Millions of Americans will head to the polls on Tuesday to cast their ballots in the 2024 presidential election, where Democratic candidate Kamala Harris and her Republican rival, Donald Trump, face off.
There are 230 million eligible voters, but only about 160 million of them are registered. About half of the 50 states in the United States allow daily registration while residents can't vote without registering in North Dakota.
More than 70 million people have already voted by postal ballot or at polling stations in person.
Voters will also elect 34 US senators (out of 100) and all 435 members of the US House of Representatives. Additionally, gubernatorial races will take place in 11 states and two territories (Puerto Rico and American Samoa).
The US passes through the zones six times. Using US East Coast time (ET), voting will begin at 5am (10:00 GMT) on Tuesday and run until 1am (06:00 GMT) on Wednesday.
We break down when the polls open and close in every state:
5am ET (10:00 GMT)
Polls are opened at different times from state to state. Early voting will begin before dawn in some municipalities in Vermont.
6am ET (11:00 GMT)
Polls are open in Connecticut, New Jersey, New York and Virginia. Other polls in Indiana and Kentucky are also open.
In Maine, polls are open from 6am ET to 10am ET (15:00 GMT) depending on municipal guidelines. In New Hampshire, polls are open from 6am ET to 11am ET (16:00 GMT).
6:30am ET (11:30 GMT)
Polls are open in the battleground states of North Carolina and the red states of Ohio and West Virginia. States that are traditionally back Republican are called red states.
7am ET (12:00 GMT)
Polls are open in Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and South Carolina.
Other polls in Indiana, Florida, Kansas, Kentucky and Michigan are also open at this time. In Tennessee, voting runs from 7am ET to 10am ET (15:00 GMT) depending on the municipality.
Georgia is a serious country. In the 2020 election, Democrat Joe Biden won by 0.2 percentage points over Trump, making it the narrowest margin of victory that year.
From 1972 to 2016, Republican elections often swept Georgia. However, races have intensified in the state recently due to demographic changes.
8am ET (13:00 GMT)
Polls are open in Alabama, Arizona, Iowa, Minnesota, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Wisconsin. Other polls in Florida, Kansas, Michigan, South Dakota and Texas are also open at this time.
In North Dakota, voting runs from 8am ET to 11am ET (15:00 GMT) depending on the municipality.
Arizona just became a swing state where Biden beat Trump by 0.3 percentage points four years ago. From 1952 to 2016, a Republican president won in Arizona except for one – Democrat Bill Clinton when he ran against Republican Robert Dole in 1996.
8am ET (13:30 GMT)
Arkansas begins voting.
9am ET (14:00 GMT)
People are starting to cast ballots in Colorado, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. Polls are also open at this time in other parts of South Dakota, Oregon and Texas as well as in the municipality of New Shoreham in Rhode Island.
In Idaho, polls are open from 9am ET to 11am ET (16:00 GMT) depending on the municipality.
10am ET (15:00 GMT)
Voting begins in California and Nevada as well as parts of Oregon. In Washington, polls are open from 10am ET to noon ET (17:00 GMT) depending on the municipality.
11am ET (16:00 GMT)
Some polls are open in Alaska, a two-term state. Some regional polling stations open at noon ET (17:00 GMT)
12pm ET (17:00 GMT)
Polls open in Hawaii.
Polls begin to close at 6pm ET (23:00 GMT)
Some polls in Indiana and Kentucky are closing.
7pm ET (00:00 GMT)
Voting closes in six states: Georgia, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, and the rest of Indiana and Kentucky.
Trump disputed the outcome of the 2020 Georgia election. He was later charged with interfering in the elections there. False claims about electoral fraud in the dynamic nature of this election have already spread.
Indiana, Kentucky and South Carolina lean for Trump while Virginia and Vermont are expected to go to Harris.
7:30pm ET (00:30 GMT Wednesday)
Voting closes in Ohio, North Carolina and West Virginia.
In 2020 North Carolina, Trump won the battleground state by 1.3 percentage points over Biden, and in 2016, Trump won the state by 3.6 percentage points over Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton.
From 1980 to 2020, Republicans have won North Carolina in every election except 2008 when Democrat Barack Obama won over John McCain by 0.3 percentage points.
Ohio and West Virginia voted Republican, and Trump is expected to win in two states.
8pm ET (01:00 GMT Wednesday)
Voting is closed in Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Washington and the District of Columbia.
Many polls in Michigan and Texas also close at this time.
Pennsylvania is a swing state that Biden won by 1.2 percentage points in 2020. In 2016, Trump won against Clinton by 0.7 percentage points.
After the Democratic Alliance victory in 1976, the Republicans swept the country from 1980 to 1988. From 1992 to 2012, the Democrats won Pennsylvania.
8:30pm ET (01:30 GMT Wednesday)
Polls close in Arkansas, marking the end of voting in half of the US states.
Arkansas is expected to go to Trump because Republicans won the state comfortably from 2000 to 2020.
9pm ET (02:00 GMT Wednesday)
Voting is closed in 15 states: Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Louisiana, Kansas, Minnesota, Michigan, New Mexico, New York, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
This includes three throwing states: Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin.
From 1976 to 2020, Republicans won Arizona in every election except 1996 and 2020. In 2020, Biden beat Trump by 0.3 percentage points. In 2016, Trump beat Clinton by 3.6 percentage points.
From 1992 to 2020, Michigan has gone blue for Democrats in every election except 2016 when Trump beat Clinton by 0.2 percentage points. In 2020, Biden beat Trump in the state by 2.8 percentage points. But US support for Israel's war in Gaza could turn a large number of American voters towards Trump or Jill Stein of the Green Party.
Wisconsin also historically turned green, doing so in every election from 1988 to 2020 except 2016 when Trump beat Clinton by 0.7 percentage points. In 2020, Biden won the state by 0.7 percentage points.
10pm ET (03:00 GMT Wednesday)
Polls are closed in Montana, Nevada and Utah.
Montana and Utah are expected to go to Trump. Nevada, however, is a twisted state.
While Republicans won the state from 1976 to 1988, Democrats have won it since 2008. In 2020, Biden won by 2.4 percent. In 2016, Clinton beat Trump by 2.4 percentage points.
11pm ET (04:00 GMT Wednesday)
Voting closes in California, Idaho, Oregon and Washington.
California is the most populous US state, and it is expected to go to Harris, who is from California and represents the state in the US Senate and served as its attorney general.
From 1992 to 2020, Democrats won comfortably in California.
Oregon and Washington are also likely to see Harris win while Idaho is expected to go to Trump.
Midnight ET (05:00 GMT Wednesday)
Poles are closed in Hawaii and parts of Alaska.
Trump is expected to win in Alaska and Harris is expected to win in Hawaii.
1am ET Wednesday (06:00 GMT)
Final voting closes in Alaska's Aleutian Islands.
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