How long will it take to know who won the 2024 election?
The presidential race is quickly coming to an end, with campaigns from both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris continuing until Election Day on November 5.
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Arizona. Nevada. Georgia.
These three states could ultimately decide the 2024 race for the White House. They’re also the states where former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris will make their pitch to voters on Thursday.
Trump is holding a rally in Tempe, Arizona in the afternoon, and he’ll address an event with the conservative group Turning Point Action in Las Vegas in the evening.
Harris is holding a campaign stop on Thursday in Atlanta, and she’ll be joined by former President Barack Obama and music icon Bruce Springsteen.
Keep up with the USA TODAY Network’s live coverage.
When will the election results be announced?
It is not clear exactly when the election results will be announced, as the timing depends on a variety of factors. Each state handles its elections differently, ranging from weeks-long early voting to strict voter ID laws.
But you can anticipate delays.
Some key swing states that Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are vying for, like Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, aren’t permitted to start processing absentee and mail-in ballots until Election Day, which is expected to slow down the count.
— Sudiksha Kochi and Sam Woodward
Beyoncé is expected to appear with Kamala Harris on Friday in her home state of Texas. It’s not the first time the “Cowboy Carter” singer has backed the vice president’s White House bid – she also gave her blessing for Harris to use her song “Freedom” as an unofficial campaign anthem.
Beyoncé has weighed in on politics before. She posted a clip of herself ahead of Election Day 2020 wearing a Biden-Harris face mask, and she headlined a concert alongside her husband, rapper Jay Z, for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign.
– Marina Pitofsky
Beyoncé is taking the stage with Kamala Harris.
The pop queen will appear with the Democratic presidential nominee at rally in Houston on Friday, according to Reuters.
Harris, who is locked in a close race against Republican Donald Trump, is heading to Texas to support another Democrat, Colin Allred, who is trying to unseat Republican Sen. Ted Cruz.
Beyoncé, who hails from Houston, is expected to perform, Reuters reported, and will come with her mother Tina Knowles.
– Michael Collins and Caché McClay
Gone is the joy. In it’s place, rising alarm.
Vice President Kamala Harris has taken an increasingly fatalist approach to campaigning that centers on the threat she says former President Donald Trump would present to democracy if he returns to office.
“He’s going to sit there unstable, unhinged, plotting his revenge, plotting his retribution, creating an enemies list,” she said Wednesday evening during a town hall on CNN.
Harris referred to Trump as a “fascist” during the town hall, echoing comments made by his former chief of staff John Kelly in an interview this week, and hit him for reportedly praising aspects of Hitler’s leadership, also according to Kelly.
Standing outside the vice president’s mansion at the Naval Observatory in Washington earlier in the day, Harris warned that Trump “is increasingly unhinged and unstable” and said “people like John Kelly would not be there to be the guardrail against his propensities and his actions” in a second term.
Over the past week, Harris has hammered Trump at most campaign events for comments he’s made in the final days of the race about wielding the power of the presidency to muzzle dissenters and punish his political opponents.
If her approach has taken a darker turn, Harris says, it’s because Trump’s conduct has made it necessary.
“He’s becoming increasingly unstable and unhinged, and it requires that response,” she told reporters over the weekend. “I think the American people are seeing it, witnessing it in real time.”
– Francesca Chambers and Michael Collins
By the numbers: Latest polling on the 2024 presidential election
Polling numbers updated Thursday reaffirm what has been clear for weeks now: it is an incredibly close race between Trump and Harris.
Here are some of the latest surveys:
Trump leads Harris 47% to 45% in new national poll by the Wall Street JournalTrump leads 48% to 46% in a new national poll by CNBCTIPP Tracking Poll shows Harris ahead 50% to 47%.Bloomberg polling of likely swing state voters show Harris and Trump statistically tied at 49%
Learn more about the latest presidential election polling results 12 days ahead of the election.
– Kinsey Crowley
Shootings and a bombing escalate threats against election, government workers
Threats against election workers and other public officials have moved beyond calls and texts to shootings and a bombing in this incendiary political season.
Threats that resulted in charges this week include a Philadelphia man vowing to “skin” and kill a state party official for recruiting poll watchers and an Alabama man threatening to execute election officials in Arizona.
An Arizona man was charged with shootings at a Democratic Party campaign office. And a California man was charged with bombing a courthouse.
“As we approach Election Day, the Justice Department’s warning remains clear: anyone who illegally threatens an election worker, official, or volunteer will face the consequences,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in announcing action in four cases this week.
– Bart Jansen
Bill Clinton calls Trump ‘Mr. Brand and Blame’
Former President Bill Clinton called Donald Trump “Mr. Brand and Blame” while addressing a group of Black leaders in Phoenix, Arizona, Wednesday.
Considered one of the “must-win” swing states in the 2024 election, polls show the presidential race is tight in Arizona. Clinton, who flipped the state blue when he ran for reelection in 1996, said Kamala Harris might be in better shape there than in other states that are typically “more Democratic.”
“He’s gotta take the election away from them by distraction and division,” Clinton said of the 2024 Republican nominee Wednesday. “She’s the clear choice.”
– Stephanie Murray and Rachel Barber
Trump makes it public: He would fire Special Counsel Jack Smith
Trump made it official on Thursday: If he is re-elected, he would dismiss Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is prosecuting two cases against him.
“I would fire him within two seconds,” Trump told radio show host Hugh Hewitt.
Smith is the top prosecutor in two cases against Trump, one involving efforts to overturn the 2020 election and the other dealing with the mishandling of classified documents.
It’s always been understood that these federal cases would go away if Trump reclaims the White House.
What’s less understood is what might happen with Trump’s conviction in the New York hush money case and another 2020 election case out of Georgia.
– David Jackson
Tucker Carlson likens Trump to a dad giving U.S. a “vigorous spanking”
Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson riled up the crowd at a Georgia rally Wednesday with an unusual metaphor.
He compared former President Donald Trump to a “pissed” father coming home to punish his daughter, the country, in the case he is reelected on Nov. 5.
“He’s not vengeful. He loves his children, disobedient as they may be,” Carlson said. “When dad comes home, you know what he says? ‘You’ve been a bad girl. You’ve been a bad little girl and you’re getting a vigorous spanking right now.’”
Later when Trump took the stage, members of the audience chanted “Daddy’s home.”
Carlson’s comments quickly drew criticism online from Democrats
– Rachel Barber
Former GOP representative Fred Upton endorses Harris
Republican former U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, a respected legislator who represented Michigan for 36 years and became chairman of the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee, has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president, her campaign said Thursday morning.
“I have already cast my ballot for Vice President Kamala Harris to be our next president of the United States,” Upton said in the statement.
He added that he’s never voted for a Democratic president, until now. Upton was one of the 10 Republicans who split with his party to vote to impeach Trump for his role in instigating the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol as Congress met to certify the 2020 election for Democratic President Joe Biden.
– Todd Spangler and Sudiksha Kochi
What time do polls open and close on Election Day?
Across the country, polling hours on Nov. 5 will vary by location.
Most states will allow voters to cast their ballots between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. However, in some areas of Vermont, polls will open as early as 5 a.m. and in New York, polls will close as late as 9 p.m. Check with your state or local election office or its website to find the correct window when you can vote in your area.
USA TODAY’s Voter Guide details everything you need to know about making sure your voice is heard in this year’s general election.
– Rachel Barber
Trump locked in tight battle against Harris, new WSJ poll finds
A new Wall Street Journal poll released Wednesday found that Trump is leading Harris by two percentage points, 47% to 45%, among 1,500 registered voters when asked who they would choose if the general election were held today.
Three percent of voters said they were undecided and 2% of voters chose Robert F. Kennedy Jr., according to the Journal poll. The poll, conducted between Oct. 19 to Oct. 22, has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.
– Sudiksha Kochi
New poll finds Angela Alsobrooks leading in closely watched Senate race
A Washington Post/University of Maryland poll released Thursday found Democrat Angela Alsobrooks, running for Maryland’s Senate seat, in a 12 point lead against her Republican opponent Larry Hogan among likely voters, 52% to 40%.
The findings come as Alsobrooks could make history as the first Black senator from Maryland if she wins this election cycle.
In a September Washington Post/University of Maryland Poll, Alsobrooks led Hogan by 11 points among likely voters.
– Sudiksha Kochi
DNC to display anti-Trump ‘Hitler’ billboard in Las Vegas
The Democratic National Committee plans to display a mobile billboard in Las Vegas reading, “I need the kind of generals that Hitler had,” a statement that The Atlantic reported a top Trump aide recalling the former president saying. Trump is scheduled to appear in Nevada’s largest city for a rally Thursday evening.
His former chief of staff John Kelly alleged in separate interviews with the New York Times published Tuesday that Trump had “fascist” traits and would govern like a dictator.
– Savannah Kuchar
Bruce Springsteen to rally with Harris in Atlanta
Harris is looking to get a campaign boost from music icon Bruce Springsteen, as is tradition for many Democratic presidential candidates.
Springsteen will headline a series of concerts in the final weeks of the election, beginning with an appearance in Atlanta Thursday and Philadelphia on Monday. Former President Barack Obama will be at both events and Harris plans to attend today, according to her campaign.
The vice president is the latest in a series of Democrats for whom Springsteen has turned up on the campaign trail. The Boss backed Hillary Clinton in 2016, Obama in 2008 and 2012, and John Kerry in 2004. He also performed at a star-studded Inauguration Day rally for Biden on Jan. 20, 2021.
– Savannah Kuchar and Joey Garrison
Did Eminem endorse Kamala Harris?
Yes. At Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign rally in Detroit Tuesday, Eminem told the crowd that he thinks Harris “supports a future for this country where these freedoms and many others will be protected and upheld.”
“I also think that people shouldn’t be afraid to express their opinions, and I don’t think anyone wants an America where people are worried about retribution, of what people will do if you make your opinion known,” Eminem said at the rally.
– Sudiksha Kochi
When will Trump be on Joe Rogan’s podcast?
Former President Donald Trump is set to appear on podcasting giant “The Joe Rogan Experience” on Friday. Rogan is set to interview Trump in his studio based in Austin, Texas, as reported by Politico.
This would mark Trump’s first appearance on Rogan’s wildly popular podcast. Vice President Kamala Harris is also making her own podcast appearances, including one on “Call Her Daddy” hosted by Alex Cooper.
– Sudiksha Kochi and Fernando Cervantes
Early in-person voting in Maryland begins today
Maryland in-person early voting for this year’s general election begins Thursday, Oct. 24, and runs through Thursday, Oct. 31. Early voting centers will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Registered voters in Maryland can also vote by mail or on Election Day, which is Nov. 5. Mail-in ballots returned by mail must be postmarked by or before 8 p.m. on Nov. 5. If returned by hand, ballots must be dropped at a ballot drop box or local board of elections by 8 p.m. on Nov. 5.
To find your Election Day polling place, visit Maryland’s State Board of Elections Find My PollingPlace portal at https://voterservices.elections.maryland.gov/PollingPlaceSearch.
— Sudiksha Kochi and Salisbury Daily Times
Former President Donald Trump used a rally in Georgia on Wednesday evening to tout the Peach State’s record-breaking early voting turnout – and its potential swing-state impact.
Trump emphasized the importance of turnout in a neck-and-neck election. He also praised the millions of Georgia voters who have already cast their vote.
He also talked about his economic plan and vision for bolstering cities like Detroit; criticized the Biden administration and his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, over immigration; and repeated claims of political persecution.
He said nothing on stage about recent allegations by his longest-serving chief of staff.
– Savannah Kuchar
Harris said Wednesday that she believes former President Donald Trump is a fascist and his ex-chief of staff is “putting out a 9-1-1 call” to the American people to consider the implications of his potential return to the White House.
Appearing at a CNN town hall in Delaware County in Pennsylvania, Harris invoked former White House chief of staff John Kelly’s claim that Trump made positive comments about Hitler and agreed with his assessment that Trump is a “fascist.”
“Yes, I do,” she said. “And I also believe that the people who know him best on this subject should be trusted.”
–Francesca Chambers
Why a majority of voters think Donald Trump should face charges even if he’s elected
A majority of Americans think it would be “wrong” for Donald Trump to have the Justice Department drop federal charges against him if he wins back the White House, according to a new USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll.
Legal observers say there’s no chance a Trump Justice Department would continue the two federal cases he has asked judges to dismiss as a “witch hunt” led by a prosecutor he calls “deranged.” But nearly 58% of likely voters who responded to the poll said it would be “wrong” for Trump to direct the department to drop the charges, compared to 30% saying it would be the “right” thing to do. Nearly one in 10 were undecided.
– Bart Jansen
What time do polls open on Election Day?
In some states, like Arizona and Connecticut, polling locations can open as early as 6 a.m. on Election Day, which is Nov. 5. In other places, locations will open later in the morning like at 7 a.m. or 8 a.m.
You can find your polling location and its hours by contacting your state and local election office or visiting usa.gov for more information.
−Sudiksha Kochi
Ask us anything! Want to learn more about how election results are certified as the 2024 election gears up? Don’t miss your chance to ask us your pressing questions about election law on r/law for a Reddit AMA on 10/25 at 3 p.m. ET.
Join USA TODAY journalists Aysha Bagchi and Sarah Wire for an election Reddit AMA on Oct. 25 at 3 p.m. ET on the r/law subreddit.
Trump and Harris have been neck-and-neck in national polls and battleground surveys for weeks. An exclusive USA TODAY/Suffolk University poll released Monday put Harris at 45%, Trump at 44%, a closer race than the poll found in August.
In a Marist survey released Thursday, Trump led Harris 50%-49% among likely voters in Arizona and 50%-48% in North Carolina, and rivals were tied in Georgia.
– Marina Pitofsky, Francesca Chambers
Election Day is Nov. 5. Sign up for USA TODAY’s On Politics newsletter for breaking news and exclusive analysis.
Donald Trump is hitting up two western battlegrounds: Arizona and Nevada. He’s holding a rally in Tempe, Arizona in the afternoon on Thursday, and he’ll address an event with the conservative group Turning Point Action in Las Vegas in the evening.
− Marina Pitofsky
Kamala Harris is holding a campaign stop on Thursday in Atlanta, and she’ll be joined by former President Barack Obama and music icon Bruce Springsteen. Springsteen is set to perform for Harris’ supporters in the pivotal Peach State.
− Marina Pitofsky