US Election 2024: Date and Time for Results; When Will America Get Its New President?

Americans and people worldwide watching for the U.S. election results on Tuesday night, November 5, might not know the winner right away. For a clear outcome, either Democratic nominee Kamala Harris or Republican candidate Donald Trump would need to win big in most states, especially key states known as swing or battleground states—Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona, Nevada, Wisconsin, and Michigan.

The results might be known as early as midnight in New York, with the balloting ending an hour earlier in California, assuming everything goes according to plan and the margins are sufficiently large in the crucial states.

US Election Result 2024: Date and Time

According to an IANS report, it could take days or even weeks to sort out the disputed results with recounts if there are no blow-out margins of victory and the election numbers match the polls, which all give leads within the margin of error. For Trump, the margin is as small as 0.4% in Pennsylvania, a crucial swing state.

If the outcome is obvious, the losing candidate typically accepts defeat even before the results are formally announced. Even four years after losing to President Joe Biden in 2020, Trump has yet to acknowledge his defeat.

Legal challenges will undoubtedly be made by both Harris and Trump in the event of a close election where the result could be determined by a few hundred or even fewer ballots. Both have hundreds of attorneys in the wings.

What Makes US Presidential Election a Complex Affair?

In the U.S. presidential election, the winner isn’t decided by the total number of votes across the country but by the electoral college. To win, either Harris or Trump must get at least 270 out of the 538 electoral college votes. 

The fact that the president is chosen by the electoral college, which has 538 members dispersed across states based on population, rather than by the public vote, adds complexity to the process. All of the state's electoral votes go to the candidate who receives the majority of the state's popular votes, with the exception of two tiny states.

Consequently, if a candidate does not receive a majority of the electoral college votes, they may still lose even if they receive the majority of the popular votes.

Official Counting Ends on?

The formal electoral college vote count, known as "Certificates of Ascertainment," must be submitted by the governors of each state by December 11 to National Archivist Colleen J. Shogan, who serves as the nation's chief record-keeper.

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