When will we know who won?

American voters will go to the polls on November 5 to choose their next president.

US election results are sometimes announced within hours of polls closing, but this year’s close contest could mean a long wait.

In some presidential races, the winner is announced late on election night, or the next morning. In this case, the tight race in many states can mean that the media has to wait a long time before they can reveal who won.

Democrat Kamala Harris, the current vice president, and Donald Trump, the former Republican president, have been running neck and neck for weeks.

A small victory can tell a story. In the key state of Pennsylvania, for example, a statewide recount would be required if there was a half-point difference between the votes cast for the winner and the loser. In 2020, the limit was just over 1.1 percent.

Legal challenges are also possible. More than 100 pre-election lawsuits have already been filed, including challenges to voter eligibility and the administration of voter lists, by Republicans.

Other conditions that may cause delays include any election-related disruptions, particularly at polling stations.

On the other hand, the counting of votes has been accelerated in some areas including the key state of Michigan, and far fewer ballots will be cast by mail than in the last election, which was during the Covid crisis.

The 2020 election takes place on Tuesday 3 November. However, the TV networks in the US did not announce Joe Biden the winner until the morning of Saturday November 7, after the result of Pennsylvania became more clear.

In another recent election, voters had a very short wait.

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

In 2012, when Barack Obama won a second term, his victory was scheduled before midnight on the actual polling day.

However, the 2000 election between George W Bush and Al Gore was different.

The vote was held on November 7, but the two campaigns battled because of tight competition in Florida and the race was not decided until December 12. The US Supreme Court voted to end the recount process, which kept Bush in place as the winner and gave him the White House.

Nationwide, early voting will close on 18:00 EST (23:00 GMT) on Tuesday evening and the final voting will close on 01:00 EST (06:00 GMT) Wednesday morning.

But this race is expected to come down to its results seven skating regions which experts believe can be won by Harris or Trump. These are Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

19:00 EST (00:00 GMT) – Voting is closed in Georgia and five other states, and partially in two other states. This is also when US TV networks may start making their first calls at night, in less competitive states like Kentucky.

19:30 EST (00:30 GMT) – Voting closes in all three states, including North Carolina.

20:00 EST (01:00 GMT) – Voting is closed in Pennsylvania, 15 other states and the District of Columbia, as well as Michigan and four other states.

21:00 EST (02:00 GMT) – All remaining votes are closed in Michigan. Voting will end in Arizona, Wisconsin and 12 other states.

22:00 EST (03:00 GMT) – Poles close across Nevada and two other states, and partially in two others.

Generally, the votes cast on election day are counted first, followed by early and mail-in ballots, those that have been challenged, and then overseas and military votes.

Local election officials – sometimes appointed, sometimes elected – verify, process and count individual votes, in a process known as canvassing.

Verifying votes includes comparing the number cast with the number of active voters; removing, uncovering and inspecting every single ballot for tears, stains or other damage; and documenting and investigating any conflict.

Counting votes involves feeding each one to electronic scanners that draw their results. Some cases require manual calculations or double-checked calculations.

Every state and locality has strict rules about who can participate in canvassing, how votes are counted and which parts are open to the public, including how group observers can monitor and interfere with the counting of votes.

Once all valid votes have been included in the final results, a process known as the electoral college begins.

In each state a different number of electoral college votes can be won, and it is this guarantee – not just the support of the voters themselves – that will ultimately win the presidency.

Generally, states award all of their electoral college votes to whoever wins the popular vote and this is confirmed after the December 17 caucuses.

The new US Congress then convenes on January 6 to count the electoral college votes and confirm the new president.

After the 2020 election, Trump refused to concede and rallied his supporters to march on the US Capitol as Congress convened to confirm Biden’s victory.

He urged his deputy, Mike Pence, to reject the results – but Pence refused.

Even after the impasse was cleared and members of Congress were reconvened, 147 Republicans voted without success to reverse Trump’s loss.

Electoral changes since then have made it difficult for lawmakers to contest the guaranteed results sent to them from individual states. They also clarified that the vice president does not have the power to unilaterally reject election votes.

However, election watchers expect efforts to delay the 2024 vote’s ratification to take place at the local and state levels.

Trump, his running mate JD Vance and top Republican leaders on Capitol Hill have repeatedly refused to say outright that they will accept the results if he loses.

The president-elect will begin his term of office after his inauguration on Monday, 20 January 2025, at the US Capitol complex.

He will be the 60th president in US history.

At this event, the new president will be sworn in with a promise to uphold the Constitution and deliver his first speech.