In a few days Kamala Harris and Donald Trump will go head-to-head in what experts say is gonna be the tightest presidential race ever seen. The result-declaration timeline remains un-clear: it might take anywhere from a couple hours to several weeks (depending on victory margins and potential court-cases)
Exit polls – a key early indicator – face strict rules: networks cant release them until 5pm ET on election-day; plus they wont use these polls to predict winners in battle-ground states. Instead data-crunchers will mix exit-polls actual votes and other info to make their calls. These surveys dont just track votes but also ask about voters back-grounds and their decision-making process
The road to knowing the winner depends on vote margins: if someone leads big weʼll know fast but if its close – prepare to wait. History shows us some interesting examples: the Bush-Gore match-up in 2000 stretched from nov 7 to dec 12 due to Floridaʼs re-count drama that ended up in the Supreme Court. Similar legal-battles might pop up this time if votes are super-close
The official process has its own time-line: states need to check all their numbers in nov-dec then Congress counts electoral votes on jan 6th (remember what happened last time with the Capitol thing). Looking back at 2020 networks called it for Biden after 4 days when Pennsylvaniaʼs numbers put him ahead by 30000 votes
America‚ Iʼm honoured that you have chosen me to lead our great country. The work ahead of us will be hard‚ but I promise you this: I will be a president for all Americans – whether you voted for me or not