Millions of Americans headed to the polls on Tuesday, to vote for their new President, as well as choose candidates in ‘down-ballot’ races, including contests that will decide control of the U.S. Congress.

As the historic race for the White House between U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, and her Republican opponent, former U.S. President Donald Trump, approached its final hours, the candidates, who are running neck and neck, focused their efforts on crucial battleground States, hoping to extract every single available vote on November 5.  Some 75 million Americans — just under half of all eligible voters — had cast their vote by Sunday in early voting.

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Ms. Harris wrapped up her campaign in Philadelphia where America’s ‘founding fathers’ signed the Declaration of Independence.

Mr. Trump closed out his campaign in Grand Rapids, Michigan, as he had done so in 2016 and 2020. The two candidates have had contrasting tones in their closing speeches over the last few days, with Ms. Harris striking a more optimistic note and stepping back from a direct focus on Mr. Trump, marking a shift from what she had done even days earlier.

Among the celebrities who joined Ms. Harris in Philadelphia were singer Lady Gaga and TV host Oprah Winfrey.

Abortion and reproductive rights of women have become a core ballot issue, with polling data showing women of all ages gravitating more towards Ms. Harris (and, for other reason, men towards Mr. Trump).

“For more than half of this country’s life, women didn’t have a voice. Yet we raised children. We held our families together. We supported men as they made the decisions. But tomorrow, women will be a part of making this decision,” Lady Gaga said.

‘New leadership’

“The momentum is on our side,” Ms. Harris said, adding that she was ready to offer “a new generation of leadership”.

“This could be one of the closest races in history,” she said, asking her supporters if they had made a voting plan.

“…You will decide the outcome of this election, Pennsylvania,” she said. Ms. Harris spent her day campaigning in Pennsylvania, where 19 Electoral College votes are up for grabs. At least 270 electoral votes are required to win the White House.

“We are optimistic and we are excited about what we can do together,” she said, adding that the country was ready to “finally turn the page on a decade of politics that has been driven by fear and division,” she said.

At a rally in Atlanta on Monday night, Mr. Trump’s running mate J.D. Vance, who has in many respects been following the Trump playbook during the campaign, said Ms. Harris was “trash”

“In two days, we are going to take out the trash in Washington, D.C., and the trash’s name is Kamala Harris,” he said. He appeared to suggest that Ms. Harris had called Mr. Trump’s supporters “garbage”. However, Ms. Harris has not done so. President Joe Biden said he had misspoken when he said Mr. Trump was surrounded by “garbage” after a comic opening at a Trump rally referred to Peurto Rico as a “floating island of garbage.”

Mr. Vance confirmed that his wife had also voted for Mr. Trump (and himself). Usha Chilukuri Vance, Mr. Vance’s wife, is of Indian origin and was a registered Democrat a decade ago.

Mr. Trump concluded his campaign with a rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The rally continued into the wee hours of Election Day (Tuesday).

Democrats are preparing for Mr. Trump not accepting the election results. The FBI has set a national command post to monitor election-related threats (not new or specific to this year).

At his final rally, the former President leaned into his usual messages about illegal migrants, the promise of a better economy under him and attacking Democrats. Mr. Trump promised to end inflation, including by increasing production of oil and gas domestically.

“Kamala has delivered soaring prices and true economic anguish at home, war and chaos abroad, and a nation-destroying invasion on our southern border,” he said, adding that some of the “greatest criminals” were entering the country. Mr. Trump said the border issue was bigger than any economic issues.

He asked, rhetorically, whom Chinese President Xi Jinping would call if he had a question on war, on Taiwan, or anything else.

“Who the hell does he call?… Maybe they’ll call me,” he said.

Mr. Trump called former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi “evil, sick, crazy”, stopping short of using a sexist insult to describe her.

During his term there were no wars, Mr. Trump said, adding that he had concluded the war against the Islamic State (IS), a fight he had inherited from the Obama administration.

Mr. Trump was joined on stage by some his family after the rally as well as Amer Ghalib, the Mayor of America’s only Muslim majority city, Hamtramck. Mr. Ghalib is one of two Michigan Muslim mayors who has endorsed the former President. The Biden administration’s support for Israel in its offensive in Gaza has created a challenge for Ms. Harris with Arab Americans, many of whom live in Michigan.

Mr. Ghalib spoke of his endorsement breaking a “wall of fear” and a “wall of isolation” between the Arab American community and Mr. Trump.

Mr. Trump continued to cast doubt on the electoral process, calling again for elections to be completed in one day and for discontinuing the use of voting machines. In 2020, Mr. Trump had criticised early voting, associating it with fraud, but this year he urged supporters to vote early. Republicans are hoping that early voting will result in favourable outcomes for them.

Sanders bats for Harris

Independent Senator from Vermont, who was a former presidential hopeful and is a progressive voice in the U.S. Senate, Bernie Sanders, encouraged those who were unhappy with the Biden administration’s positions on Israel to stick by Ms. Harris.

“And for all of those people out there who believe in democracy, who believe in women’s rights, who believe that climate change is real and not a hoax, don’t sit it out,” Mr. Sanders told CNN on Monday night.

“You may disagree with Kamala Harris on this or that issue, but it’s absolutely imperative that we get out and vote,” he said. Mr. Sanders disagreed with Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris on Israel, adding, however, that Mr. Trump was far worse.

With Ms. Harris as President, there was a much higher chance of changing policy towards the Netanyahu government, said Mr. Sanders, who had campaigned for the Vice-President last week.

If Mr. Trump wins, “the global struggle against climate change is over”, Mr. Sanders said.

He warned that Mr. Trump would declare victory no matter what and say that if he loses it will be because of fraud.

Down-ballot races

While all eyes are on Mr. Trump and Ms. Harris, there are crucial down-ballot races being decided on Tuesday. Control of the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives is on the ballot. Thirty-four seats in the Senate (where Democrats have a razor-thin 51:50 majority) are in play. Independent Senator from West Virginia, Joe Manchin, who caucused with Democrats is not seeking re-election with Republicans standing a strong chance of winning his seat. Democrats are defending their seats in Ohio and Montana.

Democrats have a strong chance of taking the House (which the Republicans currently control), where all 435 seats are being contested. A split Congress could create policy deadlock, creating challenges for the next President.