U.S. election day: What you need to know and how to find results

Posted on November 5, 2024 by Peggy

One of the most divisive races for the White House in recent memory will come to an end on Tuesday as Americans head to the polls, tasked with choosing between two candidates who have each framed the election as fight for the nation’s character, democracy and security.

Unlike Canadians, Americans vote directly for who they want to see as president — their choices this year being Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, Republican nominee Donald Trump or a third-party candidate.

Poll opening times vary by state, and even by county, but generally will open first on the East Coast at 6 a.m. ET, while the last poll closes in Alaska at 8 p.m. local time (1 a.m. ET).

Voters had returned more than 80.5 million advance ballots as of Monday.

Harris, 60, said she had intended to vote early to show voters the different options available. Her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, did the same, casting his ballot last week in his home state. President Joe Biden also voted early in his home state of Delaware.

Trump, 78, had previously said he would vote before election day, but is now expected to vote on Tuesday.

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Voters in seven swing states will determine the outcome of the U.S. presidential election in November. Andrew Chang breaks down each of the states in play for Kamala Harris and Donald Trump and their pathways to 270 electoral college votes.

How the candidates are spending the day

Harris planned to spend Tuesday doing radio interviews in all seven battleground states to make sure those final voters “who are on their way to work, on their way home, taking a lunch break — understand the stakes,” according to campaign communications director Michael Tyler.

She is expected to make the final argument of her campaign in Washington at the same spot where Trump spoke to supporters before they attacked the U.S. Capitol to block the certification of Biden’s electoral victory on Jan. 6, 2021. Harris spoke at the same site last week.

A woman in a dark suit smiles on stage during a political rally. — The Democratic presidential nominee, Vice-President Kamala Harris, speaks during a campaign rally in Allentown, Pa., on Monday. (Susan Walsh/The Associated Press)

In turn, Trump will make his final remarks at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. An adviser characterized the speech as a “prebuttal” to Harris’s address in the capital.

As usual, each candidate will need 270 electoral votes to win the White House.

In the past, the results have been obvious within a matter of hours on election night. If the presidential race is extremely close and mail-in ballots become a deciding factor, there will be no clear winner on Tuesday night.

The next U.S. president will be consequential for Canada, too: The countries are top allies, side-by-side on the world stage, and one another’s largest customers with billions of yearly dollars in trade.

A man in a navy suit with a red tie raises his fist and smiles on stage at a political rally. — Republican presidential nominee and former president Donald Trump arrives at a campaign rally at Santander Arena in Reading, Pa., on Monday. (Evan Vucci/The Associated Press)

At his own event on the eve of the election on Monday, Walz said voters’ choice will have implications far beyond the next presidential term.

“The thing is upon us now, folks,” Walz said at a rally in La Crosse, Wis. “I know there is a lot of anxiety, but the decisions that are made over the next 24-36 hours when those polls close, will shape not just the next four years, they will shape the coming generations.”

WATCH | How the U.S. electoral college works:

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The U.S. presidential election in November is the only election in the country that doesn’t use the popular vote to determine a winner; instead it uses the slightly confusing — and often controversial — electoral college. Andrew Chang explains how the numbers add up and why winning an election can be just like winning a tennis match.