When will we all know who received?

American voters had been going to the polls into the night on Tuesday to decide on their subsequent president.

US election outcomes are generally declared state-by-state inside hours of the polls closing – which means that we get a operating tally as we go – however this 12 months’s tight contest might imply an extended wait.

The primary polls closed at 18:00 EST (23:00 GMT) on Tuesday night. The final will shut at 01:00 EST (06:00 GMT) early on Wednesday.

In some presidential races, the victor has been named late on election night time, or early the subsequent morning.

This time, the knife-edge race in lots of states might imply media shops wait longer earlier than projecting who has received.

Democratic Vice-President Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump, the previous president, have been operating neck-and-neck for weeks.

Slim victories might additionally imply recounts.

In the important thing swing state of Pennsylvania, for instance, a recount could be required if there’s a half-percentage-point distinction between the votes forged for the winner and loser. In 2020, the margin was simply over 1.1 share factors.

Authorized challenges are additionally doable. Greater than 100 pre-election lawsuits have already been filed, largely by Republicans difficult voter eligibility and voter roll administration.

Different situations that might trigger delays embrace any election-related dysfunction, significantly at polling areas.

However, vote-counting has sped up in some areas, together with the essential state of Michigan, and fewer votes have been forged by mail than within the final election, which was throughout the Covid pandemic.

Within the 2020 election, US TV networks didn’t declare Joe Biden the winner till 4 days after election day, when the end in Pennsylvania grew to become clearer.

In different current elections, voters have had a a lot shorter wait.

In 2016, Trump was declared the winner shortly earlier than 03:00 EST (08:00 GMT) just a few hours after polls closed.

In 2012, when Barack Obama secured a second time period, his victory was projected earlier than midnight the identical night of election day.

Nonetheless, the 2000 election between George W Bush and Al Gore was a notable exception. The race was not determined for 5 weeks, when the US Supreme Courtroom voted to finish Florida’s recount. That saved Bush in place as winner and handed him the White Home.

The race is anticipated to return all the way down to outcomes from seven swing states, which consultants consider Harris and Trump each have a sensible probability of successful.

Turnout has been excessive in early voting, each in-person and by mail, with data damaged in Georgia.

Georgia – Polls shut within the Peach State at 19:00 EST (00:00 GMT). Georgia’s high election official estimates that about 75% of votes will probably be counted throughout the first two hours.

North Carolina – Polls shut half-hour after Georgia. North Carolina’s outcomes are anticipated to be introduced earlier than the tip of the night time.

Pennsylvania – Voting ends at 20:00 EST (01:00 GMT) however consultants agree it might take at the least 24 hours earlier than sufficient votes are counted for a winner to emerge.

Michigan – Voting concludes at 21:00 EST (02:00 GMT). A consequence is just not anticipated till the tip of Wednesday.

Wisconsin – Outcomes ought to are available shortly after polls shut at 21:00 EST for smaller counties however consultants predict the state will not have a consequence till at the least Wednesday.

Arizona – Preliminary outcomes might come as early as 22:00 EST (03:00 GMT) however the state’s largest county says to not count on outcomes till early Wednesday morning. Postal ballots dropped off on election day might take as much as 13 days to depend.

Nevada – Votes right here might additionally take days to depend. The state permits mail-in ballots so long as they had been despatched on election day and arrive no later than 9 November.

In such a good race, early vote outcomes will not be the most effective indication of who will ultimately win.

In 2020, Trump was main in some key states on election night time however Biden overtook him as mail ballots, closely favoured by Democrats on the time, had been counted.

Although election consultants warned beforehand of such a phenomenon, Trump seized upon it to amplify his unfounded claims that the election was stolen.

There may very well be one other so-called “purple mirage” this 12 months – or maybe a “blue mirage” that originally favours Harris however then shifts towards Trump.

Greater than 83 million Individuals have already voted, in keeping with the College of Florida Election Lab’s nationwide early vote tracker. Girls make up 54% of that tally, which may very well be an excellent signal for Harris.

However whereas early voting has usually favoured Democrats, registered Republicans have forged practically as many early votes this time round.

Usually, the votes forged on election day are tallied first, adopted by early and mail ballots, these which have been challenged, after which abroad and army ballots.

Native election officers – generally appointed, generally elected – confirm, course of and depend particular person votes, in a course of often called canvassing.

Verifying ballots contains evaluating the quantity forged with the variety of lively voters; eradicating, unfolding and analyzing each single poll for tears, stains or different injury; and documenting and investigating any inconsistencies.

Counting ballots includes feeding each into digital scanners that tabulate their outcomes. Some circumstances require guide counts or double-checked tallies.

Each state and locality has rigorous guidelines about who can take part within the canvass, the order through which votes are processed and which components are open to the general public, together with how partisan observers can monitor and intervene in vote-counting.

As soon as each legitimate vote has been included within the last outcomes, a course of often called the electoral faculty comes into play.

In every state a various variety of electoral faculty votes could be received, and it’s securing these – and never simply the backing of voters themselves – that finally wins the presidency.

Typically, states award all of their electoral faculty votes to whoever wins the favored vote and that is confirmed after conferences on 17 December.

The brand new US Congress then meets on 6 January to depend the electoral faculty votes and ensure the brand new president.

After the 2020 election, Trump refused to concede and rallied supporters to march on the US Capitol as Congress was assembly to certify Biden’s victory.

He urged his Vice-President, Mike Pence, to reject the outcomes – however Pence refused.

Even after the riot was cleared and members of Congress regrouped, 147 Republicans voted unsuccessfully to overturn Trump’s loss.

Electoral reforms since then have made it tougher for lawmakers to object to licensed outcomes despatched to them from particular person states. They’ve additionally clarified that the vice-president has no energy to unilaterally reject electoral votes.

Nonetheless, election watchers count on that efforts to delay certification of the 2024 vote might happen on the native and state degree.

Trump, his operating mate JD Vance and high Republican leaders on Capitol Hill have refused on a number of events to state unequivocally that they may settle for the outcomes if he loses.

It’s doable that the 2 candidates might find yourself in a tie as a result of they’ve the identical variety of electoral faculty votes – 269 every.

In that state of affairs, members of the Home of Representatives – the decrease chamber of the US Congress – would vote to decide on the president in a course of often called a contingent election.

In the meantime the Senate – the higher chamber – would vote for the vice-president.

However that hasn’t occurred for about 200 years.

The president-elect will start their time period in workplace after being inaugurated on Monday, 20 January 2025, within the grounds of the US Capitol complicated.

It will likely be the sixtieth presidential inauguration in US historical past.

The occasion will see the brand new president sworn in on a pledge to uphold the Structure after which ship their inaugural deal with.