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PremiumUS Election 2024 Highlights: Bitter rivals Kamala Harris and Donald Trump launched their final campaign blitz on Monday, both targeting crucial Pennsylvania in what has been described as the tightest and most volatile US presidential election in memory.
If elected, Harris would make history as the first female president in the United States 248-year history, as well as the first Black woman and person of South Asian descent, to hold the office. While Harris and her campaign have downplayed the focus on gender and race to avoid alienating potential supporters, the historical significance of her win would be profound.
Republican Trump is confident of a “landslide" victory as he seeks a dramatic return to the White House, while Democrat Harris claims that "momentum" is on her side in her bid to become America's first female president.
On the other hand, a Trump victory would mark a different kind of historical milestone. He would be the first person convicted of a felony to be elected to the U.S. presidency, having faced 34 felony counts in a New York hush-money case just over five months ago.
Right-wing tech mogul Elon Musk has stirred controversy with his $1 million giveaways to registered voters, while Kamala Harris has leaned on the star power of former President Barack Obama, former First Lady Michelle Obama, and singer Beyoncé to boost her campaign.
In contrast, outgoing President Biden has been noticeably absent from the campaign trail since making headlines for referring to Trump’s supporters as “garbage" last week.
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Donald Trump and Kamala Harris both predicted victory as they campaigned across Pennsylvania and other battleground states on Monday in the final, frantic day of an exceptionally close U.S. presidential election.
The campaign has seen head-spinning twists: two assassination attempts and a felony conviction for Republican former President Trump, and Democratic Vice President Harris' surprise elevation to the top of the ticket after President Joe Biden, 81, dropped his reelection bid under pressure from his own party. More than $2.6 billion has been spent to sway voters' minds since March, according to AdImpact, an analytics firm. (Reuters)
US Election 2024 LIVE Updates: Applauding Presidential Candidate Kamala Harris, former US President Barack Obama said that th vast majority of people in the country are good and generous. He also added that Democrat Kamala Harris will reflect these values in politics.
“I believe that the vast majority of people in this country are good and generous and honest and fair – and whether they are Democrats or Republicans or independents, they want those values reflected in their politics. That’s what we’ll get with Kamala Harris and Tim Walz," Barack Obama said.
Joe Rogan, the influential host of one of the world's top podcasts, delivered a last-minute endorsement of Republican candidate Donald Trump Monday, on the eve of a historically close US presidential election.
Rogan made the endorsement while promoting the latest episode of his wildly popular show, The Joe Rogan Experience, which featured an interview with billionaire Trump supporter Elon Musk.
Musk "makes what I think is the most compelling case for Trump you'll hear, and I agree with him every step of the way," wrote Rogan, on social media.
"For the record, yes, that's an endorsement of Trump." (AFP)
There are concerns that certain domestic players could seek to frustrate and delay election results in the critical swing states.
In January 2020, for example, a large number of Republicans in Congress objected to results in Pennsylvania and Arizona – states that were both won by Biden.
And in seven swing states, people falsely claiming to be members of the electoral college attempted to declare Trump as the winner of their state. Their votes were sent to Congress to be counted alongside those of the true electors, with some Congress members arguing that the new slate of electoral votes cast doubts over the official result in certain states.
There are several factors that could hinder results being announced in the hours immediately after voting ends. In Arizona, for example, state laws allow voters to drop their completed ballot papers off at the polling station on election day or the day prior – something that not all states do. However, these “late early" ballots cannot be processed until after voting ends.
Pennsylvania is arguably the most prized swing state that both the Democratic and Republican campaigns are vying for. The state has 19 electoral votes, the most of any battleground state, so the victor will probably win the electoral college (the group of officials that elects the president based on the vote in each state) and thus also the presidency.
But Pennsylvania does not allow election workers to process mail ballots until 7am local time on election day, which could mean the result takes longer than 24 hours after polls close to be made known. (PTI)
There is no set national time for voting to begin on the morning of November 5.
Most states will begin voting at 7am in their local time, with others starting as early as 5am or as late as 10am. Voting will commence at a variety of times in some states, such as New Hampshire, Tennessee and Washington where this is decided by different counties or municipalities.
Polls close at a range of times across the country, too. Voting will end as early as 6pm US eastern time (11pm GMT) in Indiana and Kentucky, while polls in Hawaii and Alaska, the western-most states, do not close until midnight US eastern time (5am GMT).
An early indicator of which candidate is performing better will come between 7pm and 8pm eastern time (midnight and 1am GMT), when polls close in the key battleground states of Georgia and North Carolina. Both states are competitive for Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, and if the former is declared the victor in either, then the contest will pivot in her favour. (PTI)
Conservative podcaster Megyn Kelly delivered a fiery speech supporting Donald Trump during an event billed as his “closing message" on Monday night, a full-circle moment after the former president and the onetime Fox News star feuded bitterly during Trump's 2016 campaign.
Invited to the stage in Pittsburgh, Kelly defended Trump against recent controversies, including his repeated pledge to be the “protector" of women, and pressed his case on border security and his opposition to transgender athletes participating in sports.
“He got mocked by the left by saying he would be a protector of women," Kelly said. “He will be a protector of women and it’s why I’m voting for him. He will close the border and he will keep the boys out of women’s sports where they don’t belong." (AP)
Australia and India's foreign ministers said on Tuesday they were confident the Quad group of the U.S., India, Australia and Japan would continue to cooperate in the Indo-Pacific region regardless of the outcome of the U.S. presidential election.
Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong told reporters in Canberra she had met Mike Pompeo, who served as Secretary of State in the previous Trump Administration, ahead of the U.S. election and had "a very good discussion".
"One of the priorities for us to discuss was AUKUS, and we are very pleased at the sort of bipartisan support that we have seen," she said, referring to the defence technology partnership between Australia, Britain and the U.S. to transfer nuclear powered submarines to Australia. (Reuters)
Podcaster Joe Rogan, who recently interviewed Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump for nearly three hours, said on Monday he has endorsed the former president in the race to the White House on the eve of the Nov. 5 U.S. election.
Trump faces Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in what polls show to be a tight race. Harris has got multiple celebrity endorsements.
"For the record, yes, that's an endorsement of Trump," Rogan said on X. (Reuters)
The $1 million-a-day voter sweepstakes that Elon Musk 's political action committee is hosting in swing states can continue through Tuesday’s presidential election, a Pennsylvania judge ruled Monday.
Common Pleas Court Judge Angelo Foglietta — ruling after Musk’s lawyers said the winners are paid spokespeople and not chosen by chance — did not immediately explain his reasoning.
District Attorney Larry Krasner, a Democrat, had called the process a scam “designed to actually influence a national election" and asked that it be shut down. (AP)
The early voting figures indicate that the ruling Democratic Party is facing a massive turnout deficit, the Trump Campaign claimed on Monday.
By Monday, more than 80 million registered voters have exercised their right to franchise and in some of the key battleground states, more than 50 per cent of the electors had already voted.
Early voting is considered to be advantageous to the Democratic Party given the past trend of the last two election cycles. The Trump Campaign in a confidential memo argued that that might not be the case this time.
“With early voting closed and election day on the horizon, Democrats are facing a massive turnout deficit. In every single battleground state, we see President Trump and Republicans outperforming elections past in absentee ballots and early votes cast. (PTI)
The race between Democratic leader Kamala Harris and her Republican rival Donald Trump for the White House has been truly unprecedented as it saw drama, tragedy, political comebacks, fierce rhetoric and a historically razor-tight contest.
As the fight reaches its crescendo with the big election day just a few hours away, many political observers billed the unpredictable race for the 47th President of the US as the most consequential one in decades while appearing to project a grim picture for the country’s future under a Trump presidency.
In her final days of campaign, Vice President Harris focused on a message of hope, unity, optimism and women rights whereas Trump remained fiercely combative in targeting his Democratic rival and even suggested that he may not accept the election outcome in case of a defeat. (PTI)
As Americans prepare to vote on Election Day Tuesday, officials are calling for patience as they tally ballots in what could be a historically close presidential race -- and warning that it could take days to find out who has won.
Under the US system, citizens do not vote directly for their leader. Instead, their ballots elect the 538 members of a group called the Electoral College, which then elects the president and vice president.
Each state casts its Electoral College votes for the candidate that won its popular vote. Bigger states, with more representatives in the US Congress, get a larger share of the 538 Electoral College votes on offer.
Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and her Republican rival Donald Trump will be vying to get to the all-important 270 votes that pushes them past the halfway mark and guarantees them the keys to the Oval Office. (AFP)
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump warned on Monday that, if elected, he would punish Mexico with tariffs unless the Mexican government moved to stop the flow of fentanyl into the United States.
At a rally in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Trump said he would move quickly to crack down on drug trafficking along the southern U.S. border with Mexico and that he would use tariffs. "We will immediately stop the drugs pouring across our border," he said.
The race between Democratic leader Kamala Harris and her Republican rival Donald Trump for the White House has been truly unprecedented as it saw drama, tragedy, political comebacks, fierce rhetoric and a historically razor-tight contest.
As the fight reaches its crescendo with the big election day just a few hours away, many political observers billed the unpredictable race for the 47th President of the US as the most consequential one in decades while appearing to project a grim picture for the country’s future under a Trump presidency.
In her final days of campaign, Vice President Harris focused on a message of hope, unity, optimism and women rights whereas Trump remained fiercely combative in targeting his Democratic rival and even suggested that he may not accept the election outcome in case of a defeat. (AP)
Donald Trump and Kamala Harris both predicted victory as they campaigned across Pennsylvania on Monday in the final, frantic day of an exceptionally close U.S. presidential election.
The campaign has seen head-spinning twists: two assassination attempts and a felony conviction for Republican former President Trump, and Democratic Vice President Harris' surprise elevation to the top of the ticket after President Joe Biden, 81, dropped his reelection bid under pressure from his own party. More than $2.6 billion has been spent to sway voters' minds since March, according to AdImpact, an analytics firm.
Nevertheless, opinion polls show Trump, 78, and Harris, 60, virtually even. The winner may not be known for days after Tuesday's vote, though Trump has already signaled that he will attempt to fight any defeat, as he did in 2020. (Reuters)
More than two dozen states have indicated they would be willing to send National Guard troops to Washington if requested in the weeks following the presidential election and in the runup to the inauguration, Guard officials said Monday.
The District of Columbia has not yet made any formal requests for Guard troops, but officials across the government have been preparing for the possibility that the U.S. Capitol could once again be rocked by violence around the certification of the election by Congress on Jan. 6 and the inauguration two weeks later.
About 25,000 Guard troops from around the country flooded into Washington in the days after the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, riot, when thousands of supporters of then-President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol in an effort to prevent Congress from certifying Joe Biden's win. (AP)
A former Denver elections worker who says she was fired for speaking out about her safety concerns on comedian Jon Stewart's show filed a federal lawsuit Monday, alleging election officials wanted to silence her and violated her First Amendment rights.
Virginia Chau, a lawyer who worked as a polling center supervisor during elections, spoke in 2022 about threats made against election workers and the lack of training for them during a panel discussion on the short-lived streaming show “The Problem with Jon Stewart."
Nationally, election officials have increased security in the lead-up to Election Day both to protect their workers and to protect voting procedures and ballots. Election offices and workers have been the target of harassment and threats since the 2020 presidential election, mainly by people supporting former President Donald Trump’s lies that the election was stolen from him because of fraud. (AP)
US Election 2024 LIVE Updates: The nation’s top official for safeguarding election infrastructure called the spread of election fraud allegations “irresponsible" after being asked about such claims by former President Donald Trump and X owner Elon Musk.
Jen Easterly, director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, said in a news conference Monday that it’s “very unfortunate and very irresponsible" for anybody in a position of influence or authority — regardless of party or politics — to “be spreading inaccurate information about our elections."
US Election 2024 LIVE Updates: The poll results will be released soon after the polling ends. Hence, it's important to take note of the time first polls will close. According to Indian Standard Time, the first polls will close at 4:30 am on Wednesday while the last polls will close at 11:30 am.
US Election 2024 LIVE Updates: Kamala Harris, the US Democratic presidential candidate, surpassed Republican candidate Donald Trump, according to Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll released on Saturday. The poll suggests that women voters are responsible for the turnaround in the state where former US President registered an easy victory in 2016 and 2020.
US Election 2024 LIVE Updates: Data from the Election Lab at the University of Florida indicates that more than 78 million Americans have already voted through a combination of absentee and early in-person ballots as of 5:30 am ET.
US Election 2024 LIVE Updates: Wall Street stocks finished lower Monday following a choppy session as markets gird for volatility connected to the US presidential election.
Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump embarked on a final blitz in swing-state campaigning ahead of in- person voting on Tuesday. Polls show the race as neck and neck.
Analysts have been predicting that stocks would bounce around until the political situation is clearer. The election spells potentially major implications for tax and trade policy, as well as impacts on individual sectors.
US Election 2024 LIVE Updates: The nation’s top official for safeguarding election infrastructure called the spread of election fraud allegations “irresponsible" after being asked about such claims by former President Donald Trump and X owner Elon Musk.
Jen Easterly, director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, said in a news conference Monday that it’s “very unfortunate and very irresponsible" for anybody in a position of influence or authority — regardless of party or politics — to “be spreading inaccurate information about our elections."
US Election 2024 LIVE Updates: Data from the Election Lab at the University of Florida indicates that more than 78 million Americans have already voted through a combination of absentee and early in-person ballots as of 5:30 am ET.
US Election 2024 LIVE Updates: Kamala Harris will spend all of Monday in Pennsylvania, whose 19 electoral votes offer the largest prize among the states expected to determine the Electoral College outcome. Donald Trump plans four rallies in three states, beginning in Raleigh, North Carolina and stopping twice in Pennsylvania with events in Reading and Pittsburgh and also going to Michigan.
US Election 2024 LIVE Updates: The dollar dropped and US Treasuries rallied as investors walked back bets on Donald Trump winning the presidential election after weekend polls indicated Kamala Harris was gaining ground.
An index of the greenback dropped the most in six weeks. Ten-year Treasury yields fell 10 basis points to 4.28%. The Mexican peso — which tumbled in the aftermath of Trump’s 2016 victory — was among the top performing major currencies tracked by Bloomberg.
US Election 2024 LIVE Updates: The poll results will be released soon after the polling ends. Hence, it's important to take note of the time first polls will close. According to Indian Standard Time, the first polls will close at 4:30 am on Wednesday while the last polls will close at 11:30 am.
US Election 2024 LIVE Updates: The seven major states that will play a decisive role in the November 5 polls, include Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
US Election 2024 LIVE Updates: Kamala Harris, the US Democratic presidential candidate, surpassed Republican candidate Donald Trump, according to Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll released on Saturday. The poll suggests that women voters are responsible for the turnaround in the state where former US President registered an easy victory in 2016 and 2020.
A presidential campaign that has careened through a felony trial, an incumbent president being pushed off the ticket and multiple assassination attempts comes down to a final push across a handful of states on the eve of Election Day.
Kamala Harris will spend all of Monday in Pennsylvania, whose 19 electoral votes offer the largest prize among the states expected to determine the Electoral College outcome. The vice president and Democratic nominee will visit working-class areas including Allentown and end with a late-night Philadelphia rally that includes Lady Gaga and Oprah Winfrey.
Donald Trump plans four rallies in three states, beginning in Raleigh, North Carolina and stopping twice in Pennsylvania with events in Reading and Pittsburgh. The Republican nominee and former president ends his campaign the way he ended the first two, with a late Monday night event in Grand Rapids, Michigan. (AP)
Bitter rivals Kamala Harris and Donald Trump embark on a final frenzied campaign blitz Monday with both hitting must-win Pennsylvania on the last day of the tightest and most volatile US presidential election in memory.
Republican Trump has promised a "landslide" as he seeks a sensational return to the White House, while Democrat Harris said the "momentum" was on the side of her bid to be America's first woman president.
But the polls suggest a different story on the eve of Election Day -- total deadlock in surveys nationally and in the seven swing states where the result is expected to be decided. (AFP)
Election Day in the United States is now often considered election week as each state follows its own rules and practices for counting ballots — not to mention the legal challenges — that can delay the results. But the truth is, nobody knows how long it will take for the winner to be announced this time.
In 2020, The Associated Press declared President Joe Biden the winner on Saturday afternoon — four days after polls closed. But even then, The AP called North Carolina for Trump 10 days after Election Day and Georgia for Biden 16 days later after hand recounts.
On the eve of Election Day, it's unclear which voters will show up to cast ballots on Tuesday.
More than 77 million people participated in early voting — either in person or through the mail. So many people already cast ballots that some officials say the polls in states like Georgia might be a “ghost town" on Election Day.
One major reason for the surge is that that Trump has generally encouraged his supporters to vote early this time, a reversal from 2020 when he called on Republicans to vote only in-person on Election Day. The early vote numbers confirm that millions of Republicans have heeded Trump's call in recent weeks. (AP)
Kamala Harris courted voters angered by the Gaza war while Donald Trump doubled down on violent rhetoric with a comment about journalists being shot as the tense US election campaign entered its final hours.
The Democratic vice president and the Republican former president frantically blitzed several swing states as they tried to win over the last holdouts with less than 36 hours left until polls open on Election Day on Tuesday. (AFP)
