Kamala Harris’s running mate, Tim Walz, spoke to reporters before boarding a plane from Pennsylvania to Washington DC during which he said he was “feeling good about this.”
Walz said he has not spoken with Harris in the last 24 hours but praised her remarks at last night’s final campaign rally in Philadelphia.
Asked if he believes that Donald Trump will concede the election if he loses, Walz said he thought Trump “probably will” concede.
He also pledged to “shake hands and work for the winner” if Harris loses.
Updated at 14.05 EST
Key events
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Philadelphia Democratic party chair Robert Brady said turnout at the polling stations this morning was “extremely high”, adding that a high turnout “is great for us.”
Brady, a former Pennsylvania congressman, told Insider NJ that voter turnout on Tuesday morning was the “highest we’ve ever seen for this point in time”.
“I’ve been doing elections for 50 years and I’ve been chairman for 40 years and right now it’s the highest we’ve ever seen for this point in time,” he said.
Rachel Leingang
I spoke to a man gathering signatures for America PAC, Elon Musk’s outfit that’s offering people $47 per person they get to sign a petition that supports the first and second amendments.
Those signers then can win a $1m prize.
The man, who said his name is Ryan Johnson, said he’s been gathering signatures for various candidates and causes across the country for eight years, one of many traveling circulators who pop from state to state depending on who’s paying.
He said the America PAC petition is the “highest paying petition ever,” with a typical rate for signatures for a ballot measure or candidates being a few dollars per signature.
He claimed he has made upward of $30,000 on PAC signatures in the past 20 days.
“First of all, I’m gonna put it in the bank and not touch it for 30 days to build the discipline of actually having it. And then once I see that it’s there for 30 days, I’ll allow myself to play with it a little bit,” he said.
“So what I will do is I’ll promote my business. I have a women’s resale clothing business on Poshmark. I’ll push that thing to go, because it already earns me about $40,000 a year. So if I can get that up to 100,000 a year just doing that, that’d be super nice.
“Thank God for America.”
Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani appeared outside Donald Trump’s polling place in Palm Beach, Florida this morning before the Republican presidential candidate cast his ballot.
Giuliani showed up in the Mercedes convertible he was ordered to surrender to two Georgia poll workers he was found to have defamed in the aftermath of the 2020 election, the Financial Times reported.
Giuliani said Trump should go after “top people” if he was elected president, adding: “I’d be willing to prosecute them.”
Anna Betts
Jocelyn Benson, Michigan’s secretary of state, said that as of this morning, people in Michigan were already voting in record numbers.
Benson said at a press conference on Tuesday that 3.3 million people in the state had already cast their ballot in this election before the polls even opened today, representing 45.8% of active registered voters in Michigan.
“We’re on track to break turnout records” Benson said.
Benson said unofficial results from the state of Michigan will begin to be reported shortly after 9pm ET tonight.
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson high-fives Elijah Todd, 7, as she visits a polling precinct in Detroit today. Photograph: Rebecca Cook/ReutersShare
Updated at 15.12 EST
FBI says non-credible bomb threats to polling locations appear to ‘originate from Russian email domains’
Anna Betts
The FBI said on Tuesday afternoon that they are aware of bomb threats to polling locations in several states, many of which, they said, appear to “originate from Russian email domains”.
The bureau said in a statement that none of the threats have been determined to be credible thus far.
“Election integrity is among the FBI’s highest priorities” the statement reads.
“We will continue to work closely with our state and local law enforcement partners to respond to any threats to our elections and to protect our communities as Americans exercise their right to vote”.
Updated at 14.51 EST
Sam Levine
Reporting from Allentown, Pennsylvania:
Nearly every voter I’ve spoken with today has said the economy is their top issue.
Tiana Peters, a 39-year-old underwriter from Allentown is a Democrat, but she voted for Donald Trump. She also voted for Democrats in lower offices down the ticket.
“The last four years, nothing really good happened,” she said. “Giving away free money to the people that can’t afford houses, financially that doesn’t work, you know.”
“I’ve been wanting to buy a house for years now and … haven’t been able to do that. It’s just like half a million dollars for houses in the Lehigh Valley with four bedrooms. It’s just not doable for a family making middle class money.”
Sharonda Casey,47 Jamel Casey, 30 And Barbara Casey, 72 at a polling site in Allentown, PA on November 5, 2024. Photograph: Elinor Kry/The Guardian
Sharonda Casey, 47, came to vote with her son Jamel, 30, and her mother, Barbara, 72 — three generations of her family. She said she voted for Kamala Harris. She cited the assistance Harris has pledged for first time homebuyers as one of the reasons she voted for Harris.
“I got a granddaughter. I’m not having more children unless it’s baby Jesus – but I wanted to [vote] for her future and her right to go to the doctor and get care.”
Updated at 14.45 EST
Elon Musk to spend election night with Trump – report
Elon Musk will spend election night with Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, the New York Times is reporting, citing multiple sources.
The tech billionaire will be among a “small group” of people watching the election results with Trump as they come in, the paper writes.
Musk has spent at least $119m on a Super Pac supporting Trump and the two talk several times a week, it says.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk (R) speaks on stage with Donald Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on October 5, 2024. Photograph: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 15.15 EST
Maanvi Singh
The voters in line to cast their ballots at the North Las Vegas city hall voting center Tuesday morning exemplified why Clark County, Nevada is such a bellwether in the election.
About half of all Nevada voters live in this region, in a key swing state where elections have been won and lost by exceptionally slim margins.
In a diverse city with a large proportion of non-partisan voters, locals were carrying deeply varied visions for the future with them as they headed to the polls.
Jimmy McDill, 49, a non-partisan who had dressed up for the occasion in a dashing lavender suit, said he was looking forward to voting for Kamala Harris – in large part because he believes she will help protect Medicare.
McDill, who is disabled, said he worries that Donald Trump would slash medical benefits for low income and disabled Americans like him. A registered non-partisan, McDill said he has voted in every election since he was 18, and has supported candidates from both major political parties. Though, he can’t remember the last time he’s backed a Republican for president.
“Was Hillary Clinton a Republican?” he said, laughing. “No, no she wasn’t. I just can’t recall the last Republican, then.”
Right in front of him in line, Patricia Bradley, 64, was also planning to cast a ballot for Harris. Abortion was top of mind for her, and she was looking forward to voting for Harris and Democratic senator Jacky Rosen, both of whom have made reproductive rights a key focus of their campaigns.
She was also planning to vote for Question 6, a ballot initiative to enshrine abortion access in the Nevada constitution. “I’m feeling kind of nervous,” she said. “But we need to go do our parts today.”
Democratic senate candidate Jacky Rosen picks up a sign after casting her vote at Allegiant Stadium on Election Day in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, 05 November 2024. Photograph: Caroline Brehman/EPA
Meanwhile, Idania Oliva, 45, who had come to vote with her mother and mother-in-law, said she was excited to vote for Trump. “He’s for moral values,” she said. She is deeply opposed to abortions, and trusted Trump to restrict access, and secure the US southern border.
“Trump is for God,” she said. “And God is number one.”
Updated at 14.43 EST
Police arrest man trying to enter US Capitol who ‘smelled like fuel’ with ‘flare gun’
A man was arrested by US Capitol police officers at the Capitol visitor center in Washington DC, 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, police said.
Officials have canceled public tours of the Capitol for the remainder of the day.
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
Updated at 14.23 EST
Sam Levine
Reporting from Allentown, Pennsylvania:
Eric Pitre Acevedo is Puerto Rican and was upset by the racist joke a comedian made at Donald Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden late last month.
Acevedo still voted for Trump.
“I feel a little weird voting for him, but I still think he’s gonna be a good president,” he said, standing outside a polling place in Allentown.
“He believes in the family,” he added, expressing concern over how Kamala Harris has handled transgender issues.
Eric Pitre Acevedo, 51 year old truck driver at polling site in Allentown, PA on 5 November 2024. Photograph: Elinor Kry/The GuardianShare
Updated at 14.27 EST
Lauren Gambino
The Harris Walz campaign says the vice-president has called into more drive-time radio stations in key battleground states, timing the interviews to the lunchtime hour to encourage Americans to vote.
Harris called into Wisconsin (101.7 The Truth in Milwaukee), Nevada (KCEP with Lady AK in Las Vegas), and Radio Campesina Network (which is based in Phoenix, Arizona, but is also carried in Nevada, among other states).
The campaign says she will do more radio call-ins later today.
ShareWalz says ‘we’re feeling good about this’
Kamala Harris’s running mate, Tim Walz, spoke to reporters before boarding a plane from Pennsylvania to Washington DC during which he said he was “feeling good about this.”
Walz said he has not spoken with Harris in the last 24 hours but praised her remarks at last night’s final campaign rally in Philadelphia.
Asked if he believes that Donald Trump will concede the election if he loses, Walz said he thought Trump “probably will” concede.
He also pledged to “shake hands and work for the winner” if Harris loses.
Updated at 14.05 EST
Advisers urge Trump to declare victory prematurely on election night
Hugo Lowell
Donald Trump has been told by some advisers that he should prematurely declare victory on election night if he’s sufficiently ahead of Kamala Harris in key battleground states like Pennsylvania, according to people close to him, though whether he will heed that advice remains unclear.
The consensus view is that Trump has nothing to lose by claiming he has won if he has a several-hundred-thousand-vote advantage in Pennsylvania or if his internal pollsters think a victory is plausible even if the results are not fully confirmed on Tuesday night.
But even Trump’s most pugnacious allies – including the former White House strategist Steven Bannon who spoke with him last week, one of the people said – have suggested he hold off making a pronouncement if the race is any closer by the time he goes to bed, lest it makes him look foolish.
In the final days of the campaign, Trump and his campaign have projected confidence. It has raised expectations among his supporters that he will win, laying the groundwork for baselessly claiming the election was stolen if he loses and Harris takes the White House. Any premature declaration of victory would also probably play into that phenomenon.
Here’s a clip from Donald Trump after casting his ballot in West Palm Beach, Florida, with his wife, Melania.
Trump told reporters he felt “very confident” and that he was “very honored to find out the lines are long, the conservative lines, the Republican lines.”
Donald Trump claims that he is leading in elections despite polls saying it remains close – video
Lauren Gambino
Kamala Harris is spending the day at the Naval Observatory, the vice-president’s residence in Washington.
The public is not expected to see the Democratic nominee until later tonight, where she is poised to deliver remarks at Howard University, her alma mater, in Washington DC.
After a sprint across Pennsylvania, Harris arrived at her residence hours before polls opened in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
She spent part of her day calling into radio stations in an eleventh-hour Get Out The Vote push for Americans on their way to work who hadn’t yet cast a ballot. More radio interviews were scheduled for lunchtime and the drive home from work, before polls close.
Kamala Harris speaks during the closing rally of her campaign at the base of the iconic “Rocky Steps” at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Photograph: Kent Nishimura/Getty Images
Per her campaign, she has called into radio stations across three battleground states so far – Pennsylvania, Georgia and North Carolina. More are expected throughout the day.
Asked what her first order of business would be if she wins the election, Harris cited lowering costs – the top voting issue this cycle.
“Bringing down the cost of living for folks,” she said in an interview on NewsRadio KDKA, naming several of her economic proposals on housing, healthcare and the child tax credit. She also noted “fixing what’s going on with our broken immigration system,” an issues that has bedeviled presidents of both parties for decades.
Updated at 14.33 EST