US election 2024 live: democracy and state of the economy top issues on voters’ minds, exit poll suggests

Democrats are counting on young voters to turn out at the polls today to help deliver wins for not just Kamala Harris but congressional candidates and ballot measures across the country.

“Young people will decide this election. From local ballot initiatives to federal races, we know this critical bloc is showing up for their futures and making their voices heard,” said Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez, president of the youth voting group NextGen America.

According to NextGen’s data, the group registered more than 130,000 young voters this election cycle, while more than 171,000 young voters signed pledges to vote.

“We are proud of our work this cycle on-the-ground and online to educate, mobilize, and empower young voters, contributing to a culture of civic engagement that will extend beyond this election,” Ramirez said.

“Young people are showing up, turning out, and using their collective power to elect leaders that represent our values – today and into the future.”

The state of American democracy and the economy were the top issues on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots in the 2024 presidential election, according to an NBC News exit poll.

The poll’s preliminary results show 35% of voters said democracy mattered most to their vote, while 31% said the economy.

Abortion (14%) and immigration (11%) ranked as the next-most important issues, while just 4% named foreign policy.

ABC News’ preliminary exit poll also shows that the state of democracy prevailed as the most important issue to voters. More voters said they see American democracy as threatened than secure – 73% to 25%, the poll shows.

Voters described the economy as being in “bad shape” by 67%-32%, with 45% of respondents saying that their own financial situation is worse now than four years ago.

Reporting from Phoenix, Arizona:

Alison Folsom has cast her ballot at the same library in downtown Phoenix for years. This is the first year, Folsom said, that she had to wait in line – for 40 minutes.

But Folsom was delighted, especially because so many of the other people in line seemed to be between the ages of 18 and 25.

“We know that they’re one of the most important, consequential voting blocks, but seeing them come out and vote on election day that was special,” said Folsom, who wore a purple shirt that read “ABORTION RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS” and works for the Movement Voter Project, which helps Democratic and progressive donors give to grassroots campaigns.

Arizona State University students Joy Leon, a 19-year-old Arizona voter, and Kaya Clark, a 18-year-old Idaho voter, said that they had both voted for Kamala Harris in large part because of their support for abortion rights.

“I like having the choice. It’s kind of strange that stuff about human rights and the choice of your body is considered controversial,” said Clark, who carried a handmade flag that read “VOTING IS BRAT” in green and black.

She added: “I don’t really want to vote for a convicted felon. I’m for the girlies.”

Wall Street rose on a quiet last day of trading before polls close. The benchmark S&P 500 finished up 1.2% on Tuesday.

While trading was broadly muted, there was a notable exception: it was another volatile day for Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), owner of the former president’s tiny Truth Social media empire.

Trading in TMTG was repeatedly halted. The stock – which has been on a wild ride in recent weeks – surged by nearly 18% during early trading, before falling into the red. It finished the day down 1.2%.

The economy has taken center stage in this campaign. While the last few months have been filled with great news, according to economists, many Americans still think the economy stinks, as Lauren Aratani reported.

It’s a disconnect that could ultimately decide who takes the White House.

First election result in tiny New Hampshire village sees a Trump-Harris tie

Lorenzo Tondo

The traditional first tally of the 2024 US presidential elections in the tiny village of Dixville Notch, in New Hampshire’s northern tip, ended in a deadlock: three votes to Kamala Harris and three for Donald Trump.

It took approximately 12 minutes to count and certify the votes of the six residents of this tiny community near the Canadian border, which has been casting its ballots at midnight on election day for decades.

The result marks a significant shift from four years ago, when all five votes went to Joe Biden – even though this year four of the registered voters are Republicans and the other two are independents, according to the Washington Post.

Dixville Notch, in the White Mountains, started its early voting in 1960. The tradition originated in the nearby town of Hart’s Location, to accommodate rail workers who had to be at work before normal voting hours.

Although the town’s result doesn’t always predict the eventual winner – in 2016, Hillary Clinton beat Trump here by four votes to two – this time the result chimes with what most polls say is an extremely close election and evenly divided electorate.

Nevada is one of 10 states with abortion is on the ballot – and reproductive rights could be a deciding issue in this key swing state.

Outside the library voting site on the University of Nevada Las Vegas campus, both Alexis Rivera-Valenzuela, 18, and his partner Jasmine Mata, 19 said abortion rights were at top of mind as they cast their ballots.

Both voted for Nevada’s abortion ballot measure, and for Kamala Harris – because she had promised to protect access.

Donald Trump, who appointed three of the US supreme court justices who overturned Roe v Wade and has branded himself as “the most pro-life president”, could further restrict abortions or enact a de-facto national abortion ban by prohibiting the mailing of abortion medication and materials.

Rivera-Valenzuela said he wasn’t too worried, as a Nevada resident. “If Trump wins, he might change things at the federal level, but I think if we get the protections passed here, it won’t matter as much what he does,” Rivera-Valenzuela said.

Sairy Cruz, 21, who was about to cast her first vote, said she hoped Harris would pull through in this deadlocked swing state.

“I feel like a woman deserves to have the right to her own bodily autonomy, and no man should have a say in that. That’s the bare minimum,” said Cruz. “I feel like as a person of color and also a woman, I’d like to see another woman of color in the office.”

Clark County, Nevada is a bellwether in this election – with polls showing Harris and Donald Trump virtually tied. About 50% of Nevada’s electorate lives here, and they could determine the outcome in this key swing state.

Though several students said they weren’t particularly worried. “To be honest I’m so focused on finals, so we don’t have much time to really think about,” Cruz said. She had, however, avoided looking at the polls.

Reporting from Las Vegas, Nevada:

The line of students waiting to vote snaked all around the third floor of the University of Nevada Lied library.

School staff were on hand to hand out candy, chips and drinks to have while they waited. The wait time was upwards of an hour, and students occasionally dipped out of line to sprint to class – with the intention of perhaps returning later.

Alexis Rivera-Valenzuela, 18, said it was quite a thrill when he finally cast his ballot. “Everyone cheered because I was a first time voter,” he said. “I’m feeling pretty good right now.”

Meanwhile Darcy Morales, 18, was bracing herself for the wait. “I’m nervous and I’m excited,” she said. “It’s my first time, so I’m just like, ‘Oh am I making the right choices?’”

She’s planning on voting for Kamala Harris, as well – because she believes the vice president has better policies to address rising costs. “And the fact that she’s a woman – that’s also really exciting. It’d be a really big change if she does end up winning the election.”

The first polls tonight will close at 6 pm ET and are in the eastern counties of Indiana and Kentucky.

At 7pm ET, polls will close in Georgia, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, parts of Florida, and the rest of Indiana and Kentucky.

Thirty minutes later, at 7:30pm ET, polls in North Carolina, Ohio and West Virginia will close.

At 8pm, polls will close in Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, the District of Columbia, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Missouri, parts of Michigan, North Dakota, South Dakota and Texas, and the whole of Florida.

By 9pm ET, polls will close in Arkansas, as well as Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Wisconsin, Wyoming, the whole of Texas, Michigan, South Dakota and North Dakota.

At 10pm ET, polls in Montana, Nevada and Utah will close. At 11pm ET, polls in California will close, as well as Idaho, Oregon and Washington.

At midnight ET, polls in Hawaii will close and finally, at 1am ET, polls will close in Alaska.

Hello US politics readers and welcome to our live coverage of the 2024 election, where the first polls will close in about an hour on the east coast.

Here’s our hour-by-hour election guide for what to expect tonight and our complete guide to everything you need to know about the 2024 presidential election.

In the meantime, here’s a recap of the main developments so far:

• Before the polls opened on Tuesday morning, more than 80 million Americans had already voted and cast early ballots, with just under 45 million voting early in person and about 38 million voting early by mail.

• Donald Trump and Kamala Harris have tied with three votes each in Dixville Notch, the tiny New Hampshire town which traditionally kicks off voting on election day.

• Harris, who voted by mail ahead of election day, made a surprise visit to the Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington DC on Tuesday afternoon. Earlier she told a radio interview that her first order of business if elected would be “bringing down the cost of living for folks”.

• Harris’s running mate, Tim Walz, said the election was “razor close” but said he was feeling “good about this.” America has “the fairest, the freest, the safest elections,” Walz said as he visited a diner in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania earlier on Tuesday.

• Trump and his wife, Melania, cast their ballots in Florida, earlier on Tuesday. Asked if he would call on his supporters not to engage in violence, Trump said: “I don’t have to tell them that there will be no violence,” adding his supporters “are not violent people”. He added that he felt “very confident”.

• Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, cast his ballot in Cincinnati, Ohio, earlier on Tuesday. Vance said his attitude “is the best way to heal the rift in the country is to try to govern the country as well as we can”.

• The FBI said they are aware of bomb threats to polling locations in several states, many of which, they said, appear to “originate from Russian email domains”. The bureau said none of the threats have been determined to be credible thus far.

• A man was arrested by US Capitol police officers during a screening process at the Capitol visitor center in Washington DC, police said. The man “smelled like fuel” and had “a torch” and “a flare gun”, police said.

• Trump has been told by some advisers that he should prematurely declare victory on election night if he’s sufficiently ahead of Harris in key battleground states like Pennsylvania, according to people close to him, though whether he will heed that advice remains unclear.