US election latest: Trump and Harris make final pitches - as professor who has predicted nine of last 10 elections says he is 'sure' who will win

Could Donald Trump really prosecute his rivals?

Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to prosecute his opponents were he to win a second term as president. 

To be precise, since joining the 2024 presidential race, he has called for the criminal prosecution of at least 16 political rivals and 15 law enforcement, military and intelligence officials, a review of his public comments by Sky News's US partner network NBC has found.

According to current and former Justice Department and FBI officials, as well as legal experts, the answer as to whether the former president could actually prosecute people as he wishes is almost certainly yes. 

"You're dealing with 1.3 million American lawyers," said Stephen Gillers, a professor of legal ethics at the NYU School of Law.

 "No doubt he will find 1,000 who will endorse his goals and seek to achieve them," the professor told NBC, while suggesting Mr Trump wouldn't struggle to find people in the Justice Department willing to satisfy him.

This is despite public trust in the department - and its ability to fairly administer the law - hinging on its neutrality.

Another expert interviewed by NBC was legal analyst Joyce Vance, also a former US attorney in Alabama. 

Ms Vance said just a handful of allies in top Justice Department roles were needed for Mr Trump to have his way.

"You don’t have to corrupt the entire office to do a prosecution," she said. 

"All you have to do is hire three or four people, find some folks at the FBI, the Secret Service, who want to play ball."

Why some Arab-Americans have lost faith in Democrats

Arab-Americans have historically been an important electoral asset for the Democrats, with an overwhelming majority typically voting for the party in elections.

However, the ongoing conflict in Gaza and Joe Biden's continued support for Israel - despite it having killed more than 43,000 Palestinians in the last year, according to the Hamas-run health ministry - has given many Arab-Americans cause to question their political allegiances.

Sky News spoke to voters in the key swing state of Michigan - some of whom suggested they would not be backing Kamala Harris in tomorrow's election.

Why we may need to wait to hear who has won the presidency

With exceptionally tight races in a number of key battleground states, it was not until days after the 2020 election that the overall winner of the presidential race became clear.

Many suggest that we could be in for a similarly long wait after tomorrow's vote.

It is widely considered unlikely that Donald Trump would acknowledge defeat if he loses. 

Below, colleagues at our US partner network NBC explain the different rules for counting ballots in each of the key battleground states...

Arizona

• Mail ballots: Arizona voters vote mostly by mail, so last-minute ballot drop-offs mean counting can take longer. Officials in the state say ballot counting could take 10 days, although mail votes can start being counted upon receipt, according to the Arizona secretary of state.
• Provisional ballots: Provisional ballots, which require additional research by officials or documents from voters, can be counted up to 10 days after the election, according to state law.

Georgia

• Mail ballots: Georgia starts processing mail ballots on 21 October, and they can be dropped off until polls close on election day.
• Provisional ballots: Voters have three days to show ID or for registrars to confirm their identities after they cast provisional ballots, but results are expected quickly.

Michigan

• Mail ballots: Larger Michigan jurisdictions can begin processing mail ballots on 28 October, giving election officials a much-needed early jump on verifying mail ballots. Mail ballots must be received by the close of polls on election day.
• Provisionals: Clerks have through to 12 November to process provisional ballots.

Nevada

• Mail ballots: Mail ballots must be postmarked by election day and received by 9 November. Election officials can begin processing them as soon as they receive them.
• Provisional ballots: Voters have three days after election day to prove their residency and identities if necessary. If their signatures don't match the ones on file for their mail ballots, they'll have until 12 November to "cure" their ballots.

North Carolina

• Mail ballots: Mail ballots must be received by election day and are partially processed throughout October.
• Provisional ballots: Voters who failed to show adequate ID at the polls have until 14 November to take the necessary ID to election officials. Election officials can process other provisional ballots up until counties start canvassing the results on 15 November.

Pennsylvania

• Mail ballots: Election officials must receive mail ballots by the close of polls on election day. Processing begins at 7am on election day, making the state one of the last battlegrounds to start checking signatures and personal information on ballots.
• Provisional ballots: County boards must review and decide whether to count provisional ballots within a week of the election.

Wisconsin

• Mail ballots: Mail ballots must be received on election day at the latest. Processing begins at 7am local time on election day, which makes Wisconsin the last state to start processing ballots.
• Provisional ballots: Voters have until 4pm the Friday after the election to provide any necessary documentation to election officials, like proof of identity, to ensure their ballots count.

Harris v Trump may be remembered as the 'litigation election' - the world will be hoping it's settled on the night

Politicians and people around the world are holding their breath to see who wins the US presidential election on Tuesday. Will it be a second term for the Republican Donald Trump? 

Or victory for the Democrat Kamala Harris, who would be the first woman POTUS, and only the second person of colour?

Unlike in the UK where a prime minister can be kicked out of Downing Street overnight after a general election, there will be a transition period. The next president will not take office until Inauguration Day - 20 January 2025.

But when will we know who the next president will be? Recent precedents suggest we may not know on the night after polls close but some days or even weeks later - especially if the result looks close this time, as has been widely predicted.

Donald Trump admits he could lose the election

Donald Trump has conceded there is a possibility he might lose the presidential election.

ABC's Jonathan Karl asked Mr Trump if there was a chance he could lose. The former president replied: "Yeah, I guess, you know, I guess you could lose, can lose. I mean, that happens, right?"

"But I think I have a pretty substantial lead, but, you could say, yeah, yeah, you could lose. Bad things could happen.

"You know, things happen, but it's going to be interesting," he added.

The Republican nominee also said he believes the outcome of his race against Kamala Harris will be declared tomorrow night.

Yesterday, he told a campaign rally in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, the only way he could lose would be if he was cheated, as he once again called into question the integrity of the electoral system.

Kamala Harris heads to crucial swing state of Pennsylvania for final day of campaigning

Vice President Kamala Harris is on her way to Pennsylvania for the 18th time since launching her presidential bid as she seeks to attract last-minute voter support.

Ms Harris will start at an event to kick off a bout of canvassing in Scranton, Pennsylvania, one of the seven swing states which will be decisive in tomorrow's election.

The state carries 19 electoral college votes, making it the most important of the key battlegrounds.

She will address hundreds of campaigners before they head out to knock on doors to try and get people to vote for the Democratic candidate.

Ms Harris will then be joined by US rapper Fat Joe in Allentown, a majority Latino city that is home to 34,000 Puerto Ricans.

The courting of Puerto Ricans in the US, a key part of the electorate, has intensified over the past week following comments at a Trump rally that described Puerto Rico, a US territory in the Caribbean, being a "floating island of garbage".

Ms Harris will then head to Reading, where she is set to visit a local Puerto Rican restaurant with Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez.

The Democratic congresswoman's family is from Puerto Rico, and she previously hit out at the "floating island of garbage" comment made by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, saying it had been "super upsetting". 

Governor Josh Shapiro will also be in Reading as Ms Harris will be highlighting what is at stake in the upcoming election, especially for the Puerto Rican community.

In the evening, Ms Harris will be joined by her husband, Douglas Emhoff, at a rally and concert in Pittsburgh which will see DJ D-Nice, Katy Perry, and Andra Day perform.

The day will end in Philadelphia - the birthplace of American democracy - rallying Philadelphians at the famous Rocky Steps at the Philadelphia Museum of the Arts.

Those due to make an appearance are DJ Cassidy, Fat Joe, Freeway and Just Blaze, Lady Gaga, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Ricky Martin, The Roots, Jazmine Sullivan and Adam Blackstone, and Oprah Winfrey.

Professor who correctly predicted nine of last 10 elections says he's 'sure' of who will win tomorrow

A historian who has successfully predicted nine out of the last 10 elections in the US believes Kamala Harris will win the keys to the White House.

Polls have been suggesting it will be a neck-and-neck race between Republican nominee Donald Trump and his Democratic opponent.

But Professor Allan Lichtman's system, called "The Keys to the White House", involves disregarding the polls entirely.

Instead, 13 metrics on a checklist are used to try and figure out who the successful candidate will be.

"Why am I sure that Harris is going to win? Because it's only close on the polls, and my system ignores the polls," Professor Lichtman told CNN.

The professor, who correctly predicted Mr Trump's win against Hillary Clinton in 2016, described polls as "snapshots" and said: "People don't respond to pollsters, they lie, they change their minds, and they have to guess who the likely voters are."

His system, which he developed in the early 1980s with the Russian geophysicist Vladimir Keilis-Borok, analyses the political landscape through the lens of 13 true-false statements focused on the incumbent president's party.

If six or more of the statements are false, then the challenger — in this case, Mr Trump — is predicted to win.

As detailed below, his system currently concludes that eight of the 13 keys are in Ms Harris's favour - while three favour her Republican rival. 

-SKY NEWS