Sinema's decision brings clarity to pivotal battlegroundpublished at 20:27 Greenwich Mean Time 5 March

20:27 GMT 5 March

Anthony Zurcher
North America correspondent

With the Senate majority resting on a knife’s edge this November, Kyrsten Sinema’s announcement that she is not seeking re-election brings some clarity to one of the chamber’s pivotal battlegrounds.

Her decision removes the possibility that the Arizona Democrat-turned-independent would create an unpredictable three-way contest against Democratic Congressman Ruben Gallego and former Republican governor candidate Kari Lake.

Instead, Gallego and Lake appear destined for a more traditional head-to-head matchup.

Recent surveys indicate that this could be bad news for Lake, who benefits from a close alliance with Donald Trump among hard-core conservatives but struggles to attract the kind of independents and centrist Republicans needed to build a winning majority in Arizona.

A three-way race could have created a more unstable situation and significantly lowered the bar needed for Lake to win, with Sinema pulling more voters away from Gallego.

Arizona will still be a closely fought contest, soaking up tens of millions of dollars from both campaigns. But it will now rest somewhat farther down the list of targets for Republicans looking to swing the chamber to their side.

As for Sinema’s political future, the independent No Labels group is still looking for a presidential candidate. Her name is sure to come up.

Image source, Reuters

Some breaking news for you now.

US Senator Kyrsten Sinema, an independent, has announced that she will not seek re-election in Arizona in November - a blow for Democrats who narrowly control the Senate.

The former Democrat's decision could now trigger a contest between Republican Kari Lake, a Trump-ally who lost her bid for Arizona governor in 2022, and former Marine veteran Ruben Gallego, a Democrat.

More on this here.

Sam Cabral & Matt Murphy
US reporters, in Washington DC

Image source, Kathleen McClellan

Joe Biden and Donald Trump are set to all but seal their party's nominations for the presidency today.

As people across the country cast their ballots, we're asking voters what they think about the prospect of a re-run of the 2020 election.

Kathleen McClellan, a 69-year-old registered Republican from Louisiana, says she will reluctantly vote for Trump a third time.

"I voted for Donald Trump in 2020 because I was genuinely pleased with his accomplishments in office," she tells the BBC. "In 2016, I voted for him largely because I couldn't in good faith vote for Hillary Clinton but I didn't know what to expect from Mr Trump. I don't think anyone else did really."

Kathleen says she wishes "younger candidates in both parties had a chance this time," citing Florida Gov Ron De Santis, who dropped out of the Republican race in January, as a preferred choice.

"I wouldn't vote Democrat for a host of reasons but even if I were to consider that, my Democrat candidate choice would not be Joseph Biden.

"Whoever sits in the White House next needs to be at the top of their game, not in the last inning," she adds.

Brandon Drenon
Reporting from Washington DC

Image source, Reuters

Joe Biden stopped to address reporters in Hagerstown, Maryland, while on his way to Joint Base Andrews, to remind them of his election victories so far this year.

"You guys don't report. I'm winning, five, five in a row," he says. "You guys aren’t looking at the New York Times, a great paper."

The president is largely expected to be the Democratic nominee this year, and his state victories along the way aren't catching anyone by surprise.

However, multiple polls, including one published by the New York Times, show him losing significant support from key parts of his coalition.

And despite his victory over Trump in 2020, polls also suggest Biden could lose in a rematch with the former president due to sluggish enthusiasm from his base.

One of the issues ailing Biden is his handling of the Israel-Gaza war. Over 100,000 people voted "uncommitted" in the Michigan primary last week, many of whom did so in protest over the war.

Young voters and voters of colour - historical bedrocks of the Democratic party - increasingly disapprove of Biden's support of Israel.

Image source, Getty Images

A day can feel like a long time in US politics.

Yesterday, the US Supreme Court unanimously overturned a Colorado state ruling to disqualify Donald Trump from running for president, using an anti-insurrection constitutional clause.

Colorado had barred Trump from its Republican primary, arguing he incited the 2021 Capitol riot but the court ruled that only Congress, rather than the states, had that power.

Whilst the ruling is specific to Colorado, it also overrides challenges that were brought in by other states.

The former US president issued a press briefing at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida where he described the Supreme Court judgement as "a great day for liberty".

Brandon Drenon
Reporting from Washington DC

Super Tuesday is likely to affirm what experts and polls have been saying for a long time - that voters can expect another Trump-Biden rematch in November.

Multiple polls have shown Biden trailing Trump in a hypothetical rematch, including a poll released this month by the BBC's US media partner CBS News.

According to its most recent poll, Trump is predicted to beat Biden by four points, 52% to 48%.

Part of the difficulty faced by team Biden is lagging enthusiasm and support from key parts of his Democratic coalition.

For example, 87% of black voters supported Biden in 2020 but only 76% said they plan to vote for him this year, according to CBS's poll. The poll also shows he's lost sizeable support from Hispanic voters and women.

Trump, however, has mostly held onto his base, and has even seen increasing levels of support from white evangelicals, men, and voters over 65.

The economy and inflation appeared to be some of the biggest pain points for Biden, with many voters in CBS's poll saying they recall their financial situations in better condition under Trump's rule.

Image source, .

As Donald Trump marches towards the presidential nomination, the competition to join his ticket has been heating up.

It was certainly a topic of conversation at the recent Conservative Political Action Committee, or CPAC.

Attendees at the annual gathering of right-wing activists, lobbyists and businesses - dominated in recent years by the Trump faithful - cast ballots in a straw poll a fortnight ago.

The results, which included 17 possible candidates, were as follows:

• South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem - 15%
• Former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy - 15%
• Former Hawaii congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard - 9%
• New York Congresswoman Elise Stefanik - 8%
• South Carolina Senator Tim Scott - 8%
• Florida congressman Byron Donalds - 7%

Read more on the potential VPs here.

Mike Wendling
US disinformation reporter

Image source, Reuters

A year ago, Donald Trump was looking vulnerable.

Pundits were asking whether Republicans were ready for a fresh face, and whether that fresh face was Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who was within shouting distance of the former president in opinion polls.

But then Trump got arrested – first in New York, then in Florida, Washington DC and Georgia.

The prosecutions stemmed from his payment of hush money to a pornographic actress, his alleged handling of classified documents, role in the 6 January 2021 Capitol riot and attempts to overturn the 2020 election.

They supercharged his campaign, galvanized his core supporters and spurred donations. Meanwhile, the DeSantis campaign never really took off.

Trump’s other rivals turned their sniping on each other, mostly tiptoeing around any criticism of the man at the head of the pack.

Those that did – like former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie – were soundly rejected by Republican voters. One by one they dropped out.

Now only Nikki Haley is left, and Trump is cruising towards the nomination.

Polls have Haley trailing behind Trumppublished at 18:10 Greenwich Mean Time 5 March

18:10 GMT 5 March

Gary O'Donoghue
Reporting from Virginia

Image source, .

Virginia is one of those rare states that does not register voters by party affiliation.

That means the state's 6.2 million voters can cast their ballot in whichever primary they choose, no matter their political preference.

Virginia is also much more a blue state than it used to be - Joe Biden won here in 2020 by 10 points.

That's given Donald Trump's only remaining rival for the Republican nomination, Nikki Haley, hopes of doing better here than she's done elsewhere, as she attracts more moderate Republicans and independent voters than Trump.

But even here the numbers do not look good for her. Polls have her trailing the former president by 50 to 60 points, which means he stands a good chance of sweeping all 48 delegates up for grabs.

States across five time zones are voting today - or six, if you count the territory of American Samoa, which is also holding a Democratic caucus.

That means the projected results will be staggered across several hours.

We’ll be aiming to bring you the projected winners from each state as soon as possible after polls close, thanks to our US partner network CBS.

Here’s when those polls close in those different places:

19:00 EST (00:00 GMT)

Virginia, Vermont

19:30 EST (00:30 GMT)

North Carolina

20:00 EST (01:00 GMT)

Alabama, Maine, Massachusetts, Oklahoma, and Tennessee

20:30 EST (01:30 GMT)

Arkansas

21:00 EST (02:00 GMT)

Colorado, Minnesota, and Texas

23:00 EST (04:00 GMT)

California (it could be some time before we receive results from here), Utah

00:00 EST (05:00 GMT)

Alaska, American Samoa

Presidential primary elections in the US are when voters choose who they want to represent their party, either Republican or Democrat, in the main election in November.

In most cases, today Republicans are lining up to choose between Donald Trump and Nikki Haley. Meanwhile, Democrats are choosing between Joe Biden, Dean Phillips, and Marianne Williamson.

However, some states hold an "open" primary. That means voters can vote for either a Republican or Democratic candidate, regardless of the voters' party affiliation.

Other states have a "closed" primary, which means voters must choose candidates from the party the voter is registered under.

Today is the biggest day so far in the 2024 race for the White House, as people in 15 states and one US territory choose candidates for president on what's known as Super Tuesday.

Here are some pictures from the ballot boxes where Americans have been casting their votes.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, EPA

Image source, Bloomberg

Image source, EPA

Image source, Reuters

Last week, Joe Biden lost more than 100,000 votes in the Michigan primaries to the "uncommitted" option.

Casting an uncommitted ballot is viewed as a protest vote which, in Michigan, was largely due to Biden's support for Israel in its war in Gaza.

There are a number of states that offer the uncommitted option, and several of them are coming up today.

Alabama, Colorado, North Carolina, Minnesota, Massachusetts and Tennessee are all offering an "uncommitted" option on their Democratic ballot paper.

Iowa also listed a non-committed option, and we are expecting to learn the result of that caucus today, which was a mail-in vote held over several weeks.

• Read more about uncommitted voters in Michigan here

Emma Vardy
Reporting from Colorado

Image source, .

Democrats voting in Colorado's primary will have an interesting option on the ballot.

Of course, President Joe Biden’s name will be listed, and probably some names most people won’t recognise, but the eighth and last option is: Non-committed delegate.

In December, Colorado’s Democratic Party placed “non-committed” on the ballot to try and encourage young voters to get to the polls, even if they weren’t fans of the president.

Because Colorado awards delegates proportionally, rather than winner take all, if enough voters in the state choose the “non-committed” option, then the party would have to send an uncommitted delegate to the party nominating convention in August.

Image source, Getty Images

Deep Badhesa is a Democratic activist in Denver who says there are too many reasons to not vote for Biden including his handling of the Israel Gaza war. He’s proud of his non-commit vote.

“It’s important for the Democratic party to realise that he [Biden] does not have a monopoly or control over the base,” he tells the BBC. “The Democratic party is large and diverse, it’s full of young voters, voters of colour and new coalitions that are flexing their political muscle for the first time.”

Although President Biden is almost certain to come out with a victory in Colorado, if there are a large number of non-committed votes, it will be seen as an uncomfortable spot for an incumbent.

On a day when hundreds of thousands of Americans are heading to the polls to vote, and likely to be using social media to document the experience, posting photos of their "I voted" sticker - multiple major social media sites are down.

Facebook, Instagram and Threads have all been experiencing issues this morning.

The meta-owned platforms were not working properly for many users, with widespread outages first reported around 10:00 EST (15:00 GMT).

Andy Stone, Meta communications head, posted on X, external: "We're aware people are having trouble accessing our services. We are working on this now."

On its status page, under a "major disruptions" dropdown tab, Meta announced: "Our engineering teams are actively looking to resolve the issue as quickly as possible."

Four things to watch out for on Super Tuesdaypublished at 16:49 Greenwich Mean Time 5 March

16:49 GMT 5 March

Anthony Zurcher
North America correspondent

Image source, EPA

Today’s Super Tuesday primary voting includes 15 states and spans the continent, from Maine to California and Alaska to Alabama.

More than a third of the delegates to this summer's Democratic and Republican conventions are at stake in states with a total population of more than 134 million.

It may all be a bit anticlimactic, however, given that Donald Trump and Joe Biden are expected to cruise to victories in all today’s contests.

There are a few things to watch for, however.

Will there be anything like last week’s “uncommitted” vote in Michigan’s Democratic primary, organised by pro-Palestinian activists?

Can Republican Nikki Haley continue to pull about a third of the Republican vote away from Donald Trump?

And what do exit polls tell us about Trump and Biden – and what they have to do to consolidate support heading into the general election?

• You can read more about this, and about some interesting down-ballot races, here.

Image source, .

As well as the 15 states today, also voting today is American Samoa - a US territory in the Pacific.

Because it’s a territory, not a state, it can’t vote in the presidential election. But it can take part in picking candidates - and its Democrat caucus is today.

Its Republican caucus is on Friday.

American Samoa makes up the Samoan islands - some of which are independent. On American Samoa, residents are US nationals but not citizens, and it has strong economic links to the US.

Tuna fishing - as well as tourism - accounts for much of American Samoa's economy, and the majority of its exports are in canned tuna, which it sends to the US.

In its last Democratic primary in 2020, it backed Mike Bloomberg for the nomination - with Joe Biden coming second to last. There was a total of 351 votes last time.

Image source, Getty Images

Sumi Somaskanda
Chief presenter, reporting from California

Meanwhile, it’s not the presidential primary that’ll get the most attention in California. There’s also a contest to claim the seat held by the late Senator Dianne Feinstein, who passed away in September.

Interestingly, California has a non-partisan, top-two primary system, meaning whoever finishes in the top two on Tuesday – whether Democrat or Republican - will face off in the general election in November.

Two Democrats in Congress, Adam Schiff and Katie Porter, are locked in a tight race with a strong Republican challenger: former baseball star Steve Garvey (Americans do love their sports stars).

We’ll be watching this one closely.

Immigration is a key issue for California voterspublished at 16:24 Greenwich Mean Time 5 March

16:24 GMT 5 March

Sumi Somaskanda
Chief presenter, reporting from California

Image source, .

We’re in California - the state that offers the biggest slice of the GOP delegate pie for Donald Trump and Nikki Haley: 169 delegates are up for grabs here.

California is a deep blue state, but there are pockets of Republican support where Donald Trump performs well, especially in the Central Valley region. He easily won the GOP primary here in 2016. Like elsewhere, it will be a steep climb for Nikki Haley in California.

Voters we spoke to said cost of living, housing, and immigration are top of mind. We wanted to zoom in on immigration, so we visited one of the state’s border points in San Ysidro, which has seen a 73% rise in crossings compared to the previous year.

San Diego had been operating short-term facilities to provide newly arrived migrants with basic necessities, but officials told us the county ran out of funding.

Now, around 600 migrants a day are being dropped off at bus and train stations and onto the streets – something we witnessed ourselves.

Image source, Reuters

Mike Wendling
US disinformation reporter

Image source, Reuters

Joe Biden’s presidency has run into a long list of problems: inflation, wars in the Middle East and Europe, low popularity figures, and a huge and seemingly unstoppable wave of migration at the southern border.

Add to that his advancing age - already the oldest president in history, Biden will turn 82 shortly after the general election – and he seemed ripe for an internal party challenge.

But that never materialised. No serious challenger emerged, allowing the president to keep his powder dry and his campaign chest full.

Speculation still continues as to whether the president might step aside and make way for a younger candidate at the last minute. But he’s shown no signs of doing so thus far.

Super Tuesday will be more of a coronation than a contest for him.