The 2024 presidential election results are starting to come in, but it may take some time before we know who will be the next president of the United States. The current vice president, Democrat Kamala Harris, is facing off against Republican Donald Trump, who is seeking to return to the White House after his 2016 victory and subsequent defeat to Joe Biden. Many Americans have already voted early, but many more are expected to cast their ballots in person at polling stations across the country on November 4. The winner will need to secure at least 270 electoral college votes to become the next president.
Both candidates have been campaigning vigorously in seven key battleground states: Pennsylvania, Arizona, Nevada, North Carolina, Georgia, Wisconsin, and Michigan. Pennsylvania, with 19 electoral votes, is particularly crucial to watch. Polls will close at different times in different states, with the east coast starting to count votes around 6pm in the US, which translates to midnight in the UK. The US news networks will only project results when they are confident in a candidate’s victory, which could take hours or even days in close contests.
At midnight, polls close in Indiana, Kentucky, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, and Georgia. Georgia will be an early test as a swing state that could go either way. At 12:30am, West Virginia, Ohio, and North Carolina will close their polls. Ohio, once a swing state, is likely to go to Trump, while North Carolina is a key battleground. Pennsylvania, along with other states, will close their polls at 1am. Pennsylvania, a swing state with a significant number of electoral votes, may take a considerable amount of time to determine a winner due to the large number of postal and early votes.
At 1:30am, Arkansas will close its polls, followed by several states at 2am, including Texas, Arizona, Michigan, and Wisconsin – all swing states to watch closely. At 3am, Nevada will close its polls, the last of the swing states, but a closely contested race may delay declaring a winner. California, Oregon, and Washington will close at 4am, with Hawaii and Alaska closing at 5am and 6am respectively.
Despite all polls closing by 6am, the final winner may not be known immediately. Ballot counting, potential recounts, and the declaration of swing states could prolong the process, as was the case in the 2020 election. The US election night is a complex and lengthy process, with each state playing a crucial role in determining the next president of the United States.
