First Ballot for 2024 US Presidential Elections cast in New Hampshire

New Hampshire [US], November 5 : The first ballot has been cast in the US for the 2024 Presidential elections in New Hampshire's small township of Dixville Notch.
Dixville Notch becomes the first place in the US to cast a ballot as the country goes into elections on November 5 and November 6.
The township is located along the US-Canada border and sits at the northern tip of New Hampshire. It opened and closed its poll just after midnight ET in a tradition that dates back to 1960, CNN reported.
The place saw a split decision, recording three votes for Kamala Harris and three for former US President Donald Trump. This is in line with the national trends predicted for the two leaders through various polls in the country.
There are a total of 538 electoral votes in the college; 435 House of Representatives, 100 Senate seats and 3 seats from Washington DC. A candidate needs a minimum of 270 votes to become the President. Every state has a certain number of electoral votes. California has the maximum number of seats with 54, followed by Texas (40) and Florida (30). On the other hand, states like North Dakota, South Dakota, Delaware, and Vermont have a minimum number of 3 seats.
The two leaders are facing cut-throat competition in the swing states too.
The swing states are seven battleground states, which don't follow a fixed trend, keep changing and eventually also play the deciding role in selecting the winner. There are mainly seven swing states -- Nevada (6), Arizona (11), North Carolina (16), Georgia (16), Wisconsin (10), Michigan (15), Pennsylvania (19).
Despite the presence of many other parties, the US race is between the Democratic and Republican parties.
Vice President Kamala Harris is the candidate of the incumbent Democrats, and she is aiming to create history becoming the first woman of the US. If elected, she will also be the first Indian-origin President of the United States.
On the other hand, the Republican candidate is former President Donald Trump, who is eyeing a historic comeback to the White House after a bitter exit in 2020. Notably, if Trump wins, it will be the first instance in over 100 years of a president serving two non-consecutive terms in the White House.
Most of the polls have predicted a very close race between Trump and Harris, with all the leads projected within the margin of error.
According to the national polls, as provided by the 'five thirty-eight' platform of ABC News, Harris (48) has a minor lead of 1 percentage point against Donald Trump (46.9).
NBC News and Emerson College have projected a 49%-49% tie nationally between the two candidates. Ipsos has projected a three-point lead (49%-46%) to Harris, while, AtlasIntel has projected a two-point lead (50%-48%) to Trump.
The polling hours will vary across the states, but most locations will vote between 6 am to 8 pm on Tuesday (local time). Though, exit polls will start coming once voting starts, the final results will come only after counting is closed in all states.
The first polls will close at around 7 pm ET (5:30 am IST) in six states including Georgia. The final polls will close in the blue state of Hawaii and in the red state of Alaska at 12 am ET (10:30 am IST).
Total votes will close by 1 pm ET (11:30 am IST), following which counting will start.
The results in small states can be projected soon after polling states, some key battleground states may take hours in projecting the winner.