Pennsylvania voters will head to the polls Tuesday to cast their ballots in a critical presidential swing state that is also the setting for one of the country’s most contentious Senate races.

The winner of the presidential race will receive the state’s 19 electoral votes. The polling stations close at 8:00 PM local time.

State meaning

Pennsylvania’s importance in this election cannot be overstated as the nation’s preeminent, with both parties sometimes referring to victory in the state as essentially the whole ball game for the presidential race overall.

The anchor of the so-called Blue Wall — the three Rust Belt states that had not elected a single Republican between 1988 and 2016 — Pennsylvania went for former President Donald Trump by more than 44,000 votes in 2016 before President Joe Biden took over by more than 80,000. vote in 2020.

Democrats’ main bases of support are in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, the state’s two urban centers, while Republicans dominate in rural areas in between. However, Vice President Kamala Harris had campaigned in certain Republican areas to try to leverage Republicans’ advantage there.

Democratic Senator Bob Casey is also running for a fourth term against Republican Dave McCormick in a race that Republicans see as a great opportunity as the GOP tries to win control of the Senate.

Counties are colored red or blue when the percentage of expected votes reaches a certain threshold. This threshold varies by state and is based on patterns of past voting reporting and expectations of how the voting will report this year.