News / Politics

US voters cast ballots in 5 Northeast primaries

Tuesday, 26 April 2016 3:47 PM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 26 April 2016 3:44 PM ]

This AFP file photo combination shows Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton (L) and Republican challenger Donald Trump.

Voters in five Northeastern US states are voting in the crucial primary elections that could determine the fate of the presidential nominating race.

Polls opened on Tuesday in Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.

According to the latest surveys, Democratic frontrunner Hilary Clinton is leading against her rival Bernie Sanders in all the states.

But many of Sanders’s supporters say they will never vote for Clinton in a general election and hope Sanders will find a way to cut into her lead.

Hillary Clinton greets supporters during a rally at Philadelphia City Hall on April 25, 2016 in Philadelphia. (AFP photo)

“I cannot trust her,” said Cynthia Kral, an education assistant at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. She plans to vote for a third-party candidate or write in Sanders’s name in the general election. “I feel like she can be bought on anything, and for her to be president — that kind of scares me.”

David Wacker, 34, a Verizon service technician currently on strike, said that he planned to vote for Sanders on Tuesday in the Pennsylvania primary, but that he had already begun weighing what to do if the senator does not win the nomination.

“The odds are stacked against him,” Wacker said, frowning as he held a sign for his union at a rally in Pittsburgh. “I still believe he has an avenue to victory, but I’m a realist, I see that it is dwindling. But he is still my candidate that I’m passionate about, so I’m going to stay with him until the end.”

Pennsylvania residents cast their primary day ballots on April 26, 2016 in Philadelphia. (AFP photo)

On the Republican side, frontrunner Donald Trump is also expected to win Tuesday’s primary elections.

Trump is already ahead in the delegate race with 845, followed by Texas Senator Ted Cruz with 559 and Ohio Governor John Kasich with 147, according to the Associated Press.

After Tuesday, Indiana, which votes next week on May 3, will be the next big contest, with 57 delegates at stake.

Donald Trump works the rope line at a campaign rally on April 25, 2016 at West Chester University in West Chester, Pennsylvania. (AFP photo)

A majority of Americans have an unfavorable view of Trump and Clinton, and believe they don’t represent their opinions, a poll released last week found.

Clinton has an unfavorable rating of 56 percent, Cruz’s rating is at 55 percent and Trump stands at 65 percent. Only Sanders and Kasich have unfavorable ratings below 50 percent, at 44 and 29, respectively, according to the poll.

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