Harris and Trump make final push as election campaign enters last day

As both campaigns lean on surging enthusiasm, high-stakes rhetoric, and powerful alliances, this race remains tightly contested
With just hours until Americans cast their ballots, a dramatic presidential campaign is in its final push.
The race, marked by an unprecedented felony trial, assassination attempts, and a late shake-up on the Democratic ticket, now centres on a handful of battleground states poised to decide the election.
Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, is spending Monday in Pennsylvania, and wrapping up with a rally in Philadelphia featuring Lady Gaga and Oprah Winfrey.
The current vice president hopes to turn out voters in the state’s 19 electoral votes, a critical prize in the Electoral College race.
Harris has swapped out her usual speech riffs about Donald Trump being unstable, unhinged and out for unchecked power, for an optimistic tone urging voters to “turn the page on a decade of politics driven by fear and division”.
Across several rallies on Sunday, Harris did not even mention her opponent’s name.
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It comes as the Democrat edged ahead of Trump in Iowa, a state where the former president was previously in the lead, according to new US election polling.
The results show Harris holding 47%, with Trump at 44%. According to pollsters Des Moines Register and Mediacom, the result falls within the margin of sampling error, and there is no clear leader.
The poll’s findings mark a shift from September, when 47% of likely voters backed Trump to 43% for Harris.
Meanwhile, Trump is holding rallies across three states, including stops in Pennsylvania and a finale in Michigan at midnight.
Both candidates are urging millions more Americans to join the 77 million who have already submitted mail-in ballots, with either outcome promising a historic result.
Trump could become the first president with a felony conviction to hold office again, while Harris could break multiple barriers as the first woman and first Black and South Asian person to reach the presidency.
As both campaigns lean on surging enthusiasm, high-stakes rhetoric, and powerful alliances, this race remains tightly contested, with the final decision resting on swing states.
When is election day?
US law requires a presidential election every four years. These general elections, since 1845, are required to occur on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November. This year, that date is November 5.
What happens on election day?
States oversee their own elections, which means polling times vary from state to state.
The first polls close on election day at 6pm ET (11pm GMT) in some counties in Indiana and Kentucky, and the last polls close at 1am ET (6am GMT) Wednesday, November 6, in Alaska.
After the votes are counted in one state, it will declare its Electoral College votes for a particular candidate.
A candidate will need to receive a majority of Electoral College votes, which is approximately 270, to be declared the next US president.
Counting votes is often more complex in the US compared to in the UK because of the size of the country, the varying time zones and the different methods states use.
In some states, mail-in ballots can be verified before election day and then tabulated quickly on the day. However, not all states allow this which can lead to backlogs and delays.
When will we know who has won?
It is often clear who the winner is on the night of the election, however, this can vary depending on how long it takes for all states to be declared.
In 2020, it took four days for Joe Biden to be confirmed as the next president. This is widely thought to be due to a higher number of mail-in voters because of Covid.
However, in 2016, the election was called shortly after election day as Trump was named the next president at around 2.30am by the Associated Press and Hilary Clinton conceded.
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