A front row seat to the battle for the White House

STUDYING abroad is an amazing experience, but for a journalism student to be in the middle of the most-tense, nasty and at times shocking elections in US history, it's a real eye-opener.

I’m a student from the University of Sunderland studying at the University of Texas at El Paso - which is in a unique location, a city split in half by an international border.

Cuidad Juarez in Mexico is just over the border, you can walk there across a footbridge. The desert city, in a dusty valley, is the largest bi-national metropolitan area with a population of over 2.7 million people.

Voting records in El Paso were smashed three days in a row during early voting in El Paso County and Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton is the clear choice.

Queues at my university snaked around the building. There is a growing expectation that the Hispanic vote could really sway this year’s election even though historically, Hispanics have low voter turn out.

“Hillary, Hillary, Hillary! I made sure I hit it ten times!” (the button to choose the candidate) I heard one student joke to her friend as she left the polling station.

Texas is a traditionally Republican state, but unlike the rest of the state, El Paso is a Democratic stronghold. This is no surprise given El Paso has a population that is 80 percent Hispanic.

Given Republican Donald Trump’s rhetoric on the border, immigration and of course his proposed 'wall', it is no surprise people here tend to vote Democrat.

However, there is already a large iron fence stretching 700 miles along the southern US border. It was built in 2006 and Hillary Clinton, ironically, voted in favour of its construction.

After spending almost three months here now, I realise many claims made by Trump about border security and crime levels on the US-Mexico border are unjustified.

El Paso consistently ranks among the safest US cities and the high law enforcement presence, including border force, is one reason behind that statistic.

You would be hard pressed to find Trump supporters in El Paso, or people willing to admit they are Republican. But I managed to track some down and spent time with them along with some Democrats watching the presidential debates.

The Republicans were the most animated. When I arrived at the party offices to watch the debate, I was greeted by a young man marching “Hillary Clinton” in a prisoner’s outfit around the room, with the crowd cheering and shouting “shame” - reminiscent of the infamous scene from Game of Thrones.

They had another “Clinton” dressed in a hospital gown on a trolley, with the party’s local deputy chair checking her blood pressure, a reference to her well-publicised health issues.

There was a sense of hatred towards Clinton as the debate went on, it was clearly voiced with one-woman shouting “I hate her, I actually hate her!” 'Donald Trump' and 'Uncle Sam' were also in attendance.

Being a Republican in El Paso is a rarity, but I can’t help but think due to their low numbers, they feel the need to be more radical and vocal in their support of Trump, a candidate which many openly admitted isn't their first choice.

I’d also visited the Republicans on a few other occasions for other university projects. So often that one of the party officials asked me if I wanted to do volunteer work!

I watched the second debate with the Democrats who seemed a little more grounded. It wasn’t as wacky as my evening with the Republicans, but it had its moments.

One stark difference was that the Democrats were providing free food and beer, unlike the Republicans. Also, the Republicans were not holding a rival event due to it being a Sunday.

However, the Democrats did provide some theatrics, a cardboard cut out Clinton standing on a Trump Piñata. And a host of t-shirts featuring Trump’s face with choice words printed on them, the nicest of which simply read “pendejo,” meaning idiot in Spanish.

Local media were in attendance for both events, BBC Radio 5 Live was even at the Democrat event as part of its US election tour.

With the election this Tuesday and neither candidate out in front, it's sure to be the most interesting climax to one of the most exciting and unusual elections in US history. And I have a front row seat.