U.S. Election Day: Polls in swing states begin to close

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Polls are closing as most Americans have cast their votes to decide on the next President of the United States, in a battle between Republican nominee former president Donald Trump and Democratic nominee U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris.

Trump has won Florida, a one-time battleground that has shifted heavily to Republicans in recent elections. He also notched early wins in reliably Republican states including Kentucky, Tennessee and Indiana, while Harris took Democratic strongholds like Vermont, Massachusetts and Maryland.

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The results of the race — a virtual tie, recent polls by Fox News, NBC News and CNN indicate — will likely not be available Tuesday evening. State election offices are responsible for certifying results, according to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), the independent regulatory agency that administers and enforces federal campaign finance law. But many factors play into how long it will take for those results to start rolling in, including laws from individual states on when they can start counting votes.

“In the two most populous counties, they don’t finish counting until 1 a.m. or 2 a.m. And so several hundred thousand votes come in, you know, under the cover of darkness,” University of Wisconsin professor Mike Wagner told The Guardian. “And they happen in the two most liberal counties in the state. The Democrat always picks up a ton of votes in the middle of the night in Wisconsin, because, by law, they can’t start counting until then.”

A factor that has the potential to speed up the counting process is that there were fewer mail-ballots in this presidential election, per the American Civil Liberties Union, meaning there are less to count. However, “each state still has its own election administration procedures on how, and when, to process ballots,” said the union. Some states don’t process ballots until Election Day.

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Roughly half of the United States have automatic recounts that are triggered for different reasons, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) as reported by The Hill. This could also make the process of obtaining election results even longer.

In many of those states, like Florida, Michigan or Arizona, votes are counted again if there is a margin of 0.5 per cent or less. In Hawaii, it’s by a margin of 100 or fewer votes, or 0.25 per cent, whichever is larger, per The Hill. In New York, election officials can determine a recount is needed if a “a discrepancy exists.”

In 2012, when former U.S. president Barack Obama was elected, it was announced by news outlets on midnight of election day, BBC News reported. However, for following elections, the time between the polls closing and the new president being announced continued to grow. Trump’s 2016 victory was announced by media around 3 a.m. ET. In 2020, U.S. President Joe Biden was not declared winner until four days after election day.

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Almost every region of Florida shifted to the right

In comparison to 2020, nearly all of Florida has moved right during this presidential election cycle.

Miami-Dade County saw the greatest increase, with an 18 percentage point shift right. It was enough to move the county from the Democrats’ column in 2020 to the Republicans’ this year.

Polls closing in key Virginia races

As polls close in Virginia, a pair of competitive House races could give an early hint of who is faring better in the race for House control.

In northern Virginia, Democrat Eugene Vindman and Republican Derrick Anderson, both Army veterans and lawyers, are vying for a House seat.

In the military-heavy southeast part of the state, Republican Rep. Jen Kiggans is running for reelection against a fellow Navy veteran, Democrat Missy Cotter Smasal. Meanwhile in Georgia, Democrats and Republicans are poised to swap control of a pair of redistricted House districts.

What to watch as polls are closing

Florida: First polls are about to close in much of Florida, which reports votes quickly. The first votes released will be early in-person and mailed votes. Those have tended to favor Democrats in the past, but it’s not clear that trend will hold this year. Florida adds Election Day votes soon after and counts few votes after election night, so races tend to wrap up quickly.

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Georgia: Polls are about to close in the battleground state of Georgia. The first votes reported have historically included at least some cast before Election Day. We don’t know if the advance vote this year will favor Democrats as it has in the past. Voters don’t register by party in Georgia.

Polls close in 6 states

Polls are closed in Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, South Carolina, Vermont and Virginia, though some areas of Indiana and Kentucky closed at 6 p.m.

Polls later closed in in North Carolina, Ohio and West Virginia.

How news outlets “call the race” before official results come in

Although official results may not be available immediately following election day, news outlets often “call the race” before all ballots are counted. According to nonpartisan, anti-authoritarianism group Protect Democracy, news outlets will declare a winner when “they determine that there are not enough outstanding votes for the trailing candidate to catch the leading candidate.”

In its analysis of what to expect in terms of vote count for the 2024 presidential election, Protect Democracy explained that news outlets would delay their “call” if the race is “within the recount margin for a state.”

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Pennsylvania officials deny Trump’s cheating claim

Officials associated with both political parties are denying Trump’s claim of “massive cheating” in Philadelphia.

On social media, one of three Philadelphia election board members, Seth Bluestein, a Republican, said there is “absolutely no truth to this allegation. It is yet another example of disinformation.” Voting in the city is “safe and secure,” he said.

Democrat Gov. Josh Shapiro’s Department of State said, “Pennsylvania counties, including Philadelphia, are running a safe and secure election.”

Trump provided no details about the alleged cheating. His spokespeople did not respond to requests for comment about what he meant.

Trump asked if he will tell “supporters there should be no violence”

On social media on Tuesday, Harris’ X account posted a video showing Trump responding to a question about how his supporters might react to election results.

“Can you tell your supporters there should be no violence?” a female voice can be heard off-camera, asking Trump.

“I don’t have to tell them that,” responded the Republican presidential nominee.

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After U.S. President Joe Biden was election in 2020, a mob of Trump’s supporters violently attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, leaving four dead. It was deemed a “failed insurrection,” by Senator Mitch McConnell.

An update on bomb threats at Georgia polling places

Of the 177 polling places in Georgia’s Fulton County, 32 received bomb threats Tuesday, county Police Chief W. Wade Yates said. Some of the threats were called directly into the locations where voting was happening, while others were called into 911 or received by email, he said.

As a result, voting hours were extended at five polling places in Georgia’s Fulton County that were briefly closed because of bomb threats that were determined to be non-credible. Each voting location’s hours have were extended for as long as they were closed. The extensions ranged from 10 minutes at one location to 45 minutes at two locations.

National Guard offers support in 15 states

Personnel from the National Guard (NGB), which is part of the United States military, have been sent to 15 states to help on election day, the Hill reported. The NGB told the publication there were roughly 250 personnel in Alabama, Arizona, Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Illinois, North Carolina, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Washington state, Wisconsin and West Virginia.

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“We do train our guardsmen on how to react, and how to even engage with journalists, and how to engage with their population, as they support the population and be able to exercise their First Amendment rights,” said NGB chief of future operations Col. John-Paul Laurenceau.

Per the NGB, the Hill reported there are more personnel on standby for Colorado, Florida, Nevada and Washington, D.C. should those states need support.

Also on Tuesday, voters in Michigan and Georgia faced some delays after threats were made at polling stations that appeared “to originate from Russian email domains,” CNN reported.

“None of the threats have been determined to be credible thus far,” the FBI said, per CNN.

A sharply divided America decides between Trump and Harris

With just hours until polls closed, tens of millions of Americans added their ballots to the 84 million cast early as they chose between two candidates with drastically different temperaments and visions for the country.

Voters said the economy and immigration are the top issues facing the country, but the future of democracy was also a leading motivator for many Americans casting a ballot in Tuesday’s presidential election. AP VoteCast, an expansive survey of more than 110,000 voters nationwide, found a country mired in negativity and desperate for change.

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Those casting Election Day ballots mostly encountered a smooth process, with isolated reports of hiccups that regularly happen, including long lines, technical issues and ballot printing errors.

Election stressed? Here’s what some experts recommend

Three out of four American adults believe this election is vital for the future of democracy. They believe that the stakes are high _ and for some, so are their stress levels.

But there’s more you can do than doomscroll and hold your breath between news alerts.

Some experts advise using meditation and mindfulness to ease their stress. Headspace, a mental health company and app, has a whole series of guided meditations called its “politics without panic” collection.

It’s also important to be mindful of news intake and social media use and vetting news sources to ensure you’re not consuming inflammatory misinformation. Experts said “self-care” is critical, too, including eating well, exercising and getting enough sleep.

Churches also are drawing on meditation and breathing practices to help their congregants.

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At an Episcopal church in Pennsylvania’s heartland, the Rev. David Peck has led a weekly gathering called “Contemplative Citizenship,” which guides apply ancient techniques of prayer and meditation that enable people to respond to conflict more deliberately

‘My faith in this country has been so restored,’ Walz says of 2024 experience

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz told reporters Tuesday that his experience as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate “restored” his faith in the nation.

“This is truly a remarkable thing we do every four years,” he said in a conversation with reporters outside his campaign plane. “It’s democracy. It’s messy. It’s beautiful. It’s the people.”

“My faith in this country has been so restored,” he added.

Walz said he had not talked with Harris on Election Day but projected confidence that they would prevail over former President Donald Trump.

“I just can’t describe the difference in the vibe that is out there with folks and how hungry they are for something different,” he said.

Elon Musk says “men are voting in record numbers”

Also on Tuesday, X owner and tech billionaire Elon Musk posted about men hitting the polls “in record numbers.” Musk is a Trump supporter, with his bio on his X account dedicated to sharing why he’s “supporting Trump for President.”

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In a post on X, he said: “The cavalry has arrived…They now realize everything is at stake.”

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Numbers from the Center for American Women and Politics show that there have typically been 10 million more women than the number of men who register to vote in the United States. In 2022, that “gap declined to 7.4 million in 2022,” according to the centre.

“There’s just simply more women in the electorate and they turn out to vote more,” senior fellow at the Brookings Institution Elaine Kamarck told ABC News on Monday.

Voters split between Trump and Harris: polls

Although the polls can’t provide definitive results on who will win the presidential election, they offer insight into who is voting and what issues matter to them.

In the latest poll from NBC News — which has been conducting polls since July 2023 — the results show how deeply divided Americans are. For this poll, 1,000 registered voters were interviewed between Oct. 30 and Nov. 2. While 49 per cent of registered voters said they support Harris, the same percentage of voters said they were in favour of Trump. Two per cent of voters in the latest poll said they were not sure.

Harris has “a significant advantage on the issue of abortion” and looking out for the middle class, NBC News reported. However, when it comes to the economy, those surveyed leaned more toward Trump. More than half of voters (55 per cent) also said that Trump could better deal with securing the border and controlling immigration, per NBC News.

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Collectively, the polls taken over the past year reveal the “enormous” gender gap, according to the publication.

“The possible election of the first female president, a broad backlash against Trump, the fall of Roe v. Wade and more have played big parts in stretching the gap in Harris’ favour among women,” per NBC.

“But equally, Trump and his intense appeals to men have been a huge story of the election.”

Joe Rogan endorses Donald Trump to his millions of followers

On Monday, Trump received an endorsement from podcaster Joe Rogan. Rogan, who has a massive audience of roughly 14.5 million listeners, Bloomberg reported, posted about his support for Trump on X.

In the post, Rogan shared a two hour and 38 minute podcast episode with guest Elon Musk.

“(Musk) makes what I think is the most compelling case for Trump you’ll hear, and I agree with him every step of the way,” wrote Rogan. “For the record, yes, that’s an endorsement of Trump.”

As of Tuesday morning, the tweet has been viewed more than 23 million times.

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Hollywood icon Dick Van Dyke supports Kamala Harris

Meanwhile, iconic Hollywood actor Dick Van Dyke was one of the latest celebrities to endorse Harris. In a three-minute video on YouTube, Van Dyke quoted a speech he read on behalf of screenwriter Rod Serling when he was at an event with Dr. Martin Luther King in 1964.

Van Dyke also posted the video on X, writing “VOTE!!! @KamalaHarris @VP @KamalaHQ.”

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“Hatred is not the norm. Prejudice is not the norm. Suspicion, dislike, jealousy, scapegoating — none of those are the transcendent facet of the human personality. They’re diseases,” said Van Dyke, reading an excerpt from the 1964 speech on YouTube.

“To those who tell us the inequality of the human animal is a necessary evil, we must respond by simply saying that first, it is evil, but not necessary.”

At the end of the video, Van Dyke mused that “a lot has happened” since 1964, and although it may not have been what King dreamed of, “but it’s a start.”

Where are Donald Trump and Kamala Harris on Election Day?

Trump spent the very early hours of Election Day in Michigan, where he wrapped up a late-night rally in Grand Rapids. 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’s scheduled to hold a campaign watch party in Palm Beach on Tuesday night.

Trump voted in Palm Beach, Florida, near his Mar-a-Lago club, and said afterward that he was feeling “very confident.”

“It looks like Republicans have shown up in force,” the former president told reporters. He said he had not prepared a speech on the results — win or lose — saying: “I’m not a Democrat. I’m able to make a speech on very short notice.”

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Harris  did phone interviews with radio stations in the battleground states, then visited Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington carrying a box of Doritos.

“’This truly represents the best of who we are,” Harris told a room of cheering staffers. She was handed a cellphone by supporters doing phone banking, and when asked by reporters how she was feeling, the vice president held up the phone and responded, “Gotta talk to voters.”

Harris plans to attend an election night party at Howard University in Washington, a historically Black university where she graduated with a degree in economics and political science in 1986 and was an active member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.

Aside from Howard, she has no public schedule announced for Election Day.

With additional reporting by Associated Press

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