US Elections 2024: How will America choose between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris? Know more about poll process

Millions of Americans will cast their ballots in favour of Donald Trump or Kamala Harris on Tuesday — with the race for the White House down to the wire. 

Opinion polls show a historically close race, and a New York Times/Siena College poll published on Sunday showed Harris and Trump neck-and-neck in the seven states that are likely to determine the outcome on Tuesday. A poll showing Harris leading in Iowa -- a state Trump won easily in the past two elections -- raised the possibility of an unexpected outcome. However another poll showed her trailing in that state.

The US Presidential Election takes place every four years on the first Tuesday in November. On Election Day, People in every state across the country go to their polling place and vote for their preferred candidate and their running mates.

Who are the candidates running for President?
Republican leader Donald Trump is facing off against Democratic candidate Kamala Harris for the top post. 

There are also a few lesser-known candidates in the fray who are running for third parties or as independents. Politician and activist Chase Oliver is running for the Oval Office as the Libertarian Party candidate while the Green Party has fielded physician Jill Stein for the second time. Political activist, philosopher and academic Cornel West --- initially a Green Party candidate --- is also contesting the polls as in Independent candidate.

How many people will be voting?
Over 160 million voters are expected to vote on Tuesday. According to data from the University of Florida Election Lab tracker, more than 68 million Americans have already cast their ballots — utilising early voting options such as mail-in ballots or in-person polling sites. 

Millions more will head to polling booths on November 5 to play their role in the shockingly close race to the White House. Ballots will open at varying times depending on location and time zone — starting from the stroke of midnight on Tuesday.

How exactly do ballots translate into a winning candidate?
The US election candidate with the maximum votes will not automatically become the President. Americans will cast their ballots on Tuesday to vote for a group of people called electors. Each state gets a certain number of electors based on the number of seats they have in the House of Representatives and Senate.

The US president is chosen by the Electoral College wherein the electors or representatives from each state (proportional to the population of the state) cast their vote. If a candidate receives the majority of the votes from the people of a state then the candidate will receive all electoral votes of that state — except in the states of Maine and Nebraska where they follow a proportional system.

In total there are 538 electors — 435 House of Representatives seats, 100 Senate seats and three for Washington DC. Other US territories do not have allocated seats. A candidate has to "win" at least 270 electors in order to become President.