Voting for the US 2024 will end in a staggered manner across the three time zones, starting with the East Coast next Tuesday -- November 5 -- but how soon will Vice-President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump know their fate?
It may be a few hours, possibly by the morning of November 6, as in 2016. Voting closed on November 8 evening and it was all over by 2:30 am on November 9 with Trump winning battleground state Wisconsin and its 10 electoral college votes to cross the magic number of 270 electoral college votes. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had called to congratulate him five minutes later.
But it may take longer. In 2020, polling was over on November 3 evening but President Joe Biden had to wait until November 7 for Pennsylvania to hand him its 20 electoral college votes and the presidency. The record for the most delayed result could go to the 2000 election when the country waited for more than a month to find its next president, George W Bush -- voting ended on November 7 and the state's outcome was known on December 12.
The US presidential election, it must be remembered, is settled not by the national vote total but by the electoral college votes won. Harris and Trump must win at least 270 of the 538 electoral college votes to win. Each state is assigned a number of electoral college votes that is the aggregate of the number of members it sends to the US House of Representatives and the Senate; the Senate count is the same for every state, two each.
The closing time for polling can vary from state to state and even from county to county within the state and sometimes even city by city in the same county. If polling closes at 8, whoever is in the line then will get cast their vote, no matter how long it takes.
Early voting is currently underway with more than 55 million registered voters having already cast their ballot, either in person at a polling station or by postal ballot.