By Joseph Lord, Nathan Worcester, Emel Akan, Lawrence Wilson, Jeff Louderback, Arjun Singh, Stacy Robinson and John Haughey Contributing Writers  With the hours ticking down to the 2024 presidential election Tuesday, many voters on both sides of the political aisle worry about the outcome, they told reporters across the country.  It’s been a long — and unusually chaotic — election cycle.  After being beaten as the incumbent in 2020, former President Donald Trump announced his intention to run again in mid-November 2022, just shy of two years before Election Day 2024.  At the time, there was uncertainty about whether he ultimately would see a rematch with President Joe Biden.  Biden was declared the victor over Trump in 2020 thanks to slim margins in a handful of swing states.  Then, in April 2023, Biden announced his bid for reelection, starting a rematch.  The process was thrown into chaos in June when Biden faced massive pressure from within his party after a poor debate performance. In July, the president withdrew from the race and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, who quickly became the Democrats’ nominee.  Now, with the long-anticipated election nearly here, voters feel anxious, many said.  Trump’s backers said they’re worried about what will become of the nation if Harris wins. Harris supporters expressed fears over access to abortion and the future of democracy if Trump wins.  Voters Weary of Election Ads  One complaint emerged again and again — voters are tired of the politicking.  Adam Stankus, a resident of Farmington, Michigan, is one of those.  “Anytime there’s going to be a tight race, they’re always trying to put pressure on us,” the Harris voter said of election season in Michigan, considered a swing state that could go either way. “It’s nothing new.”  Nathan Rehm, a student at Michigan State University, described a high-pressure environment on his college campus.  “There’s a lot of people stopping you on the side saying, ‘Here, take this pamphlet,’” Rehm said. “There’s a lot of money going into this.”  In Kenosha, Wisconsin, David Munson said all the advertising was “a little annoying.” He’d already cast an early ballot.  “I sit there with the mute button in my hand when I’m watching TV because you can watch two hours of TV and get 50 political commercials,” he said.  Fellow Wisconsin voter Tom Hinz said the print material mailed to him sometimes persuades him.  “I read ‘em first, then they go in the circular file,” he joked.  Adalyce Cruz, a teenage, single mother in Wisconsin, also is tired of all the ads.  “Everything is just, ‘Trump,’ ‘Kamala.’ It’s too much!” she said.  Relationships Strained by Politics  The increasingly polarized environment has strained relationships, voters said. Because of that, many felt the need to hide their political beliefs from friends, family and colleagues.  Dale Eggleston Jr. of Las Vegas dismissed that fear as he walked to his car after casting his ballot on the last day of Nevada’s early, in-person voting. But he knows others who are wary of revealing their choices.  And that means Trump will have a secret — but muted — weapon that will become visible when the votes are counted, he predicted.  “I personally know a lot of Democrats who changed over to Trump” but aren’t openly talking about it, Eggleston said.  It’s a problem Harris supporters mentioned, too.  Bill Keller, also of Farmington Hills, figures he’s the only one in his workplace with pro-Harris views. “I try to be civil, but I get so incensed,” he said.  Cruz, the teenage, single mother, said she’s faced a lot of pressure from her family to back Trump.  Her family is “very political,” she said. Her brother and uncle urged her to vote for the former president.  “Everybody’s like, ‘Vote for Trump! It supports us in this, this, and this way.’ But I’m like, ‘How’s that supporting me and my child?’… There’s nothing coming out of it for me.”  Adela Luna, a 42-year-old from Houston, is backing Harris. But members of her extended family espouse competing political ideas this election cycle, she said.  Although Texas is predominantly Republican, she’s noticed a significant political divide between urban and rural communities. Her mother, she said, is a Democrat, and her father is a Republican.  “Even within my own family, it’s a battleground, because part of my family lives in the city, while my dad’s side is rural,” Luna said.  Political polarization also divides young people, said Ryder Shaw, a Trump supporter and student at East Carolina University.  “At least in our generation, it’s definitely become more split,” he said outside an early-voting site in Apex, North Carolina.  “Same for the old people,” injected his mother, Trump voter Ashley Anderson.  She’s noticed people “unfollowing” each other on social media over political disagreements.  At Kennesaw State University in Georgia, some students said they felt uncomfortable talking about politics. Several cited what seemed to be an unspoken campus norm making the mention of political preferences taboo.  Students Amon Matar-Philpot and Jaala Hudson said their families discouraged them from revealing voting choices.  “Growing up, they always said ‘Oh, you’re not supposed to expose who you’re voting for,’” Hudson said. “Who you vote for is a private thing.”  Matar-Philpot noted, “We’re in the South. There’s a lot of conflict.”  Anxiety About the Outcome  Another common thread on both sides is anxiety about the future of the country.  Farmington Hills resident Andy Kollin reflected on his position as a battleground state voter. “From my perspective,“ he said, ”It’s just, ‘Don’t let Trump have another term.’”  “I can’t take four more years of open borders and Kamala,” said Jack, a voter in Mt. Pleasant, Wisconsin, who declined to provide his last name.  He had shown up to cast his in-person absentee ballot wearing an “IBEW Union Proud” T-shirt, accompanied by his wife.  “I’m diehard MAGA,” Jack said.  It’s his third time voting for Trump.  Fellow Mt. Pleasant Trump voter Anne Brosier shared concerns about the economy, a common worry for voters, especially for those backing Trump.  “I really can’t afford much more of the Biden-Harris administration,” the retired paralegal said.  Ethan Jones, 41, of Traverse City, Michigan, said a Trump loss would cause him to feel panic.  “This country hasn’t done the best in the last four years, and to continue down that path, I feel, would be devastating for every generation, living and coming,” Jones said.  The uncertainty of the election outcome has become a source of anxiety for fellow Traverse City Trump supporters Ian and Karina Thompson, as well.  “I feel nervous,” Ian Thompson, 28, said. “We know where we’re siding, but you don’t know where everybody else is.”  “It’s scary for the future,” his 27-year-old wife added.  Rising international tensions and the threat of war worry them both, they said. Those have been common concerns among Trump supporters.  John Haynes, an industrial engineering major at Georgia Tech, said he was alarmed about a possible Harris victory.  “Honestly, I don’t think that much will change in my life,” he said. “But I am nervous for the rest of the world, given the unrest in Ukraine in the Middle East. I think that Donald Trump will, you know, do a much better job of ending those world wars.”  Wendy Sherman, a resident of Elkhart, Indiana, has the opposite view.  She’ll be “absolutely devastated” if Harris loses, she said.  “The last time Donald Trump won, I cried.”  Tiffany Darby, 42, of Belleville, Michigan, also backs Harris.  “I feel confident she’s going to win,” Darby said. But “if it doesn’t go in our favor,“ she added, ”I’m very worried about the future for us.”  Other voters said they’re not so worried. Though they expressed a strong preference for one candidate, they said that their lives — and the world — would continue just fine if their choice lost.  Craig, a young Trump voter who works at a Kwik Trip in Wisconsin, said a Harris win would be “stressful.” But he drew the line at using more forceful language.  “At the end of the day, it is not the end of the world,” he said. “This is not the last election.”  Kristin Short, 42, of Bay City, Michigan, said she was undecided about her vote. But she wasn’t terribly concerned about the implications of a win by either candidate.  “Because I don’t feel strongly about either one, it’s going to be a little anticlimactic no matter who wins,” Short said. “Either way, we’ll be fine. The world’s not going to end.”  The post Voters share varied feelings about Election Day  appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.