The first polls rule out a close race between Trump and Harris

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump entered the final hours of Tuesday's presidential election unsure of the outcome after a bitter battle that divided Americans along social, racial, economic and cultural lines.

In addition to the White House, control of both chambers of Congress was also at stake as polls began to close in parts of the country.

Follow live election updates here

As a result, it was unclear Tuesday night which party would have more power to shape or stop policies that affect virtually every aspect of Americans' lives, from taxes to abortion and from immigration to federal aid.

Supporters of the two presidential candidates were divided over the main issues facing the country on election day. These disagreements partly reflected what the candidates were focusing on.

In an early NBC exit poll, most Harris voters rated democracy as their most important issue, while most Trump voters said the economy was most important to them. Overall, 35% of voters named democracy at the top of their list, while 31% named the economy and 14% named abortion.

Fifty-six percent of Harris voters put democracy first, while 21 percent named abortion as their top priority and 13 percent chose the economy. 51 percent of Trump voters saw the economy as the biggest problem, 20 percent said immigration and 12 percent said democracy.

Harris promised that she would restore abortion rights, which were restricted by the Supreme Court's Dobbs decision. Trump said abortion decisions are in the hands of the states where they are now located, but he supports bans that exempt cases of rape, incest and endangering the mother's life.

One sign of how abortion policy has changed now that states can impose more restrictions is the fact that more Trump voters think abortion should be legal now than in 2020, according to early-term polls exit from the election. At the time, 26% of Trump voters thought abortion should be illegal. As of Tuesday, that number was 38%.

Overall, 51% of voters in 2020 said abortion should be legal in all or most cases. But now 66% say that. At the same time, the share of voters who believe abortion should be illegal in all cases has fallen from 17% in 2020 to 6% this year.

Harris' easiest path to winning 270 electoral votes – and becoming the first woman elected president – is through the blue wall states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, as well as Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District. Trump, the first defeated president to retake the White House since Grover Cleveland in 1892, would reach the magic number by taking Georgia, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.

Trump planned to gather family, friends and associates at Mar-a-Lago, his resort in West Palm Beach, Florida, to oversee the repatriations. When he speaks publicly Tuesday night, his remarks will likely be delivered at a nearby convention center.

Harris is expected to gather a similar entourage of people close to her at the vice presidential residence for dinner at the Naval Observatory in Washington and travel to Howard University, her alma mater, later in the evening to address her supporters.

Both candidates and their campaigns have expressed confidence in recent days that they are on the path to victory.

“The momentum is on our side,” Harris said at her final rally Monday night in Philadelphia.

“I think we're going to have a very big victory today,” Trump said as he cast his vote in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Tuesday afternoon.

Despite their success, 72% of voters in NBC News polls said they were either angry or dissatisfied with the state of the country, while just 26% said they were happy or thrilled with it.

Along with the rest of the country, Trump and Harris must now wait for the verdict of voters in the seven swing states – Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona and Nevada – to find out who is right. It is not yet clear how long it will take for these states to count their ballots and for the election results to be determined.

There were signs of demographic changes in the electorate in early election polls. Trump's popularity declined among white voters while it increased among black and Latino voters. In 2020, 57% of white voters viewed Trump favorably, as did 38% of Latino voters and 10% of Black voters. This year, just 49% of white voters said they view Trump favorably, while his numbers rose to 42% and 14% among Latino and black voters, respectively.

In parts of Kentucky, polls are scheduled to close at 6 p.m. ET, with that state and several others, including Georgia – one of the seven major presidential races – voting at 7 p.m

In North Carolina, all polling stations close at 7:30 p.m.; 8 p.m. in Pennsylvania; 9 p.m. in Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin; and 10 p.m. in Nevada.

Between the campaigns of the two presidential candidates, Senate and House candidates, and outside groups determined to influence the balance of power in Washington, swing-state voters have been inundated with billions of dollars in advertising.

Senate Democrats held a two-seat lead at 51-49 before Tuesday, but Republican Gov. Jim Justice has a strong chance of defeating his Democratic opponent in a seat left open by Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin. Republicans were also in favor of defeating Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., according to the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.

Senate Democrats are also playing defense in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Michigan, Wisconsin, Nevada and Maryland.

Republicans had a four-seat lead in the House of Representatives. The Cook Report advocated that Democrats take four seats – one in Alabama, two in New York and one in Nebraska – from Republican hands. But one Democratic-held seat in Michigan leaned toward the GOP, according to the Cook Report, which classified 12 Republican-held seats and 10 Democratic-held seats as errors.