Less than two months before Americans cast their votes on Election Day, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris will face off in their first debate on Tuesday.

The Republican ex-president and the Democratic vice president remain locked in a neck-and-neck race, both nationally and in the swing states.

The ABC News primetime showdown is their first meeting and only the second time they’ve shared the same space.

It’s not the first debate of the campaign. Trump faced Joe Biden on stage in June, weeks before the president withdrew from the race.

The debate begins on Tuesday, September 10 at 9:00 PM EDT (01:00 GMT).

The broadcast will take place live on the American channel ABC from the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The event will last 90 minutes, including two commercial breaks. There will be no audience in the venue.

It will be streamed live on the BBC News channel and on the BBC News website and app via our live page.

The BBC has a team of reporters in Philadelphia and Washington who provide analysis, fact-checking and reaction as part of our live coverage.

ABC World News Tonight hosts David Muir and Linsey Davis will serve as moderators.

They don’t have to deal with two candidates interrupting each other, because the microphones are muted when one of them is not speaking.

Those were the rules for the debate earlier this year between Trump and Biden, after a disruptive debate between them in 2020.

Ms. Harris hoped the microphones would be on at all times because the current setup, her campaign said, “shields Donald Trump from direct conversations with the vice president.”

Trump will have the final say during the debate and Ms. Harris chose to appear on the right side of the TV screen.

No topics or questions will be shared with the candidates or their campaigns in advance, and no props or pre-written notes will be allowed on stage.

Both candidates carry only a pen, notepad and water bottle and are not allowed to communicate with campaign staff during commercial breaks.

Neither should be allowed to step down from his podium, as Trump did to Hillary Clinton in 2016.

As the aftermath of Biden’s failed debate performance, which led to his termination, shows, presidential debates are important campaign milestones that can change the race.

It’s a unique opportunity for candidates to make a strong impression on voters, as clips go viral and sound bites are replayed over and over.

This will be especially important for Kamala Harris, who has largely stuck to pre-written campaign language in her campaign so far.

A new poll from Siena College for the New York Times, released Sunday, shows that many voters still don’t know who she is and what she stands for.

The battle between her and Trump remains particularly close, both nationally and in the states that will determine the outcome.

According to the New York Times, Harris is preparing by working with Washington attorney Karen Dunn, who has helped Democratic politicians plan debates for nearly two decades.

Dunn, who often represents tech companies in court, uses “tough love,” Hillary Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, told the newspaper.

“She’s not afraid to say, ‘That’s not going to work,’ … But she also offers encouragement,” Clinton said.

Philippe Reines, a former Clinton adviser who stood in for Trump during her mock debates, is said to be reprising the role of Ms. Harris.

Trump, on the other hand, is abandoning most of the classic debate preparation tactics, according to US media.

The former president’s preparations for the debate have been called “Donald Trump talking to voters,” ABC News reported, citing a campaign adviser.

Notable advisers to the former president in the run-up to the debate include Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman who clashed with Ms. Harris during the party’s 2020 primary debates, and Republican congressman Matt Gaetz of Florida.

On October 1, rival running mates J.D. Vance and Tim Walz will participate in a vice presidential candidate debate on CBS News.

But the presidential campaigns have not yet agreed on terms for future confrontations between Trump and Harris.

Trump has called for at least two more, particularly urging a showdown on friendlier ground — moderated by Fox News and with a large live audience.

Harris’ campaign has indicated that they will evaluate whether to hold a second debate in October, after their first debate concludes.

The independent Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), which has overseen these events since 1988, has been sidelined in favor of the television networks that cover the campaigns directly.

The CPD, which had planned to hold three debates in September and October, has accused Biden’s campaign of not following tradition.