US election 2024: How long until we know who takes the White House?
Harris and Trump face-off in todayʼs presidential election‚ with exit polls coming after 5pm ET. The final winner might be known within hours or take weeks depending on vote margins
Todayʼs match-up between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump shapes up as one of the closest presidential contests in US history
The vote-counting timeline varies greatly: results might come quick-as-lightning or drag on for weeks (depending on victory margins and possible court fights). Exit polls‚ released after 5pm ET dont give the whole picture right away - news groups must be super-careful with battleground state projections
Hereʼs how counting works in key areas:
* Exit polls mix with real-time vote data
* Networks hold back close-call projections
* Battle-ground states need extra checking
* Demographics and voter choices get studied
The official process is multi-stepped - states need to check their numbers through nov-dec; Congress makes it official on jan 6th (this date got real attention back in 2021). Looking at past examples the 2000 race between Bush and Gore took over a month to settle‚ while the 2020 result came in about 4 days after voting
America‚ Iʼm honoured that you have chosen me to lead our great country
The whole thing gets extra-complex when votes are super-close in important states: legal teams might jump in and slow everything down. State vote-checkers have to be real careful with their math - one wrong move could change everything
The final winner announcement comes after a long road of checking and double-checking (its just how the system works). Each state does its own thing with timing‚ but they all feed into that big january 6th meeting where Congress makes it official
