STORY: As Rust Belt on edge, a fractured America braces for Election Day
SHOOTING TIME: Oct. 28-29, 2024
DATELINE: Nov. 5, 2024
LENGTH: 00:03:39
LOCATION: MICHIGAN, U.S.
CATEGORY: POLITICS

SHOTLIST:
1. various of voting in Michigan
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (English): CAMILLE ORSO, Michigan resident
3. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): JOHN FRANKS, Michigan resident
6. SOUNDBITE 3 (English): LORI FRANKS, Michigan resident
7. SOUNDBITE 4 (English): CYRENA MATINGOU, U.S. voter
8. SOUNDBITE 5 (English): SUSAN SIMCOX, Michigan resident

STORYLINE: 

With over 330 million people and 161 million registered voters across 50 states, the result of the U.S. 2024 presidential election hinges highly on just seven swing states. 

Among these states, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, all in the traditional industrial heartland known as the Rust Belt, are seen as pivotal.

In Saginaw County, a bellwether of Michigan where voters swung from Trump to Biden four years ago, the stakes could not be higher, especially for the American auto industry.

For many voters in Michigan, who feel growing unease about the days ahead, these industry stakes underscore what they view as deeper divides across the nation.

SOUNDBITE 1 (English): CAMILLE ORSO, Michigan resident
"I think people have just really gotten into very hardened positions on both sides. And I don't think we're talking to one another, and I think the kind of trust that maybe we used to have, it seems to be very limited right now. Ever since, I think, the (19)60s, I think trust in our institutions has been declining."

SOUNDBITE 2 (English): JOHN FRANKS, Michigan resident
"Can I accept the results? It depends. Hard to say really, because we all know that there's shenanigans in our corrupt political establishment. People that count the votes aren't very accurate. How is it when dead people can vote? How do they actually cast their ballots? When they're counting dead people's votes, that's a problem."

Deeply frustrated with inflation, exorbitant drug prices and rapidly rising house costs, Lori Franks said she hopes that there could be a "cheaper America" so that ordinary people can afford living.

SOUNDBITE 3 (English): LORI FRANKS, Michigan resident
"Our state is corrupt and it has to change. Locally, state and national level we are divided. What has divided it? I think the people that have an understanding for what the American dream once was and what the American dream has become. There is no dream. You try and feed a family for instance nowadays. Our medical system is broken. People are having to choose between medications and food. It's unacceptable. There needs to be a change and without it we're going to have problems."

Cyrena Matingou, an African American graduate student, said she focuses more on the actual policies like reproductive rights, inflation and the cost of daily living.

SOUNDBITE 4 (English): CYRENA MATINGOU, U.S. voter
"These are issues that everybody in the U.S. is facing. I do think that there are other bigger issues that will affect us as a country for the long term and how our position in the world and how we're interacting with other countries. I'm really hopeful that people are not kind of going out and being crazy."

Though divided by ideology, voters share a common sense of anxiety about the future.

SOUNDBITE 5 (English): SUSAN SIMCOX, Michigan resident
"Everyone is anxious in America. You ask a Democrat or a Republican, everyone's concerned about safety and the economy. So, I mean, I personally, everyone talks divided, divided, but it's like what our real concerns are, they're the same things."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Michigan, U.S.
(XHTV)