The 2024 US presidential election is poised to be a tight race, with voters heading to the polls on November 5 to decide between incumbent Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. With early voting already surpassing 82 million ballots cast, attention is now turning to the all-important question: when will the results be announced?
Polling stations across the United States will close throughout the evening on November 5, but the exact time for the announcement of the final results remains uncertain. While initial vote counts will start coming in shortly after the first polls close at 6 p.m. EST (4:30 a.m. IST on November 6), the true outcome of the race won’t be fully determined until the Electoral College votes are tallied, which can take days or even weeks.
The “popular vote” — the total number of votes cast by citizens — may offer an early indication of the race, but the winner is ultimately decided by the Electoral College. Each state has a set number of electoral votes, which are assigned based on the number of seats in the House of Representatives and the Senate. A candidate needs at least 270 electoral votes to win the presidency.
With such a close contest expected between Harris and Trump, it’s likely that several swing states will be key to the outcome. These states, such as Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona, and Michigan, often take longer to tally votes, particularly because of the high volume of mail-in ballots. As in previous elections, narrow margins in these states could trigger automatic recounts, further delaying the final results.
Recounts typically occur when the vote margin between the top contenders is within a specific range — often 0.5 percentage points. While recounts don’t usually alter the outcome dramatically, they can extend the timeline for an official result to be announced.
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The exact time that polling will close varies by state, but the first polls will close at 6 p.m. EST (4:30 a.m. IST) on November 5, while the last ones will close at 1 a.m. EST (11:30 a.m. IST) on November 6. Here are the key battleground states and their closing times:
Given the tightness of the race in these states, results from these areas will likely be key to determining the ultimate winner. However, even as votes are counted, the final confirmation of who has won may still take several days.
The time it takes to announce results varies from one election to the next. In 2020, Joe Biden was not declared the winner until November 7, after the counts in Pennsylvania and other swing states had become clearer. The delay was largely due to the high volume of mail-in ballots, which were counted after Election Day in many states.
In contrast, the 2016 election saw a much quicker result. Donald Trump was declared the winner by the Associated Press on the night of November 8, 2016, after the electoral votes from key swing states had been counted. In 2012, President Barack Obama’s re-election victory was called before midnight on Election Day.
After Election Day, the results are not final until the Electoral College meets to cast their votes. The 538 electors gather in their respective state capitals in December to officially decide the next president. The electors’ votes are then sent to Congress, which will meet in January 2025 to certify the results. This process ensures that the winner is officially determined, even if the popular vote or initial projections give a clear indication of the outcome.
The official announcement of the winner will likely come shortly after the Electoral College’s vote certification, but until then, many factors, including recounts, legal challenges, and delayed results in battleground states, could delay the final tally.
While it’s common for news outlets to announce a projected winner shortly after polling closes, the official declaration of the 2024 US presidential election winner may take days, or even weeks, due to the time needed to count mail-in ballots, perform recounts in tight races, and officially certify the results. As always, patience will be essential as the nation waits for the Electoral College to confirm the winner in the final steps of the election process.
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