
Some ventured out soon after sunrise, filing into school gyms and libraries, courthouses and church halls to have their say in the nation’s choice of its next president.
- Steven Vandenburgh votes at a grocery store, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Lawrence, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
- Kate Aurandt-Gribbler holds her daughter, Olivia Gribbler, 3, as she votes at the Westmont Borough No. 1 polling place at Westmont Grove in Johnstown, Pa., in Cambria County, on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (Thomas Slusser/The Tribune-Democrat via AP)
- Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, right, phone banks with volunteers at the DNC headquarters on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
- Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and former first lady Melania Trump walk after voting on Election Day at the Morton and Barbara Mandel Recreation Center, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
- An election worker processes mail-in ballots for the 2024 General Election at the Philadelphia Election Warehouse, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
- Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, votes with his son at the St Anthony of Padua Maronite Catholic Church on election day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
- Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, fills out his ballot with his grandson, Milo Molina, left, 8, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki
- Liza Fortt, 74, center, accompanied by her son Timothy Walker, left, and husband Willie Fortt moves in line to cast her ballot for Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris at a polling place at Scranton High School in Scranton, Pa., on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
- Results are posted after the midnight vote on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Dixville Notch, N.H. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
- Town Moderator Tom Tillotson, left, accepts the first ballot from Les Otten during the midnight vote on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Dixville Notch, N.H. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
- An American flag flies in the wind as a voter leaves a polling site after casting a ballot on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Dearborn, Mich. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
- Election day worker Sean Vander Waal prepares to open a polling place,Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Dearborn, Mich. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
- Voters stand in line while waiting for a polling place to open, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Springfield, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
- Voters line up to enter their polling place at the Cincinnati Observatory on election day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
- Voters line up to enter their polling place at the Cincinnati Observatory on election day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
- Voters wait in line to cast their ballots at Scranton High School in Scranton, Pa., on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
- Voters stand in line outside a polling place at Madison Church, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Phoenix, Ariz. (AP Photo/Matt York)
- Voters stand in line outside a polling place at Madison Church, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Phoenix, Ariz. (AP Photo/Matt York)
- Election day worker Sean Vander Waal prepares to open a polling place,Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Dearborn, Mich. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
- “I Voted” stickers featuring the logo of the Indianapolis Colts are given to voters at a polling location inside the Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the Colts, in Indianapolis, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
- Voters cast their ballots at the Bronx County Supreme Court in New York on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
- Voters cast their ballots at voting site at The Game Preserve store on Election Day in Indianapolis, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
- Chicago school teacher Tabitha Berry, a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, fills out a ballot for the general election on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in the Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
- Voters stand in line outside a polling place at Madison Church, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Phoenix, Ariz. (AP Photo/Matt York)
- Vesta Avery, 2, helps her mother Alexis Taylor mark her ballot at P.S. M811, The Mickey Mantle School, in New York, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
- Three-year-old Zayn, sits on his father’s shoulders as he inserts his ballot into a machine to vote at the First Presbyterian Church of Dearborn, on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Dearborn, Mich. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
- Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, left, shares a laugh with second gentleman Doug Emhoff, after reuniting in Pittsburgh, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024, aboard Air Force Two, just before taking off from Pittsburgh for her final campaign rally in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)
- Benay Gould, 7, watches as her dad Charles Herschel marks his ballot at P.S. M811, The Mickey Mantle School, in New York, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
- Kristin Scruggs votes at the 146-year-old Buck Creek school Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in rural Perry, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
- Stickers lay on a table inside a polling place, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
- Voters cast their ballots at the Bronx County Supreme Court in New York on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
- Voters wait in line to cast their ballots at Scranton High School in Scranton, Pa., on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
- American flags line Main Street on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
- People arrive at a polling place, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Dearborn, Mich. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
- A man departs a polling place, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Springfield, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
- Voters stand in line outside a polling place at Madison Church, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Phoenix, Ariz. (AP Photo/Matt York)
- Voters receive their ballots at a polling place, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Springfield, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
- Voters cast their ballots on Election Day at Su Nueva Lavanderia in Chicago, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
- Trump supporter Barney Morin, left, cheers as Democratic poll greeter Lynn Akin helps him find his polling place so he can vote, outside a voting bureau at First United Methodist Church on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Gulfport, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
- Liza Fortt, 74, center, waits in line to cast her ballot for Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris at her polling place at Scranton High School in Scranton, Pa., on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
- Beholder, a fictional monster in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, hangs over a voting site as voter cast their ballots on Election Day, at The Game Preserve store in Indianapolis, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
- A voter works on her ballot at a polling place at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Simi Valley, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
- People wait in line to vote at the Downtown Reno Library, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Reno, Nev. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vasquez)
- Voters wait in line to cast their ballots outside a polling station on the Navajo Nation in Chinle, Ariz., on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton)
- A corgy named Daisy waits for her owner to vote at the Cincinnati Observatory on election day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
- Election workers review ballots at the Denver Elections Division in Denver on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Chet Strange)
But as a long and bitterly contested campaign ticked through its last hours Tuesday, millions of other Americans flocked to join them.
In the shadow of casino towers, people lined up to cast their ballot outside Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium.
At a courthouse in the Bronx, fellow citizens voted under a mural depicting the nation’s first president.
In small towns and big cities and places in between, voters put pen to paper to exercise what may well be democracy’s most fundamental freedom.
At some polling sites, parents brought their children with them, taking advantage of a teachable moment. At others, senior citizens came to vote along with their adult children, some dependent on one another for assistance.
And across the country, election workers scrutinized voting rosters and mail-in ballots, intent on ensuring the results.