International: The first results are coming in for the US presidential election with Republican leader Donald Trump leading his Democratic rival Kamala Harris in the latest rounds of vote count. However, a clear picture is set to emerge on who will occupy the White House once definitive trends emerge from the seven battleground states. Voting is still underway in the battleground state of Pennsylvania and several other states. But at the same time, counting of early ballots and mail-in votes is going on in these states.

As per the latest trends, Harris is winning 113 electoral college votes from 11 states and Trump 210 across 20 states, according to the Associated Press. A total of 270 electoral college votes are required to win the race. The early results were as anticipated, with the contest expected to come down to seven swing states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Opinion polls showed the rivals neck and neck in all seven going into Election Day.

Donald Trump is projected to win 22 states - Texas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Utah, Montana, Missouri, Florida, Louisiana, Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia, Iowa, Mississippi, South Carolina and Alabama.

Kamala Harris is likley to secure victory in 11 states- New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Vermont, Colorado, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Washington DC, Illinois, Massachusetts and Maryland.

Who is winning battleground state of Pennsylvania?

According to the latest counting data, Trump is leading in the crucial battleground states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, Georgia and North Carolina.

With slightly less than 60 per cent of the expected vote counted, Trump leads Harris by just over 110,000 votes. He is winning central and northeastern Pennsylvania. But Philadelphia and its collar counties, which have historically been strongly Democratic, have been slower to report votes.

About one-quarter of the estimated votes have been counted in Michigan, where Trump has a lead of just over 15,000 votes. Only a few thousand votes have been tallied in Wayne County, a Democratic stronghold that produced nearly 900,000 votes in 2020. Biden won Michigan in 2020, four years after Trump cracked the “blue wall” by capturing the state along with Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

What if both candidates register victory in all states?

If both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump win in the states historically supporting their respective parties, then it will leave Harris 44 electoral college votes short of victory and Trump 51 votes short. In this scenario, the 93 electoral votes from swing states will ultimately decide the outcome of the 2024 US presidential race. 

The Rust Belt states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin, which have historically been Democratic strongholds, were won by Trump in 2016 but returned to the Democratic fold in 2020. Political analysts suggest that Harris could secure the presidency if she wins these critical swing states. 

The Sun Belt states—Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, and North Carolina—total 49 electoral votes and are traditionally more favorable to Republicans. If Trump wins all four, he would still need to secure one more Rust Belt state. If Harris emerges victorious, she would make history as the first woman, first Black woman, and first person of South Asian descent to become President of the United States.