Determining the winner of the US presidency is not a straightforward process — and there are many tasks that need to be undertaken to confirm who will lead the United States starting in January 2025.

It all starts at the moment when the first ballots begin to be counted.

What time do polls close?

In the majority of US states, polls close at 7 or 8 p.m. In Indiana and Kentucky, polls close at 6 p.m., and in New York polls are open until 9 p.m. The nearly 22.6 million registered voters in California, the most-populous US state, aren't heard from until 8 p.m.local time, or 0400 UTC. 

US elections occur across six time zones, so when the last polls close at 8 p.m. in western Alaska, it is 1 a.m. on the East Coast.

Some polling places may also have exceptions to statewide rules.

Voting centers also have to stay open as long as people are waiting in line. This year, sites in the states of Georgia, Pennsylvania and New Jersey stayed open later because of long lines, fake bomb threats and technical difficulties.

In addition, more than 85 million people — or over one-third of the roughly 240 million eligible voters in the United States — cast their ballots ahead of Election Day.

When are results announced? 

Results start being reported as soon as the first ballot boxes are opened for counting.

Exit pollsters such as Edison Research and reporters at the Associated Press feed results from counting stations to their respective press clients in the National Election Pool and AP VoteCast.

Media outlets, including TV networks, radio stations and print and online newspapers, begin reporting these results, projecting outcomes and calling winners, state by state, once they are confident about who has won. 

DW gets its election results data from AP. 

What happens if there is no winner on Election Day? 

Given preelection polling, it's a distinct possibility.

There's a strong likelihood that some Electoral College results won't be known for days.

There is no central election authority either, with states themselves responsible for conducting elections and ballot counting.

When is a result formalized? 

Before December 11, a state will issue certificates of ascertainment for its appointed presidential electors. Rather than being directly elected by the popular vote, the president is certified by appointed electors from each state and the District of Columbia. Each state is allocated electors based on the number of congresspeople in the US House of Representatives, or Congress, and the US Senate. Each elector has one vote.

On December 17, the Electoral College's 538 electors will gather in their states to pledge their votes to a candidate. All states, except for Maine and Nebraska, pledge all their electors to the most popular candidate in their state.

These votes are then sent to the president of the Senate (the current vice president,  Kamala Harris) on December 25.

On January 6, 2025, a joint session of Congress is held, at which Harris will oversee the counting of the votes and announce the Electoral College's decision. In this case, she will either announce herself as the new president or her Republican opponent, Donald Trump.

This article was originally published on November 5 and updated after the first polls closed early November 6.