Election night is quickly approaching but we may not have a presidential winner by the end of the day.
On Tuesday (Nov. 5), Democratic nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, will face off in the 2024 presidential election.
A candidate needs at least 270 out of 538 Electoral votes to win the election. The election results will likely rest in the hands of key swing states, including Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, Michigan, Arizona, Wisconsin, and Nevada, which collectively boast a total of 93 electoral votes.
Most polling stations will close to voters between 7 p.m. ET and 11 p.m. ET.
Election results from some states will immediately start to come in, while others have election laws that could lead to days of counting.
In North Carolina, Georgia, Michigan, and Arizona, election workers can securely process ballots and count them before Election Day. Those results are withheld until shortly after the polls close. Laws in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, however, prohibit officials from preparing to count millions of absentee ballots until Election Day.
Mail-in ballots in Nevada that are postmarked by Election Day have until Saturday (November 9) to arrive. Nevada also allows residents to “cure” ballots they may have forgotten to sign, which could also lead to delays in election results.
With Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin all projected to be swing states, the election could be undecided for days.
In 2020, election results were announced four days after November 3. Trump appeared to be leading over President Joe Biden in some states when the initial votes were counted. However as mail-in votes were counted, a “blue shift” occurred, and Biden won over the former president.
As of Monday (November 4), several major polls have Harris and Trump essentially tied.
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