On Tuesday, November 5, Americans go to the polls to vote for a new president.
When the polls close, depending on how close the result is, it is possible that the winner will not be known for several hours, days or even weeks.
Here's what you need to know.
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Democratic Party candidate Kamala Harris, the current vice president, and Republican Party candidate Donald Trump, a former president, have been fighting an even battle for weeks.
As November 5 approaches, the polls nationally and in swing states are getting tighter, so in a few states the margin could be very narrow, which could require a recount.
It is also possible that this year some results will arrive more slowly due to changes in the way certain countries, including all of them seven wavering states which will ultimately decide the presidential race, have been holding elections since 2020.
On the other hand, the counting of votes has been accelerated in some states, such as Michigan, and this time there will be many fewer votes sent by mail than in the last election, held during the corona virus pandemic.
Taking all this into account, there are several possibilities - that the winner is announced on election night, the next morning or maybe a few days or weeks later.
When were the results of the 2020 presidential election announced?
The 2020 election was held on Tuesday, November 3rd, but American TV networks did not declare Joseph Biden the winner until late in the morning on Saturday, November 7th.
As Americans went to bed on election night, Trump supporters were convinced that victory was within reach, but in fact both candidates were close to winning the 270 electoral votes needed to win.
Although the results of the presidential race were known in the vast majority of states within 24 hours, they were not in several key states, including Pennsylvania and Nevada.
Votes in Pennsylvania, which has 19 electoral votes, were leaning toward the Democratic candidate, and based on a new round of votes coming in from the key state Saturday morning, TV networks were predicting a Biden victory.
CNN was the first to announce the results, and all the other TV networks followed within the next 15 minutes.
When are the results of the presidential elections usually announced?
For the most part, voters have become accustomed to finding out the name of the next president before going to bed on election night or at least in the early morning hours of the next day.
For example, in 2016, when Trump was first elected president, he was declared the winner the day after the election, just before 03:00 AM Eastern Standard Time (EST) or before 08:00 GMT.
When Barack Obama secured a second presidential term in 2012, his victory was predicted before midnight on the voting day itself.
But a notable exception that occurred relatively recently was the 2000 presidential race between George W. Bush and Al Gore.
Due to the close result in the state of Florida, the final outcome was known only on December 12, when the US Supreme Court decided to end the recount procedure in the state and thus handed the keys to the White House to Bush.
What are the key countries?
Across the country, the first polls close in 18:00 EST (23:00 GMT) on Tuesday evening, and the last polls at 01:00 EST (06:00 GMT) early in the morning.
But this race is expected to be decided by results from seven swing states - Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
19:00 EST (00:00 GMT) - Polling stations are closed in Georgia and five other states, and partially in two other states.
This is also the time when US TV networks are likely to start releasing their first election night forecasts for states that are not expected to be close, such as Kentucky.
19:30 EST (00:30 GMT) - Polls are closing in three states, including North Carolina, where Harris hopes to end a losing streak of Democratic presidential candidates since 2008.
20:00 EST (01:00 GMT) - Polls are closing in Pennsylvania and 15 other states and the District of Columbia and partially in Michigan and four other states.
21:00 EST (02:00 GMT) - All remaining polling stations in Michigan, Arizona, Wisconsin and 12 other states are closed.
22:00 EST (03:00 GMT) - Polling stations are closed in Nevada and two other states, and partially in two other states.
How are votes counted?
Usually the votes on election day are counted first, then the early mail votes, those that are contested, and then the votes from abroad and the military.
Local election officials, both appointed and elected, verify, process and count individual votes.
Checking ballots involves comparing the number of inserted ballots with the number of active voters, opening and inspecting each individual ballot and checking that it is not torn, stained or otherwise damaged, and documenting and investigating all inconsistencies.
Counting ballots also means entering each ballot into electronic scanners that display the results in a table.
Sometimes manual counting or double checking is required.
Each state has strict rules that determine who can participate in the data collection, the order in which votes are processed and which parts are open to the public, and how party observers can watch and intervene during the vote count.
What can delay the announcement of the results of the presidential elections?
If the result is close, the media will wait longer before making their predictions, and this also increases the possibility of recounts and legal challenges.
In Pennsylvania, for example, a statewide automatic recount is applied if the difference between the winner and the loser is half a percentage point.
In 2020, the difference was just over 1,1 percentage points.
More than a hundred pre-election lawsuits have already been filed across the country, including those against Republicans related to contesting voting rights and voter rolls.
Court decisions on these cases affect this presidential race on a daily basis.
Delays can also occur due to cases of election-related violence, especially at polling stations, as well as obstacles in counting votes, as was the case in 2020 when water pipes burst at a ballot processing site in Georgia.
What happens if the results of the presidential election are contested?
After every valid vote has been included in the final results, and after the recount is complete, the election results are certified—first in local jurisdictions, then statewide.
The state's executive branch, usually the governor, then confirms the list of people who will represent their state in the Electoral College (Electoral College).
Electors meet in their states on December 17 to vote and send the results to Washington.
The new US Congress is holding a joint session on January 6 to count the electoral votes, with the current vice president presiding over the session.
After the 2020 election, Trump refused to concede defeat and rallied supporters who executed storming the US Capitol while a meeting was held in Congress to confirm Biden's victory.
Trump asked his Vice President Mike Pence not to accept the results, but Pence refused.
The electoral reforms that followed made it difficult for legislators to file objections to certified results sent to them from the states, and they also clarified that the vice president does not have the authority to unilaterally reject voters' votes.
Despite this, election observers expect that there will be attempts to delay the verification of votes both locally and statewide.
Trump, his running mate JD Vance and top Republican officials in the Capitol have repeatedly refused to say unequivocally that they will accept the election results if Trump loses.
When is the inauguration of the president?
The newly elected president will be inaugurated on Monday, January 20, 2025 in the US Capitol.
It will be the 60th presidential inauguration in the history of the United States.
Then the new president will be sworn in and pledge to uphold the Constitution, and then address the nation.
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