US Election 2024: Result Date, Time And How The US President Is Elected

Former US President Donald Trump is set to face Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 race for the White House, with both eyeing to be the next leader of the United States. Democrat candidate Harris and Republican candidate Trump are busy holding rallies for the final leg of the US presidential campaign.

Here is everything you need to know about the US election date, timing, results and other details.

The much-anticipated US elections will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 5. Early voting or postal voting has already started with millions of Americans casting their votes. The voting usually closes at 7 pm local time or 5:30 am IST but varies from state to state. 

Counting will begin as soon as the polling ends on Tuesday. It may take several days or weeks before a winner is officially projected for the US presidential election. Even after that, it may take months to finalise the results. The 2020 presidential elections saw the result being declared four days after the ballot on Nov. 3, with Joe Biden winning the race to the White House.

Traditionally, the candidate concedes defeat even before the results are formally declared. However, Trump in 2020 refused to accept his defeat even after Biden took charge as President of the United States. 

Usually, the Congress meets on Jan. 6 and declares the winner formally.

Elections in the US are different from how they take place in India. The US follows a more complex process involving multiple stages. 

As the first step, parties choose their nominees through internal elections at a national convention. After the nominees are chosen, the Democratic and Republican nominees conduct campaigns across the country to garner popularity. They also face each other in televised debates.

The US uses a system called the Electoral College to elect its president. In this, 538 electors formally elect the president and vice president. A candidate has to get at least 270 electoral votes to secure a majority.

Electoral votes are equal to a state's congressional representation, the sum of its House Representatives (based on the population) and two Senators. California, a densely populated state, has 54 electoral votes. Smaller states like Wyoming have a minimum of 3 electoral votes.

The candidate who wins the popular votes in a state takes all of that state's electoral votes. This happens in 48 states, other than Maine and Nebraska.

Finally, Electors gather in December in their states to vote for their president and vice president. The Congress then counts the electoral votes and declares the results on Jan. 6 and the new president takes charge on Jan. 20, Inauguration Day.