Image source, US Pool

We've just heard from Kamala Harris's running mate Tim Walz, who has been meeting voters in Pennsylvania.

Speaking to the press before boarding a plane to Washington DC, he says "we're feeling good about this".

The Minnesota governor is sticking close to the campaign messaging by drawing a contrast between the Harris campaign - which he says is based on hope and unity - and Trump's message that he finds dark and divisive.

He gives reassurances about his faith in the democratic process, saying the US has the "freest, most secure elections". He notes, however, that it may take some time to get results.

Walz did a final round of radio interviews this morning. He encouraged listeners in Detroit, Milwaukee, North Carolina, Atlanta and Philadelphia to head to the polls and vote for Harris.

Mike Wendling
Reporting from Wisconsin

I’ve spoken to the top party officials in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, which is traditionally Republican but has been steadily trending towards Democrats since Trump came on the scene.

Matt Mareno, the local Democratic chair, tells me he hopes that his slate will hit 40% of the vote - which would be an improvement on Joe Biden’s 2020 figure and a serious blow to Donald Trump’s chances in this midwestern battleground.

“We have a great ground game and a great volunteer base,” he tells me.

On the other side, Terry Dittrich, chair of the Waukesha County Republicans says his early voting figures are high and his volunteers are working on getting out the so-called “low-propensity” voters who don’t often turn up but tend to vote Trump when they do.

Dittrich is concerned about allegations of voter fraud - not here, but in neighbouring Milwaukee County, home to Wisconsin’s largest city.

Republicans have filed a lawsuit over poll observers in the city, and Terry is worried that rules are not being followed.

“They’re not complying with the law,” he says.

Our reporters have been on the go since the middle of the night - for most Americans - but with the US now awake, here's what has happened so far:

• Voting is now open in all US states - Hawaii was the latest to add to the line up
• A short while ago, Donald Trump voted in Palm Beach, Florida, joined by his wife Melania. He spoke to reporters and says "we're doing very well"
• Kamala Harris has already voted - she sent her ballot off in the post last week
• There has been technical issues reported in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, as software issues impacted voting scanners. Voting hours have been extended because of the delays caused
• In Georgia, there were five non-credible bomb threats at polling locations across the state, leading to evacuations in two locations
• Two Cobb County voting precincts will stay open late because of the delays
• Georgia's secretary of state told the press that the threats came from Russia
• As is tradition, the first votes were cast by the six residents of Dixville Notch, New Hampshire, at midnight local time, with a 3-3 split for Harris and Trump
• And polls indicate that Harris has taken the lead in the key swing state of Pennsylvania, and has minor leads in Wisconsin and Michigan.
• Meanwhile Trump still has a small lead in Nevada, Georgia, North Carolina, and Arizona

Stay tuned, we've got teams across the US and in London, who continue to bring you the latest updates on this monumental election.

Blanca Estrada

Polls won't close until later this evening, but tensions are already palpable near the White House.

On every street corner, police vehicles and officers with their canine units patrol the perimeter. Across from the White House, 8-foot metal fences stand as a stark reminder of heightened security.

At the Capitol building, fences and barricades create a fortified barrier, marked by numerous signs reading, "Police Line: Do Not Cross."

As the last businesses board up their windows in anticipation of tonight's outcome, it's clear that fear looms large - though business owners have declined to comment.

This heightened security is far from ordinary. Across the country, we are seeing businesses taking similar action. Protective boarding has gone up in some areas of Oregon, Pennsylvania, and California.

FBI agents have arrested two people in Michigan for making election-related threats, according to The Detroit News.

The Michigan-based outlet says one suspect was linked to an assassination plot targeting Donald Trump.

The man, Isaac Sissel, allegedly posted on Reddit under the username "ShootUpTrumpRally" and has since told investigators he believes "everything would be better if Trump was dead".

In the second criminal case unsealed on Tuesday, Christopher Clay Pierce, 46, of Jackson is accused of making threats against an unidentified political action committee (PAC) affiliated with the Democrats over the past two years.

Pierce had reportedly previously been warned by the FBI that he could be charged with a crime if he continued posting threats online, but continued to harass the Democratic-aligned group.

Brandon Drenon
Reporting from North Carolina

It’s been raining all morning in western North Carolina, adding to a sense of anxiety in the storm-weary region, but voters here are still showing up to the polls.

I’ve stopped at another tent installation being used to replace a damaged polling location in Burke County, and the polling director tells me that traffic here has been “higher than average”.

“We’ve had 94 people vote so far,” Richard Coleman says. The number isn’t a massive one considering that polls have been open for six hours, but, the area is fairly rural, and a record number of voters in the region have already cast their ballots during early voting.

It’s a good sign for Republicans. This area and Burke County are vastly filled with Trump supporters that he’ll need to show up in large numbers to win what is predicted to be an incredibly close race.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from Philadelphia

As the day goes on, we're seeing more legal action in Pennsylvania. So far, there are election related cases in Cambria County - near Pittsburgh - and in Northampton County, just north of Allentown.

A few minutes ago, a spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania court system sent over a court document in which the Northampton County Republican Committee, or NCRC, claims that county official failed to send over a list of election judges and inspectors in the area - which it has done in the past.

It outlined specific incidents in which the local party asked for the information, but was allegedly ignored.

The local party now claims that the county is "acting in a manner that is obdurate, dilatory, vexatious, partisan, and with the intent of putting the NCRC and Republican candidates at a disadvantage on election day".

It is calling on a judge to provide lists of officials for every polling place in the county.

Image source, Reuters

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger says the bomb threats made against multiple polling places this morning were non-credible.

Speaking at a press conference, Raffensperger says the threats were of Russian origin. "We catch 'em every time," he adds - and says their "whole motive" is to try and "destabilise America".

Earlier, we reported that five separate threats had been made at polling locations in Fulton County.

Two stations were evacuated, but all have been re-opened and voting continues.

John Sudworth
North America correspondent, reporting from Georgia

After an initial flurry of voting this morning, the lines have dwindled at most polling stations that we’ve seen here in Atlanta, a city at the heart of one of the most reliably Democratic counties in America.

The pressure has been relieved by early voting, with well over half of voters in the state of Georgia - more than four million or so - casting their ballots before election day.

I meet David Schnee, a volunteer poll watcher affiliated with the Democratic Party, who tells me he’s worried about changes to how people can vote in this state.

Voters in Georgia must cast their ballots at their assigned polling station but, back in 2020, those who turned up at the wrong one could still cast provisional ballots.

This year, if they turn up before 17:00 local time (22:00 GMT), they can no longer do that.

“We’ve arranged rides - there are volunteers with cars - and in some cases the correct polling station is more than an hour away,” he tells me.

Teerica Doward is one of those people. She’s recently moved and hadn’t realised that her voting registration was still tied to the polling station at her old address, a 30 minute drive away.

She suspects that the new rules are designed to make it harder for Georgia’s working classes to vote. “I feel like it’s all set up to be the way it is, and I wish we could just vote wherever we are,” she tells me, adding, “I know who I’m voting for, I’m voting for Kamala Harris.”

Every vote counts in this state. Joe Biden won Georgia in 2020 by fewer than 12,000 votes.

FBI issues another warning over fake election videospublished at 17:37 Greenwich Mean Time 5 November

17:37 GMT 5 November

The FBI has issued another warning, external about fake videos circulating online that aim to cast doubt on the US election.

On Tuesday, the FBI said two inauthentic videos urged Americans to “vote remotely” due to a high terrorist threat at polling stations and alleged voter fraud at prisons in several swing states.

The videos were edited to look like a press release from the FBI and a report by CBS News. They did not receive a large number of views on X.

The FBI said the videos aimed to “undermine our democratic process and erode trust in the electoral system”.

CBS News posted on X, external that the video using its logo is "fabricated".

BBC Verify found the contents of the clips match videos produced by a wider Russia-based disinformation network that has produced hundreds of fakes in recent months.

You can learn more about the false news reports in the video below:

Image source, Getty Images

Today marks the first US presidential election since the overturning of Roe v Wade, a ruling which guaranteed abortion rights across the country since 1973. And as voters head to cast their ballots, polls suggest the issue is front of mind for lots of voters.

Tens of millions of voters in Montana, Arizona, Missouri, Nebraska, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Nevada, New York and South Dakota will be asked how their state should regulate abortion.

A New York Times/Siena College, external poll published on Sunday suggests abortion is the second-most crucial election issue for likely voters, after the economy. For women and younger voters, it is now the most important issue, the poll also finds.

Another analysis, published in October by health policy non-governmental organisation KFF,, external found that abortion had become the most important issue for women under the age of 30 - above inflation - which was the group’s top issue earlier this year.

The group also found that double the number of female voters it spoke to would trust Kamala Harris to do a better job than Donald Trump when it comes to policy related to abortion access in the US.

Harris has made abortion rights central to her campaign, advocating for legislation that would enshrine reproductive rights nationwide. Trump, though, has struggled to find a consistent message on abortion in recent months, after presiding over the appointment of the three judges to the Supreme Court who were pivotal in Roe v Wade's overturning.

• For context: The BBC has spoken to a number of women who say abortion has shaped their vote in this election. We also have a range of material across the BBC News website which looks at Harris's views on key campaign issues, and what Trump has said on those same matters

Sam Cabral
Reporting from Washington DC

Florida is among the 10 US states with a ballot measure on abortion access.

Voters are weighing whether to overturn the six-week abortion ban currently in effect here and expand access to the point of foetal viability, which is about 24 weeks of pregnancy.

Donald Trump has just been asked how he voted on the issue after he cast his ballot in Florida a short while ago. "Just stop talking about that", he replied.

It is a vivid illustration of how he has often struggled to handle the issue of abortion. In August, Trump faced backlash from conservatives after he appeared to express support for the ballot measure - and the very next day, he said he would vote against it.

His opponent, Kamala Harris, has also evaded questioning about a ballot measure in her home state of California, that increases sentences for certain drug and theft crimes.

“I am not going to talk about the vote on that because, honestly, it’s the Sunday before the election and I don’t intend to create an endorsement one way or the other,” she said.

Kamala Harris is urging Americans to “get out and vote” in a handful of radio interviews today.

"We've got to get it done. Today is voting day, and people need to get out and be active," she says on Atlanta station WVEE-FM.

When asked about how her presidency could make history on The Big Tigger Morning Show in Georgia, Harris says she's been focused on the "task in front of me" and in making sure that she is "responding to the needs of folks around the policies," according to the BBC's US partner CBS News.

Harris acknowledges that she would be the first HBCU (historically black colleges and universities) president, noting that the first office she ever ran for was freshman class representative at Howard University.

She says that going back to Howard to host her election night party later today will be a "full circle" moment.

Harris also tells Pittsburgh-based radio show, The Big K Morning Show with Larry Richert, that before the party she will have dinner with her family, noting that many relatives are staying with her.

Sarah Fowler
BBC reporter in Virginia

In Alexandria, Virginia's upmarket city in the north, most people tend to vote Democrat.

Outside one polling place in the city’s old town, we’ve seen a trickle of people come and go. Alexandrians are very organised - we’re told more than 50% of residents have already cast their ballots on early voting days.

Volunteers from both parties are on standby, offering sample ballots to help guide people on who to vote for.

On the Republican table they’re also offering lollipops to voters, while the Democrats are vying for votes with chocolate-chip cookies.

They’re certainly a welcome bit of sugar for reporters like us who’ve been up since the early hours!

In a tradition that dates back to 1960, the tiny resort town of Dixville Notch, New Hampshire, is the first place in the country to vote on election day.

Its six residents cast their ballots at the stroke of midnight local time (0500 GMT), with the outcome announced 15 minutes later - giving us our first vote tally of the race.

Fittingly for a race so competitive, the town evenly split 3-3 between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.

It's just past 07:00 in Hawaii (12:00 ET and 17:00 GMT) - the final state to open its polling booths - which means voting is under way there and in every other state in the US.

Hawaii, with four electoral college votes, will be one of the last states to close its polls tonight at 19:00 local time - that's 00:00 ET and 05:00 GMT. Some locations in Alaska will remain open an hour later.

We'll continue to bring you all the updates and you can read more here about when we expect the results.

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from Florida

A woman in bright blue trousers happened to vote at the same time as Trump at this Palm Beach poll site.

Authorities wanded her and searched her bag before she was let inside to cast her ballot alongside the former president.

She didn’t want to give her name but told me: “I think that we weren’t aligned with what little dots we were filling in.”

She wouldn’t explicitly tell me she voted for Kamala Harris, but that certainly seemed to be the implication.

Donald Trump and his wife Melania have just cast their votes at the Mandel Recreation Center in Palm Beach, Florida.

Wearing his trademark red cap, he's speaking to the media now.

"I feel very confident...and it looks like Republicans have shown up in force," he says.

Trump says he was "honoured" to see that the lines are quite long.

"We got back pretty late last night," he says, referring to his campaign rally in Michigan late last night.

"I hear we're doing very well."

Image source, Reuters

Donald Trump is speaking to reporters in Palm Beach, Florida, as he votes in the election.

He is joined by his wife, Melania.

Vice-President Harris told the press that she voted by mail last week.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from Michigan

It’s a packed car park at a polling place in Warren, a politically mixed suburb of Detroit, Michigan.

In just 10 minutes of chatting to voters, I’ve met people from all across the political spectrum.

Hu Whitney voted for third-party candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr, who sued to have his name taken off the ballot here in Michigan after he dropped out of the presidential race and endorsed Trump.

Kennedy lost, so his name is still on the ballot.

“The lesser of two evils? Neither one of them,” Whitney says of Harris and Trump.

Harris is clearly the better candidate to Angela Henson and her son, Devyn. “Women’s rights” are one reason why the 52-year-old mum voted for her.

“All women should have a choice … the right to have a baby or not,” she says.