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Washington
The United States is set to vote on Tuesday (Nov. 5) in the presidential election, with Democrat Kamala Harris facing off Republican Donald Trump. Polling will begin between 7 am and 9 am local time in most states and will close at different times accordingly, but most polling stations will close between 7 pm Eastern Time and 11 pm Eastern Time.
As per the Associated Press, nearly 78 million people have already participated in early voting.
When will counting begin?
The counting of votes begins as soon as the polls close. Results normally start coming in hours after the first polls close at 7 pm ET. However, results in different counties and states will be spread quite widely apart since some states count votes faster. Besides, polls in states in the west close much later, so the first projections from there might only come when some of the eastern states have already been called.
States follow their own rules and methods to count the ballots, which again means that results might not be known for days in some of them. Legal challenges also often delay results.
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The winner of the popular vote is normally announced early. Results in states known for being red (Republican) or blue (Democratic) for decades are also announced by election night or the next day.
Who is ahead in the national polls?
The race is quite tight, which also means the final results might take a long time. Most national polls put Kamala Harris ahead of Trump by only a slight margin.
Poll results
PBS News/NPR/Marist survey: Harris leads Trump by four points with 51 per cent support against Trump’s 47 per cent.
Morning Consult survey: Harris leads by two points. (49 per cent against Trump’s 47).
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ABC/Ipsos poll: Trump is trailing here as well, but only by three points. Harris stands at 49 per cent whereas Trump is at 46 per cent.
NBC News and Emerson College: It's a tie in these polls, with both candidates getting 49 per cent each.
The Swing states
These are the states where the neck-and-neck race will really come into play. They can go either way and so a tussle can happen several ways. The key swing states are Pennsylvania (19 Electoral votes), North Carolina (16), Georgia (16), Michigan (15), Arizona (11), Wisconsin (10), and Nevada (6). They hold a total of 93 Electoral College votes.
To win the election, a candidate needs at least 270 out of 538 Electoral votes.
Georgia and North Carolina are expected to announce the first results. In Georgia, state law mandates that all early votes should be counted and reported by 8 pm ET on election night.
North Carolina is likely to announce the complete results by midnight.
Expect a delay of several days in Pennsylvania, since the state did not have a clear winner for four days during the 2020 election. It doesn't begin processing mail ballots until Election Day, so final results will take a few days.