A tracker on biggest political showdown

Americans - along with so many people around the world - will gather around their televisions and phone screens to learn who will be the next president of the United States: Kamala Harris or Donald Trump.

It may have felt like a long journey, but the day is here. After months of anxiety-inducing uncertainty and a seemingly endless series of history-making events, the US presidential race will (finally) come to a close on Tuesday.

Americans, along with so many people around the world, will gather around their televisions and phone screens to learn who will be the next president of the United States: Kamala Harris or Donald Trump.

Even though Harris and Trump have presented fundamentally different visions for the future of the US and its role on the global stage, the race has remained neck and neck since Joe Biden shocked the country by abandoning his re-election bid in July. Results will start rolling in on Tuesday night, giving the nation its first clues about which party will control not just the White House, but Congress as well. Here is an hour-by-hour guide on how to watch election night like an expert:

POLLS FULLY CLOSE IN SIX STATES, INCLUDING GEORGIA

Americans will get their first clues about the outcome of the presidential race at 7pm ET, when polls close in the battleground state of Georgia. Biden won Georgia by just 0.2 points in 2020, after Trump carried the state by 5 points four years earlier. This year, Trump appears to have a slight advantage over Harris in the Peach state, according to the Guardian's polling tracker, but a strong night for Democrats could put Georgia in their win column again.