WASHINGTON: As Americans make a historic choice between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump for president, here are the voices of some of the voters AFP spoke to up and down the country on Election Day:
New York City
FIRST TIME VOTER: "I was really excited. I got my sticker," said 19-year-old Katie Kope, who voted for the Republican Trump. "I was kind of torn between the two but I don't trust Hillary."
What if Clinton, the Democrat, wins? "I'm not afraid, but I don't love her. I think she's a little corrupt ... I don't expect much from either."
SPLIT FAMILY: Marina, 57, voted for Trump, but her son Andre, 30, favored Clinton. Have they argued? "Yeah, over the past few days," said Andre. "Discussions," clarified Marina, smiling.
HISPANIC FOR TRUMP: "I voted for Trump because we need a change," said Aura Montoya, 60, a nanny and housekeeper of Colombian descent. "I don't like the way he speaks, but I think he'll change course."
STARS AND STRIPES: The choice was clear for Bangladeshi immigrant Lutfun Burham, 45. She wore a head scarf in the colors of the US flag as she voted. "I am a Muslim and obviously I vote for Hillary. I love her very much. She's straight with us."
LOUD MOUTH: "Hillary, she has a history, all Trump has is the bullying. But people are going with him cause he has the loudest mouth," said Charmaine Smith, 50, an African-American retail manager who voted in Harlem.
REAGAN RETURNS: "Trump would be a great president," said voter R. Raju, 70. "Not good, great. He's like a Ronald Reagan." What about Hillary? "She should be in jail ... I'm from India. Third world countries act like the Clintons."
Washington DC
HIGH ANXIETY: "I have had election anxiety for the past two weeks now, if it were to go the other way, the Trump way, which is a terrifying potential reality," said voter Liz Anderson -- who nevertheless says she is "pretty confident" of a Clinton victory.
"Whoever wins, there is going to be just a huge group waiting to impeach the other," she said. "I think that after the election there is going to be a really big movement towards basically healing."
Miami, Florida
WHAT DO I KNOW: "I voted for Donald Trump," said restaurant dishwasher Peter Fernandez, 21, born and raised in the Cuban-American Miami enclave of Hialeah.
"I don't really know much, I'm not very educated. But he speaks his mind, he's not afraid to say things that could irritate a couple of folks."
WHO WEARS THE PANTS: "I voted for Hillary because it's time for a woman to wear the pants in this country," said Leonor Perez, 74, also from Hialeah.
"Trump? That old guy is crazy, if I could I'd have him in a psych ward tied up with chains."
Flint, Michigan
A POX ON BOTH HOUSES: "I believe both parties have failed over the many years that they have been in office," said contractor David Arntzen, 29, a self-described Democrat who voted for Trump.
Trump "wants to give the government back to the people. It resonates with me."
SLAVE SHIPS: "When he says he wants to make America great again, that scares me, because the only thing I can think of is slave ships and nooses," said Sandra Wynn, 58, a retired African-American auto industry worker.
She voted for Clinton.
Los Angeles
NO CONTEST: "No, no, no!" cried Mexican immigrant Guadalupe Cobian, 64, closing her eyes when she heard Trump's name. "He's a racist, we don't like him."
"That guy is a Nazi, my vote is for La Senora," or The Lady, said Margarito Salinas, 88, also originally from Mexico.
"I like her, I hate Trump," echoed Aurora Olivares, 22. "It's not only for what he said about Mexico, either way I would have voted for Hillary. He made me hate him."
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