US election: Millions of Americans vote to decide between Trump and Harris

Millions of Americans are voting in an historic election that could put Donald Trump back into the White House or make Kamala Harris the first woman to become US president.

The two candidates are neck and neck in the opinion polls after a bitter campaign that saw two assassination attempts against Republican Mr Trump as well as the shock withdrawal of President Joe Biden.

In around 100 days since replacing Mr Biden, Ms Harris has found her feet and mounted a fierce challenge to her opponent.

Follow live: First projected results in

The final hours of voting are under way and polls have already closed in six states, including Georgia - one of a handful of battleground states that could decide the election.

Early projections from NBC News show Ms Harris winning Vermont, Massachusetts and Maryland and Mr Trump taking Florida, Arkansas, South Carolina, Kentucky, Indiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Alabama and West Virginia, in the first results of the night.

How the vote works

As well as those lining up at polling booths on Tuesday, tens of millions of Americans cast early ballots - voting by post or in person before today.

To become president, the winning candidate needs 270 electoral votes or more, with each state carrying a different number of votes.

If the polls predicting a close race are correct, the election will likely come down to a few battleground states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

The first ballots cast on Tuesday mirrored the national divide. Overnight, the six registered voters in the tiny hamlet of Dixville Notch, New Hampshire, split their votes between the two candidates in voting just past midnight.

The FBI reported that there had been "non-credible" bomb threats to several states, resulting in some polling stations staying open later. The agency said some of the threats came from Russian email domains. The Russian embassy said accusations of interference were "malicious slander".

Read more:
An easy guide to the US election
What Trump or Harris victories would mean for UK

Trump or Harris

Former president Mr Trump, 78, voted in Palm Beach, Florida, near his Mar-a-Lago club.

Wearing his trademark red "Make America Great Again" baseball cap, he said at the polling station that he was feeling "very confident".

"I hear we're doing very well," he said. "It looks like Republicans have shown up in force."

Elon Musk, the world's richest man and Trump donor, said he will watch results unfold with the former president.

In the meantime, Ms Harris, the 60-year-old Democratic vice president, did radio interviews in the battleground states of Pennsylvania, Georgia and North Carolina.

What did the opinion polls say?

Many opinion polls going into election day are too tight to call and, with a large margin of error, most experts are refusing to predict the outcome.

Georgia could be among the first battlegrounds to declare, with polls there closing at 7pm local time (midnight UK time). State election officials told Sky News they could have a result as early as 10pm (3am UK time).

North Carolina could also give an early indication of how the vote is going.

Even so, it could be several days before the US has a definitive result.

An exit poll conducted today by Sky News' sister outlet NBC News and other US outlets suggests that democracy is the top issue on the minds of voters as they cast their ballots.

Some 35% of people said it was their most important issue, closely followed by the economy on 31% and with abortion ranked third at 14%.

Voters are not just selecting a president. Control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate are up for grabs, with all seats in the House and one-third of those in the Senate up before voters.

With most races still not yet called, NBC News has projected that Republicans have gained a Senate seat in West Virginia. It had been held by independent Senator and former Democrat, Joe Manchin.

In addition, 10 states will hold abortion-related ballots, half of which would overturn existing restrictions.

(c) Sky News 2024: US election: Millions of Americans vote to decide between Trump and Harris