Rest assured, you are not the first (or the last) of our readers to ask us this question today.
It is impossible to indicate a time, or even a day, for the publication of the final results of the elections. In 2020, due to the explosion of voting by mail, the counting and communication of results was delayed in some undecided states. Only on November 7, three and a half days after the election, did the major American television networks finally announce Joe Biden’s victory.
On the night of Tuesday, November 5, that is, the early morning of Wednesday for France, we will only have partial results. They will refer to the states where there is no suspense, because they always vote Democratic, like New York State, or Republican, like Missouri.
On election day, polling stations close between 6 and 8 pm, in three time zones. Which means that the last polling stations, those in Hawaii and Alaska, will close at 6 in the morning on Wednesday, November 6, French time. The counting begins in each office, as soon as the polls close. But you also have to wait for the ballots that arrive by mail to be counted.
Read also |
In a “normal” election, we know the result around 11:00 p.m. (East Coast time, or 5:00 a.m. in Paris), when, except for a few polling stations in Hawaii and Alaska, all polling stations are closed. and a large part of them are closed. of the votes already counted.
But this year, as in 2020, we will have to be patient. With the risks of challenging the results (everyone expects Donald Trump to hastily announce his victory on Tuesday night, without any credible elements to support this bluster), the proclamation of the results could be delayed.
Especially since the first indications could be misleading: one of the candidates could have a clear advantage with the counting of the first ballots, but his rival could catch up with the passage of hours, or even days, with the counting of the sent ballots. by mail.
The major American television networks are also preparing for a long electoral evening that could last several days, with fear of announcing a winner too soon and amid a possible torrent of misinformation. In 2020, the result was known on November 7, three and a half days after the election, when the main American television networks finally announced Joe Biden’s victory.
Traditionally, the Associated Press (AP) news agency plays a crucial role in counting votes and declaring the winner in US elections. This is the source we refer to in World to monitor the results.
