Polling stations across the United States have begun to open, marking the start of Election Day as millions of voters decide between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris for the nation’s top office.
Polls began at 5:00 a.m. ET (10:00 GMT), following an early voting period in which more than 82 million Americans cast their ballots.
Harris has campaigned on expanding abortion rights and has pledged to make food and housing more affordable for working families. Trump, on the other hand, has focused on sealing the U.S. border and has proposed trillions of dollars in tax cuts.
The candidates closed their campaigns in key battleground states: Trump in Michigan, a state with 15 critical electoral votes, and Harris in Pennsylvania, which holds 19 electoral votes. Both states are pivotal in the race, with Pennsylvania remaining highly competitive after Biden, who hails from the state, narrowly secured it in 2020. Michigan, traditionally a Democratic stronghold, was won by Trump in 2016 but flipped back to Biden in the last election.
Recent data from the BBC suggests narrow leads for Trump in states like Nevada, Georgia, North Carolina, and Arizona, while Harris appears to hold slight leads in Michigan and Wisconsin. Pennsylvania remains highly contested, with both candidates showing neck-and-neck support.