US elections results: Counting ongoing in all seven swing states with Trump narrowly leading Harris

Donald Trump appeared to take an early lead over his presidential rival Kamala Harris as polls closed across US states.
The Republican candidate inched ahead in the early hours of the race, with predicted wins in solidly red states including Florida, Texas and Alabama outnumbering Harris’ wins in Democrat strongholds including New York and Illinois.
There have been no major surprises in the election so far, but crucial battleground states including Georgia, Pennsylvania and North Carolina are yet to be called, and could tip the balance in the contest to be the next US president.
Seven states are considered so-called swing states in this year’s election, with Nevada, Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin also among them.
Under the US voting system, a total of 270 votes in the college are needed to win the presidency.
The election has largely unfolded smoothly across the US, despite some voters suffering delays in casting their ballots, and a spate of what the FBI described as non-credible bomb threats.
The economy – and reducing inflation – is a key issue for Americans according to exit polling, but other areas of concern for voters include immigration, protecting democracy and abortion rights.
As they take part in the presidential poll, 10 states across the US are also voting on whether to enshrine the right to abortion in law.
In Florida, efforts to amend the state’s constitution to add abortion rights failed, but New Yorkers voted in favour of a similar amendment.
Concerns about the future of American democracy have emerged largely as a result of Mr Trump attempts to overturn his loss in 2020, and the actions of his angry supporters in January 2021, who stormed Washington DC’s Capitol building.
Trump said on Tuesday that he had no plans to tell his supporters to refrain from violence if Ms Harris wins because they “are not violent people”.
The neck-and-neck race will have a sweeping impact on global politics. – AP
AP has called three states:
AP called Maine’s first congressional district and one electoral college vote for Harris.
Polls will close in California, Oregon, Washington and Idaho at 4am Irish time. All these states bar Idaho are likely to provide a boost to Harris’s electoral college votes.
AP calls both Kansas and Iowa for Trump.
As we wait for the next round of poll closures, let’s take a quick glance at which locations have been called for which candidate.
Kamala Harris
Vermont, Illinois, Colorado, Maryland, Delaware, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Jersey, District of Columbia
Donald Trump
Florida, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming
AP has called the District of Columbia, a long-time Democratic stronghold, for Kamala Harris.
Tens of millions of Americans will have already voted by the time that polls close on November 5th, but tens of millions more will cast ballots in person on election day. In 2020, more than 150 million Americans voted in the presidential race, as turnout hit its highest level since 1992.
This year, election experts expect voter turnout to be similarly robust, with Americans eager to make their voices heard in what will probably be a very close contest between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.
Voters will also have the opportunity to weigh in on thousands of other elections happening at the federal, state and local levels. – Guardian
AP calls Colorado for Kamala Harris.
There was cheers at the NYC New Liberals Election Watch Party in Manhattan a bar as Illinois was called for the vice-president, but people here admit to “freaking out” as the Harris wave has not materialise and said the mood is reminiscent of “Hillary in 2016″.
Elsewhere across midtown Manhattan, there’s an indifference to the election as most people perched on high stools face the sports channels.
Another attendant at the watch party said they don’t “feel the dread of 2016, but maybe I didn’t have my hopes up as much”.
AP has called both Montana and Utah for Donald Trump. Both have continuously voted Republican for decades.
Polling is about to end in three states – Montana, Utah and the key swing state of Nevada.
AP calls the state of Missouri for Trump.
AP has called Nebraska’s third congressional district for Trump, which would secure him one of the state’s five electoral college votes.
Nebraska’s other two districts have yet to be called.
The outcome of the race remains uncertain with critical battleground states unlikely to be called for hours or even days.
The early results were as anticipated, with the contest expected to come down to seven swing states: Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin. Opinion polls showed the rivals neck and neck in all seven going into election day. – Reuters
Ohio has been called for Trump by AP.
AP calls New York for Kamala Harris.
As 15 more states close their polls, AP has projected Trump to win in North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming and Louisiana.
We’re about to see another big swathe of polls closing across the continental US at 2am Irish time:
AP has also called the state of Illinois for Kamala Harris.
Just as we get word from our man in Washington, AP has called both New Jersey and Delaware for Harris.
There’s a celebratory mood tempered by nervousness in the main yard of Howard University, where Kamala Harris will spend the final hours of her election campaign. Those who scored passes to attend the event began to gather from late afternoon and are enjoying live performances and DJ sets on what is a beautifully mild November evening in Washington.
Harris is one of the most celebrated graduates from Howard, the historically Black university in the Shaw area of the city. Right now there is a terrific gospel set taking place, a good distraction from the slow process of watching the projected state results as polls close across the country.
Guests of the campaign are saying the same thing at this early stage: they are very hopeful. And very nervous.
AP has called Arkansas for Donald Trump.
So far tonight, the states that have been called are on track with their historical voting patterns.
Harris has picked up the traditionally blue states of Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhose Island and Maryland as well as the District of Columbia. The vice-president is sitting on 35 electoral college votes just before 1.15am Irish time.
Trump meanwhile, is sitting on 95 electoral college votes, picking those up from Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, West Virginia, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Alabama, Florida and – one of the key swing states – South Carolina.
AP has called South Carolina for Trump.
Several races called as polls closed in 16 states at 1am Irish time.
Trump is projected to win Florida, Alabama, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Missouri, Edison Research says.
Harris projected to win Washington DC, Maryland and Massachusetts, according to Edison.
Florida, which has 30 electoral college votes, was formerly considered a swing state. Trump, who lives in Florida, got 51 per cent of the vote in the state in 2020, compared to 48 per cent for Joe Biden. – Reuters
Democratic nominee and sitting US vice-president Kamala Harris posted a similar message on X tonight.
Republican candidate and former US president Donald Trump urged his supporters to “stay in line” in video posted on X in the early hours of Wednesday.
“We’re doing really well,” Trump says in the video.
“If you’re in line, stay in line. Don’t let them take you off that line. Vote … we’re gonna win it big.”
Polling day has unfolded relatively smoothly across the United States with only scattered disruptions and delays.
Leading into Tuesday, more than 82 million Americans had already cast their ballots in a largely successful early voting period with high turnout despite some hiccups and frustrations in the presidential battleground of Pennsylvania.
When the final day of voting came, the problems that cropped up were “largely expected routine and planned-for events,” said Cait Conley, senior adviser to the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. She said the agency was not currently tracking any national, significant incidents affecting election security.
Issues affecting voters on Tuesday included typical election mishaps, from a worker forgetting a key in Arizona’s largest county to an election judge failing to show up at the polls in Pennsylvania’s Allegheny County. Some precincts around the country faced issues with voter check-in processes and e-pollbooks, causing some delays for voters trying to cast ballots. Some areas had ballot printing mistakes and were printing new ballots and extending voting hours accordingly.
Extreme weather across the middle of the country also caused flooding and some other isolated problems, including knocking out power for at least one Missouri polling place that resorted to a generator to keep voting up and running.
Still, in various states affected by rain, voters enthusiastically huddled under umbrellas as they queued up to cast their ballots.
In the western part of the key swing state of Pennsylvania, a few counties saw reports of issues with tabulator machines that scan and count paper ballots filled in by voters. A Pennsylvania state judge ordered polls to remain open for two extra hours in Cambria County, which voted 68 per cent for Trump in 2020. The county sought the extension after a software malfunction affected the ballot-scanning machines, though county officials said no one was turned away from the polls and all ballots would be counted.
In Georgia, another presidential swing state, fewer than a dozen precincts were set to stay open late because of delayed openings or evacuations due to alleged bomb threats that were found to be non-credible, according to secretary of state Brad Raffensperger. That included two precincts in Cobb County, which is northwest of Atlanta. They were staying open until 7.20pm local time because they opened late due to equipment issues. – AP
Polls have also closed in North Carolina and Ohio.
The AP has called the state of West Virginia for Donald Trump.
Polls are about to close in the key swing state of Georgia and in Florida, where Steven Carroll reports from Palm Beach:
Trump supporters dressed in their Sunday best are gathering here for an event that some of TV networks have speculated Donald Trump may not attend. He is a short spin away at his Mar-a-Lago residence where there’s a party for members of the exclusive club, his friends and family and donors and supporters with the guest list understood to include Elon Musk, UFC chief Dana White and Robert F Kennedy jnr.
The Associated Press has also called that Trump will win in Indiana.
The first races have been called. Donald Trump is projected to win Kentucky, according to Edison Research. Kamala Harris is projected to win Vermont.
Vermont, which has three electoral college votes, has gone reliably for Democrats in recent presidential elections. Since electing Bill Clinton in 1992, the northeastern state has been considered a safe Democratic stronghold.
Kentucky, which has eight electoral college votes, has been reliably Republican since the 1950s. – Reuters
Hoax bomb threats, many of which appeared to originate from Russian email domains, were directed at polling locations in four key election states, the FBI has said in a statement.
The polling locations affected were in Georgia, Michigan, Arizona and Wisconsin
“None of the threats have been determined to be credible thus far,” the FBI said in a statement, adding that election integrity was among the bureau’s highest priorities.
A wax work thrusting Trump is being driven around New York. In a city that can be difficult to grab attention, a thrusting Trump is getting quite a lot.
Trumps left hand became dislodged in transit, but remains gripped on the wax brunette ankle.
He interviewed the artist behind the piece, Alison Jackson.
There’s one key figure to watch for tonight: 270.
That’s the number of electoral college votes a candidate needs to clinch the presidency by majority.
Swing states – namely Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona and Nevada – are crucial in this year’s electoral college battle.
The number of electors reflects a state’s population. All bar two states employ a winner-takes all approach to their number of electors. Maine and Nebraska send electors on a more proportional basis.
A total of 93 electoral college seats are up for grabs between the seven swing states.
See Hugh Linehan’s explainer for more details here.
[ US election explained: How does the electoral college work?Opens in new window ]
Election officials in Milwaukee, Wisconsin said they will recount about 31,000 of 106,000 ballots because poll workers failed to properly lock doors covering controls on 13 tabulating machines at the city’s central vote-counting location, Timothy Aeppel reports.
Seals underneath the doors were still in place, and there was no evidence of tampering, Jeff Fleming, a spokesman for Milwaukee mayor Cavalier Johnson, said.
He said the recount was done “out of an abundance of caution” and attributed the issue to “human error”. – Reuters
Here’s some more details on the exit poll by Edison Research. These were some of the key issues on voters’ minds and how they viewed the two candidates.
Forty-four per cent of voters nationwide said they had a favourable view of Trump, compared with 46% who said so in Edison Research’s 2020 exit poll. 54% viewed him unfavourably, compared with 52% in 2020.
Forty-eight per cent of voters nationwide said they had a favourable view of Harris, compared with 52% who said the same of Biden in Edison Research’s 2020 exit poll while 50% viewed her unfavourably, compared with 46% who viewed Biden that way in 2020.
Seventy-three per cent of voters nationwide said they think democracy in the US is threatened. Twenty-five per cent said it is secure.
Thirty-one per cent of voters nationwide said the economy mattered most in deciding how to vote in the presidential election. Eleven per cent said immigration, 14% abortion, 34% foreign policy.
Forty-five per cent of voters nationwide said their family’s financial situation was worse off than it was four years ago, compared with 20 per cent who said so in Edison Research’s 2020 exit poll. Some 24% said they were better off than they were four years ago, compared with 41 per cen in 2020. Thirty per cent said their financial situation was unchanged.
Fifty-one per cent of voters nationwide said they trust Trump more to handle the economy while 47 per cent said they trust Harris more. – Reuters
As the first polls close, it’s worth taking a few minutes to check our explainer on swing states and how their votes will impact the outcome of this tightly contested election.
[ US election explained: What are swing states and how will they decide the presidency?Opens in new window ]
The first polls have closed in the US, with voting wrapping up in most Indiana counties and in Kentucky’s eastern half.
Voting will finish in the rest of the two red states at 7pm, at which point it will also conclude in a handful of other states – including swing state Georgia. – Guardian
Reuters reports that Elon Musk was sued in a proposed class action on Tuesday by registered voters who signed his petition to support the US constitution for a chance to win his $1 million-a-day giveaway, and now claim it was a fraud.
The complaint filed by Arizona resident Jacqueline McAferty in the Austin, Texas, federal court said Musk and his America PAC organisation falsely induced voters to sign by claiming they would choose winners randomly, though they were predetermined.
She also said the defendants profited from the giveaway by driving traffic and attention to Musk’s X social media platform, and by collecting personal information such as her name, address and phone number that they could sell.
A lawyer for Musk and lawyers for McAferty did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the complaint.
McAferty sued one day after a Philadelphia judge denied a request by that city’s district attorney Larry Krasner to end the giveaway, which Krasner called an illegal lottery.
That ruling was largely symbolic because Musk has no plans to give out more money following the US presidential election.
Musk opened the giveaway to voters in seven battleground states who signed a petition to support free speech and gun rights. Tuesday’s lawsuit seeks at least $5 million in damages for everyone who signed.
Musk is a Texas resident and his electric car company Tesla is based in Austin.
He has supported Republican Donald Trump in the presidential race against Harris. – Reuters
Nearly three-quarters of voters in Tuesday’s presidential election believe American democracy is under threat, according to national exit poll data from Edison Research, reflecting the deep anxiety that the nation faces after a contentious campaign between Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump.
Democracy and the economy ranked by far as the most important issues for voters, followed by abortion and immigration, the data showed. The poll showed 73 per cent of voters believed democracy was in jeopardy, against just 25 per cent who said it was secure.
The figures reflect just a slice of the tens of millions of people who have voted, both before and on election day, and the preliminary results are subject to change through the course of the night as more people are surveyed.
The two rivals were hurtling toward an uncertain finish after a dizzying campaign as millions of American voters waited in calm, orderly lines on Tuesday to choose between two sharply different visions for the country. – Reuters
Good evening, it’s Glen Murphy here taking you into the early hours of the morning. Thanks to my colleague Fiachra Gallagher for manning the fort earlier tonight.
The first indications of who might take the White House are expected after midnight Irish time.
Here are some shots from polling stations across the US.
Kamala Harris made an unexpected stop at the Democratic National Comittee headquarters in Washington DC, where she dropped in on a phone banking event.
After refusing to concede the 2020 election and earlier accusing Democrats of trying to steal this year’s vote, Trump struck a more slightly more conciliatory tone after casting his vote in Florida earlier on Tuesday. “If I lose an election – a fair election – I’ll be the first one to acknowledge it,” he said.
“I may regret that statement, but I’m hearing we’re doing very well,” Trump added. Addressing concerns of civil unrest once the results are known, Trump said there would be no violence.
‘My supporters are not violent people,” he said. “I certainly don’t want any violence.” – Bloomberg
Police at the Capitol Building, seat of the United States Congress in Washington DC, arrested a man on Tuesday afternoon.
The FBI said that phoney bomb threats targeting polling locations across the US appeared to originate from Russian email domains.
“None of the threats have been determined to be credible thus far,” the FBI said in a statement, adding that election integrity was among the bureau’s highest priorities.
At least two polling sites targeted by the hoax bomb threats in the election battleground state of Georgia were briefly evacuated on Tuesday. – Reuters
Elon Musk will spend election night with Donald Trump, the New York Times is reporting.
Billionaire owner of X Musk has thrown his full weight behind Trump, donating over $100 million in recent months to America Pac, a political action committee he founded that supported the former president’s campaign. Musk also appeared at several of Trump’s election rallies in recent weeks, and he often posts in support of Trump to his 203 million followers on X.
If you’re looking for some company on election night, Democrats Abroad Ireland are hosting an election watch party at the Arlington Hotel, on Bachelors Walk in Dublin’s city centre. The event kicks off at 10pm, and will run right through the night – you’ll probably have a good idea of who’s going to be the 47th president by the time they kick you out at 7am.
Our videographer Enda O’Dowd is in New York and he has been speaking to voters.
From midmorning New York time Donald Trump fans started arriving outside Trump Tower in anticipation of a night of celebrations. Elsewhere in the city the mood was anxious among voters not only to the outcome of tonight’s election but whether the results would be accepted by the former president and his supporters. – Enda O’Dowd
Voters in the US will also decide the make up of the Senate and the House of Representatives in today’s ballot.
Republicans currently control the House with 220 representatives to 212 Democrats, while the Democrats have the upper hand in the Senate with 51 seats (including four independents who caucus with them), to 49. All 435 seats are up for grabs in the House, while 34 are in play in the Senate.
Federal officials are bracing for an increase in efforts by foreign adversaries to undermine the US elections but said they had not seen any national-level threats so far.
On Monday night, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the FBI and intelligence agencies issued an unusual warning that adversaries, led by Russia, were conducting additional influence operations.
On Tuesday, Cait Conley, a senior official with the cybersecurity agency, told the New York Times she expected an increase in the “scope and scale” of the influence efforts.
“Adversaries have taken lessons learned from previous cycles to understand which narratives would be most effective,” she said. – New York Times
Voters are going to the polls across the US and the two candidates have already cast their ballots.
Donald Trump voted in Palm Beach, Florida, near his Mar-a-Lago club, and said afterwards that he was feeling “very confident”.
“It looks like Republicans have shown up in force,” the 78-year-old told reporters, wearing a red Make America Great Again baseball cap.
Kamala Harris cast her vote by mail ballot to California. – PA
A tight and fiercely contested battle is approaching the end as the remaining voters across 50 states record their preference into the ballot box, with results set to start rolling in through the night.
The first of those results can be expected at around 11pm Irish time when the polls close in Indiana and Kentucky – both solidly Republican states so expect no surprises there.
The first swing state to announce results is likely to be Georgia at around midnight Irish time with the biggest block of results likely to come in around an hour later. For more on what time you can expect results and how the US election system works, read Hugh Linehan’s US election night guide.
Our Washington correspondent Keith Duggan, as well as reporter Steven Carroll and videographer Enda O’Dowd, will be sending updates from the ground overnight in what could be a drawn-out process before a winner is declared.
Welcome to our live coverage of the 2024 US election as Americans decide whether Donald Trump or Kamala Harris will become their 47th president.
A race that was originally due to see Joe Biden battle Trump for a second term in the White House has taken numerous twists and turns over the summer months and into autumn and now sees Harris aiming to become the first woman president of the United States.
Along the way Trump has survived an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, seen another attempt thwarted by the Secret Service, claimed that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio are stealing and eating people’s pet cats and dogs, filled Madison Square Garden for a rally at which comedian Tony Hinchcliffe called Puerto Rico “a floating island of garbage” and hit out at a poll that showed Iowa – thought to be a solidly Republican state – leaning towards Harris in the final days of the election.
Both sides claim that democracy is on the ballot paper and if the other side wins this could be the last presidential election in the US. As the months slipped by the debate has become more divided and bitter, leading to a feeling of angst across the country as election day looms.
Our Washington correspondent Keith Duggan has been across it all and on Saturday wrote this piece about just what is at stake today.