Will Hillary Clinton's volunteers get America to vote for change?

A serpentine queue waits outside a multistoried building in Broadway not far away from the New York Stock Exchange. Men and women are lining up to get a ticket to attend the Tuesday night Hillary Clinton event at the Jacob K Javits Convention Centre, as a charged-up historic election winds down on November 8.

Inside the convention centre, volunteers in large numbers sit with a list of numbers that they dial on their mobile phones with a sense of urgency. They hope to convince Democrats, who are unenthused or undecided voters who could swing the election in favour of Hillary to go vote. Little notes, colourful posters and placards are pasted in the large hall. Messages such as "Love Trumps Hate", "We stand Orlando", "Change Maker", "Stand Together" dot the walls of the room.

Some loyalists doze off on the floor. A dog too decides to make the most of his time by getting a nap as his African-American master makes the tenth call in an hour, not eliciting any response.

Seven-year-old Sebastien is busy marking a piece of paper with ticks and crosses. His mother explains to him that a Hillary voter is a tick while a curt response calls for a cross. Asked what is he doing in a room full of adults, Sebastien says, "I am helping my mom call up Hillary supporters."

He adds with a coy smile," I like Hillary because she cares for the environment."

Ten metres from him, 11-year-old Lelo seated on the floor looks bored, but drowns herself in a Roald Dahl book. However, her 9-year-old sister Cleo is excited to dial numbers for her mother with her tiny fingers. With a serious expressionm she says, "I like Hillary because she says such nice things about people."

Their mother Laura says it is the first time and the first day of her involvement with the campaign. She has made some 50 calls in five hours, but with not much success. "I could not sit home and just wait and watch.It got too much," Laura replies when asked why she volunteered just 48 hours ahead of polling day.

Meanwhile, Latinos, Hispanics, LGBTI voices in the room call Hillary Clinton progressive and inclusive. The energetic audience occasionally breaks into "I Am With Her" chants. This is one the many camps in New York city where footsoldiers are at work to ensure America elects its first woman president.

Controversies, shockers, twists and turns: this presidential election has been a spicy thriller and pre-poll surveys have kept audience on the edge. While Hillary seems to be sustaining a small lead, the swing states - including Ohio, Nevada, Iowa and Florida - will be key to the polls.

Philip Wallach, a senior fellow at the Centre For Effective Public Management at Brookings in DC does not rule out a nail-biting finish like in 2000 when George W Bush eventually defeated Al Gore to the presidency.

"In 2000, Al Gore did win the electoral college vote and narrowly lost the national popular vote.The extra complication there was that Florida was just so close less than a 1000 votes that they had to go through an elaborate recount and later became contested in court.Certainly in realm of possibility that this election could be that close again and some states could be so close that they hang in balance," says Wallach.

With every single vote important for victory, Hillary supporters gulp down cups of caffeine to bottles of beer, as they work on the numbers provided with seriousness of purpose. One volunteer says: " A lot of us were underground till now trying to fan the campaign on social media. But it was time for us to come overground."

Ben Kallol, the young New York City Council member, has hardly slept in the last few days. He dials numbers, hoping to convince the person on the other end that Hillary Clinton is best fit to be President.

Hundreds of calls down in six hours, he simply smiles and says: "It is a close contest, but she will win," before he looks up the next number to message a text to.