Election Day arrives as Clinton, Trump await Americans' decision

The latest

• Americans choose their 45th president today. Stay tuned here this evening for live updates as results come in. Here’s a primer on when polls close and when a result is expected.
• Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and Republican candidate Donald Trump each cast their ballots Tuesday morning, in Chappaqua, N.Y., and New York City respectively.
• On Monday, Mr. Trump sued the registrar of voters in Nevada’s Clark County over a polling place in Las Vegas that was allowed to stay open late last week. The lawsuit said election officials violated state law by allowing people to join the line after 8 p.m. to vote at a Latino market. On Twitter, the Clinton campaign called the lawsuit “frivolous.”
• Women across the United States were wearing pantsuits Tuesday in a show of support for Ms. Clinton. A crowd of voters went to the grave of suffragist Susan B. Anthony in upstate New York to stick on their “I voted” stickers and pay their respects.
• Lines were long in some polling places, but few voters appeared to be encountering problems. Here’s a photo gallery of Americans showing up early to vote, and a primer on how long lines, voter suppression and the threat of cybermeddling have affected the election so far.
• State election officials began to get a clearer picture of turnout as Election Day continued, with several expecting record high turnout. In Washington state, officials expected more than 80 per cent.
• Republicans seemed on track to secure two more years of House control in Tuesday’s elections but with erosion of their historic majority. Here’s a primer on what’s at stake for the parties in controlling Congress.

What are the candidates saying?

Hundreds of onlookers watched as Donald Trump, his wife Melania, daughter Ivanka, and son-in-law Jared arrived Tuesday morning at their polling place at a public school on Manhattan's East Side in New York. His final message to voters: "Make America great again. That's all it is. That's what it's all about."

Hillary and Bill Clinton cast their votes in their hometown of Chappaqua, N.Y., on Tuesday morning. Ms. Clinton said it was "the most humbling feeling" to vote "because so many people are counting on the outcome of this election."

How the candidates made their final push

In the last 48 hours of a presidential campaign, where the candidates go says a lot about the state of the race. Both campaigns were actively trying to energize their base of supporters and get them out to vote on Election Day. But beyond that, there were some interesting trends: The Clinton campaign was in shoring-up mode and the Trump campaign was taking a bit of a gamble.

Let's start with the Trump campaign: On Sunday, he visited Democratic-leaning Michigan, Virginia and Minnesota. The last state has not gone Republican since 1972.

So what is the Trump strategy? He is showing strength in Florida, Ohio and North Carolina. But carrying those states will not be enough. He needs to win a blue-collar state like Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania or Minnesota. If he steals one of the states on election night, a potential path opens up to the White House.

On Monday, the Trump strategy is a mix of locking down states where polls are either showing him ahead or in a deadlock, and trying to steal Democratic-leaning states: Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire. His final rally was in Grand Rapids in Michigan. After that, he headed back to New York to await the election's result.

Now let's look at the Clinton campaign: After campaigning in battleground Ohio and Democratic-leaning Michigan on Sunday, Ms. Clinton returned once again to Michigan on Monday before making Pennsylvania her focus.

The worry over Michigan, which was once solidly in the Clinton column, is the result of tightening poll numbers in that state. The concern is great enough that Mr. Obama was dispatched to Ann Arbor on Monday, where he warned auto workers against being "bamboozled" by Mr. Trump.

The final Clinton campaign rally took place in Philadelphia, with her husband and daughter joining her onstage. The Obamas also joined the Clintons in a show of the torch being passed on. The entertainment for the night: Jon Bon Jovi and Bruce Springsteen.

But on the weekend, the Clinton campaign announced one more rally in Raleigh, N.C., taking place at midnight. It was a sign of heightened anxiety in the Clinton camp.

What did the national polls show?

Several news organizations published their final polls on Sunday and Monday ahead of Tuesday's vote:

• Ms. Clinton is leading by three percentage points, according to a Bloomberg Politics-Selzer & Co. poll released Monday;
• Ms. Clinton is leading by four points, according to The Washington Post/ABC tracking poll;
• Ms. Clinton is leading by three points, according to the final POLITICO/Morning Consult poll;
• Ms. Clinton leads by six points, according to the NBC News/SurveyMonkey poll.

Key takeaway: The Clinton advantage is often within the polling margin of error.

What did the battleground state polls show?

Several news organizations also published their final polls for key states:

• In Florida, the presidential candidates are tied, and in Ohio, Mr. Trump leads by one percentage point, according the CBS News battleground tracker poll.
• Another Ohio poll shows Mr. Trump leading by a single point, according to The Columbus Dispatch.
• In Iowa, Mr. Trump has a seven-point advantage, according to The Des Moines Register.

Key takeaway: Florida, Ohio and North Carolina are simply too close to call.

How are the battleground states shaping up?

The Electoral College system requires that a candidate win 270 votes in order to become the next president. In the closing days of the campaign, the map favoured Ms. Clinton.

She is on track to win at least 246 electoral votes from solidly Democratic or Democratic-leaning states, according to a Reuters analysis. She would be short in that scenario. So what's her path to the White House? Well, she has numerous possible ways of getting to 270.

Let's look at the toss-up states, or the states that are too close to call: Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, Ohio, Iowa, Arizona, Colorado and Nevada. Together, they offer a haul of 112 electoral votes. Ms. Clinton needs to win 24 votes from that total to get to 270. If she wins Florida (29 electoral votes), that would spell the end of the Trump campaign.

According to Reuters, Mr. Trump can count on 180 electoral votes in his column from solidly Republican or Republican-leaning states. He would need 90 electoral votes to get to 270. In other words, he would need to dominate the battleground map on election night. The Globe's and Mail John Ibbitson calls it the "blue wall." Read more of his analysis below.

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TV and radio ads

Both the Trump and Clinton teams used a slew of TV and radio ads to make their closing arguments in the campaign's final days.

On the weekend, each campaign released its big end-of-election ad. The contrast is stark.

The Clinton campaign's minute-long ad is upbeat, showcasing the diversity of American society while set to the soundtrack of Katy Perry. "I'm voting against hate," the message appears at one point over a shot of a young voter, a reference to a deeply toxic and divisive presidential campaign.

The Trump campaign's two-minute ad seeks to tap voter anger by striking strong anti-establishment themes that have driven his campaign. The message is clear: Ms. Clinton is part of the Washington establishment and the global system that the Trump movement is seeking to upend.

With reports from Associated Press, Reuters and Globe staff

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