
After all the drama of a campaign like no other, election day is fast approaching. The race was very close between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump and more twists and turns are guaranteed after the election closes on November 5.
So sit back and buckle up. Our election night guide includes the key moments and things to watch for while you wait for a result.

First look at exit poll data
After months of guessing what the American public will decide, we will now get a glimpse into their thoughts and motivations as the first batch of exit poll data is released.
In the United Kingdom, exit polls provide a projection of the final result as soon as the polls close, but those in the United States are very different. Rather than predicting the outcome, they provide insight into people’s priorities and opinions – and later, how different demographic groups voted. Pollsters combine Election Day interviews with telephone surveys, both nationally and regionally. seven swing states.
Throughout the night, expect experts to talk a lot about these states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania And Wisconsin – where the vote is difficult to predict and can lean towards the Republican (red) or the Democrat (blue).
Swing States they are believed to hold the keys to the White House. Both campaigns heavily targeted voters in these conflict zones.

Polls on the East Coast close and counting begins
Now the polls are coming to an end Indiana, Kentucky, South Carolina, Vermont And Virginiabut these are not swing states, so the results will be predictable.
But the vote will also be closed during the first swing state of the night, Georgia. The victory of either candidate could provide a clear indication of the direction the election could take.
Georgia was only narrowly won by Joe Biden last time. It was also the subject of false claims by Trump, who was accused of criminal conspiracy to overturn his 2020 defeat.
The candidate with the most votes in Georgia will get a crucial 16 votes out of 538 under the electoral college system.
Both Harris and Trump want a 270-vote majority in the Electoral College to win the White House. This matters more than the “popular vote” or national support they receive.
Shortly after, at 7:30 p.m. EST (00:30 GMT), polls closed in three more states, including North Carolina. Outside of the presidential race, the state’s gubernatorial race, which pits state Attorney General Josh Stein against Trump-backed candidate Mark Robinson, whose campaign has been hit by scandals, has attracted enormous interest.
Polling stations close at the same time Ohiowhere Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, is a senator. Meanwhile, both campaigns will meet at their headquarters for the evening – which we know will take place in West Palm Beach, Floridain the case of Trump.
At this point, some states could begin to be “questioned” by the American media. They use models to project, or call, how a state voted, even before the full vote count is complete.
This happens when they believe a candidate has built a lead that cannot be beaten by their opponent. In some hotly contested swing states, this could take a long time.
The models used by media outlets rely on various data, such as exit polls and actual votes counted by officials. The BBC gets this data from a company called Edison Research.

A flurry, including a crucial Pennsylvania
Other polling stations are closed, notably in Pennsylvaniabiggest prize in 2024 swing states with 19 electoral votes. It is also a state that is part of the Rust Belt, areas once dominated by manufacturing that have experienced industrial decline in recent decades.
Here, a handful of counties, like Erie and Northampton, could end up making a difference.
Right now, at 8:30 p.m. EST (01:30 GMT), we expect to have more exit data, including a national breakdown of votes by age, race and college education. This is provisional data refined over a period of several weeks.

All eyes on swing states
Polls conclude in the most closely watched battleground states, including Michigan And Wisconsin. It’s 02:00 GMT for those in the UK currently burning the midnight oil.
Polling stations are also closed Arizona – a central point of the national debate on immigration – followed by Nevada, where both parties attempted to woo working-class voters by promising to end taxes on tips, an hour later.

The remaining polling stations are closed: will it be a waiting game?
At 11:00 p.m. EDT (04:00 GMT), polls close in other adjacent states in the continental United States. The last two states close a little later – Hawaii at 00:00 EDT (05:00 GMT) and Alaska to 1:00 a.m. EDT Wednesday (06:00 GMT).
Traditionally, it was shortly after voting closed at 11:00 p.m. EDT at California that the race as a whole was called for one candidate or the other. Shortly afterward, the losing candidate gave a concession speech.
But few observers expect a quick resolution this year, with some suggesting it may take days rather than hours to know the winner.
In recent elections, the increase in the number of postal votes has tended to delay the process. And different states have different rules for when they start counting them.
A candidate who gains an early lead through in-person votes may end up being overtaken when mail-in votes and other types of ballots cast in ballot boxes are added later. This means that early counts can be misleading.
Other election races – and big votes on abortion
Despite all the attention on the presidency, voters will also choose new members of the Congresswho pass laws and launch spending plans. The 435 seats of Chamber of Deputies are up for election. In the Senatewhere members vote on key government appointments, 34 seats are up for grabs.
Republicans currently control the House, while Democrats control the Senate.
These two chambers can serve as a brake on White House plans if the controlling party in either chamber disagrees with the president.
The voters Montana, ArizonaMissouri, Nebraska, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Nevadanew York And South Dakota They will also be asked how their state should regulate abortion, which has become one of the most sensitive issues in the election.

Still awake?
If you’re still in the running, well done for making it this far, but we may have to wait a little longer to find out who won. The closer the race, the more vote counting will be required before a winner can be projected in any given location. The full nationwide count typically takes days or weeks.
To give you a taste – in 2020, the result in Pennsylvania And Nevada was screened four days after election day, and in Arizonaafter more than a week by most points of sale.
A very close fight could feel like a repeat of 2020. Or, 2024 could be like 2000, between George W. Bush and Al Gore, which was challenged and ultimately settled by the US Supreme Court. UNITED STATES.
The neck-and-neck vote predicted by polls and experts in 2024 could potentially leave the door open to legal challenges from both sides.
That would make tonight only the beginning of the drama – rather than the final word on the 2024 election.


North American correspondent Anthony Zurcher makes sense of the race for the White House in his biweekly newsletter US Election Unspun. Readers in the United Kingdom can register here. Those outside the UK can register here.