US Election: The day after – What are the results; what Harris, Trump is doing | 2024 US Election News
After months of campaigning in the United States, election withdrawals, and assassination attempts, Americans have gone to the polls to decide who will take over the White House for the next four years.
Election results have been called in 42 states and Washington, DC, and many swing states are still counting their votes.
Who is leading in the US election results so far?
Former President and Republican candidate Donald Trump is leading against his Democratic counterpart, Vice President Kamala Harris. But the margin between them in several skating regions remains narrow.
With 246 Electoral College votes expected in his favor so far, Trump has moved up to the 270 mark needed to win. Harris is expected to win 214 Electoral College votes so far and has more than 63 million votes (47.3 percent of the popular vote) overall. Trump, by contrast, has won more than 68 million votes (51.2 percent of the popular vote) so far.
The Associated Press (AP) has named 25 states for Trump, including staunch Republican states and the states of Georgia and North Carolina. Of all the red states named, Texas has the highest number of Electoral College seats at 40. While Trump won Nebraska, the state’s Electoral College is split between him and Harris.
Seventeen states have been subpoenaed by Harris, including California where he served as attorney general, and New York. He is also expected to win the District of Columbia, which is not a state but has three Electoral College votes. California has 54 Electoral College votes, the most of any state.
How was Election Day?
Voting went smoothly in most areas, although some states saw long queues.
There were software glitches in Pennsylvania, protests against US funding of Israel’s war in New York, and bomb threats in Georgia. The FBI saw the threats, which delayed voting in some states, as unreliable and a possible Russian election interference exercise. Several states, including Georgia and Arizona, took additional security measures to protect polling places.
Arab, Muslim, and progressive voters said they faced a difficult choice between candidates both seen as unsympathetic to Palestine.
Even around the world, from Gaza to Iran, people were watching the election.
In Thulasendrapuram in southern India – the town where Harris’s grandfather was born – residents gathered to pray for the Democratic candidate to become the first US leader with South Asian roots.
What would Kamala Harris do on Election Day?
Both candidates used Election Day to urge their supporters to get in line, stay in line, and vote.
Harris spent part of the day calling radio stations to encourage his supporters to vote. “We have to do it. Today is voting day, and people need to get out and be active,” CNN quoted Harris as telling a radio station in Georgia.
He also visited the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee in Washington, DC, where he held phone banks with volunteers.
What did Donald Trump do on Election Day?
Trump spoke to the media after voting in Palm Beach, Florida, saying he felt “very confident” about his disorganization in the election.
“It looks like the Republicans have started to work,” Trump said. “We’ll see how it goes”.
He added, “I feel we are doing very well.”
Florida also voted on six constitutional amendments, including measures to legalize marijuana and protect abortion rights.
When asked for the first time how he voted on the country’s abortion bill, Trump deflected, saying he had done “a very good job in bringing it back to the states”. This refers to his appointment of the three remaining Supreme Court justices who in 2022 helped overturn Roe v Wade – making abortion a national right.
When pressed again, he lashed out, telling the reporter to “stop talking about that”.
It is now officially Election Day! This will be the most important day in American history.
Voter enthusiasm is through the roof because people want to make America Great Again. That means the lines will be long!
I need you to get your vote in no matter how long it takes.…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 5, 2024
His partner JD Vance also voted in Cincinnati, Ohio, that same morning.
“Look, I feel fine. “You never know until you know, but I feel good about this race,” Vance said after he and his wife cast their votes.
Vance said he will go to Palm Beach, Florida, later in the day to be with Donald Trump as the results come in.
What’s next for the election?
Eight states, including five battleground states are yet to be called by AP while many official results are yet to be decided.
But while there are as many as 21 ways for Trump to win the presidency, Harris’s ways have dwindled to just three.
And all of those remaining tracks require Harris to win one state: Pennsylvania, with its 19 Electoral College votes. As of Wednesday morning, he was trailing Trump in the state.
