Washington:
US voting in 2024 is scheduled to begin next Tuesday (5 November) on the East Coast and end on a staggered basis across three time zones, but Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are wondering how soon Will we learn our fate?
Like in 2016, it could probably take a few hours until the morning of November 6th. Voting closed on the night of Nov. 8 and was all completed by 2:30 a.m. on Nov. 9, with Trump winning the battleground state of Wisconsin and its 10 electoral votes. That would surpass the magic number of 270 electoral votes. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called five minutes later to congratulate him.
However, it may take more time. In 2020, voting ended on the night of Nov. 3, but President Joe Biden had to wait until Nov. 7 to receive Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral votes and the presidency. The record for the longest delayed results may extend to the 2000 election, when President-elect George W. was revealed on December 12th.
We must remember that U.S. presidential elections are decided by electoral votes, not by the total number of votes cast nationwide. Harris and Trump need at least 270 of the 538 electoral votes to win. Each state is assigned a number of electoral votes, which is the sum of the number of representatives it sends to the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate. The number of senators is the same in all states: two each.
Poll closing times can vary from state to state, even from county to county within a state, and even from city to city within the same county. If voting ends at 8 o’clock, anyone in line at that time can vote, no matter how long it takes.
Early voting is currently underway, and more than 55 million registered voters have already cast their votes, either in person at a polling place or by mail.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
