THE LATEST:
- Donald Trump claims victory, though most major networks and outlets have not called the presidency.
- Trump won the biggest battleground prize in Pennsylvania, giving him a major step toward the White House.
- Harris holds onto solidly blue states, but trails in all of the swing states.
- The vice-president is expected to speak Wednesday.
- The current electoral vote tally is 266 for Trump and 218 for Harris.
- Republicans have reclaimed majority control of the U.S. Senate.
- Voters went against ballot measures that would’ve guaranteed abortion rights in Florida, but were supportive in other states.
Republican candidate Donald Trump has claimed victory in Tuesday’s contentious U.S. presidential election, though most major networks and outlets have not called the presidency.
“It is now clear that we’ve achieved the most incredible political thing. Look what happened. Isn’t this crazy?” he told cheering supporters at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Fla., just before 2:30 a.m. ET.
“I want to thank the American people for the extraordinary honour of being elected your 47th president.”
Trump, 78, spoke after winning the largest of the swing state prizes back from Democrats in Pennsylvania, which left him just four electoral votes shy of the 270 needed to achieve the presidency.
He has won or is leading in all of the remaining battlegrounds.
Republican Donald Trump claims a ‘magnificent victory’ after winning several key battleground states, including Pennsylvania, and tells supporters they are a part of the ‘greatest political movement of all time.’
Harris will not be addressing the nation until Wednesday.
“We still have votes to count. We still have states that have not been called yet. We will continue overnight to fight to make sure every vote is counted, that every voice has spoken. So you won’t hear from the vice-president tonight, but you will hear from her tomorrow,” Cedric Richmond told supporters gathered for a watch party at Howard University in Washington around 1 a.m.
Kamala Harris won’t address the election night crowd of supporters gathered at her alma mater, Howard University. Her campaign co-chair, Cedric Richmond, said Harris and her team are waiting for all votes to be counted and that she would speak to the nation on Wednesday.
CBC News has called Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, Oklahoma, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming for Trump.
Harris, 60, will hold the reliably blue states of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, New York, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and the District of Columbia.
Trump was also ahead in the popular vote, with 51.2 per cent to Harris’s 47.4 per cent.
The mood at Harris’s election night party at Howard University — the candidate’s alma mater in Washington — shifted from electric to anxious as races were called. Palpable anxiety rose as it became clear how close the race could be.
In another blow to Democrats, Republicans seized control of the Senate after flipping blue seats and holding onto others — taking the majority for the first time in four years.
Nearly two-thirds of voters cast ballots before election day
Unlike Canadians, Americans voted directly for who they want to see as president — though it is the electoral college which ultimately elects the winner. Their choices this year were Harris, Trump or a third-party candidate.
More than 84 million voters cast their ballots early, either by mail or in person.
Voting largely went smoothly, but the FBI said hoax bomb threats on Tuesday, many of which appeared to originate from Russian email domains, were directed at polling locations in three U.S. battleground states: Georgia, Michigan and Wisconsin.
The bureau said the threats were not credible but at least two polling sites in Georgia were briefly evacuated.
The next U.S. president will be consequential for Canada: The countries are top allies, side by side on the world stage and one another’s largest customers with billions of dollars annually in trade.