Election Day 2024 has arrived, and polling stations across the country are already open! Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump spent their last full day of campaigning on Monday in a state that could make or break their White House dreams. Now, the decision of who will be the next president of the United States is in the hands of Americans.
According to the Associated Press, tens of millions of people have already cast their ballots in advance. Keep scrolling for a breakdown of Harris and Trump’s last efforts to win and how the U.S. is reacting so far.
Harris & Trump’s Last Day Of Campaigning Went Like THIS
Each presidential candidate made their final pitches to voters Monday (Nov. 5) at about the same time in the same part of Pennsylvania. Both Kamala and Donald focused on the southeast corner of the state. They both held rallies in Reading, with Trump going first and Harris following up half an hour later.
“If we win Pennsylvania, we win the whole ball of wax,” Donald Trump reportedly said. “It’s over.”
Donald Trump stuck to talking about his proposed crackdown on immigration. He called to the stage Patty Morin, the mother of 37-year-old Rachel Morin, who was found dead a day after she went missing during a trip to go hiking. Officials say the suspect in her death, Victor Antonio Martinez Hernandez, entered the U.S. illegally after allegedly killing a woman in his home country of El Salvador.
Trump traveled to North Carolina first, then to Reading. He planned to visit Pittsburgh before concluding in Grand Rapids, Michigan. There, he held his last campaign rally in the middle of the night, per The Detroit News. Grand Rapids is the same place where he ended his 2016 and 2020 presidential runs.
Meanwhile, Harris was also busy on Monday. She visited Reading, Allentown, Pittsburgh, and President Biden’s hometown, Scranton. In Scranton, Harris talked about once being a longshot while running for San Francisco district attorney in 2002 and how she “used to campaign with my ironing board.”
“Are you ready to do this?” Harris yelled Monday in Scranton, with a large handmade ‘VOTE FOR FREEDOM’ sign behind her and a similar ‘VOTE’ banner to her side.
Her efforts didn’t stop there. She also campaigned door-to-door, rallied with Fat Joe in Allentown, and visited a Puerto Rican restaurant with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in Reading.
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The Votes Are Pouring In & Here's What They Show
As mentioned, Tuesday ushered in the highly-anticipated Election Day 2024. Trump planned to vote in his adopted home state of Florida on Tuesday. He will then spend the day at his Mar-a-Lago estate before a party at a nearby convention center. Harris already voted by mail in her home state of California. She’ll have a watch party at her alma mater, Howard University, in Washington, D.C.
Voters nationwide also decided thousands of other races that will affect everything from Congress control to state ballot measures on abortion access. According to the AP, more than 82 million people voted early.
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The early turnout in Georgia resulted in over four million ballots cast. A top official in the secretary of state’s office, per AP, said Election Day could look like a “ghost town” at the polls.
By the time early voting in North Carolina ended on Saturday, over 4.4 million voters—or nearly 57% of all registered voters in the state—had cast their ballots. As of Monday, turnout in the 25 western counties affected by Hurricane Helene was even stronger, at 59% of registered voters, per state election board Executive Director Karen Brinson Bell.
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Kamala Or Trump? What A Win From Each Could Mean
While Election Day is here, it’s not guaranteed that Americans will learn who the new president is today. In the 2020 presidential race, it took four days to declare a winner. However, no matter who wins, history is set to be made.
Kamala Harris, 60, would be the first woman, Black woman, and person of South Asian descent to serve as president. She would also be the first sitting vice president to win the White House in 32 years.
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Meanwhile, Trump, 78, would be the oldest president ever elected. He would also be the first defeated president in 132 years to win another term in the White House and the first person convicted of a felony to take over the Oval Office.
If Trump wins, it would all but ensure he avoids going to prison after being found guilty of his role in hiding hush-money payments to an adult film actress during his first run for president in 2016. His sentencing in that case could occur later this month. Upon taking office, Trump could end the federal investigation into his effort to overturn the 2020 election results.
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This is a developing story. Check back for updates, and see below what Americans in swing states and counties had to say to TSR Investigates’ Justin Carter ahead of Election Day.
Associated Press staff Jill Colvin, Darlene Superville, Bill Barrow, Christina A. Cassidy, Ali Swenson, and Steve Peoples contributed to this report.
