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Election 2024
Find results
   Live updates14 mins ago
 * Results timing
 * Polls
 * Harris's paths
 * Trump's paths
 * Early voting
 * Swing states
 * More

Find results

Harris

Harris has won 0 out of 538 electoral college votes.

President
Trump

Trump has won 0 out of 538 electoral college votes.

0
270
0
Dem.

Democrats now hold 28 out of 100 seats in the Senate. 28 of those Democratic
seats were not up for election this year.

Senate
Rep.

Republicans now hold 38 out of 100 seats in the Senate. 38 of those Republican
seats were not up for election this year.

28
50
38
Dem.

Democrats now hold 0 out of 435 seats in the House.

House
Rep.

Republicans now hold 0 out of 435 seats in the House.

0
218
0
Harris

Harris has won 0 out of 538 electoral college votes.

President
Trump

Trump has won 0 out of 538 electoral college votes.

0
270
0
Dem.

Democrats now hold 28 out of 100 seats in the Senate. 28 of those Democratic
seats were not up for election this year.

Senate
Rep.

Republicans now hold 38 out of 100 seats in the Senate. 38 of those Republican
seats were not up for election this year.

28
50
38
Dem.

Democrats now hold 0 out of 435 seats in the House.

House
Rep.

Republicans now hold 0 out of 435 seats in the House.

0
218
0



WHEN WILL WE KNOW THE ELECTION RESULTS? WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT VOTE COUNTING.


THE SWING STATES THAT TOOK THE LONGEST IN 2020 AND COULD AGAIN BE SLOW THIS
YEAR: PENNSYLVANIA, ARIZONA AND NEVADA. IF THE RACE IS CLOSE, OTHER STATES COULD
JOIN THE LIST.

7 min
989

Clark County election workers inspect mail-in ballots in Las Vegas, on Nov. 2.
(Caroline Brehman/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)
Skip to main content
 1. Pennsylvania
 2. Arizona
 3. Nevada
 4. Georgia
 5. Michigan
 6. Wisconsin
 7. North Carolina

By Patrick Marley
and 
Amy Gardner
November 4, 2024 at 8:05 a.m. EST

Finding out who won the presidency may take days.

Election officials in key swing states are urging Americans to be patient as
they tally results, a process that varies from state to state because each has
different vote-counting laws. Polls show an extremely tight presidential race,
and the closer the results are, the longer it will take to know the outcome.




In the hours and days after polls close, states begin to publish unofficial
results that news outlets use to project winners. The states themselves don’t
declare winners until weeks later, once the vote tallies have been canvassed and
certified.

Skip to end of carousel


ELECTION 2024

arrow leftarrow right
Get live updates on Election Day 2024 including results, exit polls and the
latest news on the presidential race between Vice President Kamala Harris and
former president Donald Trump. Here’s a guide to navigating the day.
Get live presidential election results. Here’s when we may know who won the
presidential election, a breakdown of how The Washington Post reports results
and how Post Pulse will forecast the outcome of the presidential race.
We’ve identified Harris’s and Trump’s possible paths to winning the presidential
election based on The Post’s polling averages in seven battleground states.
We’ve compared Harris’s and Trump’s stances on the most important issues,
including abortion, economic policy and immigration.
The Post broke down the nine races and three long shots that could determine
whether Democrats lose control of the Senate. Forty-three competitive races will
determine whether Republicans retain their narrow control of the House.
Sign up for The Campaign Moment, reporter Aaron Blake’s guide to what you really
need to know about the election.

1/6

End of carousel

In 2020, the Associated Press and other news outlets determined Joe Biden had
won the presidency four days after the election. The swing states that took the
longest then could again be slow this year: Pennsylvania, Arizona and Nevada. If
the race is close, other states could join the list.

In addition to legal restrictions on when officials can count mail ballots, long
lines at polling places at the end of the day can also slow counting, as voters
who are in line at closing time are still allowed to vote.

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And then there are ballots from overseas voters and those in the military, which
sometimes arrive after Election Day, along with provisional ballots cast by
voters whose eligibility is in question. In very close elections, the outcome is
unclear until these last ballots are counted.



Here’s a look at the seven battleground states and when results can be expected.


PENNSYLVANIA

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In 2020, the Associated Press called the state for Biden on the Saturday after
Election Day. Election officials expect the tally to take several days again
this year.

Follow Election 2024

Follow

Unlike many states, officials there are not allowed to begin processing absentee
ballots until 7 a.m. on Election Day. The process is laborious. Workers must
check that voters have provided all necessary information, then remove the
ballots from the envelopes, unfold them, ensure they haven’t been damaged and
feed them into voting tabulators.

Pennsylvania has arcane rules that can lead to challenges over ballots. Absentee
ballots must be placed in a secrecy envelope that is then placed in a mailing
envelope. The envelopes must be properly dated. If there are mistakes, the
ballots may not be counted.

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ARIZONA

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Four years ago, Fox News and the Associated Press called Arizona for Biden on
election night in a move that others called premature. Most networks waited days
to determine if Biden won the state. This time, unofficial results could again
take that long.

Arizona allows election officials to process early ballots as soon as they
receive them, but many voters wait until Election Day to drop them off.

There are worries that it could take even longer to count votes in Arizona this
year, as the ballot is unusually long. In Maricopa County, the state’s most
populous county, the races and ballot questions stretch across two pages instead
of one — which means voters and officials will have to feed twice as many pieces
of paper into vote-counting machines this year. That increases the chances for
paper jams that slow down vote counting.


NEVADA

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In 2020, the Associated Press called Nevada for Biden the Saturday after
Election Day.

Voting in Nevada is conducted largely by mail, and Secretary of State Cisco
Aguilar (D) has advised counties to start tabulating those ballots as soon as
the polls open on Election Day instead of after they close, as they have in the
past.

On Election Day, after the last voter has voted, the secretary of state will
give counties the green light to release totals for all in-person ballots as
well as all mail ballots that arrive before that day. What’s left will be
in-person Election Day ballots as well as mail votes arriving that day or later.
Election Day precinct totals will start trickling out Tuesday night but are
unlikely to be fully reported until later in the week.

Most states require ballots to be returned by Election Day, but Nevada counts
mail ballots without a postmark that arrive up to three days after Election Day
and those with a postmark up to four days after Election Day. That creates
uncertainty on when the results will be known, especially in a close election.
The second biggest day for receiving mail ballots in Nevada is typically the day
after the election.

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GEORGIA

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Networks called Georgia for Biden the Friday after the election in 2020.
Election officials expect counting this year to go faster.

Election officials can process absentee ballots as they arrive and can start
counting them at 7 a.m. on Election Day.

One hour after the polls close on Election Day — which is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Eastern time — state election officials plan to release the counts of all
processed mail ballots and early ballots. Early voting has been wildly popular
this year, and more than half of registered voters have already cast their
ballots. Officials estimate that most county Election Day tallies will be
published before midnight Tuesday. They will also publish the total number of
ballots cast that day, which will let the public know how many ballots remain to
be counted.

A few stragglers will take longer, likely including Fulton County, the state’s
largest jurisdiction, which is managing a new counting facility this year.


MICHIGAN

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Michigan was called for Biden the day after Election Day. This year, Secretary
of State Jocelyn Benson (D) said she expects to have unofficial results for the
state by the end of the day Wednesday at the latest.

Large and medium-sized communities this year started to process their mail
ballots last week; communities with fewer than 5,000 residents can process them
Monday. All jurisdictions will tally the votes on Election Day.

In 2022, Michigan approved a measure allowing in-person early voting. Those who
vote that way feed their ballots into tabulators, just as they would on Election
Day. That means less work for clerks on Election Day and should help speed up
the count.

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WISCONSIN

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In 2020, the count in Wisconsin was completed early in the morning the day after
Election Day, and the Associated Press called the state for Biden that
afternoon.

Election officials cannot count mail and in-person early ballots until Election
Day, which can lead to counting delays.

Milwaukee, a Democratic bastion and the largest city in the state, is expected
to be one of the last cities in the state to report its full results because it
needs time to tally its early and mail ballots at its central count facility.
Milwaukee’s election director expects to have complete unofficial results
sometime after midnight. A few other jurisdictions in the state could report
their results after that.


NORTH CAROLINA

Return to menu

The state in the past has reported most results relatively quickly and could
provide early clues to how Trump and Harris will fare nationally.

The counting process moves faster in North Carolina, as election officials may
remove mail ballots from their envelopes and feed them into tabulators weeks
before Election Day. They tally those results on Election Day but cannot
announce the results until after the polls close at 7:30 p.m. Eastern time.

Election officials will first report totals for mail ballots and later report
totals from those who voted early in person or on Election Day.

Because of damage from Hurricane Helene, some precincts will have to call their
results into election offices instead of delivering computer memory sticks to
them. This could slow the reporting of results in some counties.

Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Colby Itkowitz contributed to this report.


ELECTION 2024

Get live updates on Election Day 2024 including results, exit polls and the
latest news on the presidential race between Vice President Kamala Harris and
former president Donald Trump. Here’s a guide to navigating the day.

Election results: Get live presidential election results. Here’s when we may
know who won the presidential election, a breakdown of how The Washington Post
reports results and how Post Pulse will forecast the outcome of the presidential
race.

Presidential polls: We’ve identified Harris’s and Trump’s possible paths to
winning the presidential election based on The Post’s polling averages in seven
battleground states.

Voting: We mapped where millions of Americans have cast a ballot in the 2024
election through mail and in-person early voting. Here’s when polls close in
each state.

Policy positions: We’ve collected Harris’s and Trump’s stances on the most
important issues — abortion, economic policy, immigration and more.

House and Senate control: Senate Democrats are at risk of losing their slim
51-49 majority this fall. The Post broke down the nine races and three long
shots that could determine Senate control. In the House, 10 competitive races
will determine whether Republicans will retain their narrow control of the
chamber next year.

Show more

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Election 2024
HAND CURATED
 * Election 2024 live updates: Voting continues as polls show Trump, Harris in a
   tight race
   1 hour ago
   
   Election 2024 live updates: Voting continues as polls show Trump, Harris in a
   tight race
   1 hour ago
 * Presidential election results 2024 live updates
   Earlier today
   
   Presidential election results 2024 live updates
   Earlier today
 * When will we know the election results? What to know about vote counting.
   November 4, 2024
   
   When will we know the election results? What to know about vote counting.
   November 4, 2024

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