'Let's give each other a chance': US president-elect Joe Biden calls for unity in moving victory speech

Graffiti spelling out "TRUMP" and "MAGA" has been discovered on Jewish gravestones at a cemetery in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the same day President Trump visited the city for a rally.

NBC News reported that the incident was under police investigation and it was unclear when the vandalism occurred.

"Six headstones in the cemetery were spray painted with 'Trump' and/or 'MAGA,'" Grand Rapids sergeant Dan Adams reportedly told NBC News in an email Wednesday.

The local chapter of the Anti-Defamation League, an international group which advocates for the Jewish community, said they were "appalled" by the desecration of the gravestones.

Here's President Trump talking to reporters at the Republican National Committee offices:

Let's take a break from the morning's events to quickly recap what states you should keep an eye on as polls close later today.

There are at least 15 swing states to watch closely during this election, as the winners in these states generally decide who the president is.

A swing state is a state where the Democrats and Republicans have similar levels of support among voters, and have historically swung between the two parties.

Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin will be crucial - these three states swung the last presidential election, with Mr Trump having bagged them by less than 80,000 combined votes in 2016.

Arizona, North Carolina, Georgia, Ohio and Iowa will also be interesting to watch, as the polls from these Republican-leaning states have shown a slight shift towards the Democrats.

Florida is historically critical - the swing state has the third-largest number of electoral votes, and has long been considered predictive for which way the result would swing.

For a deep dive into how the US election actually works, check out this explainer by SBS News reporter Aaron Fernandes. 

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has no scheduled media appearances before the US election results start to roll in. 

But a government spokesperson told Chief Political Correspondent Brett Mason that the relationship between Australia and the United States would endure whoever takes the top job. 

“Australia and the US are the closest of friends and our alliance is deep and enduring. It goes far beyond whoever is the Prime Minister or the President," they said. 

“Our longstanding partnership is invaluable to the interests of both sides and we know that view is held on both sides of politics in the US.

“The US is a robust and vibrant democracy and we look forward to working with whomever the American people choose to lead them.”

In pointed remarks yesterday, Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese said he was concerned about leaders “undermining democratic values and democratic processes”.

Asked by reporters whether he had prepared a concession speech, President Trump said he had not.

"You know, winning is easy," he said. "Losing is never easy - not for me it's not."

But Mr Trump may want to start writing soon, with popular election analysis site FiveThirtyEight giving Mr Biden an almost 90 per cent chance to win the presidency in their final election forecast.

They do, however, point out that a Trump second-term is still a possibility, with much of the outcome hinging on results in Pennsylvania. 

President Trump has used a visit to Republican National Committee offices in Arlington, Virginia, as an opportunity to once again sow doubt over what will happen if no result is declare on election day.

"You have to have a date, and the date happens to be 3 November," he said. "And we should be entitled to know who won on November 3."

The President was referring mainly to his disagreement with a US Supreme Court refusal to intervene in a decision allowing Pennsylvania to continue to count mailed ballots received up to three days after the election, the AFP reports. 

President Donald Trump arrives at campaign headquarters on election day. Source: Undefined / APA

The move was made due to logistic complications as the country copes with the coronavirus pandemic, which has led to a flood of mailed ballots.

"You can't have these things delayed for many days and maybe weeks," he said.

"You can't do that. The whole world is waiting. This country is waiting. But the whole world is waiting."

Time zones can be confusing, and the United States has plenty of them (six, in fact). 

Here’s a straightforward breakdown of when things will happen for those of us on the other side of the world. 

4 November (in Australian Eastern Standard Time) 

4:00am: physical polls open in Hawaii, the last American state to do so.

10:00am: physical polls close in the Eastern Time Zone sections of Indiana and Kentucky.

11:00am: physical polls close in Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia, parts of New Hampshire, Eastern Time Zone sections of Florida, and Central Time Zone parts of Indiana and Kentucky.

11:30am: physical polls close in North Carolina, Ohio, and West Virginia.

Midday: physical polls close in Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Washington DC, remainder of New Hampshire, Eastern Time Zone Sections of Michigan, Central Time Zone sections of Florida, Kansas, South Dakota and Texas, and parts of North Dakota. 

12:30pm: physical polls close in Arkansas.

1:00pm: physical polls close in Arizona, Colorado, Louisiana, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Wisconsin, Wyoming, the remainder of North Dakota, Central Time Zone sections of Michigan, and Mountain Time Zone sections of Kansas, South Dakota, and Texas.

2:00pm: physical polls lose in Iowa, Montana, Nevada, Utah, Mountain Time Zone sections of Idaho and Oregon.

3:00pm: physical polls close in California, Washington, and Pacific Time Zone sections of Idaho and Oregon. This is also the earliest time the media will call the results of the election.

4:00pm: physical polls close in Hawaii and Alaska Time Zone sections of Alaska.

5:00pm: the final physical polls close in Aleutian Time Zone sections of Alaska.

5 November

1:00am: counting of mail-in ballots begins in most states.

If you’re sitting thinking ‘OK, but when will we know who wins?’, the short answer is: no idea.

By way of context, US media called the heavily contested 2016 election for Donald Trump at about 2.30am ET the day after the election - that’s 5.30pm on Wednesday in AEST. 

In the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections, which saw Barack Obama elected, they called it much earlier - at around 3pm AEST. 

So if history is anything to go by, we could have a preliminary idea of the result before dinner time in Australia. But, with the record-breaking number of postal votes, how the night will play out is a big unknown. 

READ MORE

How to watch the United States presidential election in Australia and why you should care

It may be days before the result is clear, especially if legal challenges around postal ballots go ahead in the event of a tight race.

SBS News’ will be streaming ABC World News America’s results coverage from 11am (AEDT) to 6.20pm (AEDT) on our website and social media channels.

We’ll also be sure let you know here when things are kicking off.

This election is already feeling very deja-vu, but former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has taken it a step further by resharing a tweet published in the aftermath of her shock loss in 2016.

The tweet reads: "Scripture tells us: Let us not grow weary in doing good, for in due season, we shall reap, if we do not lose heart." Four years later she added: "Do not lose heart. (Vote).

Meanwhile, her husband, former US president Bill Clinton, shared a happy snap of the pair heading out to cast their votes for Joe Biden and vice-presidential candidate Kamala Harris.

"They will work tirelessly to heal our divisions and build a better future for all of us," he said.

It's not a good election day omen when shops are boarding up their windows in anticipation of riots and a fence has been erected around the White House grounds.

To make matters worse, "Civil War" was trending on Twitter in the lead up to the election.

But how worried are Americans that the election result - or lack thereof - will actually lead to violence? "Very worried," said Tom Buchanan, an US citizen living in Australia.

Workers board up windows at a business near the Alamo in downtown San Antonio, Texas. Source: AP

"Everyone is of course watching this, but there is a special horror when you watch your own country falling apart," he told SBS News.

Dr Buchanan, a historian and lecturer at the University of Adelaide, grew up in western Pennsylvania, one of the key battlegrounds of the election.

"It has all the hallmarks of a situation that you can see in other historical periods where violence has emerged," he said.

READ MORE

'Democracy is coming apart': America braces for unrest as chaotic presidential campaign comes to an end

"For me, the main overarching theme here is that America is slipping out of its democracy, and that has huge implications... violence is part of that. We've already seen evidence of it, and the risks are high in the coming days." 

Read the full story from my colleague Emma Brancatisano here. 

A lot has happened while we were sleeping. Here are the key developments:

In a repeat of 2016, a husky-sounding President Donald Trump called in to his favourite Fox & Friends program for a live interview close to midnight AEDT - and he used some illuminating language. "This has been a very special show for me," he told the hosts from the White House, were he had returned after a hectic 14-days of rallies. "From day one, we’ve had a great relationship, and you have a great show, so it’s been my honour.

The tally of early and postal votes hit 100 million overnight, a record-breaking number which represents more than 73 per cent of total votes cast in the 2016 election.

An "anti-scaling" fence has been erected around the White House, as fears of widespread civil unrest and violence looms large in the minds of Americans. 

Democratic candidate Joe Biden spent election day morning attending church and visiting the grave of his son, Beau. Afterwards he visited his childhood home in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where he signed a message on the wall: "From this House to the White House with the Grace of God". 

And here is what the candidates had to say as polls well and truly opened.