US Election HIGHLIGHTS: Donald Trump says 'will make America great again', PM Modi hails his victory

 Democrats toppled two Republican incumbents in the Georgia state House, but won't narrow the Republican majority as much as they once hoped.
With four races still uncalled Wednesday, Republicans have 98 of the 180 House seats, while Democrats have 78. If all the candidates leading Wednesday win, Republicans would hold 100 seats and Democrats 80. But candidates in two of those races lead by fewer than 100 votes, meaning those elections could be headed to recounts.

 Former President Donald Trump won Michigan on Wednesday, reclaiming the battleground state and its 15 electoral votes for the Republicans after Joe Biden flipped it in 2020 on his way to the White House.
Trump won Michigan in 2016 by just over 10,000 votes, marking the first time a Republican presidential candidate had secured the state in nearly three decades.
Trump's Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, faced concerns that discontent among Democrats in metro Detroit over the Biden administration's handling of the Israel-Hamas war could jeopardise her campaign. The Associated Press declared Trump the winner at 12.54 pm EST. 

In Montana, where state courts have blocked lawmakers’ efforts to restrict abortion rights, voters wrote abortion protections into the state constitution, codifying the right to an abortion up to viability. Though there’s no defined time frame, doctors say viability is sometime after 21 weeks. The constitutional amendment is meant to safeguard against future efforts to restrict abortion rights.

Colorado, Nevada and Maryland already had laws on the books protecting abortion access, but voters there backed measures to enshrine the right in their state constitutions.

New York voters backed a reproductive rights measure that would bar unequal treatment based on “pregnancy outcomes” and “reproductive healthcare and autonomy,” along with sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin and disability.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau congratulated Trump in a post on the social platform X and included a picture of the two of them in the White House during the president-elect’s first term.

“The friendship between Canada and the U.S. is the envy of the world. I know President Trump and I will work together to create more opportunity, prosperity, and security for both of our nations,” Trudeau posted.

Trump has vowed to reshape the executive branch, including firing civil servants he views as disloyal and using federal law enforcement agencies to investigate his political enemies, violating what has been a longstanding policy of keeping such agencies independent. During his first term, Trump's most extreme demands were sometimes stymied by his own cabinet members, most notably when Vice President Mike Pence refused to block Congress from accepting the 2020 election results.

Once the 2024 vote is certified by Congress on Jan. 6, 2025, Trump and his incoming vice president, U.S. Senator JD Vance, are due to take office on Inauguration Day, Jan. 20. Throughout his two-year-long campaign, Trump has signaled he will prioritize personal fealty in staffing his administration. He promised roles in his administration to Musk and former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., both avid supporters.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau congratulated Trump in a post on the social platform X and included a picture of the two of them in the White House during the President-elect’s first term.

“The friendship between Canada and the U.S. is the envy of the world. I know President Trump and I will work together to create more opportunity, prosperity, and security for both of our nations,” Trudeau posted.

In a news conference on Wednesday, Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico said, “We respect the choice of American people,” adding that “everybody is waiting for the first steps in regards of the war in Ukraine.” 

The markets reacted positively to the comeback of Donald Trump after 4 years. Futures markets in the U.S. surged early Wednesday, with the Dow climbing 2.85 per cent and the S&P 500 rising nearly 2 per cent. Bitcoin, which many see as a winner under a Trump presidency, hit all-time highs above $75,000. Tesla, the company run by Trump surrogate Elon Musk, spiked 12% before the opening bell while other electric vehicle makers slumped. Banking stocks also moved solidly higher, with expectations of a pullback by regulators overseeing markets under Trump.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol took to X and said, he is looking forward to working with Trump. “Under your strong leadership, the future of the ROK-U.S. alliance and America will shine brighter.”

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba congratulated Trump on Wednesday for his victory in the presidential election and said he hopes to get in touch with him as soon as possible to discuss ways to further strengthen Japan-U.S. ties. “I hope to closely cooperate with President-elect Trump to further elevate Japan-U.S. alliance and relations to even higher levels,” Ishiba told reporters at the Prime Minister’s Office.

Congress leader and Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi congratulated Donald Trump on his victory in the US elections. He took to X and said, "Congratulations on your victory, Donald Trump!" 

Despite major losses for Democrats in the Senate and White House, the party’s central campaign issue surrounding protecting reproductive rights fared much better across the country as abortion rights advocates won on measures in seven states.

Donald Trump has won 277 electoral votes in the presidential elections against Kamala Harris who got 224 electoral votes.

Congratulating Trump on his victory, Czech Republic’s President Petr Pavel said he valued the country’s “partnership with the United States” and was looking forward to “continued cooperation in addressing shared global challenges, including supporting our common allies and upholding European security,” Pavel said. “Our Transatlantic bond remains strong.”

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz congratulated Republican candidate Donald Trump on his victory. He said the both sides will continue to work for the well-being of their citizens.

French President Emmanuel Macron congratulated Donald Trump on his victory in the US presidential election. 

Italian PM Georgia Meloni congratulated Donald Trump on his victory. She said, "On behalf of myself and the Italian Government, my most sincere congratulations to the President-elect of the United States, Donald Trump. Italy and the United States are “sister” nations, linked by an unshakable alliance, common values, and a historic friendship. It is a strategic bond, which I am sure we will now strengthen even further."

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge congratulated US-elect President Donald Trump over is victory. "On the behalf of the Indian National Congress, we extend our congratulations and best wishes to President @realDonaldTrump for his election victory. India and the United States share a robust comprehensive global strategic partnership, underpinned by long-standing shared democratic values, aligned interests, and extensive people-to-people connections. We look forward to working closely with the United States for global peace and prosperity," he posted on X.

The European Union’s top official says she’s looking forward to working with Trump again as the former president is on the cusp of victory in the U.S. presidential race.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that the E.U. and U.S. “are more than just allies. We are bound by a true partnership between our people, uniting 800 million citizens.”

“Let us work together on a transatlantic partnership that continues to deliver for our citizens. Millions of jobs and billions in trade and investment on each side of the Atlantic depend on the dynamism and stability of our economic relationship,” she said in a statement. The tariffs that Trump slapped on steel and aluminum exports during his last term roiled the bloc’s economy.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he appreciates Trump’s commitment to “peace through strength” as the Republican presidential nominee closes in on the electoral votes needed to win the White House.

“I recall our great meeting with President Trump back in September, when we discussed in detail the Ukraine-U.S. strategic partnership, the Victory Plan, and ways to put an end to Russian aggression against Ukraine,” said Zelenskyy on X. Zelenskyy said that Ukraine is interested “in developing mutually beneficial political and economic cooperation that will benefit both of our nations.”

“We look forward to an era of a strong United States of America under President Trump’s decisive leadership,” said Zelenskyy. “I appreciate President Trump’s commitment to the ‘peace through strength’ approach in global affairs. This is exactly the principle that can practically bring just peace in Ukraine closer. I am hopeful that we will put it into action together,” he said.

"Congratulations to President-elect Donald Trump on his historic victory for a second term! I look forward to working closely with the incoming Administration to further strengthen and broaden the Pakistan-U.S. partnership," posts Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif.

Australian PM Anthony Albanese congratulates Donald Trump.

Priests perform Hawan in Ayodhya as Republican candidate Donald Trump leads.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte says he looks forward to working with Trump “to advance peace through strength” as the former president closes in on the 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House. “We face a growing number of challenges globally, from a more aggressive Russia, to terrorism, to strategic competition with China, as well the increasing alignment of China, Russia, North Korea and Iran,” Rutte said.

“Working together through NATO helps to deter aggression, protect our collective security and support our economies,” he added. Rutte also praised Trump for his work during his first term to persuade U.S. allies in NATO to ramp up defense spending. He noted that around two-thirds of the 32 NATO allies are due to meet the organization’s main defense spending target this year.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi wished Donald Trump on his victory in the US presidential elections. He called Trump's victory as historic.

Kamala Harris won't be giving the election night speech today, said campaign co-chair. "You won't hear from the vice president tonight but you will hear from her tomorrow," Cedric Richmond, Harris campaign co-chair, said in Washington. 

Donald Trump congratulates his running mate JD Vance, as he delivers his victory address at Palm Beach County Convention Center.  

Vice President Kamala Harris carried Minnesota on Wednesday on a ticket with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, extending a winning streak for Democrats that goes back 52 years. In choosing Walz, Harris elevated a Midwestern governor, veteran and union supporter who helped enact an ambitious Democratic agenda for his state, including sweeping protections for abortion rights and generous aid to families. No Republican presidential candidate has carried Minnesota since Richard Nixon in 1972, although Donald Trump came close in 2016 when he fell just 1.5 percentage points short of Hillary Clinton. The Associated Press declared Harris the winner at 2:47 a.m. EST.

Donald Trump says 'will make America great again'.

He promised that he would "not rest until we have delivered the strong safe and prosperous America." "Every single day,” Trump said, “I will be fighting for you with every breath in my body."

Donald Trump said, "...This is a movement that nobody has ever seen before. Frankly, this was, I believe, the greatest political movement of all time. There has never been anything like this in this country and maybe beyond. Now, it is going to reach a new level of importance because we are going to help our country heal. We have a country that needs help...We are going to fix our borders, fix everything about our country. We made history for a reason tonight and the reason is going to be just that, we overcame obstacles that nobody thought possible. It is new clear that we have achieved the most incredible political win..."

Donald Trump takes the stage at Palm Beach County Convention Center to deliver his victory speech.

Former President Donald Trump won Pennsylvania on Wednesday, defeating Democrat Kamala Harris in the critical battleground state. Both candidates campaigned vigorously in the state, visiting it more often than any other. Trump won Pennsylvania’s 19 electoral votes four years after Democrat Joe Biden carried the state, flipping it from Trump’s column in 2016 on his way to capturing the “blue wall.” No Democrat has won the White House without also winning Pennsylvania since 1948. The Associated Press declared Trump the winner at 2:24 a.m. EST.

Trump is leading in 5 swing states. He has already won 2 swing states of Goergia and North Carolina.

New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Vermont, Colorado, Rhode Island, Connecticut, District of Columbia (DC), Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Virginia, New Hampshire, California, Oregon, Washington, New Mexico and Hawaii.

Six Indian Americans have won the elections to the House of Representatives, increasing their number from five in the current Congress. Indian-American lawyer Suhas Subramanyam created history by becoming the first from the community to be elected from Virginia and the entire East Coast. Subramanyan defeated Mike Clancy of the Republican Party. He is currently a Virginia State Senator. There is a possibility that the number of Indian Americans in the House of Representatives increased to seven as Dr Amish Shah was leading by a slender margin against his Republican incumbent in the first Congressional District of Arizona.

Michigan (Swing State), Pennsylvania (Swing State), Wisconsin (Swing State), Arizona (Swing State), Alaska and Nevada (Swing State).

Texas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Utah, Montana, Missouri, Florida, Louisiana, Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia, Iowa, Mississippi, South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia (Swing State), Idaho and North Carolina (Swing State).

⁦According to The Associated Press (AP), Donald Trump has won or projected to win 25 states. Trump is leading in six other states.

Donald Trump defeats Kamala Harris to become 47th President of US, projects Fox News. 

Trump supporters gathered at his election night watch party were hugging one another, making calls, jumping up and down, and throwing their MAGA hats in the air every chance they got to celebrate as results continued to trickle in. Guests are still arriving at the convention center in West Palm Beach.

Republican Donald Trump won the electoral vote tied to Nebraska’s 1st Congressional District on Wednesday. The former president easily bested Democratic candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris in the district that includes Nebraska’s capital city of Lincoln and surrounding rural areas. The district has long favored Republican candidates. It has not backed a Democrat for president since before 1992, when the state began splitting its Electoral College votes based on the popular votes in individual congressional districts. The Associated Press declared Trump the winner at 1:01 a.m. EST.

With Trump expected to address the watch party at Palm Beach Convention Center, Trump supporters are making their way into the venue as the president heads over from Mar-a-Lago.

A Trump campaign spokesperson is weighing in as the mood has shifted over at Harris’ watch party. “Sounds like the joy has left the building,” posted Karoline Leavitt, a campaign spokeswoman on X.

The Harris campaign turned off its projected CNN broadcasts at its election night watch party at Howard University as midnight approached. And some Harris supporters began leaving the event.

Democratic Rep Ro Khanna won reelection to a US House seat representing California on Wednesday. Khanna easily defeated Republican Anita Chen in a solidly blue district. Khanna was first elected to the U.S. House in 2016 after unseating incumbent Rep. Mike Honda, another Democrat. Khanna serves on the House Armed Services Committee and on the Oversight and Accountability Committee. The 17th district, which includes parts of Silicon Valley south of San Francisco, has been a safe Democratic seat since at least 1990. The Associated Press declared Khanna the winner at 12:20 am EST. 

Republicans win US Senate majority, seizing control of chamber for first time in 4 years, reports AP.

Democrat Kamala Harris won the electoral vote tied to Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District on Wednesday. The sitting vice president defeated Republican and former President Donald Trump in the district centered on Nebraska’s largest city of Omaha and its surrounding suburbs. The district has earned the nickname of Nebraska’s “blue dot” after having supported two other Democrats for president in the last 16 years – former President Barack Obama in 2008 and President Joe Biden in 2020. Nebraska and Maine are the only two states that split their Electoral College votes based on the popular votes in individual congressional districts. The Associated Press declared Harris the winner at 12:08 a.m. EST.

Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi won reelection to a US House seat representing California on Wednesday. Elected to the House in 1987, Pelosi was the first woman to be elected as US House speaker. She has led the House Democrats since 2003. She played a key role in efforts to pressure President Joe Biden to withdraw his candidacy for reelection in 2024. Pelosi represents a district that encompasses most of San Francisco. She is widely regarded as one of the most effective House speakers in history. The Associated Press declared Pelosi the winner at 12:03 am EST.

Trump takes leads by 230-209 electoral votes.

Vice President Kamala Harris is projected to win Hawaii with the state’s four electoral votes on Wednesday. It’s the 10th straight presidential election in which Hawaii has selected the Democratic Party candidate. The state last picked a Republican for the nation’s top office 40 years ago, when Ronald Reagan emerged victorious in 1984. Hawaii is a solidly blue state, with Democrats controlling all statewide elected offices and the state’s two U.S. House seats. Democrats have also long controlled more than three-quarters of the seats in both the state House and Senate. The Associated Press declared Harris the winner at 12:00 a.m. EST.

The head of the U.S. government’s cybersecurity agency says that though bomb threat emails sent to multiple states came from Russian email domains, it’s not clear that the culprits were actually Russian.

Jen Easterly, the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, told reporters Tuesday night that the matter was still being investigated and that the identity of the senders remains unknown.

The FBI said earlier in the day that the email threats sent to Georgia and other states were all judged to be noncredible and were from a Russian email domain. Easterly said the emails did not affect the ability of the voters to cast ballots.

Jen Easterly, the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure and Security Agency, told reporters late Tuesday night that the election process endured “minor disruptive activity throughout the day” but that that activity was anticipated and planned for.

“At this time, we’ve seen no evidence of malicious activity impacting the integrity … of election infrastructure,” she said.

Easterly also said the bomb threats reported in multiple states were all deemed noncredible and did not affect the ability of voters to cast ballots.

Forty-eight states and Washington, D.C., award all their presidential electoral votes to the candidate who wins statewide. And then there’s Nebraska and Maine.

The two states each award two electoral votes to the winner of the statewide vote, as well as one electoral vote to the popular vote winner in each congressional district. Nebraska has three congressional districts and five total electoral votes, while Maine has two congressional districts and four total electoral votes. This means that, although Nebraska is reliably Republican in statewide elections, a Democratic candidate could poach one electoral vote from the 2nd Congressional District, which includes the Democratic-friendly population center of Omaha.

Meanwhile, Maine votes reliably Democratic in statewide elections, but Republicans are competitive in the more conservative 2nd Congressional District.

Vice President Kamala Harris won Virginia on Tuesday, adding 13 electoral votes to her tally. Harris’ victory marks the third time Donald Trump has lost the Old Dominion state. The Democratic nominee for president has won Virginia in every election since 2008. The Associated Press declared Harris the winner at 11:42 p.m. EST.

 
Kamala Harris won Oregon on Tuesday, adding eight electoral votes to her tally. Oregon has one more electoral vote this cycle than it did in the previous presidential election after gaining a congressional seat following the 2020 census. The Democratic nominee for president has won Oregon since 1988. The Associated Press declared Harris the winner at 11:23 p.m.

Elon Musk said he would seek to reduce the number of federal agencies if Trump wins the White House and gives the billionaire businessman a role in his administration.

Speaking on Tucker Carlson’s online show from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, Musk said he wanted to help Trump make government more efficient. Musk, a key Trump supporter, is the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX and the owner of X, formerly Twitter. “We’ve got a gigantic bureaucracy, we’ve got overregulation,” Musk told Carlson. “We need to let the builders of America build.”

Kamala Harris won New Mexico on Tuesday, adding five electoral votes to Democrats’ tally. The Democratic Party’s influence in New Mexico has only grown over the last two decades, with former President George W. Bush being the last Republican to win the state in 2004. Harris never made any campaign stops in the state, but support in New Mexico’s more populous areas outweighed voters in conservative pockets as second-term Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and members of the state’s congressional delegation campaigned on the vice president’s behalf. The Associated Press declared Harris the winner at 11:33 p.m. EST.

Former President Donald Trump won the battleground state of North Carolina on Tuesday. Trump receives the state’s 16 electoral votes after defeating Democratic nominee Kamala Harris. Trump also won the state in 2016 and 2020, but Democrats had been optimistic they could reverse previous outcomes with campaign spending, canvassing and Harris rallies. They also tried to link Trump to embattled Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson. But Trump and running mate JD Vance visited North Carolina often during the fall campaign, pushing a more protectionist economic agenda and promises to crack down on illegal immigration and the southern border. The Associated Press declared Trump the winner at 11:18 p.m. EST.

Former President Donald Trump won Kansas and its six electoral votes on Tuesday. Republican candidates have carried Kansas in every presidential election since 1964, and it was the third election in a row that Trump has won the state. Kansas City-area suburbs that once were reliable GOP strongholds started leaning more Democratic after Trump was elected president in 2016, but Trump has retained his strong popularity in much of the state and particularly in rural areas. The Associated Press declared Trump the winner at 10:39 pm EST.

1. Arizona: Trump leads
2. Wisconsin: Trump leads
3. Pennsylvania: Trump leads
4. Georgia: Trump leads
5. North Carolina: Trump leads
6. Michigan: Trump leads
7. Nevada: No trends yet

Democrat Suhas Subramanyam won election to an open US House seat representing northern Virginia on Tuesday. Subramanyam, formerly a tech policy adviser under the Obama administration, began his political career as a state lawmaker in 2020 and was elected to the Virginia Senate last November. In the congressional race, he defeated Republican Mike Clancy after clinching the Democratic nomination in a crowded primary last June. Subramanyam received a key endorsement from Rep Jennifer Wexton to be her successor after she declined to seek reelection for health reasons. The Associated Press declared Subramanyam the winner at 10:49 pm EST.

Vice President Kamala Harris won Washington’s 12 electoral votes on Tuesday, besting former President Donald Trump in a state where he is not popular. Washington has not gone for a Republican presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan in 1984. President Joe Biden carried Washington in 2020 with 58% of the vote to Trump’s less than 39%. The Associated Press declared Harris the winner at 11:00 p.m. EST.

Former President Donald Trump won Idaho for the third consecutive election on Tuesday, adding four electoral votes to his tally. Idaho is deeply red, and the Republican presidential nominee has carried the state with more than 60% of the vote for the last several elections. The last time a Democratic presidential nominee won Idaho was 60 years ago, when Lyndon Johnson beat Republican Barry Goldwater by a narrow margin of just over 5,300 votes. The Associated Press declared Trump the winner at 11:00 p.m. EST.

Kamala Harris won California on Tuesday, giving her the largest prize in the presidential election - 54 electoral votes. The outcome in the heavily Democratic state where Harris previously served as a U.S. senator and attorney general was expected. A Republican candidate hasn’t won a presidential contest in the nation’s most populous state since 1988, and the GOP hasn’t seriously contested California in a presidential election since 2000. Registered Democrats outnumber Republicans in California by about 2-to-1, and the party holds every statewide office and dominates the Legislature and congressional delegation. The Associated Press declared Harris the winner at 11:00 p.m. EST.

New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Vermont, Colorado, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Washington DC, Illinois, Massachusetts and Maryland.

Texas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Utah, Montana, Missouri, Florida, Louisiana, Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia, Iowa, Mississippi, South Carolina and Alabama.

Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Arizona, Minnesota, North Carolina and Georgia.

Trump leads Harris by about a point with roughly 50% of the expected vote reported. Expect a long count. The margin of victory in the state was less than a point in 2020, 2016, 2004 and 2000. In 2020, Biden’s margin of victory was about 20,000 votes out of nearly 3.3 million cast.

Voters in Maine’s 1st Congressional District, which is comprised of wealthy coastal communities, delivered an electoral vote to Democrat Kamala Harris on Tuesday. Maine is one of two states that divide electoral votes with two votes going to the statewide winner and one apiece to the winner of each congressional district. Harris won the vote in the state’s more liberal district. The rural, conservative 2nd District voted for Republican Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020. The Associated Press declared Harris the winner of Maine’s 1st District at 10:45 p.m. EST.

With slightly less than 60% of the expected vote counted, Trump leads Harris by just over 110,000 votes. He is winning central and northeastern Pennsylvania. But Philadelphia and its collar counties, which have historically been strongly Democratic, have been slower to report votes.

About one-quarter of the estimated votes have been counted in Michigan, where Trump has a lead of just over 15,000 votes. Only a few thousand votes have been tallied in Wayne County, a Democratic stronghold that produced nearly 900,000 votes in 2020. Biden won Michigan in 2020, four years after Trump cracked the “blue wall” by capturing the state along with Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Donald Trump maintains lead over Kamala Harris with 210-113 margin.

Former President Donald Trump won Iowa on Tuesday, claiming the state’s six electoral votes. Formerly considered a swing state, Iowa has proved to be a clear example of Trump’s appeal among Republican voters and his staying power in the GOP. A majority of Iowans backed Democrat Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012 but chose Trump decisively in 2016 and again in 2020. Now, after easily earning the support of Iowa’s Republican caucusgoers earlier this year and buoying his reelection bid, Trump has won the state in three consecutive presidential elections. 

Donald Trump is projected to win 20 states till now. Trump has maintained a lead over Kamala Harris with a 198-112 margin. 

Kamala Harris is projected to win 11 states till now. 

Vice President Kamala Harris won the District of Columbia on Tuesday, securing the capital's three electoral votes. Harris' win in DC is no surprise – the District is a longtime Democratic stronghold whose government repeatedly feuded with Republican Donald Trump when he was the president. Trump has described modern-day Washington as a crime-ridden dystopia, and Republican allies in Congress have threatened to strip D.C. of its limited autonomy.

Kamala Harris won Colorado on Tuesday, picking up the state’s 10 electoral votes. Colorado was once a purple state, flipping between Democratic and Republican presidential candidates, but it has shifted blue in the past two decades. The last Republican presidential candidate to snag Colorado’s electoral votes was George W. Bush in 2004. Since then, it’s backed Democratic presidential candidates, with Joe Biden winning it handily in 2020. Colorado gained its 10th electoral vote after the 2020 census, attributed to population growth around Denver. The Associated Press declared Harris the winner at 10:08 p.m. EST.

Donald Trump won Utah and its six electoral votes on Tuesday. The Mountain West state is a rare Republican stronghold that has in past elections only half-heartedly supported Trump, whose brash style and comments about immigrants do not sit right with some members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Latter-day Saints, commonly known as Mormons, make up about half of Utah’s 3.4 million residents. A Democratic presidential candidate has not won in Utah since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964. Voters have historically favored moderate Republicans in statewide elections. The Associated Press declared Trump the winner at 10:00 p.m. EST.

Former President Donald Trump won Montana for the third consecutive election on Tuesday, adding four electoral votes to his tally. Montana has one more electoral vote this cycle than it did in the previous two, as the state received an additional congressional seat following the 2020 census. Montana has gone to the Republican nominee for president in all but one election going back to 1968. The Associated Press declared Trump the winner at 10:00 p.m. EST.

If both candidates register victory in all the states that historically support the same party, then it will leave Harris 44 electoral college votes short of victory and Trump 51 votes short.

In that situation, the 93 votes of the swing states will decide who the next American president will be. The swing states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, known as part of the Rust Belt, have been traditionally the strongholds of the Democratic Party. However, Trump won the three of them in 2016. The states returned to the Democratic fold in the 2020 election.

Republican Donald Trump won the reliably conservative state of Missouri on Tuesday, defeating Democrat Kamala Harris. Missouri voters overwhelmingly favored Trump over Democrats in the 2016 and 2020 elections, and he was favored to win again this year. In the past decade, the GOP has become increasingly dominant in Missouri, and Republicans now hold all statewide political offices. Republicans also hold large majorities in both legislative chambers. The Associated Press declared Trump the winner at 9:49 p.m. EST.

Republican Donald Trump won the electoral vote tied to Nebraska’s vast, rural 3rd Congressional District on Tuesday. The former president easily defeated Democratic candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris in the state’s most conservative of its three districts, covering 80 counties and two time zones. The district is also one of the most conservative in the country and supported Trump by about 3-to-1 in both 2016 and 2020. The last time the district voted for a Democrat to represent it in the U.S. House was in 1958. The Associated Press declared Trump the winner at 9:25 p.m. EST.

Democrat Raja Krishnamoorthi wins reelection to US House in Illinois' 8th Congressional District.

President Biden made a round of congratulatory calls to Democrats who have emerged victorious on Election Day. According to the White House, he’s called Lisa Blunt Rochester, who won a U.S. Senate seat in his home state of Delaware, and Matt Meyer, who was elected the state’s governor. He also called the outgoing governor, John Carney, who was elected mayor of Wilmington.

Other calls went to Andy Kim, who will be a senator from New Jersey, and Josh Stein, the next governor of North Carolina.

According to AP, in the trends, Republican candidate Donald Trump has gone far ahead of his rival Kamala Harris. Trump has got 177 electoral votes so far whereas, Kamala Harris secured 99 electoral votes.

Former President Donald Trump won Texas for the third consecutive election on Tuesday, adding 40 electoral votes to his tally. Texas gained two more electoral votes this cycle after the 2020 census. The Republican nominee for president has won Texas for nearly 50 years since Democrat Jimmy Carter carried the state in 1976. The Associated Press declared Trump the winner at 9:12 p.m. EST.

Republican Donald Trump carried Ohio for a third time on Tuesday, defeating Democratic nominee Kamala Harris to capture the state’s 17 electoral votes. Support for the former president helped turn Ohio from a presidential bellwether to reliably Republican in recent years. Ohio voters supported him by wide margins in 2016 and 2020, and they delivered for him again this year. No Republican has reached the White House without carrying Ohio. In 2020, Joe Biden became the first Democrat to win the presidency without winning Ohio since John F. Kennedy in 1960. The Associated Press declared Trump the winner at 9:08 p.m. EST.

Former President Donald Trump won Louisiana on Tuesday for the third consecutive presidential election, increasing his electoral vote tally by eight. In addition to voter support, Trump has various powerful political allies in and from the Bayou State, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Gov. Jeff Landry. In Louisiana, where the GOP currently holds each statewide elected office and controls the legislature, the Republican nominee for president has won every election since 1996. Trump won Louisiana with about 58% of the vote in both 2016 and 2020. The Associated Press declared Trump the winner at 9:00 p.m. EST.

Former President Donald Trump won South Dakota’s three electoral votes for president Tuesday. The Republican nominee had been expected to prevail comfortably in a state where GOP voters outnumber Democrats by more than 2-to-1. No Democratic nominee has carried South Dakota since President Lyndon Johnson won in 1964. Trump received nearly 62% of the vote in each of his previous runs for president, and both times his margin was more than 26 percentage points. Almost 51% of the state’s 616,000 registered voters are Republicans, while fewer than 24% are Democrats. The Associated Press declared Trump the winner at 9:00 p.m. EST.

Former President Donald Trump won North Dakota’s three electoral votes on Tuesday. His victory continues a decadeslong streak of Republican presidential wins in the conservative state known for its agriculture and energy production. The last Democratic presidential candidate to win the state was President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964. North Dakota has about 784,000 residents. The Associated Press declared Trump the winner at 9:00 p.m. EST.

Vice President Kamala Harris won New York’s presidential contest on Tuesday, picking up the state’s 28 electoral votes. New York has now voted for the Democrat in every presidential contest since giving Ronald Reagan the nod in his landslide 1984 election. Former President Donald Trump has consistently struggled to gain traction in his home state, losing New York in each of his three runs for the White House. New York’s electoral vote haul is the fourth richest, after California, Texas and Florida, but has one fewer vote than it did four years ago due to population shifts. The Associated Press declared Harris the winner at 9:00 p.m. EST.

Republican Donald Trump won the statewide popular vote in Nebraska for the third consecutive election on Tuesday, receiving two electoral college votes. Nebraska is one of two states that divide electoral votes with two votes going to the statewide winner and one apiece to the winner of each congressional district. Trump won Nebraska by 25 percentage points in 2016 and by 19 points four years later. The last Democratic presidential nominee to win the statewide popular vote in Nebraska was Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964. The AP declared Trump the winner at 9:00 p.m. EST.

Former President Donald Trump beat Vice President Kamala Harris in deep-red Wyoming to win the least-populated state’s three electoral votes on Tuesday. One of the most Republican states by almost any measure, Wyoming gave Trump his widest margins of victory in any state in the 2020 and 2016 elections. Trump made at least one fundraising visit to Wyoming in 2024 but did not campaign in the state. He focused instead on states less certain to deliver him wins. The Associated Press declared Trump the winner at 9:00 p.m. EST.

Pennsylvania Gov Josh Shapiro said there had been multiple bomb threats called into polling locations across the state, but said so far there is “no credible threat” to the public. Shapiro, a Democrat, spoke at a news conference. In a statement, the Pennsylvania State Police said they were working with local partners to respond, if needed.

Neither Shapiro nor police gave more details about who might be behind the bomb threats or why Shapiro believed there was no threat to the public. Polls closed in the presidential battleground state at 8 p.m. EST, except for two jurisdictions where judges granted requests for extensions.

• Arizona
• Colorado
• Iowa
• Kansas
• Louisiana
• Michigan
• Minnesota
• Nebraska
• New Mexico
• New York
• North Dakota
• South Dakota
• Texas
• Wisconsin
• Wyoming

The Electoral College is a 538-member body that elects a president. The framers of the Constitution set it up to give more power to the states and as a compromise to avoid having Congress decide the winner. Each state's electors vote for the candidate who won the popular vote in that state. The runner-up gets nothing — except in Nebraska and Maine where elector votes are awarded based on congressional district and statewide results. Donald Trump won the presidency in 2016 because of the Electoral College. So did George W. Bush in 2000. READ

Republican Donald Trump won ten states in Tuesday's U.S. presidential election. The states are- Kentucky, Indiana, Oklahoma, Florida, South Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee, West Virginia, Arkansas and Mississippi.

Republican Donald Trump won 10 states in Tuesday's US presidential election while Democrat Kamala Harris captured five states. The early results were as anticipated, with the contest expected to come down to seven swing states: Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin. Opinion polls showed the rivals neck and neck in all seven going into Election Day.

Democrat Kamala Harris won Delaware’s presidential contest Tuesday, easily defeating Republican Donald Trump. Harris’ victory in solid-blue Delaware was a foregone conclusion, given the stranglehold Democrats have held on the state’s three electoral votes for decades. The last Republican presidential candidate to win in Delaware was George H.W. Bush in 1988. That’s also the last time Delaware voters elected a Republican governor. Delaware’s congressional delegation for years has been composed entirely of Democrats, who also control both chambers of the state legislature. The Associated Press declared Harris the winner at 8:34 p.m. EST.

Vice President Kamala Harris won Illinois on Tuesday, claiming the state’s 19 electoral votes for Democrats. The reliably blue state, the home of former President Barack Obama, has supported Democratic presidential candidates since 1992. The Associated Press declared Harris the winner at 8:38 p.m. EST.

Democrat Kamala Harris faced Republican Donald Trump on Tuesday in the US presidential election. There are 538 Electoral College votes allotted to the 50 states and the District of Columbia. It takes 270 votes to win. The following table shows the projected winner of each state as forecast by media outlets and by data providers Edison Research and Decision Desk HQ, as well as the Electoral College tally based on each group's projections.

Trump likely to secure Mississippi.

Donald Trump won Florida on Tuesday for the third consecutive election, earning the state’s 30 electoral votes. Once a crucial battleground state, Florida has been drifting toward the Republican Party in recent years. A Democratic presidential nominee has not won the state since Barack Obama carried it in 2012. Meanwhile, Trump grew his margin of victory in his adopted home state between 2016 and 2020. The Associated Press declared Trump the winner at 8:01 p.m. EST.

Vice President Kamala Harris won New Jersey’s 14 electoral votes on Tuesday. Harris’ victory over Republican Donald Trump continues Democrats’ dominance in the state, which has gone with the Democratic candidate for president in every election since 1988. 

Former President Donald Trump secured Arkansas’ six electoral votes on Tuesday, winning the heavily Republican state for the third presidential election in a row. 

Republican Donald Trump won nine states in Tuesday's US presidential election while Democrat Kamala Harris captured three states and Washington, DC, Edison Research projected, but the outcome of the race remained uncertain with critical battleground states unlikely to be called for hours or even days. The early results were as anticipated, with the contest expected to come down to seven swing states: Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin. Opinion polls showed the rivals neck and neck in all seven going into Election Day.

Donald Trump won Tennessee on Tuesday, keeping the firmly Republican state and its 11 electoral votes in his win column. Trump won Tennessee by about 23 percentage points in 2020 and by 26 points in 2016. 

Kamala Harris won Connecticut on Tuesday, extending the state’s long trend of supporting Democratic presidential candidates and adding seven electoral votes to her tally. 

Vice President Kamala Harris won Maryland and its 10 electoral votes on Tuesday. Maryland is a heavily Democratic state that is home to many federal workers next to the nation's capital. The state has a Black population of about 30 per cent, the largest percentage of any state outside the Deep South. Democrats outnumber Republicans 2-1 in the state. Former President Donald Trump is deeply unpopular in Maryland. In 2020, Trump received just 32 per cent of the vote. A Republican has not won a presidential election in the state since George H.W. Bush in 1988. 

Donald Trump won Florida on Tuesday for the third consecutive election, earning the state’s 30 electoral votes. Once a crucial battleground state, Florida has been drifting toward the Republican Party in recent years. A Democratic presidential nominee has not won the state since Barack Obama carried it in 2012. Meanwhile, Trump grew his margin of victory in his adopted home state between 2016 and 2020. The Associated Press declared Trump the winner at 8:01 p.m. EST.

If Vice President Kamala Harris wins the extraordinarily tight US presidential election, she will create history by becoming the first woman, first Black woman and first person of South Asian descent to occupy the top post on the planet. The 60-year-old joined the race after President Joe Biden dropped out from his re-election campaign in July, weeks after he came under severe scrutiny following his incoherent performance at a televised debate with Republican nominee Donald Trump.

Kamala Harris is projected to win Vermont.

WHAT IT MEANS 

Vermont, which has three electoral college votes, has gone reliably for Democrats in recent presidential elections. Since electing Bill Clinton in 1992, the northeastern state has been considered a safe Democratic stronghold.  Kentucky, which has eight electoral college votes, has been reliably Republican since the 1950s.

The first races have been called. Donald Trump is projected to win Kentucky, according to Edison Research. Kamala Harris is projected to win Vermont.

Counting began in the US after millions of Americans cast their votes in a presidential election marked by drama and uncertainty. Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are now left to await the results of a tightly contested race following months of intense campaigning.

45% of voters in Michigan said they had a favourable view of Trump, compared with 45% who said so in Edison Research's 2020 exit poll. 53% viewed him unfavorably, compared with 53% in 2020.

48% of voters in Michigan said they had a favorable view of Harris, compared with 51% who said the same of Biden in Edison Research's 2020 exit poll. 50% viewed her unfavorably, compared with 47% who viewed Biden that way in 2020.

46% of voters in Georgia said they had a favourable view of Trump, compared with 46% who said so in Edison Research's 2020 exit poll. 52% viewed him unfavorably, compared with 53% in 2020.

49% of voters in Georgia said they had a favourable view of Harris, compared with 50% who said the same of Biden in Edison Research's 2020 exit poll. 49% viewed her unfavourably, compared with 48% who viewed Biden that way in 2020.

46% of voters in Arizona said they had a favourable view of Trump, compared with 48% who said so in Edison Research's 2020 exit poll. 52% viewed him unfavorably, compared with 51% in 2020.

46% of voters in Arizona said they had a favourable view of Harris, compared with 49% who said the same of Biden in Edison Research's 2020 exit poll. 52% viewed her unfavorably, compared with 50% who viewed Biden that way in 2020.

47% of voters in Pennsylvania said they had a favourable view of Trump, compared with 47% who said so in Edison Research's 2020 exit poll. 51% viewed him unfavourably, compared with 52% in 2020.

46% of voters in Pennsylvania said they had a favourable view of Harris, compared with 50% who said the same of Biden in Edison Research's 2020 exit poll. 53% viewed her unfavorably, compared with 49% who viewed Biden that way in 2020.

43% of voters in North Carolina said they had a favourable view of Trump, compared with 47% who said so in Edison Research's 2020 exit poll. 55% viewed him unfavourably, compared with 51% in 2020.

48% of voters in North Carolina said they had a favourable view of Harris, compared with 50% who said the same of Biden in Edison Research's 2020 exit poll. 50% viewed her unfavourably, compared with 47% who viewed Biden that way in 2020.

44% of voters in Wisconsin said they had a favourable view of Trump, compared with 43% who said so in Edison Research's 2020 exit poll. 52% viewed him unfavourably, compared with 55% in 2020.
47% of voters in Wisconsin said they had a favourable view of Harris, compared with 52% who said the same of Biden in Edison Research's 2020 exit poll. 52% viewed her unfavorably, compared with 46% who viewed Biden that way in 2020.

Nearly three-quarters of voters in Tuesday's presidential election believe American democracy is under threat, according to national exit poll data from Edison Research, reflecting the deep anxiety that the nation faces after a contentious campaign between Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump. Democracy and the economy ranked by far as the most important issues for voters, followed by abortion and immigration, the data showed. The poll showed 73% of voters believed democracy was in jeopardy, against just 25 per cent who said it was secure.

Read full story here

Trump has multiple paths to 270, but his most viable route depends on securing Florida and Pennsylvania. If he wins both states and retains North Carolina and Arizona, states he narrowly won in 2016—along with Georgia and Ohio, he will reach the necessary electoral threshold.

Read full story here

 A US judge on Tuesday denied a bid by Republicans to block seven counties in the battleground state of Georgia from accepting some absentee ballots, and chided the party's lawyers for what he termed discrimination against political opponents. The Republican National Committee on Sunday sued the seven counties in Savannah federal court for allowing voters to return absentee ballots over the weekend and on Monday. They said the early voting period was supposed to close on Friday, and asked the court to block the counties from accepting the ballots.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, the running mate of Vice President Kamala Harris, expressed optimism that former President Donald Trump will accept the election results, even if he loses, CNN reported. When asked by reporters before Walz boarded his flight from Pennsylvania to Washington, DC, on Tuesday if he believes Trump will concede the election if he loses, Walz said he believes Trump will concede, if "history is ... any indicator."

 Donald Trump is refusing to say how he voted on Florida's abortion measure — and getting testy about it.
The former president was asked twice after casting his ballot in Palm Beach, Florida, on Tuesday about a question that the state's voters are considering. If approved, it would prevent state lawmakers from passing any law that penalizes, prohibits, delays or restricts abortion until fetal viability — which doctors say is sometime after 21 weeks.

US stock indexes are ticking higher Tuesday as voters head to the polls on the last day of the presidential election. The S&P 500 was up 0.4 per cent in early trading, inching closer to its record set last month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 66 points, or 0.2 per cent, as of 9.35 am Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.6 per cent higher.
Excitement about the artificial-intelligence boom helped lift Wall Street, as it has for much of the last year. Software company Palantir Technologies jumped 16.7 per cent after delivering bigger profit and revenue than analysts expected for the latest quarter.

As tens of millions of Americans cast their votes in the presidential election, the Kamala Harris Campaign said it felt “good” about early voting in the Keystone state of Pennsylvania and other battleground states. With Pennsylvania emerging as the most critical of the seven swing states with 19 electoral college votes, Harris spent the final few hours of her canvassing in the state and even went door-knocking in some residential areas.

Vice President Harris, whose mother is from India, is locked in a historically tight electoral contest with Republican leader Donald Trump in the race for the White House to succeed President Joe Biden.
“Listen, we feel good about what we’re seeing in Pennsylvania and across the battleground states,” Harris’ communications director Michael Tyler said.
“I think when you look at the early vote data, yes, there has been a mode shift because Republicans — they used to disparage early voting and claim it was fraud,” Tyler told Fox News.

Fighting the most important political battle of his life, former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, declared on Tuesday — the voting day — that it would be the "most important day in American history".
Trump made the comment in an email to his supporters as millions of Americans started lining up before polling booths across the country to exercise their right to franchise and elect their next president.
Trump and his Democratic rival Vice President Kamala Harris are the two choices that Americans have in this presidential election.
“It is now officially ELECTION DAY! This will be the most important day in American History,” Trump said.

There is excitement on the ground among Indian Americans, a large number of whom are coming out to vote in support of Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate, one of the party’s top fundraisers said on Tuesday.
“We are receiving very good feedback from the ground, in particular from the battleground states like Pennsylvania, Michigan and Georgia. The Indian American community is energised,” Ajay Jain Bhutoria, Deputy National Finance Chair and member of the National Finance Committee of the Harris-Walz campaign told PTI in an interview.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz told reporters Tuesday that his experience as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate “restored” his faith in the nation. “This is truly a remarkable thing we do every four years,” he said in a conversation with reporters outside his campaign plane. “It’s democracy. It’s messy. It’s beautiful. It’s the people.”

“My faith in this country has been so restored,” he added.

The phone bank was inside the DNC headquarters just off Capitol Hill in the nation’s capital.

Phone banks run at all times around an election, but on Election Day those phone banks are often focused on reaching people who have yet to cast a ballot or low-propensity voters who could be pushed to the ballot box by a call.

“The path to the White House runs through North Carolina,” Harris said in an interview on Raleigh’s Foxy 107.1. “And it’s a tight race. We are tied. Every vote matters.” Harris told host Karen Clark she plans to work the phones until polls close to get out every vote she can.

“This is about turning the page and bringing in a new generation of leadership for America,” Harris said.

Election Day voting unfolded largely smoothly across the nation Tuesday with only scattered reports of delays from extreme weather, ballot printing errors and technical problems.
Most of the hiccups occurring by midday were “largely expected routine and planned-for events,” said Cait Conley, senior adviser to the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, in a press briefing. She said the agency was not currently tracking any national, significant incidents impacting election security.

In swing-state Pennsylvania, early reports that Republican poll watchers were not allowed into some polling sites were soon resolved. A Pennsylvania state judge ordered polls to remain open for two extra hours in Cambria County, which voted 68 per cent for former President Donald Trump in 2020. The county sought the extension after a software malfunction affected ballot-scanning machines, though county officials confirmed no one was turned away from the polls and said all ballots would be counted.

A technical malfunction in Champaign County, Illinois, and challenges with e-pollbooks in Louisville, Kentucky, also delayed voting, but those issues were soon fixed and voting was back up and running. In Arizona's Maricopa County, one voting location was slightly delayed when a worker forgot to bring a key.
 

Three out of four American adults believe this election is vital for the future of democracy. They believe that the stakes are high — and for some, so are their stress levels. But there’s more you can do than doomscroll and hold your breath between news alerts. Some experts advise using meditation and mindfulness to ease their stress. Headspace, a mental health company and app, has a whole series of guided meditations called its “politics without panic” collection.

Trump has been aggressively promoting baseless claims in recent days questioning the integrity of the election. He falsely insists that he can lose only if Democrats cheat, even as polls show that the race is a true toss-up. Trump could again claim victory on election night regardless of the results, just as he did in 2020. Such rhetoric can have serious consequences as the nation saw when Trump loyalists stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021 in one of the darkest days in modern American history. And unfortunately, there is still a potential for further violence this election season.

The Republican National Committee will have thousands of “election integrity” poll monitors in place on Tuesday searching for any signs of fraud, which critics fear could lead to harassment of voters or election workers. In some key voting places, officials have requested the presence of sheriff deputies in addition to bulletproof glass and panic buttons that connect poll managers to a local 911 dispatcher.

Global investors were on edge as Americans headed to the polls on Tuesday, drawing to a close a dramatic U.S. election cycle that has moved bonds, stocks and other assets in recent months and could further sway markets as results become clearer. One of the most unusual elections in modern U.S. history could yield starkly different implications for tax and trade policy as well as for U.S. institutions depending on whether Republican Donald Trump or Democrat Kamala Harris prevails.

The results could rattle assets around the world and lead to broad financial fallout, including on the outlook for U.S. debt, the strength of the dollar and a host of industries that make up the backbone of Corporate America.

Drusilo Saucedo, a 21-year-old junior and first-generation Mexican American, said listening to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Joe Rogan’s podcast last month helped sway her vote. “Trump answers questions directly. Sometimes he doesn't, but he's definitely more honest than Kamala Harris,” Saucedo said. “You ask Kamala about her policy, she ends up saying, ‘I came from a middle class,’ like, that's all she says.”

Women’s rights were top of mind for 20-year-old junior Rayyan Youssef when he cast an early voting ballot for Democratic candidate Kamala Harris a week ago.

“I have a lot of important women in my life,” Youssef said. “I don't think that abortion should be completely unrestricted, but, of course, you know, you can’t either be black and white. There’s got to be, like, some in between.”

Hindu Americans have emerged as a key voting bloc for both the Republican and Democratic parties in the final stages of the US presidential race, which the two campaigns and political pundits consider too close to call. The campaigns of both Republican leader Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris have actively sought to win the support of Hindu voters. President Joe Biden hosted the largest-ever Diwali Party at the White House, inviting some 600 influential Indian Americans from across the country. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, who is the running mate of Vice President Harris, went to a Hindu temple in the battleground state of Pennsylvania to celebrate Diwali.

For the first time, a vice-presidential candidate has visited a Hindu temple, a move that energised a significant portion of the Hindu community in the key battleground state of Pennsylvania.

US Election Result: When will we know who has won Presidential poll? | Trump vs Harris | WATCH

The FBI said on Tuesday fake bomb threats have been made to polling locations in several states, many of which appear to originate from Russian email domains. "None of the threats have been determined to be credible thus far," it said in a statement. It did not identify the states.

 Millions of Americans headed towards polling stations across the United States on Tuesday to elect the 47th President between Republican leader Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris in an election billed as one of the most consequential contests for the White House in decades.

US Capitol Police on Tuesday arrested a man at the visitors centre who smelled like fuel and was carrying a torch and a flare gun, police said in a statement. The Capitol Visitor Centre was closed while they investigated, US Capitol Police said.

Tuesday, November 5 is Election Day in the United States.

University of Houston students casting their votes and interviewed by Reuters on Election Day (November 5) were split among whom they'd like to see in the White House. Drusilo Saucedo, a 21-year-old junior and first-generation Mexican American, said listening to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Joe Rogan’s podcast last month helped sway her vote. “Trump answers questions directly. Sometimes he doesn't, but he's definitely more honest than Kamala Harris,” Saucedo said. “You ask Kamala about her policy, she ends up saying, ‘I came from a middle class,’ like, that's all she says.”

Donald Trump can vote despite a string of felony convictions earlier in the year because of the way the laws work in New York and Florida.  Trump’s home state of Florida defers to the jurisdiction where the conviction occurred.  “A felony conviction in another state makes a person ineligible to vote in Florida only if the conviction would make the person ineligible to vote in the state where the person was convicted,” according to Florida's Department of State Division of Elections.

In New York State, a convicted felon is eligible to vote if they are not incarcerated, according to state's Board of Elections. Therefore, as a registered voter in Florida with felony convictions in New York, Trump's eligibility to vote is determined by New York’s voting rules not Florida's. Trump has been a Florida resident since 2019 after he changed his primary residence from New York City to Palm Beach, CNN reported citing court documents. On Election Day, Trump arrived at a polling station in Palm Beach to cast his ballot.

In a tight presidential race, there are speculations that the results could take longer this time. Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign has warned that results may take several days, as vote tallies will come in at different times across states, and close results could delay a final call. The campaigns of both Harris and former President Donald Trump are fighting for every vote, especially in the seven key battleground states of Arizona, Nevada, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia.

Folks, it’s Election Day.  Make your voice heard, America. Vote!: Biden appeals

Trump declined to publicly say how he voted on Florida's ballot measure asking voters whether to amend the state constitution to protect abortion access after the state banned them after six weeks under a May 1 law signed by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis. "Just stop taking about that," he told reporters after casting his ballot when asked how he voted on the measure.

The man went to vote in the town of Fowler near the Canadian border at about 6:30 a.m., New York State Police said in a news release. The man, who had previously been convicted of a felony, was told that he was ineligible to vote because he had not re-registered after being released from prison. The man became irate and began threatening to return with a gun or to burn the place down, police said. The man fled but was later picked up by state police and brought to the station for questioning. Charges against him were pending.

“If it’s a fair election, I’d be the first one to acknowledge,” the results, Trump said, though what meets that definition wasn’t clear. Speaking to reporters after voting in Florida, Trump said that he had no plans to tell his supporters to refrain from violence should he lose. “I don’t have to tell them,” because they “are not violent people,” he said. Trump planned to visit a nearby campaign office to thank those working on his behalf.

Trump has cast his ballot in Palm Beach, Florida and says his latest presidential campaign was the best yet. “I ran a great campaign. I think it was maybe the best of the three. We did great in the first one. We did much better in the second one but something happened. I would say this is the best campaign we’ve run,” he said, standing next to his wife, Melania Trump.

As Americans woke up Tuesday morning to elect a new president, many of them received a message from former president Barack Obama, urging them to go out and vote and telling them that this election is going to be close. Democratic leader Kamala Harris and Republican nominee Donald Trump are locked in a fierce race to occupy the White House as the 47th President of the US. "Folks, this election is going to be close. In some states, just a handful of votes in every precinct could decide the winner,” Obama said in a short but powerful video message that appeared on the screens of millions of people through various digital mediums like email, messaging apps like WhatsApp and social media platforms like X and Facebook.

Millions of Americans headed towards polling stations across the United States on Tuesday to elect the 47th President between Republican leader Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris in an election billed as one of the most consequential contests for the White House in decades. The race remained stubbornly deadlocked for weeks, with some of the election forecasters giving 60-year-old Vice President Harris an edge over former President Trump, 78, in some of the key battleground states like Pennsylvania.

Rains lashed much of the nation's midsection since morning as voting began. The forecasters have predicted storms in large swaths of the country in the later part of the day. However, the enthusiasm for voting remains intact as voters continued to line up in North Carolina and Black Mountain among others.

Former US President and Republican nominee Donald Trump urged people to stay in line and deliver the vote calling voting day the most important one in American history.

The U.S. Justice Department has been cleared to send lawyers to polling sites in Missouri and Texas on Election Day to monitor compliance with federal voting rights laws after those Republican-led states had sued to block it from doing so.

Both states are among the 27 that the department said it would send staff out to monitor polling locations on Tuesday to ensure compliance with federal voting rights laws, as it has done regularly during national elections.

The FBI has warned US citizens about two new fake videos falsely citing terror threats and voter fraud, the latest in a string of disinformation that officials expect will intensify as voters head to the polls on Election Day and in the weeks afterwards.

One fabricated video purporting to be from the federal law enforcement agency falsely cited a high terror threat and urged Americans to "vote remotely," while another video includes a fake press release alleging to be from the agency and alleging rigged voting among inmates in five prisons.

Both are "not authentic," the Federal Bureau of Investigation said in a statement, "Attempts to deceive the public with false content about FBI threat assessments and activities aim to undermine our democratic process and erode trust in the electoral system."

While the voting continues across states in the US, a billboard showcasing a slogan in favour of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump was seen in Tel Aviv.

Donald Trump's running mate, Vice Presidential Candidate JD Vance cast his vote in Ohio. Voting in Ohio is underway through the machines.

The voting opened in Michigan for the US Presidential elections with queues of voters lined up waiting for their chance

Sunita Williams, NASA astronaut currently at the International Space Station (ISS), will vote in the US presidential election. She will cast a ballot similar to how people on Earth use absentee ballots. Astronauts utilize a system that mirrors this process to cast their votes.

After completing a Federal Post Card Application for the request of an absentee ballot, she will receives an electronic version. This electronic ballot will then travels a remarkable distance—1.2 million miles—from the space station to Mission Control at Nasa’s Johnson Space Center in Texas.

Kamala Harris urges supporters to ensure voting. Taking on X, she said, "Knock on doors. Call voters. Reach out to friends and family. Together, we will write the next chapter of the greatest story ever told."

The timing of poll closing varies by state and sometimes even by county. However, most polling stations are set to close between 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. local time. Moreover, the early results are expected to start rolling in within hours of the closure of the first poll at 7 p.m., though vote tallying speed will differ across states.

As voting begins in the United States, voters line up outside the polling stations. Visuals from Maryland where voters reach the polling station early morning.

Donald Trump and Kamala Harris tied at 3:3 in the New Hampshire hamlet Dixville Notch, which has six voters. The New Hampshire town of Dixville Notch, which has for decades kicked off Election Day at the stroke of midnight on Monday became the first place in the country to cast a ballot this time.  

At the beginning of the voting, Democrat nominee Kamala Harris took to X and said, "Election Day is here. Today, we vote because we love our country and we believe in the promise of America."

Democrat Sarah McBride is expected to make history next week as the first openly transgender person elected to the U.S. Congress. In 2016, she became the first openly transgender person to address a major U.S. political convention and in 2020 became the first to serve in a U.S. state Senate.

McBride, 34, is favored to win Delaware's sole seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, after securing the Democratic nomination in a competitive September primary and is expected to easily win a seat that the three major U.S. nonpartisan political rating services rate solidly Democratic.

Voting began in the United States to elect the new President—visuals from the polling station as voters line up to cast their ballots. 

Ten counties to watch for in seven swing states -- Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin are:

• Maricopa County, Arizona
• Cobb County, Georgia
• Baldwin County, Georgia
• Wayne County, Michigan
• Washoe County, Nevada
• Wake County, North Carolina
• Erie County, Pennsylvania
• Bucks County, Pennsylvania
•  Cumberland County, Pennsylvania
• Waukesha County, Wisconsin

U.S. stock index futures were steady on Tuesday ahead of election day voting, with traders girding up for volatile trading over the coming few sessions until a clear winner is declared.

Both Republican candidate Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris predicted victory in the final day of campaigning, with polls showing the race as extremely close.

Even odds in betting markets, which many investors over the past few months have been relying on to predict the election outcome, were mixed. Harris gained a slight edge on PredictIt overnight, but Trump maintained leads on Polymarket and Betfair.

The contest will almost certainly be decided by tens of thousands of voters – a tiny fraction of the populace – in a handful of swing states. That's because only seven of the 50 states are truly competitive this year, with the rest all comfortably Democratic or Republican, according to public opinion polls.

Among those seven battlegrounds, Pennsylvania, the most populous, stands out as the most likely state to determine whether Democrat Kamala Harris or Republican Donald Trump is the next president.

Here’s a list of when the polls open in different states in Eastern Time.  

• 5 - 10 a.m.: Vermont 
• 5:45 - 7:00 a.m.: Massachusetts  
• 6 a.m.: Connecticut, New Jersey, New York and Virginia 
• 6 - 7 a.m.: Indiana and Kentucky 
• 6 - 10 a.m.: Maine 
• 6 - 11 a.m.: New Hampshire 
• 6:30 a.m.: North Carolina, Ohio and West Virginia 
• 7 a.m.: Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and South Carolina 
• 7 - 8 a.m.: Alabama, Florida, Michigan and Kansas  
• 7 - 10 a.m.: Tennessee 
• 8 a.m.: Arizona, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Iowa and Wisconsin 
• 8 - 9 a.m.: South Dakota and Texas 
• 8 - 11 a.m.: Minnesota and North Dakota 
• 8:30 a.m.: Arkansas 
• 9 a.m.: Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming, Montana, Utah and Nebraska 
• 10 a.m.: California, Nevada and Oregon 
• 10 - 11 a.m.: Idaho 
• 10 - 12 p.m.: Washington 
• 11 - 12 p.m.: Alaska 
• 12 p.m.: Hawaii 

Oil prices traded in a narrow range on Tuesday ahead of what is expected to be an exceptionally close U.S. presidential election, after rising more than 2% in the previous session as OPEC+ delayed plans to hike production in December. Brent crude futures ticked down 3 cents, or 0.04%, to $75.05 a barrel by 0600 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $71.43 a barrel, down 4 cents, or 0.06%.

With sacred chants, ringing of bells and offerings of flowers and bananas, a Hindu priest in Kamala Harris' ancestral village in southern India conducted prayers for her victory on Tuesday, hours after she and her opponent Donald Trump closed out their campaigns. The temple ceremony in Thulasendrapuram, in the state of Tamil Nadu, was organised by local villagers and attended by more than a dozen of them and a few tourists.

In what he said was his last ever rally of his political career, U.S. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Tuesday (November 5) compared himself to historical political figures like Abraham Lincoln, George Washington and Winston Churchill. Talking about late British wartime leader Churchill’s tendency to stutter, Trump said “If I do it they say, ‘He's cognitively impaired. There's something wrong with him’.”

In the heart of northern New Hampshire, the small town of Dixville Notch kicked off the US Election Day with its traditional midnight vote early Tuesday (November 5). At midnight, the town's six registered voters gathered at the Tillotson Room of the Balsams Resort to cast the first votes on Election Day. Residents have cast the first ballots here for the last 60 years.

Here is a timeline of events related to the election between now and Inauguration Day in January.

• Nov. 5: Election Day
• - Later in November: It could take days for the election result to be known, especially if it is close and mail-in ballots are a factor.
• Nov. 26: Trump, the first sitting or former U.S. president to be convicted of a crime, is due to be sentenced in a Manhattan hush money case where he was found guilty of falsifying documents to cover up a payment to silence a porn star. Trump has denied wrongdoing. 
• Sentencing was originally due to take place on Sept. 18.
• Dec. 17: Electors, who together form the Electoral College, meet in their respective states and the District of Columbia to select the president and vice president.
• Dec. 25: The electoral votes must be received by this date by the president of the Senate - a role held by the vice president, currently Harris - and the archivist.
• 2025
• Jan. 6: The vice president presides over the Electoral College vote count at a joint session of Congress, announces the results and declares who has been elected.
• Ahead of the count on Jan. 6, 2021, then-President Trump lambasted his vice president, Mike Pence, for refusing to try to prevent Congress from certifying President Joe Biden's victory over Trump.
• On that day, the U.S. Capitol was attacked by Trump supporters trying to stop the count. Biden's win was certified early the next day.
• Congress has since passed the Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act of 2022, which requires approval of one-fifth of the House and Senate to consider a challenge to a state's results – a much higher bar than existed before, when at least one member each in the Senate and House of Representatives could together trigger a challenge.
• Jan. 20: The inauguration of the election winner and their vice president takes place. At this ceremony, the victor and the vice president are officially sworn into office.

On the eve of Election Day, Harris and Trump both campaigned in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, urging voters to turn out in an exceptionally close election. Polls show Trump, 78, and Harris, 60, virtually tied, though both candidates predicted victory. The winner may not be known for days after Tuesday's vote. Trump has already signalled that he will attempt to fight any defeat, as he did in 2020.

In-person voting began at midnight local time in the small New Hampshire town of Dixville Notch and ends at 7 p.m. in the Hawaiian-Aleutian time zone, already the next day back east.  Most polling places open around 7 a.m. or 8 a.m. ET.  Some voters in Vermont can vote starting at 5 a.m. ET, but the opening hours vary depending on the location.  In general, most states open their polling stations between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m. local time. Some state laws permit counties to set different hours.

The presidential contest between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris hurtled toward an uncertain finish on Tuesday as millions of Americans headed to the polls to choose between two sharply different visions for the country. A race whipsawed by unprecedented events - two assassination attempts against Trump, President Joe Biden's surprise withdrawal and Harris' rapid rise - remained too close to call, even after billions of dollars in spending and months of frenetic campaigning. Trump's campaign has suggested he may declare victory on election night even while millions of ballots have yet to be counted.