Election Day is nearly here, and voters are wondering when they’ll know the identity of the next President of the United States. Over the last two decades, we’ve seen some massive controversies around election results. With a race this close, more are bound to occur, which makes it tough to estimate when the final results will be revealed. Below, we’ll give a few of the possibilities based on past elections.
When will the 2024 election results be revealed?
Under normal circumstances, we typically know who the next president will be either the same night or the morning after the election. If everything goes well, we could know if Trump or Harris is the winner as soon as a few hours after the polls close. However, that’s not likely to happen in a race this close.
Here’s what happened in recent elections:
2000
- Bush (Winner): 271 Electoral Votes
- Gore: 266 Electoral Votes
- Election Day: November 7, 2000
- Day winner declared: December 13
- Description: Gore won the popular vote, and the election came down to Florida. After several recounts, Bush was declared the winner on November 26. However, Gore formally contested the certified results and asked that 70,000 rejected ballots be tallied. The Supreme Court stated that this was unconstitutional and blocked the recount on December 12. Gore officially conceded the next day.
2004
- Bush (Winner): 286 Electoral Votes
- Kerry: 251 Electoral Votes
- Election Day: November 2, 2004
- Day winner declared: November 3, 2004
- Description: Aside from a minor controversy around Ohio votes, this election was relatively drama-free.
2008
- Obama (Winner): 365 Electoral Votes
- McCain: 173 Electoral Votes
- Election Day: November 4, 2008
- Day winner declared: November 4, 2008
- Description: A landslide victory for Democrats.
2012
- Obama (Winner): 332 Electoral Votes
- Romney: 206 Electoral Votes
- Election Day: November 6, 2012
- Day winner declared: November 7, 2012
- Description: The race was closer than the electoral votes would seem to indicate. It came down to votes in three counties. However, Romney declined to press for a recount and conceded the afternoon after Election Day.
2016
- Trump (Winner): 304 Electoral Votes
- Clinton: 227 Electoral Votes
- Election Day: November 8, 2016
- Day winner declared: November 9, 2016
- Description: Clinton was predicted to win the election in a landslide. However, polling was drastically off in key states, leading to a surprise victory for Trump.
2020
- Biden (Winner): 306 Electoral Votes
- Trump: 232 Electoral Votes
- Election Day: November 3, 2020
- Day winner declared: November 23, 2020
- Description: The Media declared Biden the winner on November 7, 2020, but he wasn’t officially certified by the General Services Administration until November 23. Trump continued to declare that the election results were fraudulent and didn’t admit defeat until a June 2021 interview with Sean Hannity. Multiple attempts to decertify the election results were made, but none came close to succeeding.
So, historically, we’re likely to see the election results within the day. However, the race is sure to be extremely close, which increases the chances of something unexpected occurring.
