There are only a few days left before the presidential election in the United States. Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are focusing their campaigns on key swing states where every vote counts.

As Election Day approaches, we take a closer look at what to expect on the day itself and how the results could unfold.

When is the US election?

The election will take place on Tuesday, November 5, 2024.

In most states, polling stations are open between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. local time. Given the span of multiple time zones in the US, this would be between 11:00 a.m. GMT and 4:00 p.m. GMT.

When does the election end?

Polling place closing times vary from state to state and sometimes county to county.

However, most polling stations will close between 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time and midnight Eastern Time (10:00 p.m. – 4:00 a.m. GMT).

When will the counting of US votes begin and when can we expect the results?

The first results are expected to be available just hours after the first polls close at 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time (10:00 p.m. GMT). However, some states will count votes faster than others. Because polls close several hours later in western states, the first results won't be announced until later – when some eastern states may already be called for Harris or Trump.

In a close race between them, the counting could continue well beyond election night, and we may not know the winner for several days.

“It’s really close,” says Raymond J. La Raja, a political science professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

According to FiveThirtyEight's National Polls Tracker, Harris holds a narrow lead nationally by about 1.2 points as of Friday.

However, La Raja explained that the polls may not accurately capture some groups of voters, which could lead to surprising results for both candidates. If the polls are wrong and the race isn't as close as expected, “then we'll know pretty quickly,” he added.

“But I suspect we won’t know for the first few days.

“It's so close (that a candidate might not give up) … so I would break out the coffee and tea because it's going to be a long evening that might take several days.”

What do we know about the swing states?

Seven swing states are expected to be crucial to the outcome of the presidential election.

These key states include Pennsylvania (19 electoral votes), North Carolina (16), Georgia (16), Michigan (15), Arizona (11), Wisconsin (10) and Nevada (6), which together receive 93 electoral votes.

To win the election, a candidate needs at least 270 of 538 electoral votes.

Polls in these states will close between 7:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time (11:00 p.m. – 2:00 a.m. GMT).

Some of them first results will probably come here Georgiawhere state law requires all early votes to be counted and reported by 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time (midnight GMT) on election night.

North Carolina follows. In this state, votes will be counted and reported throughout the evening. Full results are expected by midnight (04:00 GMT).

In 2020, Nevada was slow, and the state was not convened until five days after Election Day. Since then, the rules have changed and the process is expected to move faster this time. However, the results may not yet be known on election evening. The state allows late-arriving mail-in ballots, so it may be days before we know the final results.

Pennsylvaniaone of the key battleground states in 2020 had no clear winner four days after Election Day. The state is one of the few states that does not allow election workers to begin processing mail-in ballots before Election Day, meaning it will likely take several days for results to be known.

In MichiganCounting could occur more quickly than in previous elections because officials can now begin processing mail-in ballots before Election Day, but we don't yet have a clear date as to when the state might convene.

In ArizonaOfficials can begin processing mail-in ballots as soon as they are received. The first results are expected to be announced around 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time (02:00 GMT), an hour after polls close.

Finally in WisconsinElection workers cannot begin processing ballots until Election Day, which means there may also be delays, similar to Pennsylvania. According to a CNN report, results are not expected until Wednesday.

What happens if there is a tie?

If there is a tie between 269 and 269 or a third-party candidate wins the electoral votes, preventing a candidate from reaching 270 votes, the next step is called “contingent voting.”

A contingent election is the process that occurs when the U.S. House of Representatives decides the winner. Each state's delegation in the House of Representatives casts one vote, and a candidate must receive a majority of the state delegation's votes to win.

The U.S. Senate would then elect the vice president, with each senator casting one vote and requiring a simple majority (51 votes) to win.

There were three cases of special elections in the United States in 1801, 1825 and 1837. The closest election in recent years was the 2000 presidential campaign, when George W. Bush won 271 Electoral College votes – just one more than he needed – after a disputed recount in Florida. Outgoing Vice President Al Gore received 266 votes in the Electoral College.

Are there concerns about a possible delay this year?

If the announcement of results is delayed, “it definitely exacerbates the sense of fraud and illegitimacy,” La Raja said.

“The longer we wait, people are wondering: What’s going on behind those closed doors? How do they count the ballots? “Who lies?” he added.

According to him, it is better to have a close election and “come to a quick verdict.”

These fears and doubts arose in 2021 when thousands of supporters of then-President Trump stormed the Capitol in an attempt to overturn his 2020 election defeat and force lawmakers to run for security reasons. This came after he told his followers to “fight like hell.”

What has happened in the past few years?

In the last election in 2020, results were announced four days after the election on November 3, after Pennsylvania's results were certified. In the last election in 2016, Hillary Clinton lost to Donald Trump the morning after the election.

In the 2020 election, some states experienced a so-called “red mirage,” with Trump appearing to be ahead when the first votes were counted on election night. A “blue shift” occurred as more mail-in votes were counted and President Joe Biden took the lead.