Voters across America are casting their ballots for the 47th president of the United States.
Polls have started closing on the East Coast, and early projections show Republican candidate Donald Trump winning Alabama, Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia, with Democratic nominee Kamala Harris picking up Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Vermont.
Preliminary results are imminently expected in Georgia and North Carolina — two crucial swing states that both candidates are hoping to carry them to electoral victory.
Media outlets will begin making their projections for each state’s winner as election workers count ballots and voting data is released.The Independent is relying on projections from the Associated Press.
While outlets will likely call the final results in the days after November 5, their determination is only ever a projection. The election will be officially certified by Congress on January 6, 2025.
Voters ranked the state of democracy as their number one issue informing their voting decision, with the economy coming in second, according to exit polls from Edison Research for media outlets in the National Election Pool.
Traditionally, exit polls are conducted via in-person interviews with voters outside of polling centers after they’ve cast their ballot. Pollsters are posted outside of voting centers ahead of and on Election Day. They also conduct phone and text surveys to reach voters who mailed in their ballots.
Check back this evening for live election updates from The Independent as exit poll data is released and the final ballots are cast.
Both candidates are gunning for 270 electoral votes, the golden number needed to secure the office of the presidency.
Thanks to early voting data and exit polls, media outlets will likely begin to release information on the results at 5 p.m. ET.
But it will still be hours until meaningful information comes in. The first polling centers to close will shut their doors at 6 p.m. local time, while some polling centers will stay open until 8 p.m. local time, including many on the West Coast.
Experts previously told The Independent that the timeline for calling the race largely depends on two things: how close the election is in individual states and the specific laws of those states regarding counting votes and potential recounts, which all vary.
Senate and House races
All 435 seats in the House of Representatives are up for election tonight.
In the Senate, only 34 out of 100 seats are being elected, as senators serve six-year terms with a third being elected every two years. The results of 2024’s elections will determine the balance of power in Congress.
West Virginia’s Republican Governor Jim Justice is projected to win a seat in the Senate, flipping a seat previously held by now-former Democratic Senator Joe Manchin, who is not seeking re-election.
Before this election, Democrats had 47 senators and four allied independents, while Republicans had 49.
Of the 34 seats up for grabs, 18 were previously held by Democratic senators, posing a threat to their slim majority.
Battling for the swing states
All eye are on the seven swing states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Together they hold 93 electoral college votes, without which neither presidential candidate can win the election.
Results will be refreshed live as they come in. Check back for updates.
