NORFOLK, Va. — Election Day is Tuesday, November 5, 2024, and as we approach the day when votes will be counted, many are wondering: when will we find out who won the election between Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump?
The short answer is that it's complicated... and that's perfectly normal.
In Virginia, polls don't close until 7 p.m., and unofficial results won't start appearing until some time afterward.
2024 Virginia Voter Guide: Where to vote, when to vote, and what's on the ballot
Here's how the process in Virginia works:
- Polls close at 7 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 5
- The count will start with early votes, mailed absentee ballots, and Election Day results, once the polls close. The results are entered by each of Virginia’s local general registrar offices into the results reporting system, which then publishes the updated results online.
- Election officials will then count provisional ballots and absentee ballots that were postmarked by Election Day but received afterward.
- In Virginia, the local electoral board must certify all provisional ballots by Monday, Nov. 15.
Election workers are counting ballots in voting centers across different cities and counties, so timing varies across the state.
Another thing to remember is that absentee ballots cast overseas (my members of our military, for example) are given more time to make it to Virginia to be counted than other ballots. Because of those overseas ballots, it can take several days for official election results to be reported. Provisional ballots also are stuck in limbo until Election Day.
"As totals come in on election night, we often know the winners of most contests at the local and even state levels," said Dr. John Davis at the University of Arkansas. "That is unless the contests are particularly close where any outstanding ballots might affect the outcome."
Davis stressed that in recent memory if we went to bed on election night "knowing" who had won an election, it was because media outlets "called" the contest. It will still not be considered official until all ballots — including absentee and provisional — are counted. However, there is a slight chance that we could have an idea of the outcome of the 2024 election.
"Unless we learn that the polls were off and several of the battleground states decisively all go one way or another," Davis said. "In that case, we might see the Associated Press and other media outlets call the contest based on where the outstanding ballots are and the electoral college math of that evening."
It is important to note that each election is different, so there isn't an exact time when the president will be officially declared. In previous elections, media outlets confidently declared a correct winner on election night. For example, in the 2008 election, Barack Obama had leads in enough states to secure the needed 270 electoral votes to be elected as president.
On the other hand, the 2020 election official results took several days.
"The margins in many toss-up states were so tight, compounded by the unprecedented numbers of absentee votes cast due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it took several days before we knew for sure that Joe Biden had defeated Donald Trump," Davis said.
How to track live election results tonight:
For a complete breakdown of all races across the Hampton Roads region, go to our "2024 Election Results" landing page and select an option in the "Location/Group" drop-down menu. After polls close on Tuesday at 7 p.m., you can follow along on that page as our team of journalists brings you the latest election results.
You can also get breaking news alerts on Election Day through the 13News Now mobile app and watch live coverage on our free streaming app, 13NewsNow+, available on Roku, Fire TV, and Apple TV.
Kaleigh Begneaud with WFSM contributed to this report.
