Politics Polling stations open in eastern USA
The first polling stations have opened in the USA for all those who want to cast their vote in person on election day. After voting had already taken place at midnight (local time) in a small town, polling stations in larger cities and municipalities in the eastern United States have now also opened.
05.11.2024, 13:59
SDA
They opened at 7 a.m. local time (1 p.m. CET) in Washington DC, for example, and an hour earlier in New York.
The decision is between Democrat and Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican former President Donald Trump. Voters are also allowed to go to the polls in some "swing states", which are particularly contested and could decide the election - for example in North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania and parts of Michigan. In Wisconsin, Arizona and Nevada, where a close race is also expected, polling stations will not open until later.
Because the USA stretches across several time zones, the polling stations will open over several hours. After the east, the states in the center of the country follow. In the west coast state of California, you can cast your vote from 7 a.m. local time (4 p.m. CET). Hawaii and Alaska bring up the rear: here voters can vote until 6.00 a.m. (CET) on Wednesday, in the Aleutian Islands one hour longer.
However, many voters have already cast their ballots. Almost 83 million US citizens voted by post or at polling stations open in advance by midday before election day alone, as reported by the Election Lab at the University of Florida. This corresponds to more than half of the total votes cast in the 2020 presidential election. It could even take several days before a winner is determined due to the time-consuming counting of postal votes - but a run-off on election night is also possible.
