The 2024 election marks the vote for the 47th President of the United States. This election will make history with either candidate. Kamala Harris (D) will be the first female president of the United States and Donald Trump (R) will be the second non-consecutive two-term president in U.S. history. Each candidate needs at least 270 electoral votes to win.
According to available voter registration data, as of Sept. 2024, 186.5 million Americans are registered voters. Before election day, more than 80 million voters (about 43% of registered voters) cast their ballots by early and absentee votes.
Both presidential candidates have fought to gain the support of the battleground states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Battleground states are expected to be crucial for both candidates in their race for victory, with the race expected to be very close. Both candidates made one last stand for voters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania the night before Election Day. Donald Trump visited PPG Paints Arena and Kamala Harris visited Carrie Blast Furnaces National Historic Landmark.
Poll closures vary state by state:
6 p.m. EST: Indiana (Partial closure), Kentucky (Partial closure).
7 p.m. EST: Alabama (Partial closure), Florida (Partial closure), Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, New Hampshire (Partial closure), South Carolina, Vermont, and Virginia.
7:30 p.m. EST: New Hampshire (Partial closure), North Carolina, Ohio, and West Virginia
8 p.m. EST: Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Kansas (Partial closure), Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan (Partial closure), Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Dakota (Partial closure), Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota (Partial closure), Tennesee, Texas (Partial closure), and Washington D.C.
8:30 p.m. EST: Arkansas.
9 p.m. EST: Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
10 p.m. EST: Idaho (Partial closure), Montana, Nevada, Oregon (Partial closure), and Utah.
11 p.m. EST: California, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.
12 a.m. EST: Alaska (Partial closure), and Hawaii.
1 a.m. EST: Alaska.
While polls will close on November 5th, Americans may not know the results for several days. Most States provide early in-person voting and mail-in voting. Although voters may vote early, many election officials cannot start counting votes until Election Day or even until after the polls close.
Mail-in and Absentee Vote Counts:
States that allow counting and processing votes to start before Election Day: Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, Virginia, and Utah.
States that do not allow counting before the polls close: Alabama, Alaska, Idaho, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, Washington, and Washington D.C.
States that mandate counting begin before polls close on Election Day: Arkansas, California, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
