Election night watch: Ritical states hold the key
The first results will arrive shortly after the polls close in Indiana and Kentucky at 11 PM. An hour later, the polls will close in Georgia, one of the "swing" and crucial states for the election results.
Half an hour later, voting will conclude in North Carolina, followed at 1 AM GMT by Pennsylvania and Michigan. The last key states to finish voting will be Nevada at 3 AM GMT.
Besides the presidential election, residents across all 50 states will vote for their congressional representatives, 34 senators, and governors in 11 states. In 10 states, referendums will be held on guaranteeing the right to abortion, and in five states, on the legalization of recreational marijuana and psychedelics.
US elections. When are the first results?
As reported by Harris's team to journalists on Monday, it is possible that if the differences between candidates are not very small, we will know the outcome of the elections in Georgia, North Carolina, and Michigan by Tuesday evening GMT and also after midnight Eastern Time in Wisconsin. If any candidate wins in three states, they will have an almost guaranteed victory. In the event of a close contest in key states, as occurred in 2020, determining the winner may take until Thursday or beyond.
In 2020, the outcome in the US took four days to determine, partly due to a record number of postal votes. The victory was decided by 80,000 votes in three states. If this year's polls are accurate, this scenario may repeat, as the differences between candidates were within the margin of error for most of them.
This year, more than 77 million people voted before Election Day, either by post or in person. This is 23 million fewer than in the pandemic year of 2020, yet still a number representing almost half of the votes cast in 2020. Experts anticipate a high turnout. About 244 million voters are eligible to participate in the elections, although not all are registered (in many states, registration can be done on Election Day).
