Trump declares victory overnight: How long did it take for results in past elections?
Millions of Americans woke up to the news of Donald Trump's victory over Vice President Kamala Harris this morning, a result that came quicker than many originally projected.
As Election Day 2024 drew near, many expected to see delays in final results thanks to the tight race, extended poll hours and state-specific laws dictating that some must wait to start counting mail-in ballots. However, the Associated Press was able to call the presidency at 5:35 Wednesday morning after Trump officially secured the vital swing state of Wisconsin.
The call came much quicker than news of Joe Biden's 2020 victory, which took four days to declare due to an influx of mail-in and absentee ballots leading to longer count times. While election workers will still be counting ballots in the coming days to officially certify each state, The Associated Press explains that it calls a race when "trailing candidates no longer have a path to victory," relying on researchers and other analysis.
Here's a look at how election ballots are processed and how long it took for the winner to be called in the last six presidential elections.
Why aren't results always called on Election Day?
Election laws vary by state, how close the race is and external factors like the pandemic in 2020 or the devastating hurricanes hitting southern states this storm season can all have an impact on when results roll in.
Some states, including key swing states like Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, aren't permitted to start processing absentee and mail-in ballots until Election Day, for example, slowing the process.
Some states that do allow processing, or verifying voter signatures and physically preparing ballots for tabulation, to begin earlier must still wait until Election Day to begin counting, or actually tabulating the votes and feeding them into tally machines.
According to ballotpedia.org, 43 states currently allow processing to begin before Election Day while seven require processing to begin on Election Day. As for counting, 12 states allow counting to begin before Election Day, 23 allow counting to begin before polls close on Election Day and 14 require the polls to close before counting can start.
Ballots from overseas and military members also can arrive and be counted after Election Day, as well as provisional votes. And, long lines at polling places can cause late-in-the-day delays, as those who are in line when locations officially close are still entitled to vote.
States and news outlets begin making unofficial calls throughout Election Day and beyond when the majority of votes have been counted and if a clear winner emerges. However, official results are not certified until weeks later. If an election is close and no clear frontrunner emerges, this can also lead to a delay in the unofficial results.
When we saw results in past elections
Since the 2000 election, considered the longest election in modern U.S. history, results have been called on various schedules. The second longest delay in the recent past was in 2020, thanks to logistics related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
2020 results took four days
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020's results came later than usual, taking four days for all votes to be counted.
Logistically, the 2020 election was complicated by several confounding factors, including an unusually high percentage (46%) of voters using absentee or mail-in ballots. The backlogs for these votes were millions-strong, according to the Pew Research Center, and required additional time to count.
Trump and his supporters took these extra days of counting as an opportunity to sow disinformation and spread election fraud conspiracies, leading some to erroneously equate the slower count to widespread fraud, despite a lack of evidence.
Joe Biden's win was eventually announced on Nov. 7, four days after the Nov. 3 Election Day.
2016 was called in the early morning hours
Despite Hillary Clinton's loss being a major upset after outpacing Trump by 2.9 million in the popular vote, the 2016 election was called in Trump's favor relatively early.
Election Day 2016 fell on Nov. 8. The Associated Press made it official at around 2:30 a.m. ET on Nov. 9, 2016.
2012 results were called before midnight on Election Day
In 2012, former President Barack Obama was projected to win a second term over now-Sen. Mitt Romney before midnight on Election Day, Nov. 6.
Romney, who was so confident he had not written a concession speech ahead of time, officially conceded around 1 a.m. on Nov. 7.
2008 was also called before the toll of midnight
Obama also secured a quick victory on Nov. 4, 2008, against Sen. John McCain, with outlets calling the race around 11 p.m. EST after polls closed.
2004 came down to Ohio
Then-Sen. John Kerry conceded to then-President George W. Bush on a phone call shortly after 11 a.m. the morning after the election, which was held on Nov. 2, 2004.
Previously, Kerry had held out some hope in the tight race until the important battleground state of Ohio announced it had roughly 135,000 provisional ballots remaining. Believing it statistically impossible these remaining ballots would change the outcome, Kerry conceded.
2000 was the longest delay in modern U.S. history
To this day, some people still argue that the 2000 presidential election should not have been called in favor of George W. Bush. The longest election in modern American history, the 2000 race between Republican Bush and Democrat Al Gore took 35 days and a Supreme Court decision to officially call.
Logistical issues that set the stage for the unprecedented delay began on Election Day, Nov. 7. Faulty ballot design, allegations of misconduct, demands for recounts and multiple court decisions dragged the process out for over a month.
Florida's Supreme Court granted the Gore Campaign's request for a manual recount in the state, but the decision was contested by the Bush campaign. The election came down to just 537 votes.
In a controversial 4-5 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the manual recount due to it violating the Equal Protection Clause. It also decided that the Gore campaign had run out of time to propose any new recount plans due to the “safe harbor” clause in U.S. Code, ending the election on Dec. 12, five weeks after Election Day 2000.
Over 20 years later, some still argue that media outlets and campaigns calling the election too early in Bush's favor had an impact on the outcome.
Contributing: Joshua Bote, Sam Woodward, Paste BN