The American presidential election takes place this November 5. When will the result and the name of the winner be revealed? At what time?
Even though tens of millions of early votes have already taken place, Americans are called to the polls this Tuesday, November 5 to elect their new president. As a reminder, the President of the United States is elected by indirect universal suffrage in one round, with American citizens electing the electors of their county, who in turn will choose the president of the color of the majority vote. If they will only meet on December 17, the electors vote for the party which nominated them, Democrats and Republicans will therefore turn respectively to their respective candidates, which is why the name of the winner is announced as soon as the vote is counted. popular.
However, the result will not be known quickly, especially since the time difference must be taken into account, which is not the same depending on the State. Polling stations will close between 6 and 9 p.m. local time. The counting will begin in some places at 7 p.m. and others later, i.e. in the middle of the night in France. The first results will therefore only be known in France during the night of November 5 to 6, or even on the morning of the 6th.
The first estimates could come when the last polling stations close, around 2 a.m. French time, but to have an idea of the winner, you will have to wait at least around 5 a.m. in France. The final result is usually announced by the leading news agency in the United States, Associated Press, from the moment the gap between the winner and his rival is sufficient in relation to the ballots remaining to be counted.
The announcement of the result of the 2024 election delayed?
The fight this year is between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris and the outcome promises to be very close, according to the latest polls. This observation could further delay the official proclamation of the result. In some states, recounting votes may take time to ensure no errors are made. In the event of very close results, the ballots are systematically recounted in Pennsylvania or Arizona.
The counting time also varies greatly depending on the size of the States. Democratic Wisconsin Election Board Chairwoman Ann Jacobs said “Wisconsin will not have complete results on election night,” predicting that counting will end at least at 3 a.m. local time in Milwaukee , a highly populated city in the state with more than half a million residents. According to Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research, some states could well wait several days to know their own results: Alaska is notably assessed with a 10-day wait, Kansas with 3 days, Ohio with 4 days and Texas with A day. Nevada, a key state, is also affected with a possible 4-day wait.
In the other Swing States, the first results will fall first in Georgia with polling stations closing at 7 p.m., or 1 a.m. local time. Next will come North Carolina, with a 7:30 p.m. closing time and rapid results. Later in the evening, Arizona should communicate its results, around 10 p.m., or 4 a.m. in France. For Michigan, it is possible to have to wait until the next day even if the counting could be faster than during the last election. Same forecast for Pennsylvania where the deadline for results could exceed election day, as postal votes could not be counted before election day.
Another important criterion: taking into account postal votes. Their verification takes time because it is necessary in particular to ensure that the voter has not voted in person next. Additionally, in some states like North Carolina, all absentee ballots are accepted until November 14, as long as they were mailed by November 5.
However, according to the New York Timesimprovements have been made to the procedure for verifying these postal votes and electoral officials are also more accustomed to this process. These postal votes exploded in 2020 with the coronavirus pandemic. If there will be more of them this year than usual, there should not be as many as in the middle of a health crisis. That year, during the last presidential election, the official winner was not announced until three days after the count.
If the results are less close than expected, a winner could be chosen relatively quickly, but in the event that the election is close, it is likely that vote recounts will push back the verdict until Thursday or Friday. And if Donald Trump and his team launch systematic procedures in around ten states to contest the results, we can expect the process validating the election to take weeks, or even one or two months.