US election 2024: American voters head to polls - in pictures

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  Donald Trump with former first lady Melania Trump during an election night event at the Palm Beach Convention Centre. AFP

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  From left, Eric Trump, Lara Trump, JD Vance, Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and former first lady Melania Trump on stage. AP

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  Dana White, president of Ultimate Fighting Championship, addresses the crowd during an election night event at the Palm Beach Convention Centre in West Palm Beach, Florida. Bloomberg

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  Supporters of Mr Trump embrace after his speech at the Palm Beach County Convention Centre in West Palm Beach, Florida. Reuters

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  Supporters of Donald Trump react to election results at the New York Young Republican Club watch party in Manhattan. Reuters

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  Dave McCormick, US Republican Senate candidate for Pennsylvania, left, and his wife Dina Powell during an election night watch party at the Fairmont Hotel in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Bloomberg

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  Supporters cheer as Republican Pennsylvania Senate candidate David McCormick addresses the crowd during an election night watch party in Pittsburgh. AP

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  Supporters of Kamala Harris, react as results are displayed during a 'Democrats Abroad' election party in London. Getty Images

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  Pro-Palestine activists demonstrate in front of screens displaying preliminary US presidential elections results, at Times Square in New York. AFP

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  Receipts from early voting are collated in Fairburn, Georgia. AFP

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  Elections director Mary Beth Tipton holds USB drives with election information at the Yancey County Board of Elections as ballots are reported and voting equipment is returned. AFP

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  Supporters watch as poll results are announced, during an election night event for Kamala Harris at Howard University in Washington. AFP

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  Senator Mark Kelly and his wife former US representative Gabby Giffords speak at the Arizona Democratic Party election night watch party, in Phoenix. EPA

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  Democrat Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, centre right, and New York Governor Kathy Hochul arrive for an event in New York. AP

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  Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and his wife Melania Trump after casting their votes at the Morton and Barbara Mandel Recreation Centre in Palm Beach, Florida. AFP

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  Astronauts Butch Wilmore, Suni Williams, Nick Hague and Don Pettit show their US flag socks aboard the International Space Station on election day. AP

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  Department of Elections workers gather ballots at City Hall in San Francisco. AP

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  Republican nominee for vice president JD Vance voting in Cincinnati, Ohio. AFP

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  A person arrives to cast their vote at Dr Martin Luther King Jr School, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Reuters

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  A woman checks in to vote at a polling station at Colebrook Academy and Elementary School in Colebrook, New Hampshire. AFP

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  Voters queue in Scranton, Pennsylvania. AP

Latest updates: Follow our full coverage on the US election

Polls have opened in America's knife-edge presidential election, with voters on the East Coast among the first to deliver their verdict early on Tuesday.

The first polling stations began to receive voters at 5am Eastern Time (2pm Abu Dhabi time) in Vermont. In a staggered start, voting began in parts of Virginia, New York and Maine from 6am local time.

While more than 80 million Americans have cast their ballots before November 5, mainly by post, the frenetic last-ditch campaigning by Donald Trump and Kamala Harris showed how much remained at stake ahead of election day itself.

Balloting continues throughout the day until the first polling stations close at 6pm in Indiana and Kentucky (3am UAE time). The first results from battleground states will start to come in after polls close in Georgia at 7pm and North Carolina at 7.30pm. Voting ends in Pennsylvania at 8pm.

Some states have introduced measures to speed up the counting of votes after a nail-biting 2020 election took five days to be called for Democrat Joe Biden.