Latest US elections: Battleground states too close to call – but Trump camp increasingly 'optimistic'

Harris campaign tells staffers they need ‘blue wall’ to win – and the result may not come tonight

Harris campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon told staff the race is “flashy” but “exactly what we’ve been preparing for,” in a memo obtained by NBC News.

She said the campaign “knew all along” that the clearest path to victory was through the blue wall states: Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.

“We feel good about what we see,” she said.

“In Pennsylvania, we exceeded turnout expectations in Philadelphia, as well as our early voting expectations in Bucks County.”

In Michigan, the campaign is “waiting for a significant number of votes,” including from Detroit.

In Wisconsin, there are “a significant number of votes remaining in Dane and Milwaukee counties” and the campaign does not expect results in the coming hours.

“We’ve been saying for weeks that this race might not happen tonight,” Ms Dillon said.

“What we do know is that this race will only be visible in the early morning hours.”