2024 Election Day results: First polls close as nation votes for next US president

(NEXSTAR) – Polls are starting to close across the country as voters cast their ballots Tuesday in the 2024 presidential election, a contest that will make history in the event of either a Harris or Trump victory.

Should Vice President Kamala Harris win, she would become the nation's first female president, while a Donald Trump victory would make him the first former president since 1892 to lose the White House and take it back in non-consecutive terms. A Trump reelection would also make him the first U.S. president convicted of a crime to win office.

Emotions around the contest have been rising over the past four years, which saw (among other critical events): rioters storm the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6; the dismantling of Roe v. Wade; Trump's unfounded election denial; simmering anger over the U.S.-Mexico border; war in the Middle East; two assassination attempts against Trump; and Harris' last-minute entry into the race.

Early voters cast their ballots in large numbers during the days leading up to Tuesday, with both candidates making last-minute pitches to win over crucial voting blocs, such as women and young men.

Recent polling from Emerson College Polling and The Hill shows Harris and Trump deadlocked in several pivotal swing states, with Harris slightly ahead in Michigan and Trump maintaining an edge in Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. The two candidates are tied in Nevada and Wisconsin ahead of the race to 270 electoral college votes.

At 6 p.m. ET polls started to close in the traditionally red states of Indiana and Kentucky as the two candidates race to 270 electoral votes.

Stay tuned for live updates, streaming video and full coverage of the 2024 U.S. presidential election. The first polls will close as early as 6 p.m. ET in Indiana and Kentucky where time zones are split, followed by Georgia, South Carolina, Vermont and Virginia at 7 p.m. ET.