American voters go to the polls on 5 November to decide on their subsequent president.

US election outcomes have generally been declared inside hours of the polls closing, however this yr’s tight contest might imply an extended wait.

In some presidential races the victor has been named late on election night time, or early the following morning. This time, the knife-edge race in lots of states might imply media retailers wait longer earlier than projecting who has gained.

Democrat Kamala Harris, the present vice-president, 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 state-wide recount can be required if there’s a half-percentage-point distinction between the votes solid for the winner and loser. In 2020, the margin was simply over 1.1 proportion factors.

Authorized challenges are additionally attainable. Greater than 100 pre-election lawsuits have already been filed, together with challenges to voter eligibility and voter roll administration, by Republicans.

Different eventualities that would trigger delays embody any election-related dysfunction, significantly at polling areas.

Then again, vote-counting has sped up in some areas, together with the essential state of Michigan, and much fewer votes can be solid by mail than within the final election, which was in the course of the Covid pandemic.

The 2020 election befell on Tuesday 3 November. Nonetheless, US TV networks didn’t declare Joe Biden the winner till late morning on Saturday 7 November, after the lead to Pennsylvania grew to become clearer.

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

In 2016, when Trump gained the presidency, he was declared the winner shortly earlier than 03:00 EST (08:00 GMT) the day after the election.

In 2012, when Barack Obama secured a second time period, his victory was projected earlier than midnight on polling day itself.

Nonetheless, the 2000 election between George W Bush and Al Gore was a notable exception.

The vote was held on 7 November, however the two campaigns went to battle over a good contest in Florida and the race was not determined till 12 December. The US Supreme Courtroom voted to finish the state’s recount course of, which stored Bush in place as winner and handed him the White Home.

Throughout the nation, the primary polls will shut at 18:00 EST (23:00 GMT) on Tuesday night and the final polls will shut at 01:00 EST (06:00 GMT) early on Wednesday.

However this race is anticipated to return all the way down to outcomes from seven swing states. These are Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Polls shut at completely different occasions in several areas. State-specific guidelines might delay counting in some states, whereas different states could report partial figures moments after the final in-person vote is solid. Additionally, some absentee and mail-in ballots, together with votes by members of the navy and People residing abroad, are usually among the many final to be counted.

Georgia – Polls shut within the Peach State at 19:00 EST (00:00 GMT). Early and mail-in ballots can be counted first, forward of in-person votes. Georgia’s high election official estimates that about 75% of votes can be counted inside the first two hours, with a full tally attainable anticipated by later within the night time.

North Carolina – Polls shut thirty minutes after Georgia. North Carolina’s outcomes are anticipated to be introduced earlier than the tip of the night time, nonetheless, problems could come up in areas that had been hit by a hurricane in September.

Pennsylvania – Voting ends at 20:00 EST (01:00 GMT) within the Keystone State – the crown jewel of all of the swing states on this election cycle. Like Wisconsin, Pennsylvania doesn’t enable counting to start till the morning of the election, resulting in an anticipated delay in outcomes. Consultants agree that it could take not less than 24 hours earlier than sufficient votes are counted for a winner to emerge.

Michigan – Voting concludes at 21:00 EST (02:00 GMT) within the Wolverine State. Michigan permits officers to start counting votes one week earlier than election day, however they don’t seem to be allowed to disclose the outcomes till these polls shut. Michigan’s high election official has stated {that a} outcome shouldn’t be anticipated till the “finish of the day” on Wednesday.

Wisconsin – Outcomes ought to are available in shortly after polls shut at 21:00 EST for smaller counties. Nonetheless, it typically takes longer for main populations centres to tabulate votes, main specialists to foretell that the state will not have a outcome till not less than Wednesday.

Arizona – Preliminary outcomes might come as early as 22:00 EST (03:00 GMT), nonetheless, they will not paint a whole image. The state’s largest county says to not anticipate outcomes till early Wednesday morning. On high of that, postal ballots dropped off on election day might take as much as 13 days to rely, in response to officers in Maricopa County, the biggest district within the state.

Nevada – Votes right here might additionally take days to rely, as a result of the state permits mail-in ballots to qualify so long as they had been despatched on election day and arrive no later than 9 November.

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

Native election officers – generally appointed, generally elected – confirm, course of and rely particular person votes, in a course of generally known as canvassing.

Verifying ballots contains evaluating the quantity solid with the variety of energetic voters; eradicating, unfolding and inspecting each single poll for tears, stains or different harm; and documenting and investigating any inconsistencies.

Counting ballots includes feeding every one 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 by 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 generally known as the electoral school comes into play.

In every state a various variety of electoral school votes could be gained, 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 school 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 rely the electoral school votes and make sure 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 more durable 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.

However, election watchers anticipate 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 are going to settle for the outcomes if he loses.

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 advanced.

Will probably 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 tackle.