Live US election 2020: Latest updates on polls, results in Donald Trump vs Joe Biden presidential race

It could be hours — or even days — before election officials across the United States are done counting ballots and are able to ascertain a winner for the presidential race between incumbent Republican president Donald Trump and his Democratic opponent Joe Biden.

This is due to the extra steps involved in verifying and counting the millions of votes received through mail ballots and drop boxes in areas where early voting sites have been made available, as well as polls cast on voting day itself — November 3 — at assigned locations.

Such differences may result in a significant lag in reporting time across the states.

Follow our live blog to keep up to date with the latest turn of events.

All times are reported in Eastern Time (ET).

5:50pm ET — Biden to watch election results in Wilmington, Trump from White House   

Both the candidates for the US presidency will watch the election results with their families said reports.

NBC News reporter Marianna Sotomayor, citing the campaign team, Democratic Party’s candidate Joe Biden will watch the election day results from his Wilmington home in the US state of Delaware with his family.

On the other hand, US President Donald Trump will watch the election results from the East Wing of the White House.

“The President’s going to be watching returns tonight with senior aides, with members of the first family from the White House, from the East Wing. He’s excited. We’ve put in the work, we’ve not taken any vote for granted, he’s been out on the trail meeting with voters, doing as many as five events a day, and we’re ready to see these results,” White House Communications Director Alyssa Farah told Fox Business.

The official also confirmed that the US president will make a public appearance in the White House but did not provide details.

5:30pm ET — Economy the most important issue for American voters: CNN exit poll

American said the economy was the most important issue for them as they voted in the US Election, showed exit polls shared by CNN.

“The most important issue to voters in the 2020 election is the economy, with around one-third who chose it, followed by around 1 in 5 for racial inequality and the same who chose coronavirus,” said CNN.

The American news channel reported that more than half of the voters said that it was more important for the US to curb the spread of the coronavirus than rebuilding the economy.

5:15pm ET — Ivanka asks Twitter followers to guess who she voted for

Ivanka Trump asked her followers on Twitter to guess who Jared Kushner and her voted for in the US elections.

The first daughter of the US posed the question along with an undated picture of Kushner and her with US President Donald Trump. 

5:10pm ET — Biden says will not comment if results unclear

Democratic Party’s nominee for the US presidency Joe Biden said he will not comment on the elections if results are not clear, reported CNN.

"There’s just so much in play right now … We’ll see. If there’s something to talk about tonight, I’ll talk about it. If not, I’ll wait ‘til the votes are counted the next day," Biden told reporters in Wilmington, Delaware from where he will watch the results of the election.

The former vice president, when asked if he would respond if President Trump declares victory, said that “it depends on what he says and how he says it”.

"Presidents can’t determine what votes counted or not counted and, you know, voters determine who is president," said the Democratic candidate. "No matter what he does or what he says, the votes are going to be counted."

5:00pm ET — Republican governor votes for Joe Biden

Republican Governor for the US state of Vermont Phil Scott told reporters that he crossed the party lines and voted for Democratic US Presidential candidate Joe Biden, reported The Washington Post.

The publication reported that Scott became the first incumbent Republican governor who publicly revealed that he had voted against Trump.

“It’s been a bit of a struggle for me, but I ended up voting for Joe Biden,” Scott was quoted by The Washington Post citing Vermont newspaper Seven Days. He also shared that it was the first time that he was supporting a presidential candidate form his rival party.

4:45pm ET - New York, USA — Dow ends up 2.1% to conclude strong Election Day session

Wall Street stocks enjoyed a buoyant Election Day session on Tuesday, finishing solidly higher amid hopes of a straightforward outcome to a contentious presidential campaign.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 2.1%, or about 550 points, to finish at 27,480.03, adding to the gains from a positive session Monday that won back a fraction of last week's losses.

The broad-based S&P 500 advanced 1.8% to end at 3,369.16, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 1.9% to 11,160.57.

Analysts said Tuesday's rally reflected less of a bet on one candidate or the other, and more a hope that the United States can avoid a protracted fight and move past one of the key uncertainties in markets.

4:35pm ET — Rapper Kanye West votes for the first time in his life  

Donald Trump supporter and rapper Kanye West shared on Twitter that he voted for the first time in his life.

“The first vote of my life. We are here to serve,” said the rapper.

4:20pm ET — Anti and pro-Trump american gather outside White House 

Anti and pro-Trump people stand outside the White House with the US polls about to close in multiple US states.

"Hello from outside the White House fence. Things pretty chilled here for now with people carrying banners - both pro and anti-Trump, playing music, doing performances," tweeted Reuters correspondent Hümeyra Pamuk who is outside the official residence of the US president.

The reporter also stated that there was an "increased police presence a block down" 

4:15pm ET — Trump ally Senator Lindsay Graham casts his vote in South Carolina 

 

US Senator for the state of South Carolina and close ally of incumbent Donald Trump shared that he voted earlier today at a fire station in the city of Seneca.

“I voted this morning at the Corinth-Shiloh Fire Department in Seneca. Thank you to all our South Carolina poll workers for your hard work today!” said Graham in a tweet.

4:00pm ET — FBI investigation reports of robocalls asking Americans to "stay home and stay safe"

US agency Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is reportedly investigating alleged robocalls asking Americans to “stay home and stay safe,” reported news outlet CNN citing a senior official with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).

"There were some robocalls that were being reported … robocalls happen every election. We are aware of that. Those calls, the FBI is investigating,” the senior CISA official was quoted by the CNN.

“Robocalls of this nature happen every election and so I think what would be most helpful is repeating that message to the American public that... they happen every election cycle. Be mindful of people that are trying to intimidate you, undermine your confidence, but keep calm, vote on,” said the official who spoke on the condition of anonymity. He added that the FBI has not tracked down who was behind the calls.

However, US state Iowa’s Secretary of State spokesman Kevin Hall told the CNN that it had shared information with the FBI regarding the phone calls asking people to "stay home and stay safe."

3:50pm ET — Watch man in Florida explains his reason for voting for Trump votes

A man in Florida spoke to a US media outlet and explained why he voted for the US president in the US elections.

“He’s brought unemployment down, he’s going to take care of the pandemic,” said the voted in a video shared by the Trump campaign. He added that he could not see himself voting for Democratic nominee Joe Biden.

3:40pm ET — Social media firms on alert for Election Day misinformation

Social media firms were on high alert on Tuesday against Election Day misinformation and manipulation efforts as voters began in-person balloting across the United States following a tumultuous campaign.

Aiming to avoid the problems that occurred in the 2016 campaign, Facebook, Twitter and Google-owned YouTube were implementing policies aimed at heading off the spread of false information designed to influence or intimidate voters at the last minute.

Facebook said it had activated its election hub which was monitoring the platform in real time.

"Our Election Operations Center will continue monitoring a range of issues in real time — including reports of voter suppression content," said a Facebook statement posted on Twitter.

"If we see attempts to suppress participation, intimidate voters, or organise to do so, the content will be removed."

Loopholes, glitches

Along with other social platforms, the company has promised to stem misinformation around the election, including premature claims of victory, seeking to avoid a repeat of 2016 manipulation efforts.

Over the past days, Facebook and Twitter added disclaimers to Trump posts calling into question the integrity of mail-in ballots.

Trump's post on Twitter said a slow vote count in battleground state Pennsylvania could lead to "rampant and unchecked cheating."

"It will also induce violence in the streets. Something must be done!" he tweeted.

YouTube has also sought to limit the sharing of videos with election misinformation. Last month it began adding information panels to videos about voting by mail.

3:30pm ET — Elections will end after every voter is counted: Sanders

US Senator Bernie Sanders said that the elections will end “after every vote is counted” not when “Trump says it is over”.

“Let's be clear. This election won't be over when Trump says it's over. It will be over after every vote is counted,” said the senator from the US state of Vermont. He added that the election will be over when “mail-in ballots postmarked on election day, as well as military ballots” are counted.

“This is a democracy. Whether Trump likes it or not, we count every vote,” said the senator taking a jibe at the US president.

3:20pm ET — Biden says over 150m Americans will vote in US elections

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden claimed that more than 150 million Americans will vote in the US elections, reported CNN.

"We're going to have more people vote this year than anytime in American history," said Biden while addressing a large crowd in key US state Pennsylvania’s city Philadelphia. He added that his advisers have informed him that more than 150 million Americans will cast their vote.

Biden told the crowd that he’s been briefed that Americans in the age bracket of 18-30 are heading to polling stations in hug numbers and believes that 54% of female voters have voted.

"The President's got a lot of things backwards. One of which is, he thinks that he can decide who gets to vote. Well, guess what? The people who are going to decide who gets to be president!" said Biden while hitting out his arrival.

"Just have to remember who we are, dammit. This is the United States of America!," said the US president.

3:10pm ET — More than 100 million Americans cast early vote: report

Over 100 million Americans used the early ballot option to cast their vote, reported American news outlet NBC News.

The TV channel citing said that data from TargetSmart, a Democratic political data firm, showed that more than 100.7 million voters used the early voting option or absentee ballots.

“That means that in just early voting, turnout has reached nearly 75 percent of what it was in all of 2016, when about 136.5 million ballots were cast,” said the news outlet.

The publication said that polling indicated that Democratic party’s presidential nominee Joe Biden has a significant lead among early voters in key states.

3:00pm ET — Actor Kumail Nanjiani shares picture of him castin his vote

Pakistani born American actor Kumail Nanjiani share a photo of him casting his vote.

"Here is a picture of me voting. Respond with a pic of you voting, today or earlier, and I will try and thank every person individually. Is this a mistake? Maybe! But let’s try it! Go!" said the Nanjiani on Twitter.

2:55pm ET — Ivanka asks voters to vote for peace

US President Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka urges voters to vote for peace.

⁦"Donald Trump⁩ is leading with strength and ending the endless foreign wars!" tweeted the first daughter along with a photo of US president and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

2:47pm ET — Joe Biden's running mate Kamala Harris asks American to head out to vote

Joe Biden's running mate Kamala Harris asks Americans to head out to cast their vote so they can tell their children and grandchildren that they did "everything" they could to "fight" for their country.

"One day, our children and grandchildren are going to look us in the eye and ask what we did in this moment," said Harris.   

2:23pm ET — Joe made me a better president, says Obama

For earlier updates, click here.