From Brazil to Ireland and Germany to the Caribbean, this year’s knife-edge – and more than usually momentous – US presidential vote will be watched at a multitude of election-night events, some with a particular interest in the outcome.
In St Ann Parish, Jamaica – and most particularly in Browns Town, where Harris’s father Donald was born and the Democratic candidate spent many happy childhood holidays – her supporters plan watch parties, drink-ups and other social gatherings.
“I certainly will be watching it with bated breath. I’m anticipating a close election, but expecting a win for Kamala Harris because she is a dynamite, and I’m praying that, in the interest of democracy, she wins,” said 74-year-old resident Delroy Redway.
Redway, whose brother will be hosting a watch party at his sports centre, said Browns Town was on a “knife edge” for Harris, who people consider a “little sister”.
“Her grandfather is buried in the Anglican church, right there in Browns Town … so we will celebrate [her] victory,” he said.
St Ann Parish’s mayor, Michael Belnavis, is also planning a celebratory watch party. A Harris win, he said, would be a signal that democracy is alive and well in the US. “As you know, St Ann is particularly close to her,” Belnavis said.
“So I feel particularly close to this election ... and we want to watch it and make it a celebratory thing by having a drink-up and just watching the big screen at John Crow’s Tavern in Ocho Rios with some close friends. Whichever way it goes, it’s going to be historic, and we want to be a part of that.”
Also watching with more than the customary interest will be residents of Thulasendrapuram, Harris’s ancestral village in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, where her grandfather was born more than a century ago.
Excited preparations have long been under way for election day, with the women of the village creating kolam, colourful images made from rice paste, outside all the homes, seeking divine blessings for Harris in the election.
A special prayer (puja) is planned at the local Dharmasastha temple. “Our Dharmasastha [Hindu deity] will guarantee her victory,” was the confident prediction of temple trustee S Venkataraman.
In Berlin, the Democratic-friendly scene of the biggest rally of Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign, jazz club Donau 115 in the city’s Neukölln district, a favourite with the American community, is hosting a “@donau115 is brat” party, riffing on Charli XCX’s early endorsement of Harris.
A live feed of election coverage will begin just before midnight “and end when we know who the winner is and/or when we pass out from anxiety”, say the organisers, who also promise “dynamic” drink specials based on electoral college results, geopolitical trivia contests, and “a terrible sax solo every time a state gets called”.
Across town in east Berlin, Democrats Abroad will hold an election night at their traditional venue in the century-old cinema Kino Babylon with commentary from the stage, live music and “comedy – regardless of how the night turns out”.
In Paris, the legendary watering hole Harry’s Bar has held a ballot on the US election since 1924 and has only been wrong three times: in 1976, when drinkers backed Gerald Ford over Jimmy Carter; in 2004, when they backed John Kerry over George W Bush; and in 2016 in favouring Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump.
The straw poll tradition dates back to before the days of proxy or postal ballots allowing Americans abroad to vote, when Harry MacElhone, the then owner of the bar that claims to have invented the Bloody Mary, wanted to bring the expat community in Paris together and allow them to express a view.
Any customers who can provide proof of US citizenship can vote in the poll, casting their ballots into a century-old wooden box at the end of the bar. The latest figures from the bar were 265 for Trump – and 302 for Kamala Harris.
In Brazil’s São Paulo, Latin America’s largest city, O’Malley’s Irish pub will be decked out for the occasion with flags, balloons, stars, and the stars and stripes, and will serve an eclectic menu of fish and chips, tikka masala, burritos and kebabs, plus nine different burger options (including the “big monster”: bacon, fried egg, three types of cheese, guacamole, jalapeños, baked beans and chilli).
Organised by Democrats Abroad but open to people “from both sides”, the event starts at 10pm local time and runs until 2.30am when exit polls are expected. “We held events at the same pub this year for the presidential and vice-presidential debates, and they were hugely successful,” said a Democrats Abroad official, Kelly Ann Kreutz.
In Ireland, by contrast, Donald Trump’s golf hotel in Doonbeg in County Clare will be closed as usual on Tuesday night, with no event planned to either celebrate or mourn the outcome of its owner’s third bid for the White House.
University College Dublin is holding two election watch parties, but with a general election pending in the next month and fears a Trump victory could threaten the significant US tech and pharma presence in Ireland, events are few and far between.
Reporting by Natricia Duncan, Anthony Lugg, Hannah Ellis-Petersen, Deborah Cole, Kim Willsher, Tiago Rogero and Lisa O’Carroll
