Election Day 2024: Millions go to the polls to decide between Harris and Trump. DC increases security

WASHINGTON – Election Day has arrived and millions of voters across the country are heading to the polls to decide the next President of the United States. Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are engaged in a tight race marked by turmoil and bitterness.

Final presidential polls suggest Harris has a slight lead over Trump nationally, while Trump is leading in more swing states. Voters face a difficult choice between two candidates with completely different temperaments and visions for the world's largest economy and dominant military power.

READ MORE: Polls on the presidential election: Who is currently ahead?

Harris, the Democratic vice president, could become the first female president if elected. She has promised to work together to address economic and other problems without radically deviating from President Joe Biden's course. Trump, the Republican former president, has vowed to replace thousands of federal workers with loyalists, impose sweeping tariffs on allies and enemies and carry out the largest deportation operation in U.S. history.

More than 82 million people voted early. Those who cast their ballots on Tuesday experienced a mostly smooth process statewide, with scattered reports of long lines, technical problems and errors printing ballots.

READ MORE: Larry Hogan casts his ballot in Maryland for the 2024 election as he fights for the U.S. Senate seat

In Maryland, Republican Larry Hogan, a popular two-term governor, is in the final stages of a campaign to replace outgoing Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin. Hogan faces a tough fight against Democrat Angela Alsobrooks, the Prince George's County executive who could make history as the state's first black U.S. senator in a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans 2-1.

The stakes are unusually high for a Maryland race involving a Republican who received significant Democratic support in his 2014 and 2018 gubernatorial victories. Hogan is only the second Republican in Maryland history to be re-elected governor.

Both Hogan and Alsobrooks voted in person Tuesday and expressed optimism about their chances of winning.

READ MORE: Angela Alsobrooks is voting in Maryland amid a U.S. Senate race with a lot at stake

There was heightened security in the nation's capital in the days leading up to Election Day. Anti-lime fences have been erected around the White House and the vice president's official residence, a few miles away on the grounds of the US Naval Observatory.

Some downtown shops and restaurants have made it their mission to get in ahead of Election Day.

Fences and security barriers have been erected at Howard University, where the vice president is holding her campaign vigil party. There are also road closures around campus.

D.C. police say there is no specific threat to the city at this time.

HOW TO WATCH LIVE ELECTION RESULTS

In DC, vote centers are open on Election Day from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Voters can cast their vote at any voting center, regardless of their home address.

In Maryland, voters must vote at their assigned polling place on Election Day. Polling stations are open from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. and anyone in line by 8:00 p.m. can vote.

In Virginia, polls are open on Election Day from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Anyone in line by 7 p.m. can vote.

ELECTION 2024 QUICK LINKS:

When do polls open in DC, Maryland and Virginia?

Here's how to vote in person on Election Day in DC, Maryland and Virginia

Will schools be open or closed on Election Day 2024 in DC, Maryland and Virginia?

Election 2024: Sample ballots for DC, Maryland, Virginia

How to watch the election results LIVE

When will we know who won the election?

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