Daily US Times: Americans are voting in the most divisive election in decades, pitting Democratic candidate Joe Biden or incumbent Republican Donald Trump.
The first polls open from 05:00 EDT (10:00 GMT) in the state of Vermont.
Nearly 100 million people across the US have already cast their ballots in early voting, putting the country on course for its highest turnout in a century.
Both Trump and Biden spent the final hours of the race rallying in key swing states.
National polls give a firm lead to Joe Biden, but it is a narrow race in the states that could decide the outcome. This election is dubbed as the most divisive election in decades.
In the US election, voters decide state-level contests rather than an overall single national one.
Among the first states to begin election-day voting on Tuesday are the key battlegrounds of Ohio and North Carolina (11:30 GMT), followed half an hour later by Georgia, Michigan, Florida, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Arizona will follow at 13:00 GMT.
To be elected president, a candidate must win at least 270 electoral college votes. Each US state gets a certain number of votes partly based on its population and there are a total of 538 up for grabs.
This system explains why it is possible for a candidate to win the most votes nationally but still lose the election, like what happened to Hillary Clinton in 2016.
Tuesday’s vote comes amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. The US has recorded more cases and deaths than any other country worldwide, reporting more than 84,000 new infections on Monday alone.
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