Welcome to the Election Day edition of From the Politics Desk, where we give you everything you need before the results come in tonight. Early tomorrow morning we will be back in your inbox with the latest news.

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3 key provinces to watch tonight

By Steve Kornacki

After months of speeches, advertisements and polls, we are now just hours away from the closing of polling stations across the country. As the results roll in tonight, starting on the East Coast, there are three battleground districts in particular that I’ll be watching closely to get a sense of which way the political winds are blowing in the presidential contest.

Fayette County, Georgia: The key to Democratic success in Georgia in the recent elections was the growing Atlanta metro area. Fulton, DeKalb, Clayton, Douglas, Cobb, Gwinnett, Rockdale, Newton and Henry counties form a “blue blob” of support for the party in the middle of the state. One of the questions for this election is whether Kamala Harris can continue to expand the blob beyond these nine counties.

Fayette County, south of Fulton and home to Peachtree City, is a place that could portend Donald Trump’s weakness if he loses additional support in metro Atlanta.

Nash County, North Carolina: The county voted for Barack Obama in 2012, Trump in 2016 and Joe Biden in 2020. Whoever wins the county tonight could be an indication of what the national picture will look like.

Northeast of Raleigh, Nash County is about 40% black, a population that could help illuminate how this particular group of working-class voters is engaged this year.

Lackawanna County, PA: A three-point victory for Hillary Clinton in this region in 2016 turned into an eight-point victory for Biden in 2020, as his roots in Scranton may have helped him win back some of the voters who have noticeably been moving toward Trump have turned. Class voters, along with a growing Latino population, are the dynamics to watch as Lackawanna could take another hard turn toward Trump.

🗳️ Your election night guide

• Here’s an hour-by-hour guide to when the polls close, the most competitive congressional races and many of the top voting measures to watch, all organized by election closing time.
• In addition to the three mentioned by Steve above, here are the other key swing states counties to keep an eye on.
• And here are the down ballot races that could serve as early indicators.

For now, that all comes from the Political Bureau. If you have any feedback – like it or not – please email us at [email protected]

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