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

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.

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Polls opened across the nation Tuesday morning as voters faced a stark choice between two candidates who have offered drastically different temperaments and visions for the world's largest economy and dominant military power.

Ms Harris, the Democratic vice president, stands to be the first female president if elected. She has promised to work across the aisle to tackle economic worries and other issues without radically departing from the course set by President Joe Biden. Mr Trump, the Republican former president, has vowed to replace thousands of federal workers with loyalists, impose sweeping tariffs on allies and foes alike, and stage the largest deportation operation in US history.

The candidates spent the waning hours of the campaign overlapping in Pennsylvania, the biggest battleground state. They were trying to energise their bases as well as Americans still on the fence or debating whether to vote at all.