As soon as the polls close on Tuesday, the counting of votes begins across the United States, but the process varies from one state to another and may extend for days.

To determine the winner in the US elections, between Republican former President Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris, it may take days, especially if disputes and legal appeals occur.

More than 80 million Americans have cast their ballots in early voting, by mail or at polling stations.

Method and timing of counting ballot papers

The United States is divided into 6 time zones, and therefore the closing of polling stations will begin at 11:00 pm GMT on Tuesday in the states of Indiana and Kentucky, and extend until 6:00 am GMT, Wednesday, in the far west, in the Aleutian Islands in Alaska.

States cannot begin counting ballot papers before others, but most of them allowed polling officials to prepare them, that is, verify that they meet the conditions, in order to facilitate the counting process.

On the other hand, states such as Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, two major states, do not allow this before voting day.

In most states, ballots first pass through a scanner that gives a preliminary result, before the votes are manually recounted to ensure their authenticity.

Polling station officials who are elected or appointed in accordance with the laws, then certify the result, which is then transmitted to the district, state and local officials of the political parties.

If the voting result is close, which is the most likely scenario for the seven main states in these elections, it will be necessary to count the ballots one or more times.

When are the results announced?

The date for announcing the final result cannot be determined conclusively. In 2020, the media announced Joe Biden’s victory over Donald Trump after 4 days of voting.

In the 2016 elections, Trump's victory over Hillary Clinton was announced the day after the vote.

In the 2008 and 2012 elections, Barack Obama was declared the winner on the evening of Election Day, when he faced John McCain (2008) and Mitt Romney (2012).

But in the year 2000, the name of the winner, who was George W. Bush at the time, was not known until December 12, that is, 5 weeks after the elections, and after a long recount process and multiple appeals in Florida, until it was decided by the Supreme Court.< /p>

In 2020, and then in the 2022 midterm elections, voting officials in many counties refused to certify the results, a necessary step that is usually a formality before they are published.

This is a possibility that may happen this year in some key states, where Republicans are also prepared to file legal challenges that may once again reach the Supreme Court.

Measures initiated by both parties even before voting day to challenge the electoral rules may also complicate the process.

Warnings

The Kamala Harris campaign confirmed, on Monday, that the final results, especially in Pennsylvania and Nevada, will not be known for “days.”

While the Trump camp warned against any attempt to “sow doubt and chaos” regarding the integrity of the elections.

The law stipulates that rulings on all appeals must be rendered before the 538 senior electors meet on December 17

The result of the vote is supposed to be approved before Congress on January 6, 2025.