Election 2024 updates: With Arizona, Trump sweeps all 7 swing states
The final electoral college count is Trump: 312, Harris: 226.
Just days after former President Donald Trump was projected to have won the presidency, Trump's transition team operation has begun, with transition co-chairs confirming that he will be selecting personnel to serve under his leadership in the coming days.
Trump is also the projected winner in Arizona, a state the former president flipped after losing it to Joe Biden in 2020.
Trump's projected win in the vital swing state marks a sweep of the battleground states.
Key Headlines
- With Arizona, Trump sweeps all 7 swing states
- Steve Witkoff and Kelly Loeffler to lead Trump's inaugural efforts
- Trump to meet with Biden Wednesday
- Maryland election boards receive bomb threats as ballots are counted
- Steve Witkoff and Kelly Loeffler expected to lead Trump's inaugural efforts
- Trump projected winner in Nevada
- Trump announces chief of staff
The first polls of the 2024 election have closed
It's 6 p.m. Eastern, which means the first polls of the evening have closed! Voting is now over in most of Indiana and in the eastern half of Kentucky. We should see initial results shortly ...
Error in Milwaukee leads to a recount
Milwaukee will be recounting every absentee ballot that has been recorded so far, over 30,000, according to Alexander Shur of VoteBeat. This took place after election officials discovered an issue with a voting tabulator. Out of an abundance of caution, all 13 of the machines involved are being reset.
Milwaukee is one of the slowest reporting areas in Wisconsin, reporting the bulk of the votes early in the morning during the 2020 election. This hold-up nearly assures that the final count in the swing state will stretch late into the night.
Exit polls 2024: Fears for American democracy, economic discontent drive voters
Americans are going to the polls Tuesday to cast their ballots in the historic election between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. Surveys ahead of Election Day found the two candidates in a virtual dead heat nationally and in several key swing states.
Broad economic discontent, sharp divisions about the nation's future and polarized views of the major-party candidates mark voter attitudes nationally in ABC News preliminary exit poll results. The state of democracy prevailed narrowly as the most important issue to voters out of five tested in the exit poll.
Other ballot measures to watch tonight
My colleagues have already taken you through some of 2024's highest-profile ballot measures, but that's just the tip of the iceberg! There are 146 statewide ballot measures being decided today, and they could result in some immediate, dramatic changes to state policy. Here are some of the most important measures to watch:
Eight states (plus Washington, D.C.) could dramatically change how they decide elections this year. Colorado and Idaho could vote to switch to a top-four primary and a ranked-choice general election. Alaska could vote to abolish such a system and return to partisan primaries. Nevada could implement a similar system but with a top-five primary. Montana could switch to a top-four primary with a TBD general election system, while Arizona could switch to a TBD primary system with a ranked-choice general election. South Dakota could also switch to a more conventional top-two primary, while Oregon and Washington, D.C., could add ranked-choice voting to their existing primary system.
Ohio could create an independent commission to draw the state's congressional and state legislative districts and require them to reflect the partisan balance of the state. However, it could be torpedoed by biased ballot language written by Republicans that says the commission would be "required to gerrymander."
Eight states (Iowa, Idaho, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Wisconsin) will vote on ballot measures that would prohibit noncitizens from voting. However, this is already illegal at the federal level, and although 19 cities nationwide allow noncitizens to vote in local elections, none of them are in these eight states.
Three states (Florida, North Dakota and South Dakota) could legalize recreational marijuana. Massachusetts could go even further and legalize psychedelics. On the other hand, California could increase penalties for drug possession. The Golden State is also considering whether to lift restrictions on rent control to alleviate the state's high housing costs. And Arizona could make it a state crime to cross the border illegally.
Finally, there are a few ballot measures dealing with topics you don't normally associate with politics. For instance, Missouri will vote on whether to legalize sports betting, while Maine will decide whether to adopt a new state flag.