On Nov. 5, 2024, people around the U.S. cast their vote to elect the next president. By the time polling sites opened, approximately 80 million people had already voted early. Polling in many states has shown Vice President Kamala Harris and Former President Donald Trump at nearly an even percentage throughout the day, particularly in the battleground states. 

According to Columbia Broadcasting System News and Cable News Network Politics, there are seven swing states — or battleground states — that will have a significant impact on the outcome of the election. The states are Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. 

Each state polling site closed anywhere between 7 p.m. and 1 a.m. Eastern time, with Alaska polls being the last to close. With one hour left until the first wave of poll closings, the critical battleground states continued to be close races based on razor thin margins, according to News Broadcasting Company news coverage. 

The first of the presidential election results came in from Kentucky, Indiana, Georgia, South Carolina, Vermont and Virginia. As predicted, the initial projection for Georgia was deemed too early to call by National Broadcasting Company News, as was Virginia, South Carolina and Indiana. Kentucky was projected for Trump and Vermont for Harris. 

At 10 past 7 p.m., Microsoft NBC analyzed the first votes from Georgia shortly after poll closures, providing the initial information on one of the battleground states. The next wave of poll closures at 7:30 p.m. brought more projected victories for Trump, with Ohio and West Virginia predicted to go to the former president. Kentucky was projected shortly after. 

At this point in the night, results were just beginning to roll in, but at 8:00 p.m., the polls closed in 16 states and the District of Columbia, resulting in a huge influx of new information. 

Of the 16 states, Pennsylvania is perhaps the most anticipated initial result, as it is one of the major battleground states. Of the 16 states, five states projected Trump to win, three for Harris and nine states were too early to call. D.C. was called for Harris. Most notably, all the battleground states where the polls closed — Pennsylvania, Georgia and North Carolina — continued to be too close to call as of 8:04 p.m. EST, according to MSNBC. 

At 8:11 p.m. EST, Georgia was labeled “too close to call” instead of “too early to call.” At 8:15, MSNBC gave South Carolina to Trump. Main battleground projection states — GA, NV and PA — continue to have inconclusive results. NBC News projected Arkansas to go to Trump.

At 9:00 p.m., 15 more polls closed, with the majority of the states inconclusive. Of those states, Texas, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming were all projected to go to Trump. However, CNN coverage suggested that “[n]o one had broken serve yet,” meaning that there has been no surprises yet. 

In the battleground states, Harris was ahead in PA and Michigan, while Trump was ahead in North Carolina and Georgia, as of 9:00. Just 10 minutes later, Harris was predicted to win in Delaware, according to MSNBC. 

As of 9:30 p.m., according to Associated Press News nine states had been projected wins for Harris and 17 have been given to Trump. The battleground states — NC, PA, AZ, WI and MI — continued to be too early to call, and Georgia was too close to call. 

The polls in Idaho, Montana, Nevada and Utah closed at 10:00 p.m. EST. Montana and Utah were projected by NBC News to go to Trump, and Idaho and Nevada were too early to call. As of 10:30 p.m., the numbers for the battleground states continued to fluctuate. According to NBC News, Trump is ahead in projections in Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin. Harris was ahead in Michigan, and Nevada has zero percent of the vote in. 

With just 10 minutes before the next wave of poll closures, a total of 32 states had been called. Nine states were projected for Harris, and 23 were given to Trump. At 11:00 p.m., the polls in California, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington closed. Trump was projected to win Idaho and Harris won Washington and California. With this new information, Harris has 145 electoral votes as compared to Trump’s 214. 

With only two states left to close up their polling sites, the battleground states remained too close to call as of 11:30. According to NBC News, Trump led in Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Arizona and Wisconsin with razor thin margins. Harris led in Michigan and Nevada. At this time, Harris had 172 electoral votes and Trump had 214.  

Virginia and New Mexico — called by AP News — were both called for Harris, leaving only 12 states left to be projected as of 11:45 p.m.. At that time, Harris had 185 electoral votes as compared to Trump’s 230. At midnight, the polls in Hawaii closed and were projected for Harris, bringing her total electoral votes to 189. 

As of 12:30 a.m., both North Carolina and Georgia were called for Trump. After these states were called, at approximately 12:44 p.m., Harris’ campaign co-chair Cedric Richmond addressed the crowd at Harris’ Headquarters. He expressed that “We still have votes to count. We still have states that have not been called yet.” He said that “You [the American people] won’t hear from the Vice President tonight,” but she will address the public the next morning. At the time of this speech, Harris had 189 electoral votes and Trump had 246. 

At 1:00 a.m. EST, the final polls closed in Alaska, with the final voters casting their ballots. At that time, the electoral votes stood with Harris with 194 and Trump with 246. The night of Nov. 5, 2024 and the early morning hours of Nov. 6 marked a historic time in U.S. history. However, there is much more history to be made; Nevada, Arizona, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Alaska still have not been called.  

The story of the 2024 presidential election has been one of narrow margins. The remaining states continued to be too close or too early to call, thus preventing the recognition of a new president of the United States. The country will be waiting with baited breath as the final tally of the votes come in and a new president is elected.