US Election Live: Donald Trump Casts His Vote In Florida, Says 'I Feel Very Confident'
2024 US Presidential Election News Live: In her final leg of campaign, Harris focused on a message of hope, unity, optimism, whereas Trump remained fiercely combative in targeting his Democratic rival
After casting his ballot, former President Donald Trump said he is “very confident” he will win the election and that “it won’t even be close,” while expressing frustration that it may take a while to call the results.
“I feel very confident,” Trump said. “I hear we’re doing very well everywhere.” He added that this was the “best” of the three campaigns he ran, CNN reported.
Voting has been extended in Cambria County, Pennsylvania for an extra two hours, giving voters an extended time to return to cast their votes after a software malfunction earlier in the day, a court has ruled, as reported by The Guardian.
"The [electronic voting system] software malfunction threatens to disenfranchise a significant number of voters," the Cambria County board wrote in its court filing.
Kamala Harris did a last-minute radio interviews targeting key voters groups on The Big K Morning Show with Larry Richert on NewsRadio KDKA in Pittsburgh. She spoke about immigration and bridging the political divide, and discussed how her policies would impact Black men and the historical implications of the election, Associated Press reported.
Donald Trump urged voters to cast ballots and stay in line no matter how long it took to "make America great again".
"It is now officially ELECTION DAY! This will be the most important day in American History. Voter enthusiasm is THROUGH THE ROOF because people want to Make America Great Again. That means lines are going to be long! I need you to deliver your vote no matter how long it takes. STAY IN LINE! The Radical Communist Democrats want you to pack up and go home. Together, we are going to have a tremendous victory and MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!" Trump tweeted.
The first polls tonight will close at 6 pm ET and are in the eastern counties of Indiana and Kentucky.
At 7pm ET, polls will close in Georgia, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, parts of Florida, and the rest of Indiana and Kentucky.
Thirty minutes later, at 7:30pm ET, polls in North Carolina, Ohio and West Virginia will close.
At 8pm, polls will close in Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, the District of Columbia, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Missouri, parts of Michigan, North Dakota, South Dakota and Texas, and the entire of Florida.
By 9pm ET, polls will close in Arkansas, as well as Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Wisconsin, Wyoming, the entire of Texas, Michigan, South Dakota and North Dakota.
At 10pm ET, polls in Montana, Nevada and Utah will close. At 11pm ET, polls in California will close, as well as Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.
At midnight, polls in Hawaii will close and finally, at 1am ET, polls will close in Alaksa. (The Guardian reported)
Republican Vice Presidential candidate JD Vance voted in Cincinnati this morning.
“Look, I feel good. You never know until you know, but I feel good about this race,” Vance said after he and his wife cast their ballots. He said he would leave for Palm Beach, Florida, to join Donald Trump as results come in, Associated Press reported.
Donald Trump spent the very early hours of Election Day wrapping up a late-night rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The Republican candidate plans to spend the day in Florida, where he is expected to vote in person — despite previously saying he would vote early. He is scheduled to hold a campaign watch party in Palm Beach on Tuesday night.
Meanwhile, Kamala Harris is set to attend an election night party at Howard University in Washington, where she graduated with a degree in economics and political science in 1986. Besides Howard, Harris has no public schedule announced for Election Day, Associated Press reported.
According to the Election Lab at the University of Florida, nearly 82 million Americans voted early in the 2024 US elections, with just under 45 million voting early in person and about 38 million voting early by mail.
It’s now 8 a.m. on the U.S. East Coast, and polls are open across more than half of US states. Ten new states, including Texas, Arizona, and the crucial swing state of Wisconsin, have joined in voting.
The states beginning ballots include Alabama, Iowa, Kansas (with flexibility by county), Minnesota, Mississippi, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wisconsin, which holds 10 electoral votes that could be pivotal in the outcome, the BBC reported.
On US election night, one might hear about the terms "red mirage" or "blue shift". It refers to the recent phenomenon by which an apparent Republican lead early after polls close on election night is erased by the counting of mail-in ballots later in the evening or in the days after Election Day.
In past elections, such shifts fueled unfounded fraud claims, but they reflect differing vote-count timelines rather than irregularities.
Voters in Maryland queue outside a polling station to cast their vote in US presidential election 2024.
The seven battlegrounds that will decide the next US presidency are:
- Pennsylvania (19 Electoral College votes)
- Georgia (16)
- North Carolina (16)
- Michigan (15)
- Arizona (11)
- Wisconsin (10)
- Nevada (6)
As American voters head to the polls on Tuesday to elect the country’s next leaders, election officials across the US have pledged to uphold the integrity of the vote and urged voters not to be misled by conspiracy theories.
"Here in Georgia, it is easy to vote and hard to cheat," Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said Monday. "Our systems are secure and our people are ready".
This comes as the 2024 US Election has already featured allegations from Trump and other Republicans that the vote is "rigged".
Donald Trump has made repeated claims that Democrats are cheating in the polls, and has twisted isolated problems with voting to make his supporters to believe the election is not legitimate in case he loses, CNN reported.
On the final day of the presidential election campaign, Democratic candidate Kamala Harris went on a door-to-door campaign in Pennsylvania, while the Republican opponent Donald Trump also dedicated the last day of campaign to the state, more
Polls Opening at 5.00 pm IST
Ohio
North Carolina
West Virginia
Vermont
Polls Opening at 5.30 pm IST
Alabama
Delaware
Washington, DC
Florida
Georgia
Illinois
Kansas
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Missouri
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
Tennessee
In the extrenely close presidential election, the first votes cast on Election Day were evenly split, with three for Donald Trump and three for Kamala Harris, Asoociated Press reported.
The tiny New Hampshire resort town of Dixville Notch has a tradition dating back to 1960 of being the first in the nation to complete in-person voting. The town’s six voters began casting their ballots on the stroke of midnight Tuesday and the vote count was complete 15 minutes later.
In an election where tensions have run high, the setting in Dixville Notch couldn’t have been more congenial. Voting took place in the living room of the Tillotson House, with cookies and coffee and a couple of very friendly dogs.
while millions of Americans have already cast their votes early, many others are heading to polling stations today. The poll opening times vary across states and in some cases even within counties or municipalities. Here's a list of states where polls opnened at 4:30 PM IST as per a report by CNN.
Connecticut
Indiana
Kentucky
Maine
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New York
Virginia
Polls open in more states, including New York and Indiana. Voters in Connecticut, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, New Jersey, New York and Virginia can cast their ballots for US Presidential elections. Of these, New York has the most electoral college votes, with 28 up for grabs there. The state with the fewest is Maine, with four, the BBC reported.
Americans do not directly elect the presidential candidates themselves when they cast their votes. Voters cast ballots for competing "electors" who will in turn cast the actual votes meant to elect the president and vice president on December 17. These electors from all 50 states and the District of Columbia are collectively referred to the "Electoral College".
The presidential candidate who wins the majority of the popular vote on election night does not necessarily win the White House. This is because in order to win the presidency, a candidate must win a majority of votes in the Electoral College.
Here’s how the Electoral College works:
- The Electoral College is comprised of 538 electors who represent all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
- Each state has between three and 54 electoral votes. The number of electors from any given state is determined by adding its total number of US senators and US representatives. (D.C. gets three electoral votes—the number it would have if it were a state and the minimum number of electors possible for any state.)
- A candidate needs a majority of electoral votes – 270 – to win.
- In 48 states and the District of Columbia, all electoral votes are awarded to the candidate who wins a plurality of the popular vote in that state. This is known as the “winner-take-all” system.
- Two states – Maine and Nebraska – do not award their electoral votes according to a winner-take-all system.
- After the general election, electors meet in their respective states on the first Tuesday after the second Wednesday in December to cast separate ballots for president and vice president. This year, electors will meet on December 17.
- The meeting is usually held in the state capitol or state house building.
The Electoral College results are counted and certified by a joint session of Congress on January 6.
(With inputs from CNN)
Former US President Donald Trump stated during his final campaign rally that his real opponent was not Vice President Kamala Harris but instead "an evil Democrat system."
"We will defeat the corrupt system in Washington. Because I’m not running against Kamala, I’m running against an evil Democrat system. These are evil people," CNN quoted Trump as saying during the rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
“The silent majority is back and tomorrow you need to get out and vote,” Trump added.
Harris or Trump need at least 270 electoral votes to win the presidency. The winner needs a majority of the total 538 Electoral College votes, divided among the 50 US states and the District of Columbia.
Each state's electoral votes are based on updated population counts from the 2020 Census. Thirteen states will have a different number of electoral votes than they did in the last presidential election, CNN reported.
The Trump Campaign claimed on Monday that the early voting figures indicated that the ruling Democratic Party is facing a massive turnout deficit. Over 80 million registered voters exercised their right to franchise and in some of the key battleground states, more than 50 per cent of the electors had already voted by Monday, news agency PTI reported.
Early voting is considered to be advantageous to the Democratic Party given the past trend of the last two election cycles.
The Howard University on Tuesday geared up to host Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris for her election night watch party, news agency PTI reported.
This is the first time in modern history that a presidential election night event will be hosted on a college campus. Notably, Harris graduated from Howard University with a bachelor’s degree in 1986, PTI noted.
The campus has been transformed as it prepares to host Harris and her running mate Tim Walz.
US Elections 2024: "I live in Las Vegas, Nevada. I came here to Kamala's great grandparents' village to support her because I happened to be in India. We are here today because there's going to be a 'puja'," says a supporter of presidential candidate Kamala Harris, who came to the US vice president's ancestral village in Tamil Nadu's Thanjavur ahead of the election.
All eyes on America! The US is gearing up for a historic Presidential election on Tuesday, November 5, with Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump vying for the role of the 47th President. This election holds global significance, with the US as a leader in technology, trade, and diplomacy—its choice of leadership shaping international relations, economic policies, and global stability. READ MORE
Women will be the group to soundly reject former President Donald Trump on Election Day, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said at the final rally of his campaign Monday night in Detroit.
“Folks, this is getting pretty simple now: Kamala and I trust women,” Walz said as per an AP report.
“Now tomorrow, women all across America, of every age, both parties, are going to send a loud, clear message to Donald Trump, whether he likes it or not," he added.
India has come up more than once on the US presidential election campaign trail, not least because the Democratic nominee, Kamala Harris, has Indian roots. There are other factors too — the clout of the Indian American diaspora in the US and Delhi’s strengthening partnership with Washington.
ABPLive takes a look at when, why and how India came up in speeches as former President and Republican nominee Donald Trump and US Vice-President Harris hit the campaign trail for the supercharged election. READ MORE
When voters go to the polling stations on Tuesday, they will have to decide between the top issues presented by Kamala Harris – abortion and character – or Donald Trump – immigration and the economy.
Here is a look at the issues:
- Economy and Inflation: The high prices are foremost in the minds of people, and the cost of food has increased by about 25 per cent since the end of 2020.
- Foreign Trade: To force companies to bring back jobs to the US and reduce the advantages that foreign countries have, Trump has threatened high tariffs on imports, in some cases going as high as 100 per cent.
- Immigration: Border officials have documented over 10 million people illegally crossing into the US and many more have slipped in without being apprehended.
- Abortion: Harris has made abortions a centrepiece of her campaign hoping to appeal to women, most of whom support abortion rights.
- Democracy and Character: Harris has called Trump a danger to democracy because he has refused to accept his defeat in the 2020 election and due to the riot by his supporters on January 6, 2021, when they broke into the Capitol while Congress was certifying Biden’s election. They threatened members of Congress and some made death threats against then-Vice President Mike Pence.
- Foreign Policy: Trump has said that he wants to be a peacemaker and at the same time claims that his policies for a strong US and his unpredictability have prevented major conflicts from arising and kept the US out of foreign entanglements. On Ukraine, Trump wants to end the conflict that is costing the US billions in supporting that country against Russia, if necessary through a compromise.
- Energy: A climate change sceptic, Trump has said he would undo restrictions on drilling for petroleum and gas and use increased exploitation to bring down prices.
- Social Issues: Trump has brought focus to the issue of transgender men competing in women’s sports and using women’s and girls' bathrooms. He has said that he would end both. Harris is sympathetic to the cause of transgender people and said she would protect their rights.
The 60th US presidential election is shaping up to be one of the most consequential and closely watched races in recent history. The contest will decide the country’s 47th president and 50th vice president, roles widely recognised as the most powerful in the world. The 2024 election will see all 435 seats in the House of Representatives up for grabs, along with 34 of the 100 seats in the Senate. These congressional elections will shape the composition of the 119th Congress. Additionally, voters will decide on 13 state and territorial governorships and numerous other state and local offices.
The spotlight is on the main contenders for the presidency: Democrat Kamala Harris, the current vice president, and Republican Donald Trump, the former president. However, a handful of other candidates are also vying for the top job. While Harris and Trump dominate headlines, the others are quietly making their case to American voters. These candidates come from diverse political backgrounds and present alternative visions. READ MORE
Tamil Nadu: Prayers offered for the victory of US Presidential candidate Kamala Harris at her ancestral village, Thulasendrapuram The US presidential elections are set to take place on November 5, with Harris going against former US President and Republican candidate Donald Trump.
India recently held the world's largest democratic exercise with the successful conduct of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Despite the vast scale of India's parliamentary polls—encompassing millions of voters, extensive resources, and significant security and logistical challenges—the process of electing the Prime Minister is relatively simple and easy to understand.
In each of the 543 parliamentary constituencies, voters cast their ballots for their preferred party. Once all the votes are tallied, the party with the most winning candidates forms the government, and its leader is declared the Prime Minister. READ MORE
Ohio senenetar and Donald Trump's running mate JD Vance reportedly referred to Kamala Harris as “trash.” Speaking Monday in Atlanta, Vance ripped Harris by referencing a comment made by President Joe Biden suggesting that Trump supporters were “garbage.”
Biden, in turn, was responding to a joke by comic Tony Hinchcliffe at Trump’s recent Madison Square Garden rally in which Hinchcliffe likened Puerto Rico to a “floating island of garbage," as per a report by AP.
Nine Indian Americans are in the fray for the US House of Representatives. Five of them are seeking re-election, while another three are having their maiden run in congressional politics.
Contesting for the US House of Representatives from the 10th Congressional District of Virginia, Suhas Subramanyan (38) is likely to create history by becoming the first Indian American to be elected from Virginia and the East Coast. He lives in a district that has a significantly large Indian American population in a Virginia suburb of Washington DC. READ MORE
The US federal law enforcement and election security agencies have debunked a video falsely claiming election fraud in Arizona, linking it to an ongoing Russian disinformation scheme and warning on the eve of Election Day that the Russia-linked efforts risk inciting violence, including against election officials.
The joint statement by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the FBI and the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency also cited an article posted recently and amplified by Russian influence actors that falsely claimed officials in swing states plan to orchestrate election fraud using such methods as ballot stuffing and cyberattacks, according to a report by AP.
Federal officials said they anticipate that Russian actors will release additional “manufactured content” through Election Day and in the days and weeks after polls close.
As Americans cast their votes in the 2024 presidential election, the final results will hinge on several critical factors, from how votes are cast and counted to potential legal disputes in key battleground states. The winner may be clear on election night — or the process could stretch into days or weeks.
Here's what to expect as the world awaits the results. READ MORE
After state election officials certify their elections, electors meet in their individual states — never as one body — to certify the election. This year, that will happen on December 17. If the two candidates have a tied number of votes, the election is thrown to the House, where each state’s congressional delegation gets one vote. Once a state’s electors have certified the vote, they send a certificate to Congress. Congress then formally counts and certifies the vote at a special session on January 6. The vice president presides as the envelopes for each state are opened and verified.
Under the Electoral College system, more weight is given to a single vote in a small state than to the vote of someone in a large state, leading to outcomes at times that have been at odds with the popular vote.
The Electoral College is a 538-member body that elects a president. 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. To win the presidency, a candidate must secure 270 electoral votes — a majority of the 538 possible votes.
Electors are allocated based on how many representatives a state has in the House of Representatives, plus its two senators. The District of Columbia gets three, despite the fact that the home to Congress has no vote in Congress. As per a report by the Associated Press, it varies by state, but often the electors are picked by state parties. Members of Congress cannot serve as electors.
Most states in the US normally have a predictable voting pattern, and in such states, the results are often clear soon after the voting. But a handful of key (swing) states may take time to call the races, which may delay the final and overall US presidential results. The swing states -- they are so-called because they can go either way unlike solidly Democratic and Republican states -- are Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada.
However, the winner declared after the election day counting is actually just a “projected” winner. The official president-elect is not declared until electoral votes are taken into account.
The poll closing times reportedly differ from state to state because of the difference between multiple time zones in the US.
The final voting for the US Presidential election will be held on Tuesday, November 5, 2024. In most states, polling stations will open between 7 am and 9 am local time. Given the span of multiple time zones in the US, that would be between 5 pm to 7 pm IST
More than 78 million American voters had already cast their ballot by Monday morning, on the eve of Election Day as Vice-President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump crisscrossed the seven battleground states with their closing remarks. Harris and Trump are locked in a tight race even at this late stage in the campaign. The Vice-President leads the former President by 0.9 percentage points in the weighted average of national polls compiled by FiveThirtyEight, at 47.9 per cent and 47 per cent. Trump is ahead of Harris by 0.1 percentage point in the RealClearPolitics average of polls, at 48.5 per cent and 48.4 per cent. But the election is going to be determined not by national votes but by electoral college votes that the nominees secure, especially in the seven battleground states.
The race between Democratic leader Kamala Harris and her Republican rival Donald Trump for the White House has been truly unprecedented as it saw drama, tragedy, political comebacks, fierce rhetoric and a historically razor-tight contest. As the fight reaches its crescendo with the big election day just a few hours away, many political observers billed the unpredictable race for the 47th President of the US as the most consequential one in decades while appearing to project a grim picture for the country’s future under a Trump presidency.
In her final days of campaign, Vice President Harris focused on a message of hope, unity, optimism and women rights whereas Trump remained fiercely combative in targeting his Democratic rival and even suggested that he may not accept the election outcome in case of a defeat. Overall, it has been a roller coaster ride for both 60-year-old Harris and 78-year-old Trump.
Background
US Election Results 2024 LIVE: The final voting to elect the 47th president of the United States is set to begin on Tuesday (November 5), with both-- Republican former President Trump, and Democratic Vice President Harris-- predicting their victory as they campaigned across Pennsylvania on Monday in the final leg of an exceptionally close U.S. presidential election race. Both, Trump, 78, and Harris, 60, urged supporters in Pennsylvania, who have not yet cast their ballots, to show up on Election Day. The state reportedly offers the largest share of votes in the Electoral College of any of the seven battleground states expected to determine the outcome.
In her final days of the campaign, Vice President Harris focused on a message of hope, unity, optimism and women's rights whereas Trump remained fiercely combative in targeting his Democratic rival and even suggested that he may not accept the election outcome in case of a defeat. Nevertheless, opinion polls show both Trump and Harris virtually even.
Overall, the campaigns of two main rivals saw a series of head-spinning twists, with two assassination attempts and a felony conviction for Trump, and Harris' surprise elevation to the top of the ticket after President Joe Biden, 81, dropped his reelection bid under pressure from his own party.
More than USD 2.6 billion has been spent to sway the minds of 186 million Americans, who are eligible to vote, since March, according to AdImpact, an analytics firm.
When Will The US Election Start?
The final voting for the US Presidential election will be held on Tuesday, November 5, 2024. In most states, polling stations will open between 7 am and 9 am local time. Given the span of multiple time zones in the US, that would be between 5 pm to 7 pm IST
When Does Polling End?
Poll closing times differ from state to state and sometimes county to county, according to a report by Al Jazeera.
When Will The Results Be Declared?
Most states in the US normally have a predictable voting pattern, and in such states, the results are often clear soon after the voting. But a handful of key (swing) states may take time to call the races, which may delay the final and overall US presidential results. The swing states -- they are so-called because they can go either way unlike solidly Democratic and Republican states -- are Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada.
However, the winner declared after the election day counting is actually just a “projected” winner. The official president-elect is not declared until electoral votes are taken into account.
Who Are Electors?
Electors are allocated based on how many representatives a state has in the House of Representatives, plus its two senators. The District of Columbia gets three, despite the fact that the home to Congress has no vote in Congress. As per a report by the Associated Press, it varies by state, but often the electors are picked by state parties. Members of Congress cannot serve as electors.
What Is The Electoral College?
The Electoral College is a 538-member body that elects a president. 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.
To win the presidency, a candidate must secure 270 electoral votes — a majority of the 538 possible votes.
How Is It Different From Popular Vote?
Under the Electoral College system, more weight is given to a single vote in a small state than to the vote of someone in a large state, leading to outcomes at times that have been at odds with the popular vote.
How And When Final Votes Are Counted?
After state election officials certify their elections, electors meet in their individual states — never as one body — to certify the election. This year, that will happen on December 17.
If the two candidates have a tied number of votes, the election is thrown to the House, where each state’s congressional delegation gets one vote. Once a state’s electors have certified the vote, they send a certificate to Congress. Congress then formally counts and certifies the vote at a special session on January 6. The vice president presides as the envelopes for each state are opened and verified.
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