Never in modern history has a US presidential race been so tight so close to election day.
With just a week left, Kamala Harris will deliver her presidential election campaign's closing argument in Washington tonight, with the vice president leaning on the symbolic location to paint her rival as a threat to democracy. Meanwhile, Donald Trump has planned rallies this weekend in New Mexico and Virginia, two Democratic states where the former president is trailing.
What do the polls say? Most polls put Harris and Trump nearly neck and neck, with Harris' slight edge narrowing recently – but as the winner is decided in the Electoral College, most analysts believe it will come down to results in just a few crucial swing states. Polling averages show razor-thin margins in all seven battleground states: Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona and Nevada.
"After $2.8 billion spent on campaigning, two assassination attempts, the withdrawal of a president from his re-election bid, two highly consequential debates and endorsements ranging from Taylor Swift to Hulk Hogan, Americans are still evenly split over who their next leader should be," said the Financial Times.
Who has already voted? The majority of voters will go to the polls on Tuesday 5 November, but many have already cast their vote using the postal voting system or early voting. As of today, more than 43 million ballots have been cast across 47 states and the District of Columbia, said CNN.
When might we know the final result? In the past few decades results have been "called" by the morning after the election, except for 2000 (which was delayed for weeks because of a recount in Florida), said The Hill. The 2020 election marked a "sharp difference" from the norm; the public had to wait almost five days due largely to delays processing the "historic increase" in postal voting caused by the pandemic.
Since then, almost all states have changed their policies to allow envelopes for postal votes to be processed ahead of the big day. But, ultimately, just how close the race is may decide "how long the country is holding its breath".
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