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The ultimate showdown between Trump and Harris takes place on Tuesday, with all eyes on swing states to decide the results of the tight race.
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump. (AP photo)
The United States is heading to one of the closest and highly competitive Presidential Elections in its history as Republican candidate and former President Donald Trump is in a neck-to-neck fight with Democratic candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris for the White House.
The razor-thin race has gripped the country and the world as people eagerly await the announcement of the 47th President of the United States. All eyes are on key battlegrounds like Iowa, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and North Carolina to decide the fate of the candidates.
How close are Harris and Trump in polls?
The US states of North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona, Nevada, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania are generally known as swing states as they are unpredictable and their results could go either way. Therefore, the presidential candidates pay significant attention to the swing states as winning them could well define the next person to sit in the White House for the next four years.
However, the race is very tight in these swing states. Several US polls show Harris leading Trump by narrow margins. A HarrisX/Forbes poll put Harris at 49% to Trump’s 48%, while a PBS News/NPR/Marist survey shows her at 51% to 47%. However, other polls, including those from NBC News and Emerson College, saw both of them tied at 49%.
ALSO READ: Kamala Harris Vs Donald Trump: Which Key US States Give Each Candidate The Edge?
Interestingly, polls indicate that Harris is currently leading in Iowa, a state where Trump has won twice in 2016 and 2020. This shift is attributed largely to strong support from female voters. On the other hand, Trump is leading over Harris in Georgia and North Carolina.
Pennsylvania has 19 Electoral votes, North Carolina (16), Georgia (16), Michigan (15), Arizona (11), Wisconsin (10), and Nevada (6), which add up to 93 Electoral College votes. A candidate needs 270 out of the available 538 Electoral votes to be declared the winner.
When to watch US Presidential Elections?
The US elections are scheduled for November 5 this year. The Presidential polls in the country are being held in the country on the first Tuesday of November since the early 19th century. Prior to that, the states conducted the polls on different days, however, a law was passed in 1845 to unify the election day in the entire country, and therefore, the first Tuesday of November was chosen as the polling date.
Early November suited the agricultural society of the then-era which fell after the harvest time and with mild enough weather conditions to travel to different places for voters.
The polling hours may be different in various states, however, most of the states will have polling stations open from 6:00 am to 8:00 pm local time (roughly 4.30 pm IST to 6.30 am IST on November 6).
The counting of votes will start on November 5 (local time), however, unlike India where results are confirmed on the same day within hours, the US may take several days before the next US President is declared. The US media can declare the winner of the polls either on election night or the next day, depending upon the analysis of the available data.
Where to watch US Presidential poll results?
You can track the results of the US Presidential Elections 2024 on the CNN-News18 channel and our website News18.com where we will take through you all the latest updates on the counting of votes and declaration of results.
When will the US election results be announced? How long can it take?
The early results should be out shortly after the conclusion of voting at 6 pm (local time). The election results could take days to come in totality depending on how close a contest it is between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, especially if it is closed and mail-in ballots are a factor.
The counting of votes could go well beyond the election night, and may as well require days to announce a definite winner, if the two leaders go on to enter into an extremely-close contest.
- Location :
Washington D.C., United States of America (USA)
