US election 2024 live updates: voting under way in most states as Harris and Trump hope to win presidency | US elections 2024

Americans in 10 states are voting this election on whether to enshrine the right to abortion into their state constitutions.

The states include Florida, Colorado, Maryland, Arizona, Montana, Nebraska, Missouri, Nevada, New York and South Dakota.

Read about the proposed ballot measures in each state here:

The first polls tonight will close at 6 pm ET and are in the eastern counties of Indiana and Kentucky.

At 7pm ET, polls will close in Georgia, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, parts of Florida, and the rest of Indiana and Kentucky.

Thirty minutes later, at 7:30 p.m ET, polls in North Carolina, Ohio and West Virginia will close.

At 8pm, polls will close in Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, the District of Columbia, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Missouri, parts of Michigan, North Dakota, South Dakota and Texas, and the entire of Florida.

By 9pm ET, polls will close in Arkansas, as well as Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Wisconsin, Wyoming, the entire of Texas, Michigan, South Dakota and North Dakota.

At 10pm ETpolls in Montana, Nevada and Utah will close. At 11pm ETpolls in California will close, as well as Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.

At midnight, polls in Hawaii will close and finally, at 1am ET, polls will close in Alaska.

Bernard Marcus, the billionaire Home Depot co-founder and a Republican megadonor, has died, the company announced today.

In a statement on Tuesday from the Home Depot company, Marcus was described as an “inspiration”, “a master merchant” and “a genius with customer service”.

”More than anything, he deeply believed in the company’s core values, particularly that of giving back” the statement reads. “He never lost sight of his humble roots, using his success not for fame or fortune but to generously help others. In business and in charity, Bernie was unparalleled in generosity and goodwill.”

In recent years, Marcus has been an outspoken supporter of former president Donald Trump and Republicans.

He has donated millions of dollars to the campaigns of various Republican politicians, including the late John McCain, current Florida governor Ron DeSantis, and Trump, as reported by CNN.

In an interview last year, Marcus criticised President Joe Biden, calling him the “most divisive president we’ve ever seen”.

According to Forbes, Marcus’ net worth was approximately $11bn.

Republican vice-presidential candidate JD Vance cast his ballot in-person this morning at his polling place in Cincinnati, Ohio.

CNN reported that the Ohio senator “appeared in good spirits” as he arrived at Saint Anthony of Padua church to vote. Vance was with his wife, Usha, and their children.

“We do expect to win” Vance told reporters outside the polling station. “But obviously no matter who wins, half the country is gonna be at least partially disappointed, I think my attitude is the best way to heal the rift in the country is to try to govern the country as well as we can.”

A coalition of current and former local, state, and national bar association presidents published a letter on Monday night ahead of the election, reminding lawyers and the public that the courtroom is “not a theater for unsubstantiated claims”.

The letter cautions and urges fellow lawyers filing election-related lawsuits this election against presenting false information in their court filings.

“Filing election-related lawsuits without a solid factual and legal foundation endangers the very institutions lawyers are oathbound to defend” the letter states. “In a functioning democracy, lawsuits are not weapons to spread distrust – they are tools for justice.”

After the 2020 election, Donald Trump and his team of lawyers filed numerous lawsuits in various states, claiming fraud in the election.

The lawsuits were overwhelmingly unsuccessful and several lawyers connected to the cases were disbarred or had their licenses suspended, the coalition of lawyers wrote.

“These lawyers not only lost their licenses and tarnished their reputations, they also betrayed their communities and the American public,” the letter adds.

It’s just gone 9am Eastern Time, and voting is under way in most states across the country.

As of 9am ET, voting is now open in Arizona, Iowa, Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Nebraska, Arkansas, New Mexico, Utah, Mississippi, some areas of Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota.

This is in addition to the polling sites that opened earlier this morning, which included Alabama, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, New Hampshire, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Rhode Island and Wyoming.

In an hour, election day voting will open in California and Idaho. At 11am ET, voting will open in Washington and Alaska, and polling stations will open in Hawaii at noon ET.

This morning, some individuals are reporting delays and issues at polling stations, such as machines not accepting ballots and systems being down at polling stations.

In Wayne county, Ohio, the local board of elections announced on Tuesday morning that they experienced some equipment issues at the Kidron Community Center polling station. Although voters were still processed, these problems resulted in some delays.

By 8.30am ET, Wayne county officials reported that the issues had been resolved, and the polling location was “back to full force”.

A bipartisan coalition of 51 attorneys general across US states and territories released a statement on Tuesday urging people to remain peaceful and pre-emptively condemning “any acts of violence related to the results”.

A peaceful transfer of power is the highest testament to the rule of law, a tradition that stands at the heart of our nation’s stability. As Attorneys General, we affirm our commitment to protect our communities and uphold the democratic principles we serve.

We call upon every American to vote, participate in civil discourse and, above all, respect the integrity of the democratic process,” they wrote. “Violence has no place in the democratic process; we will exercise our authority to enforce the law against any illegal acts that threaten it.”

Donald Trump is planning to spend the day in Florida, where he is expected to vote in person, according to the Associated Press.

This evening, the Trump campaign will host an election night watch party in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Governor Tim Walz, along with his wife, Gwen Walz, will take part in a political event this morning in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, according to the Harris campaign.

Later in the evening, the Harris-Walz campaign is scheduled to host an election night event at Howard University in Washington DC, the alma mater of Vice-President Kamala Harris.

President Joe Biden will watch the election results from the White House residence alongside first lady Jill Biden, longtime aides, and senior White House staff, according to CNN.

Biden does not have any public events scheduled for today and is expected to receive regular updates as races are reported nationwide.

Before the polls opened this morning, about 80 million Americans had already voted and cast early ballots.

According to the Election Lab at the University of Florida, 82 million Americans voted early, with just under 45 million voting early in person and about 38 million voting early by mail.

Steve Bannon has told CBS that the now infamous Trump “war room” will be revived at the Willard Hotel in Washington DC tonight.

Key members of the Trump campaign, including Bannon, were in the hotel on 6 January 2021, as the Capitol insurrection unfolded nearby.

That “war room” had specific goals: to help pressure then vice-president Mike Pence to refuse to certify Biden’s election win and send it to the House of Representatives in a contingent election, or failing that, delay the joint session beyond 6 January 2021.

“Unlike in 2020, we will secure Trump’s victory this time,” Bannon told CBS today.

An Indiana journalist reported issues with voting in Hamilton county that now appear to be fixed.

Angela Ganote said technical issues had delayed voting for about 17 minutes across the county.