US voters hear a stark message in the presidential race: The country’s fate is on the line

Associated Press

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — Few elections in the nation’s history have provided such a divide as this year’s, with the two major candidates and so many of their supporters saying the outcome will determine the fate of the country and whether it can hold to its democratic moorings. As they cast their ballots, voters have opinions on the divide that is as diverse and complex as the nation itself. Perhaps no place captures this range of perspective more clearly than Charlottesville, Virginia, the site of the “Unite the Right” rally in 2017. Associated Press journalists spent three days in and around Charlottesville in early October interviewing voters about the election that is now days away.