Trump and Harris neck and neck as millions vote in US election

It's election day in the United States with Donald Trump and Kamala Harris vying to become the next president - polls begin to open at 05:00 ET (10:00 GMT).

Harris has advocated for abortion rights and pledged to lower food and housing costs for working families.

Trump has vowed to seal the border and has proposed tax cuts worth trillions

Trump ended his campaign with a speech in Michigan - while Harris wrapped up in another swing state, Pennsylvania.

More than 82 million people voted before election day - check our poll tracker here.

When will we know the winner? It could take days - or it could be soon after polls close.

Harris and Trump finished their campaigns with stops in Pennsylvania and Michigan respectively - but why?

In short, because they're two of the seven swing states that will decide the result of this election.

Pennsylvania’s prized 19 electoral votes have made it one of the most visited by both candidates. In 2020 it was one of the last to be called, with Biden - who's originally from the state - eventually taking it.

Michigan holds 15 electoral votes and is considered a must-win state for both presidential candidates. For several decades, Michigan was part of the so-called "blue wall" states, reliably voting for Democrats in presidential elections.

But Trump bucked that trend when he won in 2016, before Biden took it back for the Democrats in 2020.

Celebrity endorsements until the end 

Joe Rogan endorses Trump after Musk chat

One of the world's most popular podcasters, Joe Rogan, has endorsed Donald Trump, days after the former president appeared on his show.

The endorsement came after Rogan interviewed another of Trump's political allies, Elon Musk.

Rogan says Musk makes a "compelling case" for the Republican candidate and adds that he agrees with him "every step of the way".

"For the record, yes, that's an endorsement of Trump," Rogan says.

They've always played a role in US elections and it was no different this year for celebrity endorsements.

At her final rally, Kamala Harris was joined in Pennsylvania by pop star Lady Gaga who sang God Bless America and told attendees "the country is depending on you".

Getty Images

Harris's opponent also continued receiving celebrity support until the last moment, with podcaster Joe Rogan announcing to his followers on Monday "for the record" that he endorses Trump.

The former president appeared on Rogan's show last month - it had been thought Harris would do the same but a member of her campaign team eventually announced that scheduling had not worked out.

Away from the glitz and glamour of celebrity endorsements, US intelligence chiefs are warning that "foreign adversaries" - including Russia - are carrying out operations to "undermine public confidence in the integrity of US elections and stoke divisions among Americans".

In a joint statement, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said Russia-linked groups were inciting violence against election officials and repeating false claims of voter fraud.

The agencies state that "Russian influence actors" recently posted an article falsely claiming that officials in key states plan to rig Tuesday's presidential election by stuffing ballot boxes. The ODNI goes on to say it expects these efforts to intensify over the coming days. It also accuses Iran of being a "significant foreign influence threat" to the US.

Tehran and Moscow have denied trying to disrupt the election.

Source: BBC