Along with the presidential elections, Americans have also cast their vote for the US Senate.
US Presidential Results 2024 LIVE: With the polls closed and ballots cast across 50 states and Washington, D.C., early trends are showing a lead for former President Trump. With the results expected in the coming days, seven swing states will determine who will become the next President of the United States—Kamala Harris or Donald Trump.
Along with the presidential elections, Americans have also cast their vote for the US Senate.
As per the latest count, the Republicans continue to maintain their lead with 48 votes and the Democrats trail behind with 36 votes.
Meanwhile, Bernie Sanders has retained his seat in Vermont for the fourth time in a row.
The first party to reach 50 seats will be declared the majority in the US Senate.
This is definitely a tight race. Moments ago, Vice President Kamala Harris maintained a lead in the swing states of Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. However, these states have now flipped with Trump in the lead.
Remember, it is still too early to call the race for either of the two candidates.
With counting underway, it is still too early to project which way the seven battleground states will swing.
As per AP, Vice President Kamala Harris is currently holding the 'Blue Wall' and leading in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Harris is also leading in Arizona as of 10 PM ET.
In Georgia and North Carolina, former President Donald Trump is currently in the lead.
The votes from Nevada are yet to come in.
Vice President and Democratic candidates Kamala Harris is currently leading in three swing states - Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, also known as the "Blue Wall".
The three states were flipped by Donald Trump in 2016 when he won his first term as President of the United States. However, in 2020, Joe Biden reinstated the blue wall by a narrow margin.
As per the latest projections by AP, Harris is currently leading in all three swing states. However, it is too early to call any of the one swing states in her favour.
The majority of the US states have early voting which allows voters to cast their ballot in advance via postal mail.
These mail-in ballots are considered crucial for the race to the White House as they can flip the early projections for any state. For instance, Trump enjoyed a strong lead in Georgia in 2020, however, once the mail-in ballots came in, Biden won and flipped the state.
Before the votes are tallied, the mail-in votes are processed to ensure they have not been tampered with and are valid. While the process varies from state to state, the counting of these ballots begins once polls close.
Donald Trump is currently leading in early projections with 177 electoral votes. Vice President Kamala Harris currently trails with 99 electoral votes.
As per Associated Press, Harris is projected to win nine states, namely - Vermont, New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Illinois and Maryland.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump has been projected to win across 16 states, namely - Texas, Florida, Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia, South Carolina, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Louisiana, Indiana and Alabama.
Celebrity endorsements have become a staple of United States presidential campaigns over the past 100 years. With their massive followings and cultural influence, celebrities can shift voter sentiments and mobilise public participation, particularly among younger voters. However, the effectiveness of these endorsements in the ongoing campaign remains a topic of debate.
Hollywood actor George Clooney set the ball rolling for endorsements in 2024 when he publicly showed his support for Democratic candidate Kamala Harris stating, “President Biden has shown what true leadership is. He’s saving democracy once again. We’re all so excited to do whatever we can to support Vice President Harris in her historic quest.” This came after he harshly criticised Biden for running in the elections initially.
Read more on the impact of celebrity endorsements on the US presidential elections here.
In US presidential elections, the blue wall refers to the Great Lake states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. All three of these states are also key battleground states for the 2024 polls and are expected to swing.
For the 2020 elections, Biden narrowly restored the blue wall and won in all three states, flipping the outcome of the 2016 elections.
For the 2024 race, first projections show that Kamala Harris and the Democrats are leading in Pennsylvania and Michigan. It is too early to project a lead for the state of Wisconsin.
While it is too early to call the race for either of the two candidates, Kamala Harris has been projected to win a few states.
As per the projections by AP, Harris has been projected to win around 71 electoral votes from Maryland, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Jersey, Delaware, Illinois, Connecticut and Massachusetts.
However, as per CNN's projections, the Vice President is projected to win 27 electoral votes as of now from Vermont, Maryland, Delaware, Massachusetts and the District of Columbia (Washington DC)
Republican candidate and former President Donald Trump is currently in the lead in early projections.
As per AP, Trump has been projected to secure 101 electoral votes from - Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia, Florida, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, South Carolina and Alabama.
Meanwhile, CNN has projected 105 electoral votes for Donald Trump from Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Alabama, Florida and South Carolina.
As per the exit poll data, the majority of Americans cited the state of the economy among some of the key issues impacting their vote for president.
Both candidates - Harris and Trump have laid out their economic plans. A Donald Trump presidency carries high risks for global growth due to tariffs, while Kamala Harris is less profligate with far more fiscal discipline.
Read more on the economic visions of Harris and Trump here.
With counting underway and the last polls wrapping up voting, the final results for the US Elections 2024 can take days to come in.
Of the total of 538 electoral college votes, the presidential candidates need 270 to win the race and become "President-elect".
As per the latest projections by AP, Kamala Harris is now projected to win five states and Donald Trump - nine states.
Here is where each presidential candidate stands as of 8 PM ET -
Kamala Harris - 35 Electoral Votes
Harris has been projected to win Vermont, Maryland, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut. The Vice President has also been projected to win the District of Columbia.
Donald Trump - 95 Electoral Votes
Trump has been projected to win Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia, Florida, South Carolina, Alabama, Oklahoma, Mississippi and Tennessee.
Polling hours in the key swing state of Georgia have been extended after evacuations caused by a hoax bomb threats. The Georgia Secretary of State announced extended polling hours at five locations across the state's Fulton County and Gwinnett County.
The polling booths will stay open for an extra 20-40 minutes due to apparent Russian bomb threats.
Hours before polling began across the United States, villagers from Vice President Kamala Harris' ancestral village in India organised special prayers for Democratic presidential nominee's victory.
Villagers from across Thulasendrapuram in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu offered their prayers at the Sri Dharmasastha Hindu temple, praying for victory for Harris and Tim Walz.
As polls close across the country, early projections have started to come in with counting underway in 50 states and Washington DC. While it remains too early in the state, here are where Harris and Trump stand as of now -
Kamala Harris - 3 Electoral Votes
Harris has been projected to win Vermont
Donald Trump - 23 Electoral Votes
Donald Trump has been projected to win Kentucky, Indiana and West Virginia.
As polls close across the United States and counting begins, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump need 270 votes to become the next President.
However, there is a scenario, albeit rare, where Harris and Trump end the race tied at 269 electoral votes.
What happens if there is a tie? The Congress steps in.
The US Congress has a set process to decide a president in case of a tie. As per Congressional Research Service, each state, regardless of their position, will cast a single vote for President in a contingent election.
This means a group of House members from each state will choose among the candidates with the most Electoral College voters and the candidate which receive a majority of the backing is designated as President-elect.
For the 2024 elections, Americans are also voting for their representatives in the Senate and House. In this case, the newly elected Congress will take a vote in Janaury 2025.
With the counting of votes underway, Vice President Kamala Harris has been projected to win the state of Vermont. Both CNN and AP have projected the three electoral college votes in Vermont for the Harris-Walz campaign.
The winner needs a total of 270 votes to win the race to the White House.
The polls have now closed! Based on the count available to us as of 7 PM ET, Donald Trump is projected to win two states - Kentucky and Indiana.
It is still too early to call anything and the race remains a tight one with all national polls suggesting a neck-and-neck fight between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.
The seven swing states - Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Nevada, North Carolina and Georgia - will play a key role in determining who makes it to the title of "President-elect".
With polls closing in a few minutes, Vice President and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris took to Instagram to urge voters to "stay in line".
"If you are in line before the polls close, stay in line. It is your right to make your voice heard," stated Harris.
Harris is running for the post of President of the United States with Minnesota governor Tim Walz. Harris catapulted into the race following President Joe Biden's exit from the contest and has received large-scale support from voters, celebrities and Democrats.
Majority of polls across the United STates have closed and the process of counting has begun. As of 6:40 PM ET, a total of 0.1 percent of the votes have been counted.
With millions of votes and ballots yet to be counted, it could take days before we find out who is the next President of the United States.
The polls are closed and the trends are in. As per Associated Press, Republican candidate and former President Donald Trump is currently leading in the states of Indiana and Kentucky.
Both Indiana and Kentucky have had a long history of voting for the GOP. In the 2020 elections, Indiana and Kentucky voted for Trump and Mike Pence in the race to the White House.
On polling day, some battleground states reported high voter turnout despite threats apparently aimed at disrupting voting. As per reports, Michigan, Wisconsin and Georgia have received suspected Russian-sourced threats.
However, the threats were dismissed as "not credible" by the FBI. Speaking to CNN, the FBI stated that the threats “appear to originate from Russian email domains" and that "none of the threats have been determined to be credible thus far.”
From New Hampshire’s sun-baked town halls to Pennsylvania’s packed high school gyms and here in the quiet suburbs of Tennessee, there’s been one constant undercurrent—the fierce determination of young women.
Whether in swing states like Arizona or deeply conservative ones like Georgia, young women are speaking up, mobilising and preparing to make their voices heard on what may be the defining issue of the 2024 presidential election—reproductive rights.
Read more on how abortion rights have taken centrestage for the US Presidential elections here.
Along with the Presidential elections, Americans are also voting for their Senate representatives. As per the latest data called by the Associated Press, the Republicans are currently leading with 38 seats.
The Democrats follow behind with 28 votes. The first side to 50 seats will form the majority across the US Senate.
As per exit poll research conducted by Edison Research, the top two issues among American voters are - a threat to American Democracy and the state of the economy.
As per Edison, around 73 percent of Americans believe that the state of democracy in America is in "jeopardy", while only 25 percent believe that democracy is secure.
After Democracy and the state of the economy, the top issues for voters were abortion rights and immigration.
Staying true to patterns, former President and Republican candidate Donald Trump has already started alleging voter fraud. Taking to his social media account - TRUTH SOCIAL - Trump alleged that "massive cheatng" is going on in Philadelphia, which is part of the key swing state of Pennsylvania.
“A lot of talk about massive CHEATING in Philadelphia. Law enforcement coming!!!” Trump posted on Truth Social on Tuesday around 4:40 PM ET.
Philadelphia Police Department told CNN that they were not aware of what Trump was referring to and did not know of any issues with voting that required a law enforcement response.
While votes from all 50 states matter, the seven swing states will determine if Harris or Trump wins the race. The key battleground states for the 2024 elections are -
Nevada
Michigan
Pennsylvania
Wisconsin
Arizona
North Carolina
Georgia
Across these seven states, a total of 93 Electoral College votes are up for grab, with 19 coming from Pennsylvania. It is these swing states that will ultimately seal the US Presidential Elections.
Read more about the 7 Swing States on Outlook here.
With polls set to close in another 20 mins across the 50 states and Washington DC, the final ballots are being cast to decide if Kamala Harris or Donald Trump will be the next President-elect and take oath as POTUS in January 2025.
Polls opened between 7 AM ET to 8 AM ET across the United States for around 244 eligible voters.