Editor’s Note: For nearly two years, CNN reporters and producers have traveled the country, tracking the presidential candidates and speaking to the people who, on November 8, will send either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump to the White House in 2017. As Election Day nears and so many of us turn our focus to the science of the campaign, diving into electoral maps and swing states polls, we wanted to narrow our focus again and look more closely at the lived reality of this raucous political season – to examine the stories of our friends and neighbors, and carve out a lasting portrait of 2016.

Story highlights

We've spent a year and a half traveling the country and covering the 2016 campaign.

These are some of the people we've met -- and what they told us.

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