Election Day 2024 live updates as Trump-Harris polls remain tied, U.S. gets out to vote

After the 2024 election results are in, former President Donald Trump will be met with one of two fates: a return to the Oval Office, or years of criminal court proceedings, and perhaps incarceration, experts say.

Perhaps no candidate in U.S. history has faced such stark personal stakes on Election Day.

Trump's third campaign for president has played out alongside the four criminal cases against him — two in halting fits and spurts, one toward dismissal and one that led to a conviction on 34 felony counts that he intends to appeal. 

Where they go from here could very well depend on whether Trump is elected. Here's more on how  those cases could play out if he wins the presidency.

The battle for the presidency is being waged not just at the ballot box but also in courtrooms in an election cycle marked by scores of lawsuits brought by both parties.

While many of the cases involve disputes over state laws that will be decided by state courts, some cases may wind up before the U.S. Supreme Court, though many observers believe the court will try to stay out of the election.

Ever since the high court's controversial ruling in Bush v. Gore in 2000, the possibility that the Supreme Court might decide a close presidential contest has loomed over electoral politics. And while that improbable scenario is unlikely to repeat, the proliferation of lawsuits this cycle has increased the odds that the Supreme Court may be forced to intervene yet again. 

Read here to find out more about the cases that may land before the justices.

A number of fabricated videos mimicking news organizations and officials circulated online on Monday, spreading false information about security threats and election integrity ahead of Election Day. The videos were likely created by a Russian disinformation group, researchers say.

One of the fabricated videos, created to look like a report from CBS News, falsely said the FBI was advising people to "vote remotely" due to a potential terror attack. No such warning has been issued by U.S. officials and no such report has been produced by CBS News. The account that posted the video on the social media platform X was suspended on Monday afternoon.

Two other videos, created to look like they were released by the FBI, made false claims about voter fraud. Another video was created to look like it was created by Fox News.

The FBI said Tuesday that the two videos falsely depicting FBI statements were "not authentic."

"Attempts to deceive the public with false content about FBI threat assessments and activities aim to undermine our democratic process and erode trust in the electoral system," the agency said in a statement to media outlets Tuesday.

The videos were likely created by the same Russian disinformation group that released two additional fabricated FBI videos in recent days, according to Antibot4Navalny, a collective of researchers that tracks online Russian disinformation.

The group has a history of mimicking international news outlets and U.S. government entities. Many of their posts include QR codes that link to legitimate news outlets to make the posts appear authentic. The group published similar false claims about threats ahead of the Olympics.

Typos will not invalidate a voter's ballot, election officials in many states say, despite recent social media posts in Virginia and Ohio that have claimed to show misspellings of former President Trump's name and suggesting that could impact results.

The Virginia video was posted to TikTok on October 22. It has since been reposted to X accounts with large followings. Washington County officials said the error appears only on a screen that people can use to review paper ballot selections. "The single typographical error on the optional ballot review screen will have no effect on anyone's vote," said Derek Lyall, the county's director of elections and general registrar.

CBS News reached out to election officials in every state. More than a dozen responded that a typo or misspelling would not affect a person's vote. States such as Arkansas, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Texas, and South Carolina said a typo would not affect a person's ballot. States such as Kansas, Florida, Minnesota, and West Virginia said voter intent is taken into consideration and a typo would have no effect.

A spokesperson for Massachusetts' election officials said they would attempt to correct the ballot if there was time, but it would not affect the outcome. Rhode Island officials said the most likely scenario would be that a notice would be posted to voters in the voting booth, but votes would not be invalidated.

Sen. JD Vance, the Republican vice presidential nominee, voted in Cincinnati, Ohio, on Election Day, touting his vote for Trump and Republican Ohio Senate candidate Bernie Moreno. 

"I hope people will get President Trump over the finish line, I hope people here in Ohio will get Bernie Moreno over the finish line," Vance said. "Look, I feel good."

Vance said "we do expect to win," saying that Trump's policies will "promote peace and prosperity for our citizens."

"But if you vote the wrong way, in my view, I'm still going to love you, I'm still going to treat you as a fellow citizen, and if I am lucky enough to be your vice president, I'm going to fight hard for your dreams and for your family over the next four years," Vance said. 

When asked about how it feels to cast his vote with his name on the ticket not far from where he grew up in Middletown, Ohio, Vance said "it's an amazing thing." 

"The fact that I'm standing here is very much a testament to the fact that we live in the greatest country in the history of the world," he added.

Election defenses are up in Arizona as workers process and verify a flood of mail-in ballots arriving ahead of Election Day. Law enforcement is hoping to avoid a repeat of 2020, when election workers were harassed and supporters of then-President Donald Trump, some of whom were armed, surrounded the vote counting facility in downtown Phoenix after polls closed.

The National Guard is on standby alert in Nevada, and at least six other states, including Arizona and North Carolina, have activated Guard troops.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, a key surrogate for Harris, told "CBS Mornings" that he's felt a "remarkable momentum" for the vice president in recent days, citing a visit to Midland, Michigan, where he said more than 400 people were "fired up for her and Democrats up and down the ticket."

"So the energy is there, but we know this is going to be close," Buttigieg said, adding that in some areas, the election could "come down to a couple votes per precinct."

Buttigieg argued that a Harris victory would allow the nation to "turn the page" on the Trump-era of politics, saying "a lot of us just don't want to feel like politics is punching us in the face every time we turn on the news."

"Kamala Harris has said that if you disagree with her, she wants you at the table," Buttigieg said. "That's important, because after this election, we're going to have to come together as a country."

Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, who was recently released from prison, told CBS News Tuesday morning that he will be at the Willard Hotel on Tuesday evening, returning to the site where he spent Jan. 5, 2021, the eve of the 2021 Capitol attack, working with allies to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

According to the book "Peril," Bannon spoke with Trump from the Willard Hotel that day as Bannon and Trump lawyers such as Rudy Giuliani pressured Republicans to block the certification of then president-elect Joe Biden's victory the following day.  

The hotel was also the site of a Bannon-led organizing effort in early January 2021, which they called a "war room," and served as an informal headquarters for the entire pressure campaign against Vice President Mike Pence and others.

Bannon has since confirmed in remarks on his broadcast that he was at the Willard and working against Biden in early January 2021.

"Unlike in 2020, we will secure Trump's victory this time," Bannon told CBS News on Tuesday morning. 

Bannon's vigorous reengagement with Trump World is a sudden, 11th-hour development in what could be a close election, and he is the "tip of the spear" of many Trump allies readying for a legal, political and constitutional showdown, should it come to that. 

House Republican conference chair Rep. Elise Stefanik, of New York, argued that the nation is ready to return to a Trump administration and its policies, telling "CBS Mornings" that voters agree the nation is "on the wrong track."

"It is time to make sure that we as a country return to the effective policies that we saw" under Trump, Stefanik said, citing a "booming" economy, secure border, and strong national security policies.

Stefanik said she had "zero concerns" about Trump's ability to serve four years. Trump would be the oldest president to enter office, at 78.

"I have campaigned on these long days with President Trump and the youngest of the team have to work hard to keep up with his pace," Stefanik said. "The American people know that they're going to vote for a fit president when they vote for President Trump. There is absolutely no question about that."

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, extended a policy prohibiting new political or issue advertisements on its platforms until after Election Day. The company says it stopped accepting new political ads on Oct. 29, though existing ads could continue to run.

"The rationale behind this restriction period remains the same as previous years – in the final days of an election, we recognize there may not be enough time to contest new claims made in ads," Meta said in a statement.

It's been 20 years: The last Republican presidential candidate to win the nationwide popular vote was George W. Bush in 2004. In 2000, he won the Electoral College and the presidency but he lost the popular vote to Al Gore.

Trump became the president in 2016 by winning more than 270 votes in the Electoral College, but lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton by more than 2.8 million votes. In 2020, Trump lost the Electoral College and also lost the popular vote to Mr. Biden by over 7 million votes.

Dixville Notch, the tiny New Hampshire town that votes at the stroke of midnight, split the vote this year, with three votes for Harris and three votes for Trump.

Dixville Notch has a tradition that dates back to 1960 of being the first in the nation to complete in-person voting. There are six registered voters in the unincorporated township — four Republicans and two independents, who also make up the entirety of the area's population.

After a rousing accordion version of the national anthem, the town's six voters began casting their ballots at the stroke of midnight, and the vote count was complete 15 minutes later.

Read more from CBS Boston. 

Vice President Harris' final campaign stop was a rally at the steps of the Art Museum in Philadelphia Monday night — the same steps made famous in the movie "Rocky."

A Harris campaign official told CBS News there were 30,000 people in the crowd.

Harris brought out star power, with Lady Gaga, The Roots, Ricky Martin, Freeway, Oprah Winfrey, Fat Joe and others taking the stage. 

In her speech, Harris urged supporters in attendance to have a plan to vote on Tuesday and to encourage loved ones to do the same. 

"We need everyone to vote in Pennsylvania," Harris said. "And you will decide the outcome of this election, Pennsylvania." 

Philadelphia was the site of Harris' first rally with her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, in August, at Temple's University Liacouras Center.

Both Harris and former President Donald Trump spent plenty of time in Pennsylvania during the campaign, since it's a key battleground state in the race for the White House. 

Read more from CBS Philadelphia.

Former President Donald Trump held his final rally before Election Day in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he also concluded his campaigns in 2016 and 2020.

He savored the moment, stopping every few steps as he made his way to the stage, soaking in the applause. A few in the crowd waited nearly 18 hours, at times in the rain, for a rally that finally began after midnight and ended after 2 a.m. ET.

"It's unbelievable," Trump said when he started talking after standing wordless at his lectern for an extended ovation. "Think of it. This is it. This is the last one that we'll have to do."

At one point, Trump asked the raucous crowd, "Are you better off now than you were four years ago?" The response was a resounding "no."

"November 5th, 2024 will be liberation day in America," Trump declared.

He spent a good deal of time addressing immigration, a key issue for his campaign along with the economy.

Harris is the first Black female presidential candidate on a major ticket, as well as the first Asian American candidate to become a major party nominee. 

Her candidacy marks just the fourth time in the last 60 years that an incumbent vice president is a general election nominee for president. Al Gore was the Democratic nominee in 2000, George H.W. Bush was the GOP nominee in 1988, Hubert Humphrey was the Democratic nominee in 1968. 

If she's elected, Harris would be the first incumbent vice president to win the White House since Bush in 1988. 

Mr. Biden's decision to drop out of the presidential race means that if Trump wins another term, the Republican nominee would become the oldest president ever to be sworn into office.

Mr. Biden was 78 at the time of his inauguration in 2021, but his birthday is in November. Trump, who would also be 78 years old on Inauguration Day, would be about five months older, since his birthday is in June.  

Read more here for the full list of the oldest presidents in U.S. history.

The 2024 presidential election will be the first since 1976 to not have a Bush, Biden or Clinton on the presidential ticket. 

George H.W. Bush was elected Ronald Reagan's vice president in 1980 and 1984 and won the presidency in 1988, but he lost reelection in 1992. Bill Clinton won both his presidential elections in 1992 and 1996.

Bush's son, George W. Bush, won both of his presidential contests in 2000 and 2004. Joe Biden was elected vice president under Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012 and won the presidency himself in 2020. Hillary Clinton lost her presidential bid in 2016.

Trump formally announced his 2024 presidential run shortly after the 2022 midterm elections, meaning that as of Election Day he has been a candidate in this election cycle for 721 days. 

There were only 107 days between Harris' entry into the 2024 presidential race, after Mr. Biden dropped out, and Election Day.

Trump is seeking to become the first president since Grover Cleveland to be elected to non-consecutive terms as president. Cleveland has the distinction of being both the 22nd and 24th president. He won his first term in 1884 but was defeated for reelection in 1888, although he won the popular vote over Benjamin Harrison. Cleveland won the White House again in 1892. 

As Americans get closer to Election Day 2024 and will choose between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, anyone who is registered to vote does not need re-register every year, unless there is a change of name, address or political affiliation.

Each state's voter re-registration or voter registration update deadline can be found on their respective Board of Elections website. 

Read a state-by-state breakdown of the rules.

— Patrick Maguire and Emily Hung

Millions of Americans have already voted early in the 2024 election, but millions more will turn out in person on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5. Some of the earliest polling places open at 5 a.m. or 6 a.m. ET. The first states to close will be at 7 p.m. ET, while California and several other Western states close at 11 p.m. ET. Alaska is last to close, at 1 a.m. ET.

If you are in line before a site closes, you have the right to remain in line and vote. View a list of voter rights from the ACLU here. 

Read more here for details on poll opening and closing times in each state. 

If Trump carries every state he won in 2020 — for the sake of the hypothetical, he would also win the same electoral votes he did in 2020 from Nebraska and Maine (4 in Nebraska and 1 in Maine, where some electoral votes are allocated by congressional district) — that would put him at 235 electoral votes in 2024. 

Flipping Arizona, Nevada and Georgia would put Trump at 268, so he would be two short. That would mean he has to flip one of the Midwestern states — Michigan, Wisconsin or Pennsylvania.

Another route to getting Trump what he would need to regain the White House: If Trump is at the 235 scenario outlined above and manages to win back all of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin that would put him at 279, and he would not need to win Nevada, Arizona, Georgia.

And here's one more: Starting with the 235 electoral votes for Trump noted above, if Trump wins three states he lost by less than 1 point in 2020 (Wisconsin, Arizona and Georgia) he would have 272 electoral votes and be elected president.

Trump victories in North Carolina, Georgia and Pennsylvania could also prove crucial to becoming president once again. Taking those states, and maintaining all the states and electoral votes he won in 2020, would put him at exactly 270 electoral votes.

—Hunter Woodall and Olivia Rinaldi

The battle for control of the Senate is on, with a third of the chamber on the ballot in the 2024 cycle. Democrats are facing a difficult electoral map as they seek hold onto their narrow 51-49 seat majority. Although the outcome in many of the 34 races is a foregone conclusion, a handful remain competitive, and Republicans are eyeing a number opportunities to flip Democratic seats. From Ohio to Montana, Arizona to Nebraska, these races will decide which party controls the upper chamber next year.

Read more about 11 key Senate contests here. 

The last time control of the House flipped in a presidential election year was in 1952, when Republicans won the House and Dwight D. Eisenhower was elected to his first term as president. 

Republicans currently hold the House majority, a very slim one — there are 220 Republicans in the House and 212 Democrats, with three vacancies. There are elections for all 435 seats, and the Cook Political Report rates only around 20  of them as toss-ups. 

The candidate who gets to 270 electoral votes is the one who wins the presidency, and the fate of Harris and Trump is likely to hinge on the outcomes in the seven battleground states: Arizona, Nevada, Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin, Nevada and North Carolina. 

Here are some of the ways Harris may reach 270 that seem most plausible, given past election performance:

Mr. Biden won six of the battleground states in 2020: Arizona, Nevada, Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. He won 306 electoral votes overall. Going into Election Day 2024, polls are close to even in these states.

If Harris wins Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, the "blue wall" Midwestern states Mr. Biden took in 2020, and earns 3 of Maine's 4 electoral votes, but she loses Arizona, Nevada and Georgia, that would not deliver Harris the White House. 

In this hypothetical, Trump would also hold onto all the states that he won in 2020 and four of Nebraska's five electoral votes, as he did four years ago.

That scenario would put Harris at 269 electoral votes — one shy of keeping the White House under Democrats' control. To get to 270, Harris would have to win a congressional district in Nebraska that includes the city of Omaha. The state awards some of its electoral votes by congressional district, and winning Nebraska's Omaha-based district that Mr. Biden captured in 2020 but Trump held in 2016, would make Harris president.

— Hunter Woodall and Olivia Rinaldi