A flag flying upside down above a large crow

Pictures show the final days of an election like no other

After a tumultuous year, a record number of Americans unite in voting.

Supporters wait for President Trump to arrive at a rally at Scranton airport in Pennsylvania on Nov. 2, a day before the election.

Photograph by Natalie Keyssar, National Geographic

As the 2020 presidential campaign draws to a close, millions of Americans have lined up, in the midst of a pandemic, at schools, churches, and community centers across the country to cast their vote in an election like no other. From last-ditch legal battles over mail-in ballots to voting machines going dead, this election has been a ride, to say the least. “Life depends on it,” said one early voter in Brooklyn, New York, who like a record 100 million others, cast her vote before Election Day even came around. As President Donald Trump and former vice president Joe Biden crisscrossed the country in an effort to rally last-minute votes and people made their way to polling stations, we sent photographers to capture the final days of one of the most historic elections on record.

National Geographic sent eight photographers into the field to document the lead up to pivotal election decisions: Andrea Bruce in North Carolina, Christopher Gregory-Rivera in Florida, Greg Kahn and Jared Soares in Washington D.C., David Guttenfelder in Wisconsin, and Natalie Keyssar in Pennsylvania. Photographers Graham Dickie and Stephanie Mei-Ling covered large voter turn out in Texas and early voters in New York.

Read This Next

The Ugly Election That Birthed Modern American Politics
Here’s how scholars interpret ‘treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors’
Calls to replace Trump via the 25th Amendment are growing. Here’s why it’s never happened before.

Go Further

Subscriber Exclusive Content

Why are people so dang obsessed with Mars?

How viruses shape our world

The era of greyhound racing in the U.S. is coming to an end

See how people have imagined life on Mars through history

See how NASA’s new Mars rover will explore the red planet

Why are people so dang obsessed with Mars?

How viruses shape our world

The era of greyhound racing in the U.S. is coming to an end

See how people have imagined life on Mars through history

See how NASA’s new Mars rover will explore the red planet

Why are people so dang obsessed with Mars?

How viruses shape our world

The era of greyhound racing in the U.S. is coming to an end

See how people have imagined life on Mars through history

See how NASA’s new Mars rover will explore the red planet