Washington, D.C. – Election day is finally here.

The polls have opened for the 2024 US elections, a national vote that will decide not only the country’s next president but also the composition of the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Tuesday marks the conclusion of a frenzied campaign that has seen Democratic candidate Kamala Harris and her Republican challenger Donald Trump criss-cross the country in the hope of supporting voters.

For weeks, polls have shown a remarkably tight race, with no candidate leading on Election Day.

Whatever the outcome of the vote, the outcome will determine American politics and policy for the next four years. It will also be historic, as voters will choose either the first female president in Harris or the first convicted felon in Trump.

In the final sprint of the race, both candidates laid out vastly different visions for the country’s future. They have also taken divergent positions on key issues such as the economy, immigration, women’s rights and democracy.

Harris has vowed to “turn the page” on what she calls Trump’s divisive rhetoric. She has also positioned herself as a “new generation” leader who will boost the middle class, protect women’s rights and uphold the integrity of America’s institutions at home and abroad.

Nevertheless, she has faced regular protests over her support for Israel’s war in Gaza and Lebanon.

Trump, meanwhile, has promised a return to a “golden age” in the US. To do that, he has outlined a plan to lift economic regulations, project American strength abroad and crack down on migrants — an attack line that regularly dips into racist tropes.

But while the candidates’ platforms contrast sharply in both content and tone, they overlap on one lofty theme: that the outcome of this year’s vote is crucial.

Trump has called the 2024 race “the most important” the country has ever seen, while Harris says it is the “most consequential” election in life.

Both candidates spent the last 24 hours before election day campaigning heavily in key states.

“With your vote tomorrow, we can solve every problem facing our country and lead America – and indeed the world – to new heights of glory,” Trump said as he delivered his closing address at his campaign’s final rally in the early hours. this morning in Grand Rapids, in the swing state of Michigan.

Harris said “the momentum is on our side” as she signed off in Philadelphia.

“We have to finish strong,” the Democratic candidate declared. “Make no mistake, we will win.”

Include early voting

Election Day is the culmination of weeks of early voting in some locations. Several states began early voting – by mail or in person – as early as September.

Nearly 81 million voters have already cast ballots before Election Day, according to the University of Florida Election Lab.

That’s more than half of the total 158.4 million votes cast in the 2020 presidential election — and a sign of record turnout this year in early elections in some parts of the country.

Election Day will ultimately reveal not only which candidate comes out on top, but also the full extent of the changing demographics of the American electorate.

The first voting site technically opened right after midnight Eastern Time on Monday (05:00 GMT, Tuesday) in the small New Hampshire town of Dixville Notch. The next slate opened at 5 a.m. ET (10 a.m. GMT) in Vermont.

Other polling places will open at dawn in the six time zones covering the 50 US states.

Once the polls close in the evening, it may take hours or days for the results to be tabulated. States can’t start reporting their vote counts until the polls close.

Results will trickle in around 6:00 PM ET (11:00 PM GMT), when the first polls close in states such as Indiana and Kentucky.

The last polls close in the westernmost states, Alaska and Hawaii, around midnight ET on Tuesday (05:00 GMT on Wednesday).

After that, the timing of results will depend on individual states, as the US does not have a centralized election system. Each state is responsible for counting its ballots. The smaller the margins, the longer that process can take.

All eyes will be on seven key states that will likely determine the outcome: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Nevada and North Carolina.

In the US, presidential elections are determined not by the popular vote, but by a weighted system called the Electoral College.

Under the system, each state is worth a certain number of Electoral College votes, equal to the number of senators and representatives in Congress each state has.

For example, the swing state of North Carolina has fourteen representatives in Congress based on population size. Two senators represent each state, bringing the total number of Electoral College votes for North Carolina to 16.

The outcome of the presidential race in a given state determines which candidate receives that state’s Electoral College votes.

All but two states have a winner-takes-all system: If a candidate wins the state, even by a small margin, he gets all the Electoral College votes.

There are a total of 538 Electoral College votes spread across the US. Whoever crosses the 270 threshold wins the race.

With certain states consistently leaning Republican or Democratic, Harris is likely to easily win 226 Electoral College votes, and Trump is expected to have no problem securing 219. In addition, Harris has twenty paths to victory and Trump has 21.

Al Jazeera will rely on the Associated Press news agency to determine who won which state and ultimately the general election. The AP does not issue forecasts. It only announces the result of a race once a winner emerges and no other outcome is possible.

Race that makes history

This year’s vote concludes an election season that has repeatedly seen historic upheavals.

Donald Trump, 78, has become the central figure in the Republican Party and led a movement that has sown doubt in the US electoral process.

Trump first entered the White House in 2016 after a surprise victory over Democrat Hillary Clinton. But he fell short in his 2020 re-election bid, when Joe Biden defeated him at the ballot box.

However, the Republican leader never conceded defeat and instead claimed that widespread voter fraud cost him the race, an unsubstantiated claim.

Critics say Trump has never really stopped campaigning since his 2020 defeat, laying the groundwork for his current bid. He officially announced he would seek re-election in 2022 at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

But his campaign has at times been overshadowed by landmark lawsuits. Trump is the first president, past or present, to face criminal charges.

Four separate charges have been filed against him: one for withholding classified documents, one for falsifying corporate records and two for attempting to overturn the 2020 election results.

In the New York business case, Trump was found guilty of 34 crimes. But rather than dampening his re-election prospects, his legal troubles have largely reinvigorated his base, according to the polls.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges against him and has called the indictment evidence of a coordinated “witch hunt” aimed at derailing his presidential bid.

But he wasn’t the only candidate to face historic hurdles in his race for the White House.

His Democratic rival Harris wasn’t even a candidate until about three months ago. Initially, President Biden announced plans to run for re-election in April 2023.

He cruised through the Democratic primary season, running largely unopposed in state-level contests. But concerns about the 81-year-old’s age and wealth began to mount as he went on campaign.

For example, a special counsel report released in February said Biden “couldn’t remember even within a few years when his son Beau died” — something the president later denied. And Biden made several high-profile blunders by calling Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi the “president of Mexico.”

Concerns about Biden increased after a stumbling debate in June where the president appeared to disappear in mid-thoughts.

In July, Biden abruptly dropped out of the race and Democrats quickly rallied around his Vice President Harris.

By early August, enough Democratic delegates had sided with Harris in a virtual vote to appoint her as the party’s candidate for president.

But it was an unorthodox process: Never before had an incumbent president dropped out so late in a race, and never in recent history had a major party candidate bypassed the traditional primary process.

The elections can still break new ground. In the tense political climate, fear of physical threats to polling stations has increased like never before.

And after four years of Trump claiming the 2020 election was stolen, observers have warned that he and his allies could challenge the 2024 race if the results don’t go in his favor.

That means the cloud of uncertainty that has hung over American politics for months may not disappear anytime soon.