Who will win the election in Georgia? Donald Trump, Kamala Harris updates

Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are both hoping to win Georgia and capture its 16 Electoral College votes.

The battleground state was closely watched and contested, with the two major party candidates vying to secure 16 electoral votes en route to 270. The Cook Political Report rated the contest in Georgia as a “draw,” with most polls leading slightly in favor of Trump through Nov. 5.

The Peach State has supported Republican presidential candidates in the past, but Joe Biden narrowly prevailed in 2020. Previously, no Democratic candidate had won the state since Bill Clinton in 1992.

On Election Day, polls in Georgia will be open for 12 hours from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. local time. If a voter stands in line before the polls close, they have the legal right to stay in line and cast their vote.

Announcement of results is expected to begin shortly after polls close, although it could be hours or days before the final result is known.

Follow this article to get the latest updates.

Who won state in 2016 and 2020?

The relatively new battleground state flipped in the last presidential election, with Biden winning by 0.2 points – just over 11,700 votes. Of the 4,997,716 votes cast, Biden secured 2,461,854 and Trump won 2,473,633, according to Georgia's secretary of state's office. The state had the second-smallest lead in the 2020 presidential election after Arizona.

In 2016, Trump beat former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton by more than five points, receiving 2,089,104 of the 4,092,373 votes. Clinton won 1,877,963 votes in the state.

What were the polling averages in Georgia?

Before November 5, most polling averages showed Trump with a lead over Harris in the state.

An AtlasIntel poll of 1,212 likely voters on October 30 and 31 showed the former president gaining 2 points in a head-to-head matchup with Harris (50 percent to 48 percent). Trump's lead was within the poll's margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

The poll found that Trump performed better among male voters, garnering 51 percent support compared to Harris' 43 percent, while Harris edged Trump among women, with 51 percent to 46.5 percent.

In a CNN-SSRS poll conducted between October 23 and 28, Trump led Harris 48 percent to 47 percent, according to responses from 732 registered voters. This gap is also within the survey's margin of error of 4.7 percent.

A Quinnipiac University poll of 1,328 likely voters in the state conducted Oct. 10-14 showed Trump leading by 7 points in the state, with 52 percent of respondents supporting him and 45 percent supporting Harris. The survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.7 percentage points.

Poll aggregators also found Trump leading in the state, with The New York Times shows Trump narrowly ahead 49 percent to 48 percent, a similar result to Nate Silver's Silver Bulletin, which had Trump at 48.9 percent to Harris's 47.9 percent on Election Day.

Other aggregators found Trump ahead by a larger margin. As of November 5, The Hill has Trump ahead by 1.7 points.

Half of the ballots cast came from early voting

Half of Georgia's 7,236,690 active registered voters cast their ballots before November 5th. The Secretary of State's Office reported that as of November 2, 3,761,968 ballots were cast during in-person early voting and 242,620 mail-in ballots were returned, for a total of 4,004,588 early ballots.

The state reported that voter turnout exceeded 50 percent in 92 Georgia counties before Election Day.

Those early voting numbers broke records last week, surpassing 2020, when about 2.3 million voters cast ballots in person five days before the election.

Trump and Harris repeatedly campaigned in Georgia

Both candidates made repeated appearances in the state, returning just days before Election Day. Trump last appeared in the state on November 3rd, Harris on November 2nd. Each appeared in the state three times in October.

Follow Newsweek's live blog for the latest Election updates.