Unlock the US Election Countdown newsletter for free
The stories that matter on money and politics in the race for the White House
The first polls of the 2024 US presidential election have closed in parts of Kentucky and Indiana, two staunchly Republican states that are expected to give Donald Trump an early but inconclusive lead against Kamala Harris in the closest White House race in decades.
Exit polls conducted for the US broadcast networks and released at 5pm ET showed that the state of American democracy was the top issue for voters, with 35 per cent saying it was what mattered most when voting for president. That compared with 31 per cent who cited the economy. Abortion was cited by 14 per cent and immigration by 11 per cent.
The initial votes in the two reliably Republican states were tallied after both candidates made final election day efforts to urge supporters to the polls to boost their party’s turnout.
Trump voted in his adopted hometown of Palm Beach, Florida, on Tuesday and then told his backers to wait patiently at voting locations nationwide. “Republicans: We are doing GREAT! Stay on Line. Do not let them move you. STAY ON LINE AND VOTE!” he wrote on X.
Harris, who will watch the returns at her alma mater Howard University in Washington, DC, did a series of local radio interviews in battleground states, then stopped at the Democratic party headquarters to thank staffers and make calls to likely voters.
“Generations of Americans led the fight for freedom — including the freedom to vote. Now, the baton is in our hands. Don’t miss your chance,” Harris, the vice-president, wrote on X.
Although Kentucky and Indiana are traditionally the first two states to close their polls, the most closely watched early returns will be in Georgia, a swing state where voting ends at 7pm and where new rules should allow for a quick result. Voting in North Carolina, another swing state, will end a half-hour later.
The presidential campaign has been marked by high tension and sudden, dramatic incidents, including two assassination attempts on Trump and President Joe Biden’s exit from the race and endorsement of Harris.
Election day was less dramatic, though the FBI warned in the early afternoon that it was investigating “bomb threats to polling locations in several states”, saying they appeared to “originate from Russian email domains”.
Although several locations were temporarily closed in Georgia because of the threats, they did not appear to markedly disrupt voting.
In the final days of the race, both Harris and Trump claimed they were on the cusp of victory, but polls have pointed to an excruciatingly close race within the margin of error nationally and in the battleground states.
Trump and his allies have repeatedly warned — without any evidence — that there would be widespread fraud in this year’s election, raising fears that he would seek to overturn the result as he did in 2020.
Speaking to reporters at his polling station on Tuesday, Trump said he was prepared to concede a defeat, depending on the circumstances. “If I lose an election, if it’s a fair election, I’d be the first one to acknowledge it,” he said.
For all the uncertainty around the outcome, the stakes in the election have been unusually high given the stark contrast between the candidates.
A Trump victory would restore the former Republican president to the White House for a second term, with an agenda of sweeping tax cuts and import tariffs, a massive crackdown on undocumented immigrants and threats of retribution against domestic foes.
It would also test America’s alliances around the world, deal a blow to its commitment to multilateral institutions and threaten US aid to Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s full-scale invasion.
A Harris victory would mark the election of the first female president in US history and largely bring continuity with the Biden administration’s policies both nationally and internationally.
Additional reporting by Joe Miller in Atlanta