Donald Trump will face Kamala Harris in the race for the White House in 2024 after an eventful start to the campaign.
Joe Biden withdrew from 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, November 5, 2024.
The winner will serve four years in the White House from their inauguration on January 20, 2025.
Voters will choose not just a president, but also congressional candidates for seats in the House of Representatives and the US Senate.
The road to the White House actually runs through a few critical battleground states that play an overriding role on election day.
The states are typically divided and turn between Democrats and Republicans with a narrow margin of victory.
Pennsylvania, and its 19 electoral college votes, has proven to be a critical state in the last few presidential elections, and 2024 will be no different.
Trump will also need 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-in ballots on September 11.
Here’s a timeline for early in-person and mail-in voting:
- September 11 – Alabama
- September 19 – Wisconsin
- September 20 – Minnesota, South Dakota and Virginia
- September 21 – North Carolina, and military and overseas polls
- 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 the ballots are counted. Many people may have already cast their vote early using the postal voting system or early voting.
What time does voting end?
Votes are counted in each state after their respective polling stations close. Voting times vary from state to state, but usually start from around 19.00 local time.
The range of time zones across the US means that on the East Coast, ballots will have been cast, while voters in states like Alaska and Hawaii are still heading to the polls.
The winner of the election will likely not be predicted for several days. Even then, the results are not finalized properly for several months. However, states and the entire election result are typically “called” long before the final votes are counted.
In 2020, the result was called for Joe Biden four days after the November 3 vote, after Pennsylvania’s result was certified. The state provided Biden with 20 electoral college votes, putting him over the 270 required to win. In 2016, Hillary Clinton endorsed Trump the morning after the election.
This article will be updated with the latest information for the 2024 election.