Trump, Harris secure early wins as more polls close across US

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - Republican nominee Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger, Kamala Harris, secured more early wins Tuesday evening as polls continued to close across the US.

Trump is currently leading Harris in the race to reach 270 Electoral College votes 198-112. The vice president most recently put Colorado and Washington, D.C. in her win column while Trump took Missouri, Montana and Utah, according to The Associated Press.

Much of the US West, where Harris is expected to rack up big wins across the coast, remains outstanding.

Either candidate needs to win 270 Electoral College votes to claim victory. Electors are allocated to states based on their population, and most states give all of their delegates to whichever candidate wins the state in the general vote.

The winner-take-all model is not followed in Nebraska and Maine, however, which instead allocate their votes based on the outcome in congressional districts, as well as the state’s popular vote winner.

Poll closures will continue at half-hour or hour intervals, with the final closures in Hawaii at midnight Eastern Time (0500GMT), followed by Alaska at 1 a.m. Eastern Time (0600GMT).

The race is all but certain to come down to the seven key battleground states -- Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin -- where the nominees are facing narrow contests with spreads well within the margins of error in several surveys.

Polls have now closed in each of the states.

Both candidates spent the final week before the election campaigning hard in swing states, with Harris visiting Pennsylvania for a series of rallies in multiple cities Monday. Trump spent the day there before a late-night rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

It is highly unlikely that major media organizations will declare a victor Tuesday night, as had been the norm up until 2020, due to the closeness of the races in the battleground states.