When will we find out who won?

Americans will elect their next president in a general election that culminates on Tuesday, November 5th.

Once polls close, depending on the level of competition, a winner may not be announced for several hours, days or even weeks. Here's what you need to know:

Democrat Kamala Harris, the current vice president, and Republican Donald Trump, the former president, have been in a neck-and-neck race for weeks.

National and swing state polls have become narrower as November 5 approaches, meaning there could be very narrow margins of victory in several places, potentially requiring a recount of votes.

It's also possible that some results will arrive more slowly this year due to changes in how individual states operate – including all seven swing states who will ultimately decide the race – have been managing their elections since 2020.

On the other hand, vote counting has been sped up in places like Michigan, and far fewer votes will be cast by mail this time than in the last election, which took place during the Covid pandemic.

That means there are a number of possible outcomes – the winner being announced on election night, the next morning, or possibly days or weeks later.

The 2020 election took place on Tuesday, November 3rd, but US television networks did not declare Joe Biden the winner until late Saturday morning, November 7th.

As Americans went to bed on election night, Trump supporters were confident that victory was close, but in fact both candidates were within reach the 270 electoral college votes required to be elected president.

Although the vast majority of states called their races within 24 hours, a few key states — including Pennsylvania and Nevada — did not.

However, Pennsylvania, with its 19 electoral votes, leaned towards the Democrats. On Saturday morning, a new batch of counted ballots from the battleground state gave networks the confidence to believe Biden would win there.

CNN was the first to announce the result, and all other television networks followed suit for the next 15 minutes.

In general, voters have become accustomed to the idea that they will know who the next president will be when they go to bed late on election night or at least in the early hours of the next day.

For example, when Trump first won the presidency in 2016, he was declared the winner just before 3:00 a.m. EST (08:00 GMT) the day after the election.

When Barack Obama secured a second term in 2012, his victory was predicted before midnight on Election Day itself.

A notable recent exception, however, was the election between George W. Bush and Al Gore in 2000.

The two campaigns went to war over tough competition in Florida, and the race was not decided until December 12, when the U.S. Supreme Court voted to end the state's recount process, leaving Bush in power as the official victor and thereby give him the keys to the White House.

The first polling stations are closing across the country 1800 EST (2200 GMT) on Tuesday evening and the last polling stations close at 0100 EST (0500 GMT) early on Wednesday.

However, results are expected to matter in this race the seven swing states – Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

1900 EST (2300 GMT) – Polling stations are closed in Georgia and five other states and partially in two other states. At this point, U.S. television stations in less competitive states like Kentucky are also expected to make their first calls of the evening.

1930 EST (2330 GMT) – Elections are over in three states, including North Carolina, where Harris hopes to end the losing streak of Democratic presidential candidates since 2008.

2000 EST (0000 GMT) – Polling stations are closed in Pennsylvania, 15 other states and the District of Columbia as well as partially in Michigan and four other states.

2100 EST (0100 GMT) – All remaining polling places in Michigan are closed. Voting also ends in Arizona, Wisconsin and twelve other states.

2200 EST (0200 GMT) – Polling stations are closed in Nevada and two other states and partially in two other states.

Typically, votes cast on Election Day are counted first, then early and mail-in ballots, contested votes, and then foreign and military ballots.

Local election officials — sometimes appointed, sometimes elected — verify, process and count individual votes in a process called canvassing.

Verifying the ballot papers involves comparing the votes cast with the number of active voters; Remove, unfold and inspect each ballot for tears, stains or other damage; and documenting and investigating any discrepancies.

When the ballot papers are counted, each one is entered into electronic scanners, which tabulate the results. In certain circumstances, manual counts or double-checked counts are required.

Every state and locality has strict rules that govern who can participate in the campaign, the order in which votes are processed, and which parts are open to the public, including how partisan observers monitor and participate in the vote count can intervene.

Tight margins will force the media to wait longer to make predictions, but they also raise the specter of recounts and legal challenges.

In Pennsylvania, for example, an automatic statewide recount takes effect when there is a half percentage point difference between the votes cast for the winner and the loser. In 2020, the margin was just over 1.1 percentage points.

More than 100 pre-election lawsuits have already been filed across the country, including challenges to voter eligibility and voter roll management by Republicans. Ongoing court rulings in these cases are shaping this race from day to day.

Other scenarios that could cause delays include election-related unrest, particularly at polling places, and obstacles to vote counting, such as the burst water pipe at a ballot processing site in Georgia in 2020.

Once every valid vote is included in the final result and processes such as recounts are completed, the election results are certified – first in local jurisdictions, then at the statewide level.

A state executive official, usually the governor, then confirms the so-called voter list who will represent their state in the electoral college. These voters will meet in their respective states on December 17 to cast their votes and send them to Washington.

On January 6, a new U.S. Congress will convene in joint session to count the electoral votes, chaired by the current vice president.

After the 2020 election, Trump refused to concede defeat and rallied his supporters to march on the US Capitol as Congress met to certify Biden's victory.

He called on his vice president, Mike Pence, to reject the results – but Pence refused.

Even after the insurrection ended and members of Congress regrouped, 147 Republicans voted unsuccessfully to overturn Trump's defeat.

Since then, election reforms have made it harder for lawmakers to object to certified results sent to them by individual states and have also made clear that the vice president does not have the authority to unilaterally reject electoral votes.

Still, election watchers say there could be efforts at the local and state levels to delay certification of the 2024 vote.

Trump, his running mate JD Vance and top Republican leaders on Capitol Hill have repeatedly refused to state unequivocally that they would accept the election results if he loses.

The President-elect will be inaugurated on Monday, January 20, 2025, on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol complex.

It will be the 60th presidential inauguration in U.S. history.

At the event, the new president will be sworn in to uphold the Constitution and then deliver his inaugural address.