A divided America weighed a stark choice for the nation’s future on Tuesday as a presidential campaign marked by upheaval and rancour approached its finale.
Voters were deciding whether to send Republican Donald Trump back to the White House or elevate vice president Kamala Harris to the Oval Office.
As the first polls began to close in parts of Kentucky and Indiana, tens of millions of Americans added their ballots to the 84 million cast early as they chose between two candidates with drastically different temperaments and visions for the country.
Voters said the economy and immigration are the top issues facing the country, but the future of democracy was also a leading motivator for many Americans casting a ballot in Tuesday’s presidential election.
AP VoteCast, an expansive survey of more than 110,000 voters nationwide, found a country mired in negativity and desperate for change.
Those casting Election Day ballots mostly encountered a smooth process, with isolated reports of hiccups that regularly happen, including long lines, technical issues and ballot printing errors.
Ms Harris stands to be the first female president if elected and has promised to work across the aisle to tackle economic worries and other issues without radically departing from the course set by President Joe Biden.
Mr Trump has vowed to replace thousands of federal workers with loyalists, impose sweeping tariffs on allies and foes alike, and stage the largest deportation operation in US history.
Ms Harris and Mr Trump entered Election Day focused on seven swing states, five of them carried by Mr Trump in 2016 before they flipped to Mr Biden in 2020: the “blue wall” of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin as well as Arizona and Georgia.
Nevada and North Carolina, which Democrats and Republicans respectively carried in the last two elections, were also closely contested.
Mr Trump voted in Palm Beach, Florida, near his Mar-a-Lago club, and said afterwards that he was feeling “very confident”.
Ms Harris, the Democratic vice president, did phone interviews with radio stations in the battleground states, then visited Democratic National Committee (DNC) headquarters in Washington carrying a box of Doritos – her go-to snack.
“This truly represents the best of who we are,” Ms Harris told a room of cheering staffers.
She was handed a mobile phone by supporters doing phone banking, and when asked by reporters how she was feeling, the vice president held up a phone and responded: “Gotta talk to voters.”
The closeness of the race and the number of states in play raised the likelihood that, once again, a victor might not be known on election night.
Mr Trump said on Tuesday that he had no plans to tell his supporters not to refrain from violence if Ms Harris wins, because they “are not violent people”.
Asked about accepting the race’s results, he said: “If it’s a fair election, I’d be the first one to acknowledge it.”
Mr Trump visited a nearby campaign office to thank staffers before a party at a nearby convention centre.
After her DNC stop, Ms Harris planned to attend a party at her alma mater, Howard University in Washington.
Federal, state and local officials have expressed confidence in the integrity of the nation’s election systems.
They nonetheless were braced to contend with what they say is an unprecedented level of foreign disinformation – particularly from Russia and Iran – as well as the possibility of physical violence or cyber attacks.
Both sides have armies of lawyers in anticipation of legal challenges on and after Election Day.
And law enforcement agencies nationwide are on high alert for potential violence.
