Voting for the 2024 US Presidential election has begun in the eastern time zone in America. New Hampshire is the first state where the polling started at 6 am local time (4:30 pm IST). This is the final opportunity for Americans to vote in the tightly contested 2024 presidential race between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris hurtled toward an uncertain finish.

More than 82 million people have already taken advantage of early voting to cast their ballots for Republican Donald Trump or Democrat Kamala Harris.

The contest witnessed two assassination attempts against Trump, President Joe Biden’s surprise withdrawal and Harris’ rapid rise – remained too close to call, even after billions of dollars in spending and months of frenetic campaigning.

The candidates were running neck and neck in the campaign’s final days in each of the seven states likely to determine the winner – Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin – showed opinion polls.

The winner may not be known for days if the margins in the key states remain as slim as they are expected.

It’s voting day in the United States of America. After a bitter election campaign, the voters will either make Kamala Harris the first woman president in the country’s history or deliver Donald Trump a second non-consecutive stint in the Oval office. 

As polling stations open nationwide on Election Day, Democratic vice president Harris, 60, and Republican former president Trump, 78, are dead-even in the tightest and most volatile White House race of modern times.

The bitter rivals spent their final day of the campaign frenziedly working to get their supporters out to the polls and trying to win over any last undecided voters in the swing states expected to decide the outcome.

A final outcome may not be known for several days if the results are as close as the polls suggest, adding to the tension in a deeply divided nation.

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Election Day has arrived, but a clear result may not come immediately in this unprecedented, tense race between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. With over 78 million early votes cast, counting will be lengthy, especially in battleground states where vote-processing rules vary. Delays could lead to legal challenges if either candidate disputes the outcome, invoking memories of January 6, 2021. Both campaigns are ready for prolonged litigation, and patience will be essential as the nation awaits a final, definitive outcome.