When will 2024 US election results be declared

The United States is set to go to polls on November 5, the D-Day to elect the next President. The elections have been a neck-and-neck contest between Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump.

As of Monday, around 82 million people have already cast their ballots as part of the early voting process, the Associated Press reported.

Polls will be closed after the November 5 voting. However, all eyes are stuck at one question -- when will the US election results be announced? Results are expected to start coming in shortly after the first polls close at 6 pm (4:30 am IST) on Tuesday. The catch here is that the popular vote does not guarantee the ultimate victory as that can only be determined after the Electoral College.

When will 2024 US election results be announced?

Though the name of the candidate with majority votes is declared late on voting day or early next day, the close fight this season could result in a longer wait for the final word on who won the US elections, BBC reported.

There are also times where a projected winner maybe declared in one state while counting in another is underway.

Slim margins could also mean recounts. According to an AP report, recounts in most of the states are allowed when the margin between top contenders falls within a specific range -- such as 0.5 percentage points -- even when it means the number of votes separating them is in thousands or tens of thousands. And recounts naturally mean, more time in announcing of the final results.

ALSO READ | US election result date: When will each state announce winner of Trump vs Harris contest?

The swing states might also cause a possible delay in the reaching the name of the race's winner. Then again, the official winner will not be announced until electoral votes are also considered.

Electoral College

An electoral college is a process which includes the selection of electors by voters. The electors meet and cast votes for the President and Vice President of the United States of America.

The 538 members of the US Electoral College gather in the capitals of their respective states after the election to decide the winner. Each of the states get assigned a certain number of electors on the basis of the number of seats they hold in the House of Representatives and Senate.

A candidate needs 270 or more electoral college votes to be declared as the winner.

Since the process of picking the next president and vice president is long, naturally the exact time of the actual declaration of the winner largely remains unclear.

ALSO READ | A simple guide to the US presidential vote

When Will Polling Close?

The first polls will close at 6 pm EST (4:30 am IST on Wednesday) and the last polls will close at 1 am EST (11:30 am IST on Wednesday), BBC reported.

Here are the closing times of the key battleground states:

Pennsylvania: Polls will open at 7 am EST on Tuesday (5:35 pm IST) and close at 8 pm EST (6:30 am IST on Wednesday).

Georgia: Polls will open at 7 am EST on Tuesday (5:35 pm IST) and close at 8 pm EST (6:30 am IST on Wednesday).

Arizona: Polls will open at 8 am EST on Tuesday (6:30 pm IST) and close at 9 pm EST (7:30 am IST on Wednesday).

Wisconsin: Polls will open at 8 am EST (6:30 pm IST) and close at 9 pm EST (7:30 am IST on Wednesday).

Michigan: Polls will open at 7 am EST on Tuesday (5:35 pm IST) and close at 8 pm EST (6:30 am IST on Wednesday).

Nevada: Polls will open at 9 am EST on Tuesday (7:30 pm IST) and close at 7 pm EST (5:30 am IST on Wednesday).

North Carolina: Polls will open at 6:30 am EST on Tuesday (5:00 pm IST) and close at 7:30 pm EST (6:00 am IST on Wednesday).

Read More on US Elections 2024 with HT:

• Catch all the newsmakers, detailed explainers and deep analysis of the US Elections
• HT in US: Special Coverage of the American elections by Prashant Jha

Announcement of previous US election results

In the last presidential elections, the election day was on November 3, 2020, and Joe Biden was not declared winner until late November 7. The US TV networks announced the results after the numbers in Pennsylvania became more clearer, a BBC report said.

However, there have been times where the winner has been declared in a fairly short period of time. Trump was declared winner by the Associated Press on election night in 2016.

In 2012, Barack Obama's victory in the race for a second term was reportedly announced before midnight on the election day itself.

Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.