The race for the White House is in its final leg, with voting set to close at 11.30 am India Standard Time (IST). As the day unfolds, counting in polling centres across 50 states will tell who crosses the majority-mark of 270 electoral college votes out of the total 538.
Former president Donald Trump (78), the Republican candidate, along with running mate Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, is hoping to trounce the Democratic ticket—Vice-President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz—with his ‘Make America Great Again’ (MAGA) pitch.
For now, Trump seems to be racing towards the halfway mark, while Harris trails behind.
Stay tuned to ThePrint for latest updates on the US presidential election 2024.
US presidential election | LIVE UPDATES:
10:45 am: Kamala Harris wins Hawaii’s four electoral votes. The state has deemed victorious a Democratic Party candidate for tenth time.
10:30 am: The issue of bomb threats is being investigated. Although sent from Russian domains, culprits might not necessarily be Russian, Jen Easterly, the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, told reporters.
10:15 am: Kamala Harris wins New Mexico, Oregon, and Virginia, adding 26 electoral votes to her tally.
10.00 am: Donald Trump wins Idaho, North Carolina as he moves closer to the halfway mark of 270. Harris is trailing with 179 electoral votes as Trump reaches 230.
Also read: Trump or Harris, why US presidential elections matter to India and the world
9.45 am: Harris wins advantage as she claims California’s 54 electoral votes. Washington once again goes the Democrat way awarding the vice-president with 12 electoral votes.
9.30 am: Kamala Harris wins 1st Congressional district in Maine. With just one-quarter of the votes counted, Trump is in the lead in Michigan—a state Joe Biden claimed for the Democrats in 2020. Six of the seven swing states, including central and northeastern Pennsylvania, are leaning towards Trump.
Polls will close soon in California, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.
9.15 am: After supporting Obama’s candidacy in two elections, Iowa went the Trump way in 2016. Trump once again claimed victory in Iowa alongside swing state Ohio and the six electoral votes of Kansas in the Tuesday election.
Also read: Harris, Trump in dead heat across swing states in Washington Post poll
9.00 am: Kamala Harris wins Colorado, and the District of Columbia. While DC has been a Democratic stronghold, Colorado was a purple state before it turned blue two decades ago.
8.45 am: Donald Trump wins Missouri. The seat, considered to be ‘reliably conservative’, voted 52.9% in favour of Trump, with Kamala Harris at 45.9% votes, Associated Press numbers suggest. Trump has also claimed Montana and Utah.
8.30 am: Voting was disrupted in multiple locations across the swing states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, Georgia, Wisconsin, and Arizona. Two polling stations in Pennsylvania remained open till 10 pm ET due to the delay caused by these threats. CNN reported that state officials have reason to believe that the threats originated from Russian email addresses.
8.15 am: Even before polls opened, nearly 82 million Americans had already cast their ballots in early voting, the Associated Press reported. Compared with past data, trends show a break from the past with more Americans voting in advance. Read more here.
Another unique feature of the presidential election campaign this time was the use of surrogates by both Harris and Trump. From former US president Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama to billionaires Elon Musk, Bill Ackman, and pop star Taylor Swift, the campaign trail was unlike any Americans had seen. Read more here.
8 am: What is the electoral college, why swing states hold the key to victory and what about third party candidates? Here’s your guide to the US presidential election.
To know how absentee ballots work and how foreign nationals in India vote for the presidential election back home, read this report.
Also Read: What Trump-Harris result could mean for India in key areas, from geopolitics to trade & immigration