Pippa speaks to Grant Harris, former advisor to Obama administration.

ON THE COUCH - US election analyst

There’s a real sense of the world watching and waiting and holding its breath today as the first polls will open in the USA in about 2 hrs from now. States including Arizona, Virginia, New York and Missouri will allow the first ballot to be cast from 6am local time, with the rest following with a hour or two.  Most voting stations will be open for 12 hours, but different states have different rules around when the advance votes are tallied, so it is likely to be a more haphazard running count than usual due to the high number of people who have already voted in advance – close to 100 million of them. 

Some did so due to concerns around social distancing in the time of Covid, and others just eager to make sure their voice is heard in the aftermath of a deeply divisive election campaign