As the contentious campaign comes to an end, US voters cast their votes

With millions of Americans casting ballots to decide between two starkly different visions for the nation, the dizzying presidential election between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris sped into an unknown conclusion on Tuesday.
Even after months of intense campaigning and billions of dollars in expenditure, a race marred by historic events—two assassination attempts against Trump, President Joe Biden’s abrupt withdrawal, and Harris’ quick ascent—remained too close to call.

The national difference was reflected in the first ballots cast on election day. Just after midnight, the six registered voters in the small New Hampshire hamlet of Dixville Notch divided their votes between Trump and Harris.

In more than two dozen states along the East Coast, polls opened at 7 a.m. (1200 GMT).
Like he did four years ago, Trump’s campaign has hinted that he would announce his victory on election night even though millions of ballots have not yet been tabulated. Echoing his deceptive statements from 2020, the former president has stated time and time again that any defeat could only be the result of vast fraud. If the margins in important states are as narrow as anticipated, the winner might not be known for days.

History will be written regardless of the White House winner.
As the first female vice president, Harris, 60, would go on to become the first South Asian American woman, Black woman, and woman to win the presidency.

The 78-year-old Trump would become the first president to win non-consecutive terms in over a century, the only president to be impeached twice, and the first former president to be convicted of a crime.The candidates are tied in each of the seven states that will decide the winner: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, according to opinion polls conducted in the closing days of the campaign.