Decision day: The world watches as America counts votes in close race
Votes are being counted in the hotly anticipated US presidential election between candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.
For weeks, polls have shown the two candidates in a very close race and the results in just a few swing states are expected to determine the election outcome which is being closely watched in Europe.
The early results have so far been in Trump's favour, dealing a blow to Democrats as the Republican candidate won two battleground states: North Carolina and Georgia.
The southern state of Georgia was particularly important in helping Joe Biden win the 2020 election, with the current president taking the state by just over 11,000 votes.
Many traditional stronghold states for both candidates have already been called as well from the traditionally Republican-voting states of Alabama, South Carolina, Kentucky and Mississippi to traditionally Democratic-voting states like New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusett, and Illinois.
Tens of millions of US citizens cast their vote before election day.
Their collective decision could transform US relations with Europe, particularly when it comes to the future of aid to Ukraine, NATO, and transatlantic trade.
Some in Europe expect that a Harris administration would essentially be a continuation of the status quo but that a second Trump administration would be more protectionist and less invested in allies' security — what the former president calls his "America First" agenda.
The markets were already reacting to the initial results that appeared to favour Trump - Bitcoin, for instance, hit its highest value, with the Republican expected to be better for the crypto industry.
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Beyond the White House
The election on Tuesday determines who controls both houses of the US Congress, the Senate and the House of Representatives.
There were 34 Senate seats up for grabs. The Democrats were hoping to hold onto their slim majority in the upper chamber of Congress, but the Republicans are projected by the Associated Press to win the Senate for the first time in four years.
They did so by flipping Senate seats in West Virginia - a seat that was vacated by Democrat-turned-independent Joe Manchin.
Republicans also flipped Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown's seat with the car dealership owner and Colombian immigrant Bernie Moreno.
All 435 seats in the Republican-led House of Representatives are up for election as well. Trump's party has the slimmest of majorities, and the Democrats have hopes of flipping the chamber their way.
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Overseas, there's been less focus on the House and Senate races with all eyes on Harris and Trump, but the makeup of Congress will have a huge impact on the next presidency, no matter which candidate ends up in the Oval Office.
Americans are also voting on statewide ballot initiatives on issues such as abortion access to the legalisation of marijuana. So far, several states, such as New York and Maryland, have voted to enshrine abortion rights in their constitution.
A ballot initiative to enshrine abortion rights in Florida's state constitution, however, was rejected by voters.
Find out our latest news and in-depth analysis about the US elections on our election hub.
