In the grand finale to her election campaign, Vice President Kamala Harris rallied thousands of supporters in Philadelphia Monday night, underscoring Pennsylvania's crucial role in the 2024 presidential election. Former President Trump simultaneously campaigned across Pennsylvania with events in Reading and Pittsburgh.
Harris' star-studded event at the iconic Benjamin Franklin Parkway featured performances by Lady Gaga, The Roots, and Ricky Martin – the third stop in the battleground state on election eve.
The Democrat delivered her final pitch to voters beneath the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, made famous in the movie Rocky, where she said "the momentum is on our side."
The high-stakes gathering drew massive crowds, with lines stretching back to Logan Square, reflecting Pennsylvania's potential to determine the next occupant of the White House.
"I expect to have a woman president," says Caroline, who is pushing her way through the crowds at the entrance of the venue. "It'll be the first time in the United States, and we are way behind the rest of the world."
Laureen, also in the crowd "isn't too sure who is going to win." She feels uncertain about election day. "It happened once. It can happen again," she says, referring to a possible Trump victory.
Outside the venue, metres away from a row of policemen sitting on all-terrain motorbikes, there's a noisy group of pro-Palestine demonstrators, banging a drum and singing rap through a microphone.
US elections: Who are the running mates for the key candidates?
"Kamala is not on our side," reads a slogan on one of the boards the demontrators hold up, "We won't go for genocide." The group, some eight people wearing Palestinian flags, demand "end to US aid to Israel," and ask people not to vote for her. But most onlookers just glance at them, and then walk on.
Bernard is impressed by the the huge turnout at the rally, but he had preferred if (former President Barack Obama's wife) Michelle Obama had run. "People respect Harris. But they love Michelle," he says.
But Trump worries him, he says. "I've never seen this kind of people power in my life, He's the most skilled politician. Look what he's gotten away with. 34, 36 felony convictions, who gets away with that?
Abortion debate puts women voters at the centre of US election race
For his last day of campaigning, Republican Trump started off in North Carolina and finished in Michigan, but he spoke in Pennsylvania's Reading and Pittsburgh in between.
"With your vote tomorrow, we can fix every single problem our country faces and lead America, and indeed the whole world, to new heights of glory," he told supporters.
Harris and Trump each got three ballots in the tiny community of Dixville Notchin the northeastern state of New Hampshire, which for decades has kicked off Election Day at the stroke of midnight Monday – hours before the rest of the country.
Polls open on Tuesday morning at 07:00 AM and close at 08:00 PM. Americans will then gather in front of their televisions, in bars or in clubs, to watch the results streaming in from across the country.
