By Gram Slattery, Tim Reid, James Oliphant and Gabriella Borter

BELLEVUE, Pennsylvania (Reuters) – Danielle Trenney, a 39-year-old project manager from western Pennsylvania, is so worried about Tuesday’s U.S. presidential election that she decided to put up a Christmas tree earlier this year to distract her family. things.

Trenney said he knows of other families in Bellevue, a Pittsburgh suburb and a voting hotbed prized by both Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump, who have done the same.

“I’m just trying to ease the anxiety,” said Trenney, who voted for Harris ahead of Election Day on Tuesday. “‘Oh my God, what’s going to happen?’ “Anything and everything that would distract from the question.”

Sitting on a nearby park bench was Jennifer Bunecke, 68, a retired graphic designer who plans to vote for Trump. Bunecke is so fed up with the heavy-handed posturing, the incessant calls from pollsters and the campaign ads bombarding him in battleground Pennsylvania that he prefers to ignore it entirely.

To stay calm, she spent most of Saturday reading a booklet of baking recipes. “I was never interested in politics. I was not raised in politics,” he said.

On the eve of the election, America is under stress. Like really. Faced with two completely different candidates and visions of the country’s future, voters are bracing for the results and fearing the potential unrest that may follow.

Reuters reporters recently spoke to more than 50 voters in seven competitive states that will determine the next president. They faced a tense situation with voters: They were worried about what the country would look like if their preferred candidate lost. We are worried that the other party will cause trouble. There are fears that the political divide will deepen further.

Some turn to religion, some to yoga, swimming or lifting weights. While some follow the news closely, others turn off their televisions and smartphones to dive into books or take long walks outdoors.

“I wish my smartphone was smart enough to know that I’ve already voted,” said Lynn Nicholson, a 72-year-old Harris voter from Marietta, Georgia, who has found refuge from the barrage of campaign ads through hiking, gardening and photography. “Very impressive.”

Todd Harrison, 49, a pest control specialist from Canton, Georgia, who is close to Trump, said he stopped watching sports on television because of the barrage of political ads.

“The closer we get to the election, the angrier I get,” Harrison said.

FEARS OF UNRESTABILITY

Many voters said they were worried about what might happen after the election, especially if Trump loses. They fear a series of trials and hearings, demonstrations and even violence.

Trump claims the only way Democrats can win is by cheating. Harris said she is ready to confront Trump if he declares victory prematurely.

Sherry Gay-Dagnogo, 57, a Harris supporter in Detroit, said she is concerned about what Trump’s incendiary rhetoric could trigger.

“It’s like it’s igniting a base of violence that was there before,” he said. “Scary.”

But Lillian Hall, a 68-year-old former teacher and retail store owner and Trump supporter from Hendersonville, North Carolina, said she feared riots if Harris lost.

“If Trump wins, I think there will be anger like we’ve never seen before,” Hall said.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll last month found widespread concerns that the United States could see a repeat of the unrest that followed Trump’s 2020 election defeat; The then-president’s false claim that his loss was the result of fraud drew hundreds of followers. US Capitol.

About 74% of registered voters who responded to the survey, conducted Oct. 16-21, said they were concerned that extremists would commit acts of violence if they were dissatisfied with the election results. Democrats were most likely to think: 90% agreed, compared to 64% of Republicans and 77% of independents.

Several voters said in interviews that they tried to assuage their concerns by helping get votes for their candidates.

Shirley Easton, an 85-year-old Tucson, Arizona resident, described her mental state as “out of my mind” and said she sent postcards to persuade people to vote for Harris.

Easton cited the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision in 2022, Roe v., which legalized abortion nationwide. Wade said he feared for the future of his seven grandchildren after reversing his decision.

“I’m very scared for my grandchildren,” he said.

Lisa Fields, 60, a marketing professional, was so worried that on Saturday she left her Manhattan home and knocked on Trump’s door in Delaware County, a critical suburb of Philadelphia.

He hopes Trump will bring peace to the Middle East and that the country will be more united no matter who wins.

“We need to come together for the greater good. And that’s what I’ll focus on the next day, because I don’t agree with people voting the other way, but they have the right to do so, and that’s the beauty of America,” Fields said.

Other voters said they were trying to withdraw from the election as much as possible.

Jean Thomson, 63, an executive coach in Marietta, Georgia, who voted for Harris, said dozens of political flyers that arrived in the mail went straight to the trash.

“I don’t even look at them,” the woman said, adding that she meditates and spends more time in nature to cope with her stress.

Not everyone was going to the forest.

“I’ll be watching with my Xanax and a bottle of sauvignon blanc,” said Gillian Marshall, a 55-year-old Lyft driver who lives in Scottsdale, Ariz., as the results started coming in on Tuesday.

Marshall, a Democrat who said he voted for Harris, echoed a sentiment where political disagreement is nearly universal.

“I just want this nightmare to end.”

(Reporting by Timothy Aeppel, Gabriella Borter, Helen Coster, Stephanie Kelly, Nathan Layne, Jeff Mason, Tim Reid, Jarrett Renshaw, Liliana Salgado, Andrea Shalal, Gram Slattery and Alexandra Ulmer. Written by James Oliphant; Edited by Colleen Jenkins and Howard Goller )