Image source, Reuters

First Lady Melania Trump has cast her vote in person in Palm Beach, Florida.

"It's Election Day, so I wanted to come here to vote today for the election," she told reporters when asked why she had not voted with her husband, who cast his ballot just over a week ago.

The couple changed their residency from New York to Florida a year ago.

Image source, Reuters

Voters in Rochester, New York, have been paying tribute to women’s suffrage leader Susan B Anthony by putting “I Voted” stickers on her gravestone after casting their ballots.

The tombstone was covered in stickers during the 2016 election - the first in which Americans were able to vote for a female major-party presidential candidate, in Hillary Clinton. But restoration work in the spring revealed damage to the marble caused by the stickers and the efforts to remove them., external

A cover was placed over it this year so the ritual could continue without risking damage.

Anthony was a central figure of the women’s suffrage movement that led to the 19th amendment to the US constitution, guaranteeing American women the right to vote.

She was arrested in 1872 after illegally casting her vote, and later convicted by an all-male jury.

She died 14 years before the 19th amendment was ratified on 18 August, 1920.

On the 100th anniversary of the amendment this year, President Donald Trump announced that he was issuing her a posthumous pardon.

Adam Robinson, Russia specialist, BBC Monitoring

Image source, Getty Images

Russia's main international broadcaster, RT, has gone all guns blazing for Donald Trump's challenger, Joe Biden, since the election campaign entered its dying days.

In the week running up the 3 November vote, the Kremlin-controlled outlet’s news stories, commentaries and tweets relating to the election have been almost entirely anti-Biden.

Of more than 30 US election-related stories on RT's op-ed pages over the past month, only a small handful of items have singled out Trump for criticism.

One chided him for rejecting a Russian arms control offer, another two for being too aggressive on Russia’s geopolitical ally, China.

Another handful have criticised both candidates equally, in the context of casting the United States’ democratic political system as corrupt and moribund – a standard narrative on Kremlin-controlled outlets in general.

But the overwhelming majority of RT op-eds have been in some ways one-sidedly negative about Biden or the Democrats in general.

RT stresses that op-ed articles reflect the writers’ personal views. But all its op-eds are produced by a relatively narrow selection of writers whose output creates the impression of a clearly discernible editorial line.

Image source, Reuters

This election is far from business as usual. Coronavirus is still spreading rapidly in the US, the country with the highest number of infections in the world. But what does that mean for voting in person?

Voters who have tested positive for the virus can still cast their ballots in person, according to guidance issued by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

They should let election officials know about their diagnosis upon arrival at the polling station and take the following steps:

• Wear a mask
• Stay at least 1.8m (6ft) away from others
• Wash hands or use hand sanitiser before and after voting

For voters who are not unwell, the CDC has shared a list of safety recommendations, external to “protect yourself and slow the spread of Covid-19”. They include:

• Consider voting alternatives available in your jurisdiction that minimise contact
• Avoid crowds by voting at off-peak times, such as mid-morning
• Make sure you have all necessary documents to avoid delays at the polling location

Reality Check

Image source, Getty Images

They’ve become iconic symbols of the campaign, but you’ll need to think carefully before entering a polling station wearing a Trump-supporting MAGA hat or a Biden-inspired face mask.

Each state has its own rules about political campaigning near polling stations, including the prohibition of posters, placards, petitions and any attempts to influence voters.

There are, for example, 15 states that ban campaign clothing and 37 that ban signs.

These restrictions apply within a certain distance of the polling station and this varies from state to state.

Image source, Getty Images

In Iowa, for example, these rules apply anywhere within 300 feet (91 metres) of the outside door of the polling station. In Alabama it’s 30 feet.

It’s also worth noting that many states are asking voters to wear face coverings at polling stations.

If you want to know details of the electioneering rules near polling stations for each state, you’ll find them all here, external.

Alongside races for the presidency, the Senate and the House, voters in some states will make decisions on various ballot measures.

Voters will be asked to decide on these ballot measures, which are laws or initiatives put forward at the state or the local level.

Here are eight votes to look out for:

1. Oregon voters are being asked to decide whether to decriminalise the possession of small amounts of hard drugs for personal use, including heroin and cocaine.
2. Voters in several states will consider proposals for legalising marijuana for both recreational and medical uses
3. Abortion rights are also being considered. Colorado Proposition 115 would ban abortions after 22 weeks of pregnancy, unless needed to save the life of the pregnant woman
4. Colorado voters are also being asked to approve or reject the reintroduction of gray wolves after a nearly 80-year absence
5. Voters in Nebraska and Utah are being asked to vote on measures to get rid of language in their state constitutions that references slavery as a potential punishment for a crime
6. Utah voters are also being asked to decide whether to remove gender-specific references from the Constitution. The move would change references to “a person” instead of “he” or “him”
7. California’s Proposition 22 would make app-based food delivery and ride-hail drivers independent contractors, not employees
8. Also in the state, Proposition 25 would end cash bail, replacing it with a system in which risk assessments would determine the public safety and flight risks of suspects awaiting trial

Image source, Getty Images

The Village People classic, YMCA, was regularly played at Donald Trump's campaign rallies - with the US president often seen dancing to it.

But the disco group's lead singer, Victor Willis, told BBC World News America that he does not endorse Trump - and has even asked him to stop playing their music.

The song did still get a streaming boost, he added.

Find out more about what we can learn from Trump and Biden's musical tastes here.

Here are some things you need to know about how US elections work:

• The US political system is dominated by just two parties so the president is always a Democrat (Joe Biden) or Republican (Donald Trump)
• Elections take place every four years, with citizens aged 18 and over eligible to vote
• Both candidates compete to win electoral college votes, which are allocated to states based partly on population size. There are a total of 538 up for grabs, so the winner is the candidate that wins 270 or more
• All of the attention is on Trump v Biden, but voters are also choosing new members of Congress when they fill in their ballots

Find out more about all these points and more in our really simple US election guide

Image source, Reuters

Back to the Democratic campaign now, where Joe Biden has made a stop in his hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Masked and using a loudspeaker, he told a group of supporters in the former mining town: "It's good to be home."

He highlighted his links to the town, saying that he returned every summer even after he moved away as a child, and celebrated his first wedding there.

"We've got to restore the backbone to this country," Biden said. "The middle class built this country - Wall Street didn't."

Biden said he felt inspired to run for the presidency by scenes of far-right protests and repeated his campaign pledge to unite the US.

Pennsylvania is a key swing state, and while Biden is currently ahead in the polls, his campaign is aware that Trump was able to win there by just 0.7% in 2016.

Laura Trevelyan
BBC World News America presenter

It’s election day and here in Brooklyn Heights, New York City at 08:30 ET (13:30 GMT) there was no line at the St Francis college polling station.

Stickers reminding people to stand 1.8m (6ft) apart line the sidewalk and go all the way round the block - with nobody standing on them. Poll workers are surprised.

Early voting was hugely popular in New York, and 1.1 million people did just that, which may explain a quieter-than-expected election day so far.

Biden can count on winning the 29 electoral college votes in New York State short of a political earthquake, and in this borough at least, it seems Democrats banked their votes early.

Held in the shadow of a pandemic, the presidential election has a bleak feel to it this year. But it’s not all doom and gloom. There are chinks of light in the darkness. Here are some of them.

Dixville dog kills the cynicism

Dixville Notch is always one of the first towns to declare. It's easy because there are only 12 residents. They all vote in a special "ballot room" just after midnight and then the result is announced hours before that of most other places. You might be tempted to roll your eyes at some hokey political theatre, but a dog in the ballot room killed the cynicism of at least one journalist, external.

Image source, Getty Images

Dancing at the polls

As citizens lined up to vote in Philadelphia, there was music and dancing - arranged by non-partisan group Joy to the Polls, which says it aims to de-escalate tension and bring music to polling locations.

Paul Rudd's cookies

Last week while New Yorkers were queuing up to vote actor Paul Rudd handed out cookies - they had blueberry cream and made people happy.

Feel better? No? Well here are some more moments of humanity that might lift your spirits.

Amid all the election hubub, cast members from Canadian comedy show 22 Minutes have been giving fellow citizens a friendly reminder: you can't vote!

"You're Canadian, remember?" says co-host Trent McClellan. "Every news outlet and TV reporter is saying your vote counts, but we're saying: it literally doesn't."

We can bring you some more from Trump’s election-day interview with Fox & Friends.

Reflecting on his presidency, Trump said “you have to deal with people who are very deceptive”.

“They’ll go, 'Mr President, who’s the country that’s most difficult to deal with. Is it Russia? Is it China? Is it North Korea?' And I go no, by far, the most difficult country to deal with is the US. It’s not even close.”

The comments appeared to be an assessment of the fierce opposition Trump has faced from Democrats during his presidency.

In the interview, Trump also said:

• He will only declare victory when the result is clear, adding “there's no reason to play games”. His comments appear to quash an earlier report that Trump would declare victory if it looked like he was "ahead" on election night
• The election of Democratic Senator Kamala Harris as vice-president would be “a terrible thing for women”

Campaign rallies might be over, but the two leading presidential candidates are continuing to vye for votes through social media.

Donald Trump shared a video of himself dancing, set to the Village People song YMCA, with the caption: “VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!”

Joe Biden shared a campaign video of people wearing Biden-Harris T-shirts and heading to the polls.

“It all comes down to this,” he wrote on Twitter.

You can read about the candidates’ closing pitch to voters here

We've also looked in depth at their positions on eight key issues. Click here to read about Biden or here to read about Trump

Image source, Reuters

While attention has been hyper-focused on the battle for the White House, an equally important fight is under way for control of Congress.

The Democrats hold the House of Representatives, and are looking to keep it, while also gaining a majority in the Senate.

Republicans hold a thin three-seat advantage in that chamber, and there are 35 senators up for re-election - a number of whom are vulnerable.

A Democratic-controlled House and Senate would have the power to obstruct the plans of a second-term President Trump, or push through the agenda of a first-term President Biden.

Here are five key Senate races to look out for:

1. Arizona - Charismatic former astronaut Mark Kelly is taking on Republican Martha McSally is a "special race" to fill a seat occupied by the late senator John McCain, who died in 2018
2. South Carolina - Republican bigwig Lindsey Graham, a former Trump critic who has turned into one of his most vocal supporters, is facing a strong challenge from Jaime Harrison, a former lobbyist and chairman of the state Democratic Party
3. Maine - Voters look set to punish one of the few moderate Republican senators still in office, Susan Collins, in a race that underscores just how tricky it is to be a centrist in the age of Trump
4. Georgia - Democrats have not won since 1992 but more liberal-leaning, young people are moving to the state, and Hillary Clinton did very well in the Atlanta suburbs four years ago. Now two of the state's Senate seats are up for grabs
5. Alabama - This election represents a rare bright spot for the Republican party to flip a Democrat-held seat. Incumbent Democrat Doug Jones is trailing 10 percentage points behind Republican Tommy Tuberville, a former university American football coach backed by President Trump

Get the full story here

BBC Radio 5 Live

Pink-clad dancers in Monroeville, Pennsylvania, told BBC Radio 5 Live why they were picking Joe Biden to be the next US president.

The women were taking part in a mass Zumba session for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Cynthia Jackson said Biden and his running-mate Kamala Harris were "what we need for this country at this point".

"They are looking out for everyone in this country from the poorest of the poor, to the richest of the rich," she said.

"We are so polarised," she added. "We are all the same race - we’re humans - and we all need to get together."

Listen to BBC Radio 5 Live's US Election coverage on BBC Sounds.

President Trump has given his first interview of the day to his favourite TV news show, Fox & Friends.

Sounding slightly croaky and tired after days of frantic campaigning, Trump seemed confident about his chances of beating Biden.

"We feel very good," he said in a phone interview. "I think we'll have victory."

Trump said he expected to win all the so-called swing states that will decide the election, including Florida, Arizona, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.

"We think we are doing very well everywhere," Trump said.

However, he also complained that Fox News had not supported him in this election the way it did in 2016.

"It's one of the biggest differences in this season compared to the last," said Trump.

The president is known to be an avid viewer of the Republican-leaning news channel - but has criticised its coverage on Twitter. In May he declared he was "looking for a new outlet!” after Fox questioned his decision to take hydroxychloroquine to prevent Covid-19, when there was little evidence it was an effective treatment or deterrent.

Image source, Reuters

Joe Biden headed to his local church, St Joseph on the Brandywine, in Delaware, with his family on Tuesday morning.

The location holds particular significance for Biden - his first wife and infant daughter, who were killed in a car accident in 1972, are both buried there.

The graves of Biden's son Beau, who died of brain cancer in 2015 at the age of 46, and his parents are also at the church.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Getty Images

America's coronavirus outbreak has already had a huge impact on the election. But as people head to the polls today, it could affect votes in another way.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has warned, external that alcohol-based hand sanitisers have the potential to damage paper ballots.

This is because ballots which are wet with sanitiser can more easily shred and clog up electronic voting machines.

The CDC says hand sanitiser should be available in polling stations to keep voters safe, but it's urged poll workers and voters to make sure their hands are dry before handling ballots.

Earlier this year, wet ballots caused some difficulties during municipal elections in New Hampshire. And last month, in the Californian city of Sacramento, many votes were ruined after people sprayed their ballots with sanitiser, causing the ink to smear and making them unreadable. Their ballots were later replaced.

Olga Robinson
BBC anti-disinformation unit

Image source, Reuters

Twitter and Facebook have added warning labels to President Trump’s posts after he claimed – without evidence - that a recent Supreme Court decision on mail-in ballots “will allow rampant and unchecked cheating” and lead to “violence in the streets”.

The ruling allows an extended count of mail-in (or postal) ballots in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, as long as they are postmarked by election day.

Twitter flagged the content of Trump’s post as “misleading” on Monday evening. Facebook also added a prompt to the same post, suggesting “voter fraud is extremely rare”.

Trump has repeatedly cast doubt on the integrity of mail-in voting during the campaign.

In the past six months alone, he’s posted over 70 tweets criticising it, mentioning voter fraud or referencing “rigged” elections, according to an analysis by BBC Monitoring.

BBC Reality Check has previously found that although there have been isolated cases, electoral fraud is very rare.