Top United States government News

America reaches Election Day and a stark choice between Trump and Harris

Nov. 05, 2024 08:39 AM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — A presidential campaign marked by upheaval and rancor approached its finale on Election Day as Americans decided whether to send Donald Trump back to the White House or elevate Kamala Harris to the Oval Office. Polls opened across the nation Tuesday morning as...

Control of Congress is at stake and with it a president's agenda

Nov. 05, 2024 00:14 AM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — Control of Congress is at stake Tuesday, with ever-tight races for the House and Senate that will determine which party holds the majority and the power to boost or block a president’s agenda, or if the White House confronts a divided Capitol Hill. The key...

Abortion is on the ballot in nine states and motivating voters across the US

Nov. 05, 2024 00:05 AM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — Voters in nine states are deciding whether their state constitutions should guarantee a right to abortion, weighing ballot measures that are expected to spur turnout for a range of crucial races. Passing certain amendments in Arizona, Florida, Missouri, Nebraska...

The final day of voting in the US is here, after tens of millions have already cast their ballots

Nov. 05, 2024 09:30 AM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — Election Day voting was underway across much of the U.S. on Tuesday morning after tens of millions of Americans had already cast their ballots. Those early votes included record numbers in Georgia, North Carolina and other battleground states that could decide the winner. ...

Empty seats become a more common sight at Trump's final rallies

Nov. 05, 2024 00:32 AM EST

PITTSBURGH, Pa. (AP) — Donald Trump has spent nearly a decade bragging about his crowds. Lately, he’s been making the same boasts to swaths of empty seats. In his third presidential bid, Trump for the first time is facing an opponent who stages her own massive rallies, calling...

On the night before Election Day, Kamala Harris brings in celebrities. Donald Trump is unimpressed

Nov. 04, 2024 23:52 PM EST

On the night before Election Day, at campaign events across the country, celebrities including Oprah Winfrey, Lady Gaga and Jon Bon Jovi turned out in force for Kamala Harris ' presidential bid. The battleground state of Pennsylvania was particularly starry: In Pittsburgh, the vice...

Harris campaign spends final hours reminding Pennsylvania of a Trump ally's joke about Puerto Rico

Nov. 04, 2024 22:29 PM EST

READING, Pa. (AP) — The day before Election Day, 17-year-old girl Carmen Hernandez held a cardboard sign with the Puerto Rican flag outside Trump’s rally in Reading, Pennsylvania, a city that is two-thirds Hispanic. “What you call trash is our treasure,” the sign read. ...

Here's what to watch on Election Day in the US

Nov. 05, 2024 09:08 AM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — It's Election Day. Polls opened Tuesday across the nation and Americans cast ballots in the 2024 presidential election. In a deeply divided nation, the election is a true toss-up between Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump. We know there are seven...

Trump wants the presidential winner to be declared on election night. Why that's unlikely

Nov. 04, 2024 17:39 PM EST

Former President Donald Trump is stepping up his demands that the winner of the presidential race be declared shortly after polls close Tuesday, well before all the votes are counted. Trump set the pattern in 2020, when he declared that he had won during the early morning hours after...

Some Republican-led states refuse to let Justice Department monitors into polling places

Nov. 04, 2024 21:09 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — Some Republican-led states say they will block the Justice Department's election monitors from going inside polling places on Election Day, pushing back on federal authorities' decades-long practice of watching for violations of federal voting laws. Officials in...

Latest United States government News

Puerto Rico holds general election that promises to be historic

Nov. 05, 2024 09:51 AM EST

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico is holding elections that will be historic regardless of which of the top two gubernatorial candidates wins. If Jenniffer González of the pro-statehood New Progressive Party wins Tuesday's election, it will mark the first time in the...

Stock market today: Wall Street ticks higher on Election Day

Nov. 05, 2024 09:50 AM EST

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock indexes are ticking higher Tuesday as voters head to the polls on the last day of the presidential election. The S&P 500 was up 0.4% in early trading, inching closer to its record set last month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 66 points, or...

The final day of voting in the US is here, after tens of millions have already cast their ballots

Nov. 05, 2024 09:30 AM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — Election Day voting was underway across much of the U.S. on Tuesday morning after tens of millions of Americans had already cast their ballots. Those early votes included record numbers in Georgia, North Carolina and other battleground states that could decide the winner. ...

Here's what to watch on Election Day in the US

Nov. 05, 2024 09:08 AM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — It's Election Day. Polls opened Tuesday across the nation and Americans cast ballots in the 2024 presidential election. In a deeply divided nation, the election is a true toss-up between Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump. We know there are seven...

America reaches Election Day and a stark choice between Trump and Harris

Nov. 05, 2024 08:39 AM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — A presidential campaign marked by upheaval and rancor approached its finale on Election Day as Americans decided whether to send Donald Trump back to the White House or elevate Kamala Harris to the Oval Office. Polls opened across the nation Tuesday morning as...

Federal agencies say Russia and Iran are ramping up influence campaigns targeting US voters

Nov. 05, 2024 07:23 AM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation’s federal law enforcement and election security agencies debunked two new examples of Russian election disinformation on the eve of Election Day, highlighting attempts by foreign actors to sow doubt in the U.S. voting process and warning that the efforts run the...

A tiny village in India where Kamala Harris has ancestral roots is praying for her victory

Nov. 05, 2024 06:18 AM EST

THULASENDRAPURAM, India (AP) — The temple reverberated with rhythmic Sanskrit and Tamil hymns, as a Hindu priest held a flame before the god. As this tiny South Indian village gathered to pray for Kamala Harris, a gaggle of reporters jostled for space and camera angles. There's...

GOP tries to break Connecticut Democrats' winning streak in US House races

Nov. 05, 2024 04:04 AM EST

It has been 18 years since Connecticut voted to send a Republican to Washington. Republican George Logan will try to end the party's long losing streak Tuesday in a rematch with U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes, the three-term Democrat who defeated him two years ago by a margin of less than 1% of the vote. ...

Harris and Trump set sights on Pennsylvania in final push before Election Day

Nov. 05, 2024 04:03 AM EST

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Kamala Harris and Donald Trump closed out this year’s presidential race with a fierce battle for Pennsylvania on Monday, making their final pitch to voters across a state that could prove decisive in the campaign for the White House. Harris ended her night in...

Competitive Virginia races could play a critical role in the battle for Congress

Nov. 05, 2024 03:24 AM EST

FREDERICKSBURG, Va. (AP) — Virginia’s marquee matchups for U.S. House races in Tuesday’s election feature tight contests in a district being vacated by three-term Democratic U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger and a district known to flip between Democratic and Republican control. In...