The United States and the entire world are waiting for the results of the American presidential election.

American citizens went to the polls en masse on Tuesday to elect their next president. The initial voting numbers, in person or by post, are the second highest in history, so every vote will count to destabilize the balance in favor of one candidate or the other. It remains to be seen which of the two will become president, or the former Republican president. Donald Trump (2017-2021) or the Vice President and Democratic candidate, Kamala Harris.

Harris reported Sunday that she has already sent her vote by mail to California, where she is registered. For his part, the Republican candidate cast his vote in Palm Beach (Florida), at a school near his residence in Mar-a-Lago, where he attended with his wife Melania, shortly after 11:40 a.m. local (4:40 p.m. GMT). After casting his vote, he declared that “tonight is going to be a big victory,” assuring that “we are doing very well in Georgia and everywhere.”

At the start of the day, US election authorities urged a calm vote to prevent riots and violence, while asking people to ignore conspiracy theories. However, several incidents marred the day; Capitol Police arrested a man who was carrying a torch and a flare gun and “smelled of fuel.” The day also started in the state of Georgia bomb threats against two polling stations, which had to be evacuated and remained closed for a time, while the FBI has assured that it has been made aware of several threats “that are not credible” against several polling stations, many of them “from Russian email domains”.

For their part, some are registered in Pennsylvania software problems on voice-reading machines in Cambria County. As a result, a judge has ordered that voting in this province be extended by two hours until 10pm local time (1pm GMT). The Department of State has acknowledged the problems and assured that “completed ballots will be accepted and counted by the Board of Elections.”

How to follow election night

So there is no major federal agency monitoring election night the trickle of projections from the major media Depending on each state, the map is colored blue or red. The overall average of the polls gives Harris a clear advantage in the popular vote, but former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton experienced eight years ago that it is not enough to get more votes than her rival, but to triumph in important areas, known as ‘“swing states”.

These areas do not vote clearly Democratic or Republican and fluctuate depending on each election. The national average of RealClearPolitics polls showed Trump maintaining his lead in contested states Arizona, Nevada, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgiawhile Harris leads the way Wisconsin and Michigan.

Each candidate’s tally will increase throughout the night and once one of them reaches 270 voters, more than half of the Electoral College members, they will be declared the de facto winner. The tradition then marks a succession of victory and defeat speeches, although Trump refused to publicly acknowledge the current president’s triumph four years ago. Joe Bidenand charged without evidence have been victims of election fraudwhich then led to an attack on the Capitol orchestrated by his followers, for which the former president has been tried, although no sentence has yet been handed down.

The White House is not the only thing at stake, as the House of Representatives, currently controlled by Republicans, will be completely renewed, and in the Senate, with Democratic dominance, a third of the seats are at stake . Controlling the legislature or at least one of the two chambers is essential for a president to have room for political maneuvering, both symbolic and practical.

And what after the elections?

Whatever happens tonight, there will be no immediate replacement in the Oval Office. The political system of the United States is characterized by a mixture of laws and traditions that begins with the celebration of the elections on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November and ends on January 20 of the following year in front of the main entrance to the Capitol with the inauguration of the next president or president.

Whoever delivers the triumphant speech will have to deal with an economy that is apparently booming, but which continues to worry citizens – 81% acknowledge that this is an aspect they will take into account when casting their vote, according to Pew Research Center. Immigration has also entered public concerns, with Trump openly talking about “invasion.”