Nada Tawfik
Reporting from Donald Trump's watch party in Florida

Huge cheers and chants of "USA" at Donald Trump's watch party after North Carolina was projected for Trump.

They then watched themselves live on air as TV screens showing CNN crossed to their anchor here.

Nadine Yousif
Reporting from Washington, DC

We've just reported that Donald Trump has won the battleground state of North Carolina, gaining its 16 electoral college votes.

This is good news for the Trump campaign, as it puts him on the path to securing the 270 electoral college votes needed to win the race.

But the majority of other swing states have yet to be called, meaning things could still tilt in Kamala Harris's favour, particularly if she can win all three Rust Belt states - Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan.

While North Carolina's win is big for Republicans, it is in line with how the state has voted in the past: Trump won North Carolina in both 2016, with a margin of 3.66%, and 2020, with a smaller margin of 1.34%.

The last Democratic candidate to win the state was Barack Obama in 2008. Obama later lost the state in his 2012 re-election bid to Republican candidate Mitt Romney.

Our North America editor Sarah Smith and senior North America correspondent Gary O'Donoghue give the latest:

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from Michigan

At a watch party in Dearborn, Michigan, an Arab-majority city, all of the voters I've spoken to cast a ballot for Green Party candidate Jill Stein today because of their frustrations with the Biden-Harris administration's pro-Israel stance.

Among them is Sajid Sayed, who used to identify as a Democrat. Sayed says he doesn’t prefer Donald Trump over Kamala Harris, but that Trump may have won over some voters by visiting the community.

The former president came to Dearborn last Friday to meet with business leaders.

"He engaged with the problem," Sayed says. "He had dinner with people. He talked to the leaders."

So far no one I’ve spoken with actually cast a ballot for Trump - but they are conscious of the fact that their vote for a third party might work in Trump’s favour.

"I don’t feel good about that,” Sayed says. But, he adds, "If Harris loses, then she will know that this is why she lost."

Washington state - not to be confused with Washington, DC - is the Pacific Northwest home to the first Starbucks and the famous Seattle Space Needle.

It was expected to go for Kamala Harris.

Nada Tawfik
Reporting from Donald Trump's watch party in Florida

Steve Witkoff, Donald Trump’s close friend who is with him tonight, just told me there is "a strong feeling of excitement and purpose," adding "we will win decisively tonight".

The world’s richest man and Donald Trump donor, Elon Musk, just wrote on his X platform, "Game, set and match".

The campaign is feeling confident that they will win as supporters here continue to wait for a final result, feeling emboldened. The crowd has just broken into a dance celebration to the song "YMCA".

The crowd is reacting to every bit of good news for Donald Trump as it's broadcast from the large screens at the Republican candidate's watch party in Florida.

They were especially ecstatic about positive margins so far out of states like Georgia and North Carolina.

While they are cautiously optimistic, they feel they have momentum.

One supporter in the sea of red Maga hats tells me he thinks Trump has it. He and his partner say they are waiting until an absolute final result, but are feeling great.

Whenever Kamala Harris’s name is mentioned on screen, it's met with boos.

Nadine Yousif
Reporting from Washington, DC

Donald Trump is showing strong returns in most of the battleground states reported so far.

He is leading in Georgia, North Carolina and Pennsylvania, where the majority of votes have been counted.

In Arizona and Wisconsin, he is inching slightly ahead. More than half of votes have been counted in those two states.

Meanwhile, Kamala Harris is leading in Michigan, though only 32% of the votes have been reported there.

None of these states have been called so far, and it's important to note that things can change quickly as more votes are counted.

Ione Wells
Reporting from Michigan

I’ve been speaking to a couple of Democratic donors and strategists past and present here at their watch party in Detroit, Michigan.

There are increasingly a lot of nerves in the room, with some telling me privately they're feeling "very pessimistic".

There could be a bit of expectation management going on, as some supporters here may not want want to get their hopes up in such a tight race.

But there are significant concerns about the fact the important Senate race here is currently neck and neck, with more than a quarter of the votes counted. That’s important for the Democrats to win if they want to retain control of the Senate.

Some counties are making good progress with counting tonight, so some in the room are expecting a decent picture of how it's looking in Michigan by the early hours.

The secretary of state in Michigan had earlier predicted a result by midday on Wednesday, but when questioned again tonight she didn’t want to put an exact estimate on the timing.

Iconic sportswear brand Nike is headquartered in Oregon. The Pacific Northwest state is also known for its vast forests.

It was expected to vote for Harris.

Nadine Yousif
Reporting from Washington, DC

Almost all states have closed their polling stations now, including states on the West Coast. As of 23:00 EST (04:00 GMT), polls are open in only Hawaii and Alaska.

More thanhalf of the states have already been called. The results are so far in line with what had been expected: Trump has kept his hold on traditionally Republican states, while Harris has picked up the Democratic strongholds.

None of the battleground states have been called so far.

Among the states where voting has just stopped is California, a traditional Democratic stronghold that is expected to give Kamala Harris a big bump of 54 additional electoral college votes.

We also have a few more interesting House and Senate races to watch. In Montana, Democratic Senator Jon Tester is fighting for a fourth term against Republican challenger Tim Sheehy.

In California, Representative John Duarte is vying for re-election. His seat is considered one of the most vulnerable for House Republicans, who are going into the election with a narrow, two-seat majority in the lower chamber of Congress.

The projection from Iowa that we reported a short while ago - that Donald Trump will win the state - is one many have been watching for with great interest.

Trump easily won the state in the past two elections, but over the weekend a well-respected pollster suggested Harris had a 3% lead there, giving Democrats a shot of hope.

Ann Selzer, who conducted the research, earlier this week told the BBC that was largely due to women and independent voters.

But she stressed the lead was still within the margin of error - and that the takeaway from her polling should be what it said about the demographics backing the Democrat.

Click the play button below to her hear break down her findings.

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from Florida

Former congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard has just arrived at Trump's official election night event, after previously being at his more exclusive watch party at Mar-a-Lago.

"There's a lot of really excited people there" who were "cautiously optimistic," she told me.

Gabbard noted that tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, a major financial backer of Trump's campaign, was there.

"I think everyone is watching, just very closely," she said.

Idaho is known for cultivating hardy and bountiful potatoes in several varieties, including the famous Yukon Gold and the Idaho Potato itself, also known as a Russet.

It is reliably Republican.

California is the most populous state in the Union - its nearly 40 million residents give it a whopping 54 votes in the Electoral College. If it were a country, it would have the fourth-largest economy in the world.

In recent decades it has been reliably Democratic.

Election officials reject claims of voter fraudpublished at 04:00 Greenwich Mean Time 6 November

04:00 GMT 6 November

By Jake Horton

As millions of people cast their ballots in the US election, claims have been spreading online questioning the integrity of the vote.

Election officials have been quick to reject some accusations of voting malpractice - including one from Donald Trump - as well as clarifying some legitimate problems which have been taken out of context.

Trump posted on his social media platform, Truth Social saying "law enforcement coming" to Philadelphia because of "massive cheating" there. He did not provide details of the alleged cheating or any evidence.

The Philadelphia Police Department told BBC Verify that they were not aware of what Trump was referring to.

Trump also claimed that there was “heavy law enforcement” deployed in Detroit - but the police there told us: “There has been no recent increase in our staffing levels.”

BBC Verify is tracking and investigating the most widely shared claims. Read more here.

A reminder, that you can watch Katty Kay in our election special by pressing watch live above.