Polls in certain parts of Indiana and Kentucky became the first in the nation to close – two states Donald Trump is expected to win comfortably.
Indeed, a short time later, US TV networks predicted that Donald Trump will win Kentucky and its 8 electoral college votes, and Indiana and its 11 electoral college votes.
Vice president Kamal Harris has been projected to win Vermont and its three electoral votes.
Just after midnight, polls closed in the swing state of Georgia, which has 16 electoral college votes.
Over the next couple of hours, polls will close in South Carolina, Vermont, West Virginia, and parts of Florida, with polls in North Carolina, Ohio and a handful of other states expected to close by about 1am Irish time.
By about 2am, the majority of states will have closed their polls, among them, the crucial states of Pennsylvania and Michigan.
Hawaii and Alaska will be the final two states to close their polls.
A victory by either side would be unprecedented however, the winner may not be known for days after Tuesday’s vote.
In a post on social media, Donald Trump claimed that there was “massive cheating” happening in Philadelphia, the largest city in the biggest US swing state, Pennsylvania.
“A lot of talk about massive CHEATING in Philadelphia. Law enforcement coming!!” Mr Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, without providing any evidence to support his claim.
“There is no factual basis whatsoever within law enforcement to support this wild allegation,” said District Attorney Larry Krasner.
“If Donald J. Trump has any facts to support his wild allegations, we want them now,” he said.
So far, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have tied with three votes each in the tiny New Hampshire town that traditionally kicks off voting on election day. Since the 1960s, voters in Dixville Notch, close to the Canadian border, have gathered just after midnight to cast their ballots.
Polls opened in Vermont just after 11am Irish time, with the north-eastern state being one of the first to open the booths on polling day.
At 5pm Irish time (7am local time), Hawaii became final state to open its polling booths.
Donald Trump cast his vote in Palm Beach, Florida, alongside his wife, Melania.
Asked by reporters whether he would concede in the event of a loss, he said he would do so “if it’s a fair election”.
“So far I think it’s been fair,” the former president said.
He also criticised a reporter who asked about fears of unrest and potential violence from his supporters after the election concludes.
“Of course there’ll be no violence. My supporters are not violent people. I don’t have to tell them that. And I certainly don’t want any violence,” he said.
Mr Trump’s rival, US vice president Kamala Harris, cast her vote by mail last weekend.
Speaking during a visit to a diner in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Kamala Harris’s running mate, Tim Walz, said the US presidential election was “razor close”.
“Rule of law matters, constitution matters, the American experiment matters, our neighbors matter,” he said.
“And contrary to what this one guy[Trump] thinks, nobody is above the damn law.”
“Stay calm. Stay with it,” he added, noting that America has “the fairest, the freest, the safest elections.”
The FBI has said that a non-credible bomb threats have been made to polling locations in several states, many of which appear to originate from Russian domains.
Though it did not identify the states, the bureau said “none of the threats have been determined to be credible thus far.”
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said two polling locations in Fulton County were briefly evacuated Tuesday morning due to false bomb threats.
The county sought a court order to extend the two polling locations’ hours for 30 minutes past the statewide 7pm deadline to compensate for the disruption.
In Washington, a man was arrested by US Capitol police officers at the Capitol visitor center.
Police said the man “smelled like fuel” and had “a torch” and “a flare gun” when he was stopped by officers during a screening process at the center.
Our officers just arrested a man who was stopped during our screening process at the Capitol Visitor Center (CVC). The man smelled like fuel, had a torch & a flare gun.
The CVC is closed for tours for the day, while we investigate. We will provide more information when we can. pic.twitter.com/J5geNud1h2
— The U.S. Capitol Police (@CapitolPolice) November 5, 2024
Officials confirmed they had canceled public tours of the Capitol for the remainder of the day.
Earlier, a bipartisan coalition of 51 attorneys general across US states and territories released a statement on Tuesday urging people to remain peaceful and to preemptively “condemn 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.
The Democratic presidential nominee and her Republican opponent appear locked in a knife-edge contest with hardly any daylight between the pair in national opinion polls that have barely budged in weeks.
As the election campaign drew to a close on Monday night, the candidates laid out their competing visions for the destiny of America.
Donald Trump attacked his critics and vilified migrants, while Kamala Harris laid out a positive vision for America.
Harris was in Pennsylvania, the biggest swing state and crucial to the Democratic campaign.
She held the final rally of her campaign at the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, made famous by a scene in the film Rocky.
Introduced by Oprah Winfrey and Lady Gaga, Harris emphasised her message of hope. “We finish, as we started, with optimism, with energy, with joy,” she said.
“We need to get to work.”
Trump struck a darker tone in the same state, with threats to put trade tariffs on all imports from Mexico unless it stopped people from entering the US.
The Republican candidate also held hours-long events in North Carolina and Michigan, wrapping up at about 2am local time.
In the seven crucial swing states– Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Nevada, Georgia and North Carolina – the picture was the same. Recent polling has been unable to discern a clear pattern or advantage for either Harris or Trump in this electoral battleground, though most experts agree that whoever wins the Rust belt state of Pennsylvania is likely to have a clear advantage.