When are the results of the 2024 presidential election expected to be announced?
In some presidential races, the winner has been declared late on election night, or early the next morning. This time, the tight race in many states may mean the media will have to wait longer before predicting who won.
Democrat #kamalaHarris, the current vice president, and Republican #donaldtrump, the former president, have been closely competing for weeks.
Narrow victories could also mean a recount. In the key state of Pennsylvania, for example, a statewide recount would be necessary if there was a half-percentage-point difference between the votes cast for the winner and the loser. In 2020, the gap was just over 1.1 percentage points.
Video Commentary: BBC's Sumi Somskanda explains when a new president will be announced
Legal challenges are also possible. More than 100 lawsuits have already been filed before the election, including challenges to voter eligibility and voter registration management, by Republicans.
Other scenarios that could cause delays include any election-related disruptions, especially at polling locations.
On the other hand, the counting process has accelerated in some areas, including the vital state of Michigan, and far fewer votes will be cast by mail than in previous elections, which were during the Covid pandemic.
When were the results of the last presidential election announced?
The 2020 election was held on Tuesday, November 3. However, American television networks did not declare Joe Biden the winner until the morning of Saturday, November 7, after the result in Pennsylvania became clearer.
In other recent elections, voters had to wait a much shorter period.
In 2016, when Trump won the presidency, he was declared the winner just before 03:00 EST (08:00 GMT) the day after the election.
In 2012, when Barack Obama secured a second term, he was projected to win before midnight on Election Day itself.
However, the 2000 election between George W. Bush and Al Gore was a notable exception.
The vote was held on November 7, but the two campaigns battled over a tight contest in Florida and the race was not decided until December 12. The U.S. Supreme Court voted to end the recount in the state, keeping Bush in place as the winner and giving him the White House.
What are the key states to watch in 2024?
Across the country, the first polls will close at 18:00 EST (23:00 GMT) on Tuesday evening, and the last polls will close at 01:00 EST (06:00 GMT) early Wednesday.
But the race is expected to come down to results from seven swing states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Polls close at different times in different areas. State-specific rules may lengthen the counting period in some states, while others may report partial numbers moments after the last in-person vote is cast. Also, some absentee and mail-in ballots, including those from military personnel and Americans living abroad, are typically among the last to be counted.
Georgia - Polls close in the Peach State at 7 p.m. ET (00:00 GMT). Early and mail-in ballots will be counted first, before in-person ballots. Georgia's top election official estimates about 75% of votes will be counted in the first two hours, with a full count expected later in the night.
North Carolina - Polls close 30 minutes after Georgia. Results from North Carolina are expected before the end of the night, however, complications may arise in areas hit by a hurricane in September.
Pennsylvania — Voting ends at 20:00 EST (01:00 GMT) in Kansas City — the crown jewel of all the swing states this election cycle. Like Wisconsin, Pennsylvania doesn’t allow counting to begin until Election Day morning, leading to an expected delay in results. Experts agree it could be at least 24 hours before enough votes are counted to emerge as a winner.
MICHIGAN — Voting ends at 21:00 EST (02:00 GMT) in the Wolverine State. Michigan allows officials to begin counting ballots a week before Election Day, but they are not allowed to release results until those polls close. Michigan's top election official said no results should be expected until "the end of the day" on Wednesday.
Wisconsin — Results are expected shortly after polls close at 9 p.m. EST for smaller states. However, it often takes longer for larger population centers to count votes, leading experts to predict the state won’t have a result until at least Wednesday.
Arizona — Preliminary results could come in as early as 10 p.m. ET (0300 GMT), but they won’t give a complete picture. The state’s largest county says results shouldn’t be expected until Wednesday morning. In addition, mail-in ballots delivered on Election Day can take up to 13 days to be counted, according to officials in Maricopa County, the state’s largest county.
Nevada — Votes here could also take days to count, because the state allows mail-in ballots to be eligible as long as they are sent on Election Day and arrive no later than Nov. 9.
