While it may feel as though the entire world is watching the United States election intently, some are watching closer than others.

Rachel Rubin and her husband, Ryan Gamm, moved from the U.S. two years ago to Sackville — making Tuesday a nerve-racking day. 

Rubin said she didn't get much sleep Monday night but feels cautiously optimistic.

"You never know until it's over," she said. "And the states do early voting differently, and some of them, you know, release their information at different levels of transparency. So everybody who's making predictions — they are best guesses.

"It makes it very difficult to feel any degree of comfort because we know we're all just looking at statistics and making educated guesses."

Rachel Rubin, a U.S. citizen living in Sackville, said election talk has dominated family conversations. (Rhythm Rathi/CBC)

Tuesday marks election day in the United States, when voters can cast a vote directly for who they want to see as president— their choices this year being Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, Republican nominee Donald Trump or a third-party candidate. 

Voters had returned more than 80.5 million advance ballots as of Monday. 

Expect a nail-biter

It could be days before a victor is declared in the election, said St. Thomas University political scientist Jamie Gillies.

He said that last week he would have been more comfortable predicting a Trump win, but this week the momentum seems to have shifted to Harris. Still, it's just to close to call either way.

"Still a toss-up, anyone's guess," said Gillies.

Jamie Gillies is a political scientist and public policy expert at St. Thomas University in Fredericton. He says a Harris win would be the best outcome for Canada in terms of a working relationship. (Mike Heenan/CBC)

And it's not just Americans who have a lot at stake in this election, Gillies said. The result will have huge ramifications for Canada.

"If Donald Trump [wins,] Canadians immediately are confronted with three challenges: NAFTA, NATO and tariffs," said Gillies 

"If Kamala Harris wins, there's promises she's made to the American people, particularly on things like border security, that are going to matter to Canadians as well."

But in terms of what would be the "best" outcome, Gillies said, for Canada, that would be a Harris win, simply because of Trump's capriciousness.

"It's chaotic, it's the amount of uncertainty, particularly for people who work on those long-term files with the United States in Ottawa," said Gillies. 

"It it requires extensive recalibration ... Canada has to be prepared for the possibility of a second Trump administration.

Swing states

Gamm and Rubin are registered voters in Pennsylvania — one of the seven so-called swing states.

"Being in a swing state, you feel a little bit more responsibility," said Rubin. 

But even if they weren't registered in such a high-stakes state, Rubin said she believes she still would have voted, just as she has in past elections.

As well as being registered in Pennsylvania, the pair are also both from Ohio — another state to watch— so election talk has pretty much dominated family conversations. 

"We've all voted … and the more that we sort of go over it together, the more anxious we all become," said Rubin.

"So I think we're just trying to take stock of what's been done, the work that's been accomplished, and hope for the best."

'Losing sleep'

Another U.S. voter, Cindy Edwards, is ready for it all to be over.

Edwards, a dual-citizen originally from Bathurst, said she has election fatigue and has been losing sleep for the past few weeks.

"It just hasn't been a very healthy election for me," said Edwards, who lives in Florida.

"Every time I turn on the television, I'm inundated with television ads. … I feel like this election has been going on for a thousand years. So I just want it to be over."

Unlike in Canada's parliamentary system, registered voters in the U.S. can cast a vote directly for the person they want to see become president. (The Canadian Press)

Edwards said she has unfriended 50 or 60 people on Facebook in the past few weeks because of the constant anger and misinformation.

And in the real world, she said she is trying not to engage in too many conversations because they tend to go down the wrong path.

"I keep telling people, we're more alike than we think we are, in so many ways, and the only way to make any progress is to meet somewhere in the middle," she said.

"I think people want to be loved, they want security, they want to be able to take care of their families, they want to feel safe. I mean, those are the big ones, I think. … Ask anybody in America, and they would tell you that."

Edwards's election night plan is to stay put. She doesn't plan on attending any election night parties and just hopes that things end peacefully, no matter the outcome.

"If it's not my candidate, I would never say anything negative. You have to respect that that's the way it goes, and we're going to be OK."

When David Lutz first came to New Brunswick in 1969, it was to avoid being drafted to fight in the Vietnam War. 

Now the prominent Hampton defence lawyer has returned to the United States, where he was born, to volunteer for the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign against Donald Trump.

"I'm representing the rest of the world," Lutz said Monday from Florida.

"The rest of the world, especially Canada, is scared to death of Mr. Trump."

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​Analysts have said that if Donald Trump has any chance to win the presidency in the election Tuesday, he'll need to win Florida, the biggest of the swing states and barely won by President Barack Obama in 2012.

So far, polls indicate the Sunshine State is split evenly, with the north voting for Republican Trump and the south for Democrat Clinton.

'Worried about the whole world'

Lutz was originally heading south to vacation on a Legendary Rhythm and Blues Cruise in the Caribbean. Since he was to land in Florida near election day and has family in Florida, he decided to volunteer.

"I'm not so much worried about my family or the Americans," Lutz said.

"I'm worried about the whole world."

Information Morning - Moncton 9:04 

Dave Lutz - American election

 

The Hampton lawyer is in Florida working for the Hillary Clinton campaignLutz said he has seen a real mixture of support during his Florida visit.

He said while his candidate has gathered considerable support, in some parts of Florida Lutz sees nothing but Trump signs.

On Monday, Lutz was going door-to-door in Melbourne to identify Democratic supporters' homes, trying to get them out to vote early.

"[This campaign is] so organized," he said.

"We're getting good response." 

Lutz supports Clinton because he knows her history and supports the party that nominated her.

Fear driven support

This isn't his first time volunteering for the Democrats. 

Lutz worked for Obama's campaign in 2008 and worked for Robert Kennedy the day before he was shot in 1968.

As much as Lutz identifies with the Democrats, he said this election it's more the fear of Trump that drives him and the Clinton supporters he's spoken to.

"That somebody as unqualified and evil as Trump could get this far is scary," he said.

"That's what the people backing Hillary are saying. And that's what I, as a world citizen, that's what I feel."