US election 2024 result date and time: Will it take weeks to announce winner between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris?

Americans and people around the world waiting for the US election 2024 results on Tuesday night (November 5) may not know the outcome soon unless Democratic nominee Kamala Harris or Republican candidate Donald Trump scores a significant victory in most states, especially the so-called swing states or battleground states — Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona, Nevada, Wisconsin, and Michigan.

If there are no blow-out margins of victory and the election numbers follow the polls all of which give leads within the margin of error — with crucial swing state Pennsylvania’s as narrow as 0.4 per cent for Trump — it may take days or even weeks to sort out the contested results with recounts, as per an IANS report.

Traditionally, the candidate losing the election concedes defeat even before the official announcement of the results if the outcome is clear. But Trump has not admitted he lost even four years after President Joe Biden defeated him in 2020.

If Trump loses, he is sure to mount legal challenges, and so would Harris in a very tight election where a few hundred, or even fewer votes can decide the winner. Both have armies of lawyers waiting in the wings.

A complicating factor is that the President is elected by the electoral college of 538 members distributed among states according to their population and not by the popular vote. Except in two small states, whoever gets the majority of popular votes in the state gets all of its electoral votes.

Therefore, a candidate can get the majority of the popular votes but still lose if that does not translate into a majority in the electoral college.In 2016, Democrat Hillary Clinton won nearly 3 million more votes than Trump, but lost to him because he won the majority in the electoral college, 306 to 227.The final verdict will come from the seven swing states where neither party has a definitive majority and could go either way and together they have 93 electoral college votes.

Another complication in getting the results is that the Federal Election Commission deals only with election finance laws and does not run the elections.

Therefore, without a national election body overseeing elections or uniform procedures and regulations across the country, states follow different timetables for closing the polling and counting absentee ballots — those sent by post or, in some cases, deposited by other means.

The official tally comes later, with each state following its procedures to certify the results.

If the margins of the votes cast in person either on election day or early voting days in a state do not markedly exceed the yet-to-be-counted absentee ballots, the results will be held up for that state.

If the margins are very close, either party could demand recounts which could also delay the results.

If all goes smoothly and the margins are wide enough in the key states, the results could be known as early as midnight in New York , with the balloting ending an hour earlier in California.

Media may also start giving an idea of the trend earlier at about 9 pm (ET) about an hour after Pennsylvania closes. The elections close in states at different local times which translates to between 6 pm (ET) to midnight in New York.

The official announcements are certain to be delayed in several states because of legal challenges.

The governors of each state have a deadline of December 11 to submit ‘Certificates of Ascertainment’ – the official tally of electoral college votes – to National Archivist Colleen J. Shogan, whose role is like that of a head record-keeper for the country.

The electoral college was scheduled by law to meet on the second Tuesday after the first Wednesday of the month – December 17. They do not meet in one place but vote in their state capitals.

FAQs

Q1. When is US election 2024 result date?
A1. US election 2024 results will be declared after November 5 polling day.

Q2. When is US election 2024 counting?
A2. US election 2024 counting will take place after the polling closes on Tuesday, November 5.