America chooses between Harris and Trump – DW – 11/05/2024

Not counting individual early voting centers or exceptions such as the small town of Dixville Notch, New Hampshire, which is authorized to open at midnight because it has fewer than 100 residents, most early voting centers in the United States are within this limit. Opened on Tuesday at 05:00 local time (10:00 GMT). Vermont residents on the East Coast (Northeast) were the first to go to the polls this morning.

A historic day is beginning in which the country will choose between Vice President and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris and former Republican President Donald Trump (2017-2021). At 6:00 a.m. local time (11:00 GMT), polling booths open in six other states (Connecticut, Kentucky, Maine, New Jersey, New York and Virginia), followed half an hour later by polling booths in Ohio, West Virginia Let’s open. and North Carolina, the latter considered a key “hinge” state in determining who will occupy the White House.

Polling station opening hours vary greatly, as the 50 US states and the District of Columbia span six different time zones, and each state has its own election laws with specific opening and closing times.

As the morning dawns, at 12:00 GMT, voting will begin in most centers in the District of Columbia and 17 states with different time zones: Alabama, Delaware, Florida, New Hampshire, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts. , Missouri, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Wyoming, Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Michigan, the last three being the “hinge” states.

An hour later, at 13:00 GMT, the centers will open in ten other states with different time zones: Arizona, Iowa, Minnesota, Mississippi, Oklahoma, North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin. Half an hour later the centers will open in Arkansas, and at 2:00 pm GMT they will do so in six other states (Colorado, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah). California and Idaho will open last at 15:00 GMT, followed by Washington and Alaska at 16:00 GMT and finally Hawaii at 17:00 GMT.

Millions of voters are expected to cast their ballots, in addition to the more than 80 million who have already voted in the past weeks. If the results come close, according to polls, the final result may not be known for several days, raising tensions in the deeply divided nation.

(EFE, AP)