF VOTERS CLINTON-KAINE SIGN IN FRONT OF HOUSE HOUSE
- Embargoed: 22nd November 2016 19:03
- Keywords: Ohio preview Ohio voters Youngstown battleground state
- Location: YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO, UNITED STATES
- City: YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO, UNITED STATES
- Country: USA
- Topics: Government/Politics,Elections/Voting
- Reuters ID: LVA00157G6D6V
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: With only one day left before Election Day, early voting continued in the battleground state of Ohio on Monday (November 7) even as it ended throughout the country.
Few sites have better demonstrated the stakes in the 2016 election than Youngstown, Ohio. The one-time industrial hub is a testament to rust belt decline - in less than a century it has seen its population drop from 170,000 to some 70,000. Steel, sheet and tube, as well as rubber plants have closed in recent decades. And what was once a robust Democrat stronghold as a result of a vibrant labor movement has become a target for the unorthodox candidacy of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and his hardline stance on foreign trade.
Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton are criss-crossing the country on Monday as they race to sway undecided voters in a tight U.S. presidential race that has Clinton with a narrow lead according to opinion polls.
The Clinton campaign was boosted by Sunday's unexpected FBI announcement that it stood by its July decision not to press any criminal charges in an investigation of Clinton's email practices.
A Fox News opinion poll on Monday had former Secretary of State Clinton leading Trump, a wealthy New York real estate developer, by four percentage points among likely voters.
Ohio remains a dead heat. Early vote in the battleground state began on October 12. Even Democratic activists at the Mahoning County government offices, an early voting site, acknowledged Trump's unique appeal.
"He addresses a lot of issues that we are concerned with but one of the primary reasons we are against him is because of the racism that he portrays. And we feel that will affect the rest of the world on our policies, our foreign policies, on how they view our country. We are about change. And that's what we want - change. Change for the people. And that will affect the rest of the world," Doranne Lancaster said.
Trump, whose supporters are mostly white, has promised to return manufacturing jobs to the United States, crack down on illegal immigration and pull out of global trade deals that he says have hurt American workers.
"I don't think steel will is ever going to come back. We can try but not in the way it was. It's going to be in a different form. Mega-companies are probably gone. Hey, anything that's coming back is better than nothing. Nothing's getting back in eight years. It just hasn't. So why not a change. The only thing that's different is the police are the bad guys and the criminals are the good guys now," Trump supporter Phil Dittrich, who is a retired corrections officer, told Reuters the day before election day.
Among the most well-known abandoned mills and plants in Youngstown is the Republic Rubber Company plant, which closed in 1989. During the last century, it manufactured tires, rubber hoses, belting and other goods.
While campaigning in Ohio and other locations, Trump has said the North American Free Trade Agreement signed by Clinton's husband, former President Bill Clinton, had led to the outsourcing of thousands of jobs to Mexico, a practice he vowed to stop if elected president on Nov. 8.
He has also said he believed Clinton would seek passage of the 12-nation Trans Pacific Partnership, President Barack Obama's signature Asian trade deal, which she now opposes.
Trump kicked off his maverick campaign last year by describing Mexican immigrants as rapists and criminals, and made a tough stance on immigration a signature part of his vision for America.
"They're [the elections] scary. You know, being the fact we don't know where our fate is going to take us next. Trump is a little radical. Very crazy. And then, you have Hillary, where she had her e-mall scandals and you know we don't really know who to trust. This election from what i have heard from everyone is that we don't really know which presidential candidate to trust," said one Ohio Latino voter at the Mahoning County Government Offices who didn't want to share her name. "It's scary. For us you know the minorities, it's like we don't what's going to happen to us."
Such Latino voters could have an outsized influence in Tuesday's election. Early voting data may portend a jump in the number of Hispanic voters this year, especially in the key swing states of Nevada and Florida, and Clinton would likely be the biggest beneficiary.
Despite the surge in early voting, there is no certainty about which candidate people will chose for president. There is also no guarantee that the higher Latino turnout rate will continue on Election Day and that they and other minority voters will make enough of a difference to swing Florida and other states. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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