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    • When will the presidential election results be announced?
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    When will the presidential election results be announced?

    Kathleen William Posted on

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    The millions of Americans and people around the world anxious to see the outcome of the U.S. presidential election should not expect final results on election night.

    Over the past few decades, Americans have become accustomed to the idea that most news outlets were predicting a winner in the White House race as soon as they went to bed or woke up the morning after voting.

    However, at no time in the country's history have election workers completed counting ballots on Election Day. This year, local and state certification deadlines range from two days after November 5 to more than a month.

    The races for the White House in 2000 and 2020 experienced the longest delays in determining a winner in the past 25 years. In 2000, a notoriously close race and legal disputes delayed the process. In 2020, a surge in mail-in voting during the COVID pandemic delayed results. This year, state laws in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin that prohibit poll workers from counting early votes until Election Day could slow results again.

    The extended voting times, the neck-and-neck race between former President Donald Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris and these delays are likely to be significant this year. But remember: Not knowing the results of Tuesday night's election doesn't mean something went wrong or that election officials across the country are having trouble counting ballots.

    Here's a look at when the world learned the results of the last six U.S. presidential elections:

    More: Why counting ballots may take longer in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin than in other states

    When did we find out the results of the 2020 presidential election?

    The 2020 election between current President Joe Biden and Trump took place on November 3, 2020, but news outlets did not announce the race for Biden until four days later, on November 7.

    What do news outlets call a presidential election before all the ballots are counted in every state? Different outlets have their own approach. The Associated Press, for example, says it calls a race when “subsequent candidates have no path to victory,” relying on researchers and other analysis.

    When did we find out the 2016 presidential result?

    In 2016, the race between former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Trump was called for Trump in the early hours of the next morning, just before 3 a.m. EST on November 9th.

    When did we find out the 2012 presidential result?

    In 2012, former President Barack Obama was expected to win a second term against the current senator. Mitt Romney before midnight on Election Day, November 6th.

    When did we find out the 2008 presidential result?

    Obama also secured a quick victory against Senator John McCain on November 4, 2008, with the media calling the race around 11 p.m. EST after the polls closed.

    When did we find out about the 2004 presidential result?

    Then-Senator. John Kerry conceded to then-President George W. Bush in a phone call shortly after 11 a.m. the morning after the election, which took place on November 2, 2004.

    When did we find out the 2000 presidential result?

    The 2000 election between former Vice President Al Gore and then-Texas Governor George Bush, an outlier in the presidential race, was not decided until December 12, 2000, five weeks after Election Day.

    The 2000 election was marred by flawed ballot design and allegations of miscounts that led to legal controversy. Gore called for a manual recount of votes in Florida, where the race was particularly close. The Florida Supreme Court approved the recount, and the Bush campaign challenged the ruling.

    The U.S. Supreme Court took up the case, overturning the Florida court's decision and finding in a 5-4 ruling that the Gore campaign had run out of time to propose new recount plans. That ruling, still debated today, resulted in Bush winning the crucial state by 537 votes.

    Reach Rachel Barber at [email protected] and follow her on X @rachelbarber_

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    Kathleen William
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