Australian fixation as US election reaches crescendo

Australians will swap green and gold for red, white and blue as millions of casual observers become US election experts.

After a months-long campaign marked by a last-minute candidate scratching, criminal convictions and assassination attempts, the presidential contest will finally come to a head.

Americans will pick either Vice President Kamala Harris or former president Donald Trump as the next leader of the free world.

And on Wednesday, Australians will watch with bated breath.

The New York Times election needle, maps of the United States electoral college and vote count progress bars will illuminate screens, as Australians discuss the demographic intricacies of key US voting blocs in pubs across the country.

Democrats Abroad will host a watch party in Canberra, the American Chamber of Commerce in Australia is inviting viewers to the Hawthorn Hotel in Melbourne and Republican supporters will flock to Sydney's Sanctuary Hotel for a "Trump re-election party".

The US election captures the world's attention in part because of the nation's cultural influence, United States Studies Centre Associate Professor David Smith says.

"For most Australians, in some sense, the US is our second country, even if we've never been there, and that's because we consume so much American media," he told AAP.

"But there's also something about American politics - it's such a spectacle.

"It is very big, there's so much money in it, it's got this big, celebrity dimension to it, you've got the possibility of violence, and the candidates say and do outlandish things to get attention."

But US politics also has significant flow-on effects for Australians.

Mr Trump's vice-presidential pick JD Vance has been an outspoken pro-lifer, whose views emboldened far-right Queensland politicians to suggest winding back abortion rights and access ahead of the state's October election.

Transgender rights also featured in a key electorate during the 2022 Australian election as Mr Trump and other American conservatives whipped up a culture war around the issue.

While many Australians will be watching the presidential outcome with nervous excitement, others are ready for things to wrap up.

"Trump has dominated American politics for the last nine or 10 years," Assoc Prof Smith said.

"By now we are very used to this specific Trump-style of outrage after outrage, this constant torrent of lies that make it impossible for normal politics to function.

"A lot of people are just exhausted by all of this."

But reprieve could be days away.

During the 2020 presidential contest, Joe Biden claimed victory four days after election day, and it is unclear whether the results will arrive any faster during the 2024 count.

In some crucial states like Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, the contest is extremely close and could come down to a few hundred votes, which would take a very long time to count, according to Assoc Prof Smith.

But unlike the 2020 election, where many Democrats voted early or by mail while Republicans favoured the traditional ballot, both parties' supporters have opted for alternative methods.

"There probably won't be these big differences between the votes that are counted early and the votes that are counted late - so that could mean that we get the results a little bit more quickly," Assoc Prof Smith said.