When will we know?
The first battleground state called in 2020 was ... ARIZONA.
With polls showing close to a dead heat between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris entering Election Day, and local election officials cautioning it might take days to complete ballot counts, a conventional wisdom has taken hold: Americans are not likely to know their next president on Nov. 5.
Yet, the biggest surprise of all on election night might be if an apparent winner emerges sooner than expected.
Even if a handful of key states remain uncalled, one candidate may well surface with a clear path to victory if the rest of the electoral map is settled. And a marginal polling error in the direction of either candidate could result in a clear and definitive Electoral College victory.
Major news organizations will not declare a winner until a candidate is confirmed to have secured 270 Electoral College votes. Laws in two elector-rich swing states — Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — do not allow their election officials to begin counting mail-in ballots until Election Day, making it highly unlikely their results will be confirmed that evening.
Arizona election officials also expect it will take several days to tabulate their results, with Maricopa County officials pointing to high interest across the state and an especially long, two-page ballot this election cycle. But results in the remaining swing states — Michigan, North Carolina, Georgia and Nevada — could still paint an early picture of a likely winner.
Clear-cut Trump victories across these four states alone would be enough to secure him exactly 270 Electoral College votes that night, and victories in three of the four would require Harris to sweep all remaining battleground states in order to squeak out a victory.
Continue reading the full story at McClatchyDC HERE.
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