In one of the closest Presidential elections, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are vying to become the next president of the US.
Millions of people will head to the polls to vote for candidates who offer a contrasting vision of America. Harris and Trump each need at least 270 electoral votes to win the presidency.
Harris, who became the Democratic Party candidate after President Joe Biden exited the race, has advocated for abortion rights and pledged to lower food and housing costs for working families.
Republican candidate Trump, who survived two assassination attempts this year, has vowed to seal the border and has proposed tax cuts worth trillions.
More than 81 million people have already voted in what polls suggest will be a historically close election.
The swing states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin are expected to be pivotal to their path to victory.
When is the 2024 US election result expected?
In some presidential races, the winner has been named late on election night or early the following morning. This time, the knife-edge race in many states could mean media outlets wait longer before projecting who has won.
As Richard Hargy, Visiting Research Fellow in International Studies, Queen’s University Belfast, writes in The Conversation, an early indicator of which candidate is performing better will come between 7 pm and 8 pm Eastern time when polls close in the key battleground states of Georgia and North Carolina.
Both states are competitive for Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, and if the former is declared the winner in either, then the contest will pivot in her favor.
The next key moment could occur between 8 pm and 9 pm Eastern time when voting ends across the so-called blue wall states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. However, it is unlikely that a winner will be declared in any of these states straightaway. By 10 pm Eastern time, polls will have closed in two other critical swing states, Arizona and Nevada, says Hargy.
Narrow victories could also mean recounts. In the key swing state of Pennsylvania, for example, a state-wide recount would be required if there is a half-percentage-point difference between the votes cast for the winner and loser. In 2020, the margin was just over 1.1 percentage points.
Legal challenges are also possible. More than 100 pre-election lawsuits have already been filed, including challenges to voter eligibility and voter roll management, by Republicans.
The 2020 election took place on Tuesday, November 3rd. However, US TV networks did not declare Joe Biden the winner until late morning on Saturday, November 7th after the result in Pennsylvania became clearer.
US Election result forecasts show Harris-Trump too close in swing states
There are 50 states in the US but because most of them nearly always vote for the same party, in reality there are just a handful where both candidates stand a chance of winning. These are the places where the election will be won and lost and are known as battleground states or swing states.
Right now, the leads in the swing states are so small that it is impossible to know who is really ahead just by looking at the polling averages.
Stakes are high in the 2024 US Election
CNN reports that if Trump wins on Tuesday, he will be only the second defeated president to win a nonconsecutive term. He will complete one of the most staggering political comebacks ever after trying to torch democracy to stay in power following the 2020 elections, being convicted of a crime, and escaping two attempts on his life this year.
Harris could shatter the line of nearly 250 years of male commanders-in-chief and become the first female president. It would be a stunning feat after having unified the demoralized Democratic Party in July when the ravages of age destroyed President Joe Biden’s reelection bid, CNN adds.
Related:
The Greek American Vote: Greeks for Harris
The Greek American Vote: Greeks for Trump
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