Jon Kay
BBC Breakfast presenter, in Washington DC

Put the coffee on! BBC Breakfast has landed in Washington DC - and the time difference is a bit of a killer.

We go on air at 06:00 GMT every day, which is 01:00 here. But we’ll have plenty to keep us busy as we broadcast through the night, overlooking the White House.

Pollsters, pundits, and politicians will join us to explain why the result of this election is so important - and so very hard to predict. We’ll also hear from voters in those crucial swing-states everyone’s talking about.

I’ve just spent a couple of days filming in the must-win state Pennsylvania, where voters told me they’re exhausted and anxious as the US enters the last hours of this extraordinary race.

On Wednesday morning, I’ll be in the studio with the BBC’s North America anchors Sumi Somaskanda and Caitriona Perry for a special edition of BBC Breakfast as the results come in.

Sarah Smith
North America editor

Image source, Reuters

In this incredibly tight race, both candidates are frantically campaigning for every last vote with multiple events in the key battleground states that will decide the election.

Donald Trump is already alleging that Democrats are trying to steal the election – he also told supporters at a rally in Georgia on Sunday he was on course for victory.

Meanwhile, Kamala Harris has often been harshly critical of Trump but has now stopped mentioning his name as she says she wants to end her campaign on an upbeat note.

What has often been an angry and aggressive battle for the White House – with both candidates painting a dark picture of what could happen to America if their opponent wins – will end with them holding competing rallies in the biggest swing state – Pennsylvania – later today.

Not every vote is still up for grabs - early voting arrangements in many states mean over 76 million voters have already cast their ballots – that is almost half the total number of people who voted in the whole of the 2020 election.

Mike Wendling
US reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Rumours, misleading allegations and outright lies about voting and fraud are flooding online spaces in unprecedented numbers as the race enters its final hours.

Hundreds of incidents involving purported voting irregularities are being spread by individuals, as well as both independent and Republican-affiliated groups. A small number of posts are coming from Democrats too.

The US government has also alleged that foreign actors, including Russia, are spreading fake videos to undermine confidence in the electoral process.

The whirlwind of misinformation spreading online poses a challenge to election officials who are having to debunk rumours and reassure voters, while preparing to administer Tuesday's election.

Many posts alleging election irregularities support the Trump campaign’s false claim that the former president won in 2020 and suggestions that he will potentially be cheated out of victory again on 5 November.

• Read our full story here.

Image source, Reuters

BBC's Americast has delved deeper into two surprises from the election race in the last 24 hours.

As we just mentioned, new polling suggests Kamala Harris will win in Iowa - a state Trump won by nearly 10 points in the last two elections - Sarah Smith, Justin Webb, Marianna Spring and Anthony Zurcher discuss what we can conclude from the result of the poll.

​​Plus, Harris appeared on popular late-night comedy show Saturday Night Live. Could it help her in the battle for the undecided voter?

Talking of undecideds, Marianna has been investigating how they’re being targeted by social media platforms.

For the latest episode of Americast, head to BBC Sounds.

Phil McCausland
Reporting from New York

In 2020, Trump won Iowa - which has six electoral votes - by eight points, but a weekend poll suggests he may be down in the state by three.

Rather than being dismissed as a random outlier, it's getting a lot of attention.

Why? There are a few reasons:

1. Iowa hasn't been a swing state since 2012, the last year a Democrat won it - so this poll is a bit shocking for Republicans
2. The poll was conducted by Ann Selzer, who is considered one of the US's most accurate pollsters, especially in Iowa
3. The poll suggests that women and independents, key voting groups, are the ones shifting toward Harris

Selzer told the BBC on Sunday it's the 2-1 margin among women aged 65 and older that could be moving the needle most significantly.

"There's obviously something going on here," Selzer said. "Older people is who you want to appeal to, because they're the most reliable voters, and Kamala Harris is doing very well with that group."

So now the question that some are asking is: If Harris is doing so well with women and independents in Iowa, could she find similar success among women and independents across the Midwest?

Rowan Bridge
North America correspondent

When Tony Blair was UK prime minister, his director of communications once famously said "we don’t do God".

It’s become a shorthand for the way that politicians in the UK don’t tend to wear their faith on their sleeve.

But in the US, politicians almost have it tattooed on their arm.

On Sunday morning, Kamala Harris appeared in a black church. By the end of her speech she had adopted almost the cadence of a preacher as she quoted the Bible, with the crowd roaring in appreciation.

Donald Trump too understands the importance of the religious vote.

The thrice-married New Yorker has won over the support of many Christian conservatives - not least by putting judges on the Supreme Court who overturned the federal protection for abortion.

Trump has even launched his own bible this election cycle.

In a video promoting it on his Truth Social social media platform he said: “All Americans need a bible in their home, and I have many. It’s my favourite book…I’m proud to endorse and encourage you to get this bible. We must make America pray again.”

Image source, Reuters

Harris is again criticising Trump's promise to let Robert F Kennedy Jr - a known vaccine sceptic who has backflipped his position on abortion rights - "do anything he wants" to US health care policy.

Speaking on a podcast with family physician Dr Mike Varshavski earlier, Harris said it had "not been helpful to the medical profession to have [Kennedy] talk about health care the way he does".

"That is one of the reasons why I'm working so hard, because I know the stakes," she told Varshavski.

In a post on X last week Harris went even further, describing Kennedy as "an anti-abortion conspiracy theorist".

Speaking on Sunday, Trump said he expected to give Kennedy a "big role" in his administration if he wins the presidency and that he couldn't "rule out" the possibility that bans on certain vaccines may be on the table in his second term.

Tarhub Asghar
BBC Urdu – Reporting from New York City

As Election Day approaches, fears among some US voters of Pakistani origin about immigration policies are growing.

In an interview with the BBC, Muhammad Yaseen shared, “I came to this country in 1981. It’s been 44 years, but I still feel that if Donald Trump becomes president, he won’t allow our relatives to come here anymore. Though I am a US citizen, I was treated like a second-class citizen during his previous term.”

The fear is so deeply rooted that even Pakistani and Indian students are choosing not to speak on the matter, believing that voicing their opinions could jeopardise their future visa approvals.

Meanwhile, people currently navigating the immigration process fear that their applications might face delays.

Ayesha, who came to the US as a student and decided to stay after receiving a good job offer, is still waiting for her green card after eight years.

“The process of gaining citizenship is long and exhausting, and when the US president chooses to impose restrictions on immigration, it becomes frustrating for people like us,” she said.

US broadcaster NBC gave Trump a free television ad during a NASCAR race on Sunday to make up for Kamala Harris's appearance on Saturday Night Live, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Harris appeared for one minute and 30 seconds on Saturday’s episode of the comedy show, which raised criticism that the broadcaster had crossed the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) "equal time" rule.

The rule requires channels to provide political candidates an opportunity to have comparable time, placement and terms on their networks.

NBC broadcast a NASCAR playoff race on Sunday, and they included an ad of Trump at the end of the event. He wore a red "Make America Great Again" hat, claimed Harris would cause an economic depression and encouraged viewers to "go and vote", the Hollywood Reporter reported.

It is unclear whether that ad meets the rules requirement, however.

Courtney Subramanian
Reporting from Washington DC

In a background call with reporters on Sunday, Harris campaign officials said volunteers knocked on 1.85 million doors across the seven battleground states on Saturday alone, describing the get-out-the-vote effort as "bananas big".

“There’s no place in any battleground state where our organisation isn’t as fulsome as it needs to be," a senior campaign official said.

But the campaign emphasised while they've seen a lot of momentum in the closing days of the campaign, they believe they're the underdog in what continues to be a dead heat between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.

Officials said black and young voters are turning out at increasing rates in Michigan, Georgia and North Carolina and they expect the trend to continue through election night.

"We do believe that we are on track to win a very close race if we keep doing the work," another official said.

But officials said they expect Trump to call an early victory and are legally prepared to contest any lawsuits or efforts to undermine the outcome.

Madeline Halpert
reporting from Michigan

I've watched a few of Trump's speeches today, and he is sticking to the same message with audiences in Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia.

Today, he has repeated many of the economic policy plans that he's been sharing for the past month - as well as several of the Harris attack lines he has leaned on in the past.

Excited voters in the crowd at rallies may not mind, but for some swing state voters, Trump and Harris's repetitive remarks, their campaign ads and the activity of their volunteers may have grown a bit tiresome.

Here in Michigan, a key swing state where I'll be reporting on election day, you can't turn on a television without catching an election ad within a few minutes. Political organisers are knocking on residents' doors every day in an effort to convince a few voters.

It's indicative of how close this election is, and the importance of these few swing states that the campaigns are blanketing the airwaves.

I'm certain that there will be more than a few people here in Michigan who will be relieved in two days when political volunteers and those ads are done.

John Sudworth
North America Correspondent, reporting from Georgia

Donald Trump has been hammering the message that immigrants are a threat to Americans, citing violent criminal cases and blaming Kamala Harris for those crimes.

This despite the fact that research , externalshows that immigrants do not commit more crimes than the US population as a whole.

And while border crossings did hit record levels under Biden and Harris, the number of border apprehensions were rising dramatically towards the end of Mr Trump's term in office as Covid travel restrictions were lifted.

”I won't let another drop of American blood be spilled", he said. And he called for the death penalty for any immigrant "who kills an American".

John Sudworth
North America Correspondent, reporting from Georgia

I'm in Macon, Georgia, where Donald Trump is holding a campaign rally.

The crowd have heard all this before. And from Donald Trump's hyperbolic promises to usher in "the greatest four years in the history of our country" to the barbs aimed at his opponent with the deliberate mispronunciation of her name, they love what they hear. "USA, USA, USA," they chant.

The biggest cheer follows another one of his stock phrases, "Kamala, you're fired."

Trump is again promising to "drill baby, drill" and saying that while he'd give RFK Jr a role in America's healthcare, he won't let his one-time rival for the presidency but now firm backer let his environmental campaigning get in the way of energy policy.

"The one thing you have to let me do, Bobby, I've got to work the liquid gold,” he said.

Katty Kay
US special correspondent

People around Trump have told me in recent weeks that they think the former president will win six of the seven key battleground states.

Perhaps that is why the campaign has held rallies in places that have not typically been considered winnable by Trump.

On Friday, Trump held a rally in Virginia, a state he lost by big margins in 2016 and 2020. And on Sunday, Vance made a stop in New Hampshire, a state that one Trump advisor told me is “in play” - even as the polls , externalindicate Harris leading there by several points.

The latest New York Times-Siena poll, external suggests this race is a nail biter. Nearly every swing state sits within the margin of error, and a new poll of Iowa - where Trump won in 2016 and 2020 - indicates that Harris may have taken an unexpected lead there.

A Trump campaign source called the Iowa poll odd and confusing. It doesn’t seem to have dented their belief that they are winning where they need to.

We’ll find out on election day whether that confidence is earned.

Courtney Subramanian
Reporting from Washington DC

In the last dash to the election finish line on Tuesday, Kamala Harris's team is cautiously optimistic about her chances of victory in what continues to be an extremely tight race.

Campaign aides believe it continues to be a remarkably stable race in terms of how close it is, but say they're encouraged by public and internal polling showing that the small sliver of undecided voters are breaking for the vice-president.

"Those voters are far more gettable for us than Trump," a campaign official told the BBC.

Campaign officials stress that turnout will be critical to victory, but say internal data shows Harris has continued to make gains with women and senior voters across battleground states.

That fits with a final poll from the Des Moines Register newspaper on Saturday, which not only showed Harris up by 3 percentage points over Trump in deep-red Iowa, but more importantly leading the former president by 20 points among women in the white, Midwestern state. It also showed voters 65 and older, which typically back Republicans, favouring Harris. Campaign officials are not stressing the poll but say they've seen other positive signs of her strength in the so-called "blue wall" Midwest states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Harris aides emphasise they still have more work to do in the next 48 hours, but say their internal research and early voting shows Harris is matching - and in some places "exceeding" - the coalition Joe Biden built in his 2020 victory.

Will Grant
Reporting from Florida

Arriving in West Palm Beach ahead of Tuesday's vote brings a sense of – and forgive the cliché – the calm before the storm. A tropical storm is heading towards Cuba, just 90 miles (144km) off the Florida coast, and could bring some pretty inclement weather on voting day and Wednesday.

Still, millions of staunchly pro-Trump supporters in Florida will turn out come rain, wind or shine to try to hand him the state’s crucial 30 electoral college votes and, they hope, in the process, the White House.

Since Donald Trump became a candidate in 2016, Latinos have played a major role in steadily moving Florida from a swing state to a firmly conservative one. Not least in West Palm Beach itself, where former-President Trump has his residence and luxury resort, Mar-a-Lago.

The area around Mar-a-Lago is already under tight security, especially after the arrest of a gunman in September who’d been hiding in the shrubbery around Trump’s International Golf Club as he was playing golf nearby.

That moment and the violence in Butler, Pennsylvania, have made this a tumultuous election, unlike any in living memory in the United States.

Now, the tempest that is Donald Trump’s campaign will also rumble into town on Monday ahead of the former president casting his own vote on Tuesday morning and a watch party at Palm Beach County Convention Center that night.

There are just two days to go after weeks and months of relentless campaigning. Trump supporters in West Palm Beach remain bullish and confident, while Harris supporters are hopeful of raining on his parade.

Ione Wells
Reporting from Michigan

My Apple Watch tells me I’ve been at “dangerous levels” of sound volume for the last half an hour.

That gives just a sense of how deafening the screams have been for Kamala Harris in this university hall here in Michigan.

Rallies are of course usually packed full of loyal supporters, so that’s not much of a surprise, nor should it be taken as an indicator of how the race stands here.

But it is designed to show momentum, and many in the hall screamed that they had already cast their vote.

Harris specifically addressed the young members of the audience saying she “loved Gen Z” and wanted them to “drag” their friends out to vote.

She also emphasised what she sees as optimistic messages like expanding healthcare access, lowering taxes for middle class families and protecting reproductive rights.

It’s likely she’s trying to end this campaign on a positive note - especially after the backlash Joe Biden received earlier this week for appearing to criticise Donald Trump supporters.

Whether these messages are enough to clinch it in the super tight race here in Michigan though? Well, no one feels they can call that yet.

John Sudworth
North America Correspondent, reporting from Georgia

As the crowd here in Macon, Georgia, wait for Donald Trump, the warm-up acts have included Marjorie Taylor Greene - the arch Maga Republican representative from the state of Georgia, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, and Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, all echoing many of the former president's messages on the economy and immigration, and suggesting only he can save America.

Outside, I meet Vic Freeman and Tea Johnson. Vic tells me he's already voted and doesn't believe the polls that are showing a neck and neck race.

"Trump's winning," he tells me. "The only thing going against him is the - I don't want to curse - but the BS allegations against him."

Tea, on the other hand, is still undecided. "What about abortion?" I ask her, especially here in Georgia with some of the toughest restrictions now in place since Trump's success in helping to bring the constitutional right to an end.

"Women can die," she replies, "if they don't get the healthcare they need. Stuff can happen in life."

But she's still keeping an open mind, she says, and wants to hear from Trump in person before making up her mind. Both worry about the days after the election.

"Here in the South it could get a little crazy if Donald Trump is not elected," Vic tells me.

Anthony Zurcher
BBC North America correspondent, reporting from Michigan

Last week in her speech in Washington, DC, which was billed as her closing argument of her presidential campaign, Kamala Harris began with a dark warning of who she says Donald Trump is, and what his victory would portend.

She then pivoted to a forward looking message about her agenda and vision of a more co-operative, bipartisan future.

Sunday night, speaking to a fieldhouse packed with students at Michigan State University, she skipped past the dark and straight to the upbeat.

“Our future is bright,” she said. “I’m so optimistic about it.” Political campaign tend to like ending on a positive note – leaving a hopeful message as voters head to the polls. Donald Trump has rewritten this standard playbook, but it appears that Harris is following the more traditional path.

Ione Wells
Reporting from Michigan

Kamala Harris is currently speaking at rally at Michigan State University in East Lansing.

“I will do everything in my power to end the war in Gaza.” Harris says.

This is a very deliberate opening message in Michigan, home to the US’s largest Arab-American population.

Donald Trump campaigned on Friday in the largest Arab-majority city - Dearborn. He’s capitalised on some of the anger here - at the Democrats’ handling of the conflict in the Middle East, and financial support for Israel.