One of the most divisive races for the White House in recent memory will come to an end on Tuesday as Americans head to the polls, tasked with choosing between two candidates who have each framed the election as a fight for the nation’s character, democracy and security.
Unlike Canadians, Americans vote directly for who they want to see as president — though it is the electoral college who ultimately elects the winner. Their choices this year are Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, Republican nominee Donald Trump or a third-party candidate.
Poll opening times vary by state, and even by county, but generally will open first on the East Coast at 6 a.m. ET, while the last poll closes in Alaska at 8 p.m. local time (1 a.m. ET).
Voters had returned more than 80.5 million advance ballots as of Monday.
Harris, 60, said she had intended to vote early to show voters the different options available. Her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, did the same, casting his ballot last week in his home state. President Joe Biden also voted early in his home state of Delaware.
Trump, 78, had previously said he would vote before election day but instead cast his ballot on Tuesday.
It takes 270 electoral college votes to win the U.S. presidency, and it looks like we’re headed for a tight race Tuesday night. Seven swing states will likely determine the winner between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. Correction: A previous version of this video showed the incorrect state map for Nevada.
How the candidates are spending the day
Harris is planning to spend election night at a party at her alma mater, Howard University, a historically Black school in Washington, D.C.
“The first office I ever ran for was freshman class representative at Howard University,” Harris recalled in an interview on Tuesday with the Big Tigger Morning Show on V-103 in Atlanta. “And to go back tonight to Howard University, my beloved alma mater, and be able to hopefully recognize this day for what it is — really it’s full circle for me.”
Trump, on the other hand, says he will watch the election results with “a very special group of people” at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla., and a few thousand people at a nearby convention centre.
Speaking to reporters after voting in Palm Beach, Trump said he had no plans to tell his supporters to refrain from violence should he lose.
“I don’t have to tell them” because they “are not violent people,” he said.
In response to a reporter’s question, Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump said he doesn’t think he needs to tell his supporters to refrain from violence if he loses the election. ‘I certainly don’t want any violence, but I certainly don’t have to tell [them]’ because they ‘are not violent people,’ he said at a Palm Beach, Fla., polling centre, where he cast his vote.
Trump also planned to visit a nearby campaign office to thank those working on his behalf.
As usual, each candidate will need 270 electoral votes to win the White House.
In the past, the results have been obvious within a matter of hours on election night. If the presidential race is extremely close and mail-in ballots become a deciding factor, there will be no clear winner on Tuesday night.
Voters in seven swing states will determine the outcome of the U.S. presidential election in November. Andrew Chang breaks down each of the states in play for Kamala Harris and Donald Trump and their pathways to 270 electoral college votes.
The next U.S. president will be consequential for Canada, too: The countries are top allies, side by side on the world stage and one another’s largest customers with billions of dollars annually in trade.
At his own event on the eve of the election on Monday, Walz said voters’ choice will have implications far beyond the next presidential term.
“The thing is upon us now, folks,” Walz said at a rally in La Crosse, Wis. “I know there is a lot of anxiety, but the decisions that are made over the next 24 to 36 hours when those polls close will shape not just the next four years — they will shape the coming generations.”
The U.S. presidential election in November is the only election in the country that doesn’t use the popular vote to determine a winner; instead it uses the slightly confusing — and often controversial — electoral college. Andrew Chang explains how the numbers add up and why winning an election can be just like winning a tennis match.