US Election Results 2024 Live: First Projections Show Lead For Donald Trump

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 -

1. Nevada

2. Michigan

3. Pennsylvania

4. Wisconsin

5. Arizona

6. North Carolina

7. 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.