After a historic US election cycle that noticed the incumbent president step down from his social gathering’s ticket and two assassination makes an attempt in opposition to the Republican presidential nominee, voters are (lastly) casting their ballots.
Tens of hundreds of thousands of People may have already voted by the point that polls shut on 5 November, however tens of hundreds of thousands extra will solid ballots in individual on election day. In 2020, greater than 200 million People voted within the presidential race, as turnout hit its highest degree since 1992.
This 12 months, election specialists anticipate voter turnout to be equally strong, with People wanting to make their voices heard in what is going to most likely be a really shut contest between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. Voters will even have the chance to weigh in on hundreds of different elections occurring on the federal, state and native ranges.
As voters head to the polls, right here’s a information on tips on how to navigate an election evening that’s assured to be eventful:
6pm ET: polls begin to shut
The primary polls will shut in japanese Kentucky and far of Indiana at 6pm ET. Democrats’ expectations are low within the two Republican-leaning states: Trump is just about assured to win each, and Republicans are anticipated to simply maintain many of the two states’ Home seats as effectively.
7pm ET: polls absolutely shut in six states, together with Georgia
People will get their first clues concerning the final result of the presidential race at 7pm ET, when polls shut within the battleground state of Georgia. Joe Biden received Georgia by simply 0.2 factors in 2020, after Trump carried the state by 5 factors 4 years earlier. This 12 months, Trump seems to have a slight benefit over Harris within the Peach state, however a robust evening for Democrats may put Georgia of their win column once more.
As Georgia begins to depend its ballots, polls will even shut in Virginia, the place each events hope to flip a Home seat. Republicans want to increase their slender majority within the Home, and the ends in Virginia’s second and seventh congressional districts may give an early indication of the social gathering’s success.
7.30pm ET: polls shut in North Carolina, Ohio and West Virginia
North Carolina represents one of many largest exams for Harris, who has run neck and neck with Trump within the state’s polling. Trump received North Carolina by 1 level in 2020 and three factors in 2016, and a loss on this battleground state may doom the previous president. Democrats additionally anticipate a victory within the North Carolina gubernatorial race, given the current revelations about Republican Mark Robinson’s disturbing web exercise.
In the meantime, the ends in Ohio and West Virginia may resolve management of the Senate. Republicans are anticipated to choose up a seat in West Virginia, the place the unbiased senator Joe Manchin determined in opposition to searching for re-election; and the Democratic incumbent, Sherrod Brown, is going through a tricky race in Ohio. If Republicans win each races, that may erase Democrats’ present 51-49 benefit within the Senate.
8pm ET: polls absolutely shut in 16 states, together with Pennsylvania
It will symbolize a pivotal second within the presidential race. Whoever wins Pennsylvania’s 19 electoral votes is more likely to win the White Home, a proven fact that each nominees acknowledged as they held quite a few marketing campaign occasions within the state.
“If we win Pennsylvania, we win the entire thing,” Trump mentioned at a rally in September. “It’s quite simple.”
Pennsylvania will even host a number of the nation’s best congressional races. If it’s a good evening for Republicans, they might flip the seat of the incumbent Democratic senator Bob Casey, who’s going through off in opposition to the previous hedge fund CEO Dave McCormick.
But when Democrats have an particularly robust evening, they might set their sights on Florida, the place the ultimate polls shut at 8pm ET. Along with Harris’s long-shot hopes of flipping a state that Trump received twice, the Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell is seeking to unseat the Republican senator Rick Scott, who has maintained a polling benefit within the race. An upset win for Mucarsel-Powell may enable Democrats to take care of their Senate majority.
8.30pm ET: polls shut in Arkansas
There received’t be a lot suspense in Arkansas, as Trump is predicted to simply win the solidly Republican state. Arkansas does have the excellence of being the one state the place polls will shut at 8.30pm ET, however most People’ consideration might be on the outcomes trickling in from battleground states by this level within the evening.
9pm ET: polls absolutely shut in 15 states, together with Michigan and Wisconsin
This would be the do-or-die second for Harris. In 2016, Trump’s means to eke out slender victories within the “blue wall” states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin despatched him to the White Home, however Biden received all three battlegrounds 4 years later.
Harris’s probably path to 270 electoral votes runs by Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin this 12 months, so Trump may safe a second time period if he can decide off even a type of states.
Michigan and Wisconsin will even play a probably decisive position within the battle for Congress. Democrats presently maintain two Senate seats within the states which are up for grabs this 12 months, and Republican victories in both race may give them a majority. Michigan’s seventh congressional district, which grew to become an open seat after Elissa Slotkin selected to run for the Senate slightly than search re-election, has been described as “essentially the most aggressive open seat within the nation”.
In New York, the place polls additionally shut at 9pm ET, Democrats have the chance to flip a number of Home seats that Republicans received in 2022. If they’re profitable, it may give Democrats a Home majority.
10pm ET: polls absolutely shut in Nevada, Montana and Utah
Harris hopes to maintain Nevada in her column, as Democratic presidential candidates have received the state in each race since 2008. Trump beforehand led Nevada polls, however Harris has closed that hole within the ultimate weeks of the race.
One other two Senate races will come to an in depth at this level within the evening as effectively. In Nevada, the Democratic incumbent, Jacky Rosen, is favored to carry her seat, however her fellow Democratic senator Jon Tester’s prospects seem grim in Montana.
If Republicans haven’t already clinched a Senate majority by the point Montana’s polls shut, this can be the second after they formally seize management of the higher chamber.
11pm ET: polls absolutely shut in 4 states, together with California
Whereas Harris is just about assured a victory in her house state of California, the state’s Home races carry vital implications for management of Congress. 5 Home Republicans face toss-up races in California, in accordance with the Prepare dinner Political Report, so the state represents Democrats’ greatest alternative to regain a majority within the chamber.
12am ET: polls shut in Hawaii and most of Alaska
By the point polls shut in Hawaii and most of Alaska, People ought to have a significantly better sense of who might be transferring into the White Home come January. But when 2020 is any indication, the nation could have to attend a bit longer to listen to a ultimate name on who received the presidential race.
In 2020, the AP didn’t declare Biden because the winner of the presidential election till 7 November at 11.26am ET – 4 days after the primary polls closed. And in 2016, it took till 2.29am ET the morning after election day to declare Trump because the winner.
Given how shut the race for the White Home is predicted to be, People might need to settle in for an extended evening – and even week – to be taught who their subsequent president is.
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