Summary

Media caption,

A rare look at the pure joy supporters on both sides feel

  1. Trump wraps North Carolina speechpublished at 19:02 Greenwich Mean Time 30 October

    Trump has just finished his nearly 90-minute speech in North Carolina.

    In addition to addressing Biden's "garbage" comments, he also attacked Harris, blaming the vice-president for the current state of the economy and for an open border.

    He received loud applause from the crowd during his remarks.

    Trump is headed up to another swing state, Wisconsin, later today - we'll bring you the news from that event as well, so stick with us.

  2. When will we know who won the election?published at 18:51 Greenwich Mean Time 30 October

    Media caption,

    BBC's Sumi Somaskanda explains when a new president will be announced

    The short answer for when to expect election results is any day but on election day - 5 November - itself.

    While it is possible a winner will be declared on Tuesday, it is highly unlikely the election will be called after polls close in the evening. It is more likely results will come in the following days.

    This is in part because of the absentee and mail-in ballots that must be counted. Several states - including the swing states of Pennsylvania and Wisconsin - are unable to count early voting ballots until election day.

    In 2020, it took four days to get a winner projected.

    It's important to note that the last presidential election was in the midst of the global coronavirus pandemic, when election officials across the country expanded early voting options and absentee ballots to make it safer to vote. This led to a backlog when it came to tallying the results. One bit of good news for the potential speed of vote counting is that officials will not dealing with the Covid crisis while counting ballots this year.

  3. Watch: How would a Harris presidency differ from Biden's?published at 18:17 Greenwich Mean Time 30 October

    Vice-President Kamala Harris has sought to make it clear that her presidency wouldn't be a "continuation" of current President Joe Biden's term in office.

    The BBC spoke to attendees at Harris's closing argument speech at the Ellipse in Washington DC last night, to see how her supporters feel she would be a different president.

    Here's what they said:

    Media caption,

    We ask Democrats: How would Harris's presidency differ from Biden's?

  4. 'He's finally said what he thinks': Trump addresses Biden's 'garbage' commentpublished at 17:53 Greenwich Mean Time 30 October

    Donald Trump addresses President Joe Biden's comments which emerged last night, when he was accused of calling Trump supporters "garbage".

    The White House says Biden was actually referring to comic Tony Hinchcliffe, who sparked controversy by calling Puerto Rico, a US territory, an "island of garbage" at a Trump rally at the weekend.

    "Joe Biden finally said what he and Kamala really think of our supporters," Trump tells the North Carolina crowd. "He called them garbage. And they mean it. Even though without question my supporters are far higher quality."

    "My response to Joe and Kamala is very simple," he adds. "You can't lead America if you don't love Americans."

    Media caption,

    Trump addresses Biden's 'garbage' comment

  5. Trump starts campaign speech in North Carolinapublished at 17:37 Greenwich Mean Time 30 October

    We are now turning to former President Donald Trump, who is also campaigning in North Carolina.

    Trump is speaking to a large crowd in Rocky Mount that seems equally as enthusiastic as the crowd at the Harris event just moments ago.

    He has started his speech talking about immigration and the border, criticising his opponent for the government's handling of the US-Mexico border.

  6. What it's like inside a raucous rally crowd in Raleighpublished at 17:36 Greenwich Mean Time 30 October

    A woman in a Harris Walz hat at a rally event surrounded by peopleImage source, Nimasheena Burns

    Nimasheena Burns was at the Harris rally in Raleigh, and she's just sent us a quick selfie to show what it was like in the crowd.

    Burns says it's been "a party for hours and she is killing it. USA chants, multiple pauses and applause breaks."

    The Harris supporter also says the lady in front her in the crowd was a retiree, and she was in tears because when Harris was the California attorney general she "saved her home from foreclosure".

  7. Harris directly appeals to Gen Z 'who have fewer rights than grandparents'published at 17:22 Greenwich Mean Time 30 October

    Bernd Debusmann Jr
    Reporting from Washington

    Kamala Harris also direct appeals to first-time voters and "young leaders" of America, who she says are "impatient" for change.

    In her remarks, Harris specifically called on those who have "grown up with climate change", dealt with school shooters while trying to keep their communities safe and grew up with "fewer rights than their parents and grandparents".

    A direct appeal to Generation Z voters has become something of a fixture of Harris's speeches in the final days of the campaign.

    At a rally I attended in Kalamazoo, Michigan over the weekend, she used many of the same phrases while speaking directly to young voters.

  8. Harris promises a new chapter to gathered crowdspublished at 17:17 Greenwich Mean Time 30 October

    Bernd Debusmann Jr
    Reporting from Washington DC

    Kamala HarrisImage source, US Pool

    There's a raucous crowd welcoming Kamala Harris at her campaign event in Raleigh, North Carolina, in which she's so far recounted her major policy objectives and her past as Attorney General in California - a key message of hers in the final days of the campaign.

    She's also echoing the remarks about Donald Trump she made last night in Washington DC, calling Donald Trump "unstable, obsessed with revenge and consumed with grievance".

    "We have the opportunity to turn the page on a decade of Donald Trump," she adds. "It is time for a new chapter where we stop with the pointing fingers...we have so much more in common than what separates us."

    Harris also focuses on abortion access - and has repeatedly promises her supporters victory next week.

    The event is briefly interrupted by a man who appeared to be shouting at Harris – he's escorted from the venue and drowned out by the crowd chanting "Kamala! Kamala!"

  9. Thousand arrive for Harris rally in key swing statepublished at 16:44 Greenwich Mean Time 30 October

    Tom Bateman
    Reporting from North Carolina

    We are now at the rally in Raleigh, North Carolina.

    There is a crowd several-thousand strong packing out a standing area and backed up into the park in front of the stage.

    Some hold Harris-Walz banners, others pictures of the VP. And there are white and blue campaign T-shirts dotted right through the audience.

    Many are bouncing to the soundtrack, currently Love Train by The O’Jays.

    A huge screen beams down to the crown “when we vote, we win”.

    We await the VP.

    North Carolina: At a glance

    Graphic highlighting the southwestern state of North Carolina with some text saying - Electoral college votes: 16 of 538; State population: 10.8 million people; 2020 winner: Trump by 74,000 votes.
  10. Teenager 'threatens' elderly voters with a machete at Florida polls, police saypublished at 16:22 Greenwich Mean Time 30 October

    A machete-wielding teenager in Florida was arrested on Tuesday after he allegedly threatened voters at a polling station.

    Caleb Williams arrived to the Beaches Branch Library to show his support for Donald Trump and to harass voters that didn't share his political views, police allege.

    The 18-year-old then "brandished a machete in an aggressive, threatening posture over his head" in the library's parking lot, police said, as he faced two women in their 50s and 70s.

    He was charged with aggravated assault.

    Seven other people were in the group, aged between 16 and 17.

    "The group was there for no other reason but for ill intentions, to cause a disturbance," Police Chief Michael Key said.

  11. Supreme Court clears way for Virginia to remove 1,600 voters from rollspublished at 16:11 Greenwich Mean Time 30 October

    The Supreme Court has cleared the way for a Republican-led effort to remove more than 1,600 voters from Virginia's voter rolls.

    In August - with exactly 90 days until election day - Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin signed an executive order to expedite the removal of non-citizens from the state's voter rolls. Non-US citizens are ineligible from voting in federal elections.

    The Justice Department sued the state in October, arguing that some eligible voters had been removed, which would violate federal law. The National Voter Registration Act requires states to complete any purge of ineligible voters from registration lists up to 90 days before a federal election.

    The Supreme Court has granted the state's request to pause a lower court's order which had blocked the voter removal programme.

    A Justice Department spokesperson said: “The Department brought this suit to ensure that every eligible American citizen can vote in our elections. We disagree with the Supreme Court’s order.”

    In a statement, Youngkin called the order "a victory for commonsense and election fairness".

  12. The crucial decisions voters face in Wisconsinpublished at 15:50 Greenwich Mean Time 30 October

    Mike Wendling
    Reporting from Wisconsin

    Today both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are making their pitch to crowds in the battleground state of Wisconsin, but the presidential race is not the only important one on the ballot in this Midwestern state.

    Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin is facing a challenge from Republican businessman Eric Hovde, and polls indicate that race is extremely tight as well.

    Both sides have poured millions into the race, and Democrats stand a slim chance of retaining a majority in the US Senate if Baldwin cannot successfully defend her seat.

    Wisconsinites will also vote yes or no on a proposition that would make a seemingly minor change to the state constitution around voter eligibility.

    Currently the law says “every” citizen 18 years or older living in Wisconsin can vote. The amendment on the ballot, if passed, would change that language to specifiy that “only” US citizens can vote.

    Republicans, who are backing the change, say it would prevent non-citizens from voting, now or in the future. But Democrats argue that it’s a meaningless waste of time.

  13. Arnold Schwarzenegger endorses Kamala Harrispublished at 15:31 Greenwich Mean Time 30 October

    Arnold Schwarzenegger smilingImage source, Getty Images

    Former Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California has weighed in on the 2024 election by endorsing the Harris-Walz ticket.

    Schwarzenegger wrote in a post on X that he "hates politics more than ever" and wants to "tune out".

    "But I can't. Because rejecting the results of an election is as un-American as it gets," he said, referencing Trump.

    "Let me be honest with you: I don’t like either party right now. My Republicans have forgotten the beauty of the free market, driven up deficits, and rejected election results," he wrote. "Democrats aren’t any better at dealing with deficits, and I worry about their local policies hurting our cities with increased crime."

    Schwarzenegger said four more years of a Trump presidency will bring no results and make Americans more divided and hateful.

    "I will always be an American before I am a Republican," he says.

  14. Watch: Harris responds to Biden's 'garbage' commentpublished at 15:05 Greenwich Mean Time 30 October

    Media caption,

    Watch: Harris responds to Biden 'garbage' comment

    Vice-President Kamala Harris just spoke to reporters at Joint Base Andrews.

    BBC's Tom Bateman asked if she sympathises with voters if they feel offended or insulted by the "garbage" comments made by President Joe Biden on Tuesday.

    Harris replied: “I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for.”

  15. 'When you say we’re ready for anything, people say 'hold my beer''published at 14:54 Greenwich Mean Time 30 October

    To wrap up the press conference in Georgia, we also heard from a state election official who warned that "the threat environment is different now".

    "We do get reports of people planning potential physical issues on machines themselves, and we are in regular communication" (with FBI) about potential threats, said Gabriel Sterling - the chief operating officer for Georgia's Secretary of State office.

    Sterling said state and local offices are "more prepared" this year, but he also said he did not want to go into any further details because: "When you say, 'Hey, we’re ready for anything', people say, 'hold my beer.'"

    After the last election, some of the accusations of election fraud were linked to rumours about voting machines being connected to the internet.

    It's a claim election officials have repeatedly dismissed, which Sterling does again here, saying: "Voting machines are never connected to the internet, so they can’t be hacked remotely."

  16. Raffensperger alludes to Trump's claims of election fraud in 2020published at 14:46 Greenwich Mean Time 30 October

    More now from Georgia's Secretary of State Raffensperger's press conference, where he told a story about his grandson's baseball team who lost their game but still shook the hand of the victor immediately afterwards.

    "I think that's what America is," Raffensperger says. "Gracefully accepting your win, but also gracefully accepting your losses."

    The comment is sure to be interpreted by many as an allusion to Donald Trump and the former president's claims that his loss in Georgia in 2020 was because of fraud.

    Back in 2020, Raffensperger called Trump's false claims that he won the state in 2020 "just plain wrong". Trump had pressured him in a phone call to "find" votes proving his win.

    Trump is currently facing two lawsuits - in Georgia and the US - for allegedly attempting to overturn the last presidential election.

  17. Georgia early voters are 'smashing' recordspublished at 14:27 Greenwich Mean Time 30 October

    Voters in the key battleground state of Georgia "are smashing through every voting record", Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has just announced.

    More than 3 million people have participated in early voting in the state, Raffensperger says, compared to 2.1 million at this point in the last presidential election.

    Two-thirds of the entire election turnout from 2020 have already voted in Georgia.

    Joe Biden won Georgia in 2020 by less than 1%.

    After Trump lost to Joe Biden, he accused the state of election fraud and called Raffensperger asking him to "find" enough votes that would give Trump the win.

    Trump is facing a lawsuit in Georgia for allegedly attempting to overturn the election.

  18. Watch: Georgia's Secretary of State holds news conferencepublished at 14:11 Greenwich Mean Time 30 October

    We're currently hearing from Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, you can watch a live stream of his remarks at the top of this page.

    And we'll bring you the key lines of his speech.

  19. Candidates set to campaign in swing-state Wisconsinpublished at 13:52 Greenwich Mean Time 30 October

    Mike Wendling
    Reporting from Wisconsin

    Both candidates will also be rallying today in Wisconsin, and I’ll be driving up and down the state to check the mood among their supporters and others along the way.

    Donald Trump will be joined by former Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre, in an arena not far from where the NFL team play home games.

    Kamala Harris, meanwhile, is heading to the college town of Madison, looking to draw in a big crowd with a lineup of musicians: Gracie Abrams, Mumford & Sons, Remi Wolf, and members of The National.

    Wisconsin is one of the seven crucial swing states that will decide the outcome of the election and, with 10 electoral votes, it’s one of the smaller prizes on the battleground map.

    But no effort is being spared – not only will the candidates visit this Midwestern state today, both will likely return again before Election Day.

    My path today will keep me exclusively in the east and south-east parts of the state – which is where most of the voters are. Harris is hoping to run up the score in the state’s two biggest cities, Milwaukee and Madison. Trump has strong support in rural areas. Hotly contested suburban areas around Milwaukee and politically mixed counties around Green Bay might prove to be decisive – in Wisconsin, and perhaps the nation.

  20. Analysis

    Putting 'garbage' under the microscopepublished at 13:27 Greenwich Mean Time 30 October

    Anthony Zurcher
    BBC North America correspondent

    In sports, “garbage time” is a reference to the ending moments of a game, when the teams are still playing but the winner is clear.

    The last few days of this presidential race, where the outcome is still very much in doubt, are redefining the term.

    Joe Biden’s “garbage” gaffe, coming on the heels of a political firestorm over a comedian’s reference to Puerto Rico as an “island of garbage” at a Donald Trump rally, has given Republicans an opportunity to shift the political conversation and put Democrats on the defensive.

    The political potency of this garbage exchange comes, in part, because it seemingly confirms what many in each party think about their opponents – with Democrats believing Trump’s side demeans ethnic minorities, while Republicans are convinced the left views the former president’s supporters as worthless.

    Biden has a history of verbal stumbles, the growing number of which were one of the reasons the party pressured him to abandon his re-election bid.

    In recent weeks, Biden’s usefulness as a political advocate has been a subject of concern for the Harris team, as they have reportedly been reluctant to offer him high-profile campaign events despite his desire to go on the stump.

    This should settle that debate – and give Democrats another reason to be grateful they made the switch to Harris in July.

    The Democratic faithful will be quick to point out all the derisive comments Trump has made at his rallies and in interviews, such as referring last Friday to America as “the garbage can for the world”. But in the last week of the campaign, and with the margins between the two candidates seemingly so narrow, even small political twists can be amplified to a deafening roar.