Washington: Presidential elections are to be held in America today. There is a close contest between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump for the presidential elections.

The US presidential election has already attracted global attention and the campaign has intensified from both sides. It is believed that this election is going to prove to be another turning point for politics in America.

When are the US elections?

The US elections are being held today i.e. Tuesday, November 5, 2024.

In most states, polling stations will open between 7 and 9 a.m. local time. Given the range of multiple time zones in the US, this will be between 10:00 GMT and 15:00 GMT.

What time will voting end?

Poll closing times vary from state to state and sometimes county to county.

However, most polling stations will close between 7 pm and 11 pm Eastern Time (00:00-05:00 GMT).

When will the counting of votes begin in America?

According to the information received, results are expected to start coming in just a few hours after the first polls close at 7 pm Eastern Time (00:00 GMT). However, some states will count votes more quickly than others. Since polls close several hours later in western states, their first results will start coming in later.

“This is a really close race,” said Raymond J. La Raja, a political science professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

As of Friday, Harris holds a slight lead of about 1.2 points nationally, according to Five Thirty Eight's national poll tracker.

Who is ahead in the national elections?

However, La Raja pointed out that polls may not capture certain voter groups correctly, which could lead to surprise results for any candidate. If the polls are wrong and the contest doesn't turn out as expected, we'll know pretty soon. But my guess is we won't know in the first few days.

What do you know about swing states?

Seven swing states are expected to play a key role in deciding the outcome of the presidential race.

These key states include Pennsylvania (19 electoral votes), North Carolina (16), Georgia (16), Michigan (15), Arizona (11), Wisconsin (10) and Nevada (6), which together give a total of 93 electoral college votes.

To win the election, a candidate needs at least 270 out of 538 electoral votes.

Voting in these states will close between 7 pm and 10 pm Eastern Time (00:00 to 03:00 GMT).

Some of the earliest results will likely come from Georgia, where state law requires all early votes to be counted and reported by 8 pm Eastern Time (01:00 GMT) on election night.

Next is North Carolina. In this state, votes will be counted and reported throughout the evening, and full results are expected by midnight (04:00 GMT).

What happens if there is a tie?

If there is a tie 269–269 or a third party wins the electoral vote, leaving no candidate with 270 votes, a "contingent election" will occur.

The contingent election is the process that occurs when the U.S. House of Representatives decides the winner. Each state delegation in the House casts one vote and a candidate must receive a majority of the state delegation's votes to win.

The US Senate will then elect the Vice President with each Senator casting one vote and a simple majority (51 votes) required to win.

There have been three examples of snap elections in the US, in 1801, 1825 and 1837. The closest election in recent years was the 2000 presidential election, when George W. Bush won 271 electoral college votes - just one more than he needed - after a controversial recount in Florida. Outgoing Vice President Al Gore won 266 electoral college votes.

Why is there a delay in getting the results?

First - Democrat (Kamala Harris's party) supporters mostly live in densely populated urban areas. Where counting of votes takes time.

Second – In America, it takes time to count the votes cast through mail before the voting day. Trump is not in favour of conducting voting in this manner.

Third – Although there are 50 states in America, there are 7 states where it is almost impossible to guess who is winning. Since the methods of casting votes and counting them are different in these states, it takes time for the final results to come.