By Bianca Flowers, Nathan Layne, Timothy Aeppel and Joseph Ax
ATLANTA (Reuters) -Republican Donald Trump received 15 states in Tuesday’s U.S. presidential election whereas Democrat Kamala Harris captured seven states and Washington, D.C., Edison Analysis projected, however the contest remained undecided with vital battleground states unlikely to be referred to as for hours and even days.
The early outcomes have been as anticipated, with the competition anticipated to come back right down to seven swing states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Opinion polls confirmed the rivals neck and neck in all seven going into Election Day.
As of 9:30 p.m. ET (0230 GMT on Wednesday), polls had closed in 41 states and Washington, D.C. Trump had 162 electoral votes to Harris’ 81 electoral votes, however each nonetheless had a number of paths to victory. A candidate wants a complete of 270 votes within the state-by-state Electoral Faculty to say the presidency.
Choice Desk HQ projected Trump would win North Carolina, however different media shops and Edison had but to name the race.
In Georgia, Trump had opened up a 52.3% to 47.1% lead with 77% % of the estimated vote tallied, in keeping with Edison.
Management of each chambers of Congress can also be up for grabs. Democrats had solely a slim path to defend their Senate majority after Republican Jim Justice flipped a West Virginia seat on Tuesday. The Home of Representatives regarded like a toss-up.
In Florida, a poll measure that may have assured abortion rights failed to succeed in the 60% threshold wanted to cross, in keeping with Edison, leaving a six-week ban in place. 9 different states have abortion-related measures on the poll.
Almost three-quarters of voters say American democracy is beneath menace, in keeping with nationwide exit polls from Edison, underscoring the depth of polarization in a nation the place divisions have solely grown starker throughout a fiercely aggressive race.
Trump employed more and more apocalyptic rhetoric whereas stoking unfounded fears that the election system can’t be trusted. Harris warned {that a} second Trump time period would threaten the underpinnings of American democracy.
Hours earlier than polls closed, Trump claimed on his Fact Social website with out proof that there was “a lot of talk about massive CHEATING” in Philadelphia, echoing his false claims in 2020 that fraud had occurred in massive, Democratic-dominated cities. In a subsequent submit, he additionally asserted there was fraud in Detroit.
“I don’t respond to nonsense,” Detroit Metropolis Clerk Janice Winfrey instructed Reuters.
A Philadelphia metropolis commissioner, Seth Bluestein, replied on X, “There is absolutely no truth to this allegation. It is yet another example of disinformation. Voting in Philadelphia has been safe and secure.”
Trump, whose supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, after he claimed the 2020 election was rigged, voted earlier close to his residence in Palm Seaside, Florida.
“If I lose an election, if it’s a fair election, I’m gonna be the first one to acknowledge it,” Trump instructed reporters.
His marketing campaign has steered he could declare victory on election evening even whereas tens of millions of ballots have but to be counted, as he did 4 years in the past. The winner will not be recognized for days if the margins in battleground states are as slim as anticipated.
Thousands and thousands of People waited in orderly traces to forged ballots, with solely sporadic disruptions reported throughout a handful of states, together with a number of non-credible bomb threats that the FBI stated appeared to originate from Russian electronic mail domains.
Trump was watching the outcomes at his Mar-a-Lago membership earlier than talking to supporters at a close-by conference middle, in keeping with sources acquainted with the planning. Tesla (NASDAQ:) CEO Elon Musk, a distinguished Trump backer, stated he would watch the outcomes at Mar-a-Lago with Trump.
Trump attended a morning assembly about turnout however appeared bored by the information speak, in keeping with one supply briefed on the assembly. All Trump needed to know, the supply stated, was: “Am I going to win?”
Harris, who had beforehand mailed her poll to her residence state of California, spent a few of Tuesday in radio interviews encouraging listeners to vote. Later, she was as a result of tackle college students at Howard College, a traditionally Black faculty in Washington the place Harris was an undergraduate.
“To go back tonight to Howard University, my beloved alma mater, and be able to hopefully recognize this day for what it is, is really full circle for me,” Harris stated in a radio interview.
ABORTION, ECONOMY AND IMMIGRATION
Tuesday’s vote capped a dizzying race churned by unprecedented occasions, together with two assassination makes an attempt towards Trump, President Joe Biden’s shock withdrawal and Harris’ speedy rise.
Irrespective of who wins, historical past shall be made.
Harris, 60, the primary feminine vice chairman, would grow to be the primary lady, Black lady and South Asian American to win the presidency. Trump, 78, the one president to be impeached twice and the primary former president to be criminally convicted, would additionally grow to be the primary president to win non-consecutive phrases in additional than a century.
In Dearborn, Michigan, Nakita Hogue, 50, was joined by her 18-year-old faculty pupil daughter, Niemah Hogue, to vote for Harris. The daughter stated she takes contraception to assist regulate her interval, whereas her mom recalled needing surgical procedure after she had a miscarriage in her 20s, and each feared Republican lawmakers would search to limit reproductive healthcare.
“For my daughter, who is going out into the world and making her own way, I want her to have that choice,” Nakita Hogue stated. “She should be able to make her own decisions.”
At a library in Phoenix, Arizona, Felicia Navajo, 34, and her husband Jesse Miranda, 52, arrived with one among their three younger youngsters to vote for Trump.
Miranda, a union plumber, immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico when he was 4 years outdated, and stated he believed Trump would do a greater job of combating inflation and controlling immigration.
“I want to see good people come to this town, people that are willing to work, people who are willing to just live the American dream,” Miranda stated.
