Apart from very few exceptions, American voters in modern history are able to know whom they elect as the president on the night of the election day.
In general, based on the media projections and exit polls, candidates concede or claim victory. The deadline for official certification of the ballots is December 14.
But, this time round, it may not happen due to multiple reasons. There are four likely reasons -- incumbent President Donald Trump’s failure to state yet that he will accept the defeat, the sheer size of early voting, any possible court battles if the margin of win is thin for either of the candidates and fear of violence.
More than 92 million out of probable 150 to 160 million voters have cast their votes either in-person or through mail. And, voters continue to cast early votes till the election day.
Early votes, either in-person or through mail, are counted differently in states. Some count them as they arrive while some count them after tallying the votes on the election day. Some states also receive postal ballots even after the polling day if the envelopes containing votes show that those were posted on or before the November 3.
According to election experts participating in a virtual event titled ‘2020 U.S. Presidential Election Reporting Seminar’, given the sheer amount of early votes, the counting and subsequent declaration of the results may pose a challenge to many states, as there are not enough logistics and human resources in place to deal with this unprecedented number of early votes.
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The East-West Center, a non-partisan US organization, is organizing the 14-day seminar from October 25 to November 7. Twelve journalists, including this correspondent, are participating in the event from across the globe.
However, striking a notion of optimism, some are saying that if the winning margin is broader there will not be any problem, but if the margin is thin many problems, including court battles, may arise.
Some even fear of violence by Trump supporter in case of defeat.
Mentioning that Trump has yet to state clearly that he would accept the defeat the seminar was told that it is unlikely that the president will deliver a concession speech.
On the heels of such scenario, it cannot be said for sure that there will be victory and concession speeches on the election night as Americans are used to.
Polling times, early projection and results
As the US has several time zones, polling times vary from state to state.
For instance, people of Florida will start voting at 7:00am local time (6:00pm Bangladesh time) and the polling will close in the critical battleground state at 7:00pm (6:00am on Wednesday in Bangladesh).
In California, however, the polling will begin at 7:00am local time (11:00pm Bangladesh time) and close at 8:00pm (10:00am on Wednesday Bangladesh time).
Usually, following the closure of polls in each state, various media outlets make projections about the outcome based on the ongoing counting and exit polls that are taken on people returning after casting their votes.
If any candidate’s lead is significant in a state, the winner is named. If the race is tight it is projected ‘too close to call’.