Trump wins three states, Harris takes Vermont as first polls close in US presidential race
Republican Donald Trump won Indiana, Kentucky and West Virginia in Tuesday's presidential election while Democrat Kamala Harris captured Vermont, Edison Research projected, as polls closed in the first nine U.S. states, including critical Georgia and North Carolina, News.Az reports citing Reuters .
The early results were expected, with the race likely to come down to seven battleground states: Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Opinion polls showed the rivals neck and neck in all seven going into Election Day.
Nearly three-quarters of voters say American democracy is under threat, according to preliminary national exit polls from Edison, reflecting the nation's deep anxiety after a contentious campaign.
Democracy and the economy ranked by far as the most important issues for voters, with around a third of respondents citing each, followed by abortion and immigration. The poll showed 73% of voters believed democracy was in jeopardy against 25% who said it was secure.
The data underscored the depth of polarization in a nation where divisions have only grown starker during a fiercely competitive race. Trump employed increasingly apocalyptic rhetoric while stoking unfounded fears that the election system cannot be trusted. Harris warned that a second Trump term would threaten the underpinnings of American democracy.
The figures represent just a slice of the tens of millions of people who voted, both before and on Election Day, and the preliminary results are subject to change during the evening as more people are surveyed.
Hours before polls closed, Trump claimed on his Truth Social site without evidence that there was "a lot of talk about massive CHEATING" in Philadelphia, echoing his false claims in 2020 that fraud had occurred in large, Democratic-dominated cities. In a subsequent post, he also asserted there was fraud in Detroit.
"I don't respond to nonsense," Detroit City Clerk Janice Winfrey told Reuters.
A Philadelphia city commissioner, Seth Bluestein, replied on X, "There is absolutely no truth to this allegation. It is yet another example of disinformation. Voting in Philadelphia has been safe and secure."
Trump, whose supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, after he claimed the 2020 election was rigged, voted earlier near his home in Palm Beach, Florida.
"If I lose an election, if it's a fair election, I'm gonna be the first one to acknowledge it," Trump told reporters.
His campaign has suggested he may declare victory on election night even while millions of ballots have yet to be counted, as he did four years ago. The winner may not be known for days if the margins in battleground states are as slim as expected.
Millions of Americans waited in orderly lines to cast ballots, with only sporadic disruptions reported across a handful of states, including several non-credible bomb threats that the FBI said appeared to originate from Russian email domains.
The early results were expected, with the race likely to come down to seven battleground states: Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Opinion polls showed the rivals neck and neck in all seven going into Election Day.
Nearly three-quarters of voters say American democracy is under threat, according to preliminary national exit polls from Edison, reflecting the nation's deep anxiety after a contentious campaign.
Democracy and the economy ranked by far as the most important issues for voters, with around a third of respondents citing each, followed by abortion and immigration. The poll showed 73% of voters believed democracy was in jeopardy against 25% who said it was secure.
The data underscored the depth of polarization in a nation where divisions have only grown starker during a fiercely competitive race. Trump employed increasingly apocalyptic rhetoric while stoking unfounded fears that the election system cannot be trusted. Harris warned that a second Trump term would threaten the underpinnings of American democracy.
The figures represent just a slice of the tens of millions of people who voted, both before and on Election Day, and the preliminary results are subject to change during the evening as more people are surveyed.
Hours before polls closed, Trump claimed on his Truth Social site without evidence that there was "a lot of talk about massive CHEATING" in Philadelphia, echoing his false claims in 2020 that fraud had occurred in large, Democratic-dominated cities. In a subsequent post, he also asserted there was fraud in Detroit.
"I don't respond to nonsense," Detroit City Clerk Janice Winfrey told Reuters.
A Philadelphia city commissioner, Seth Bluestein, replied on X, "There is absolutely no truth to this allegation. It is yet another example of disinformation. Voting in Philadelphia has been safe and secure."
Trump, whose supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, after he claimed the 2020 election was rigged, voted earlier near his home in Palm Beach, Florida.
"If I lose an election, if it's a fair election, I'm gonna be the first one to acknowledge it," Trump told reporters.
His campaign has suggested he may declare victory on election night even while millions of ballots have yet to be counted, as he did four years ago. The winner may not be known for days if the margins in battleground states are as slim as expected.
Millions of Americans waited in orderly lines to cast ballots, with only sporadic disruptions reported across a handful of states, including several non-credible bomb threats that the FBI said appeared to originate from Russian email domains.
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