Donald Trump will face Kamala Harris in the 2024 race for the White House after an eventful start to the campaign.
Joe Biden pulled out of the race after intense pressure following his disastrous first debate with Trump.
When is the US election?
The US election will be held on Tuesday, Nov 5 2024.
The winner will serve four years in the White House starting from their inauguration on Jan 20 2025.
Voters will be electing not just a president, but Congressional candidates for seats in the House of Representatives and the US Senate.
The road to the White House effectively runs through a few critical battleground states, which play an outsized role on election day.
The states are typically divided, and flip between Democrat and Republican with a narrow margin of victory.
Pennsylvania, and its 19 electoral college votes, has proved to be a critical state in the last few presidential elections, and 2024 will be no different.
Trump will also have to flip Arizona, Georgia, Wisconsin and Nevada, which Mr Biden narrowly carried in 2020 to win the presidency.
Florida and Ohio, once considered marginal, have been safe Republican territory in recent elections. However, nothing is set in stone.
Alabama was the first state to send its mail votes on September 11.
Here’s a timeline for early in-person and mail voting:
- September 11 — Alabama
- September 19 — Wisconsin
- September 20 — Minnesota, South Dakota and Virginia
- September 21 — North Carolina, and Military and overseas ballots
- September 23 — Mississippi
- September 26 — Michigan
- September 30 — Nebraska
- October 7 — Georgia
- October 9 — Arizona
- October 15 — Georgia
- October 16 — Nevada
- October 17 — North Carolina
- October 19 — Nevada
- October 21 — Texas
- October 22 — Wisconsin
- October 26 — Michigan
The majority of voters go to the polls and ballots are counted. Many people may have already cast their vote ahead of time using the postal voting system or early voting.
What time does polling end?
Votes are counted in each state after their respective polls close. Poll close times vary from state to state but generally begin from around 7pm local time.
The range of time zones across the US means that on the east coast, ballots will have been tabulated while voters in states like Alaska and Hawaii are still making their way to the polls.
The winner of the election will likely not be projected for days. Even then, the results are not properly finalised for months. However, states and the whole election result are typically “called” long before final votes are counted.
In 2020, the result was called for Joe Biden four days after the November 3 ballot, after Pennsylvania’s result was confirmed. The state provided Biden with 20 electoral college votes, taking him over the 270 required to win. In 2016, Hillary Clinton conceded to Trump the morning after the election.
This article is kept updated with the latest information for the 2024 election.