Yahoo News Exit poll results: What do the first election polls say?
Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are battling for the White House, with polling showing it will be one of the closest presidential races in history.
It could take anywhere between hours and weeks for the winner to be declared, depending on their eventual margin of victory and whether the result spawns any legal battles.
One of the earliest indications for who will win the White House will be the exit poll.
However, not all of its projections will be released immediately by TV networks, even after polls have closed and the votes that will decide the next president are being tallied.
First exit poll: Female turnout high in boost for Kamala Harris
Female turnout in the US election is set to be high, according to early exit polls that could prove to be a boost for Kamala Harris.
Early data shows women accounting for some 53 per cent of the vote, six points ahead of men, and one point up on the last election.
In another possible boost for Harris, voters think the state of democracy is the most important issue at this election
Ms Harris has put abortion and the threat to democracy posed by Donald Trump at the centre of her campaign.
The exit polls showed 35 per cent of voters say the future of democracy in the US is a top concern, ahead of the economy (31 per cent), abortion (18 per cent) immigration (14 per cent).
Millions of voters across the US have flocked to polling stations with reports of record turnout in a number of states, including key battlegrounds such as Georgia and North Carolina.
What time are the exit polls released?
The embargo period for exit polls will end at 5pm ET on polling day, after which news organisations are allowed to begin reporting results from individual states.
However, at this point they are not permitted to project a winner while voting is still taking place.
Exit polls will only be announced in states where the margins are large enough and they will not be used in the battleground states to project whether Kamala Harris or Donald Trump have won.
Instead, statisticians will use a combination of the exit poll, actual declared votes and other data to forecast a winner.
Along with establishing how respondents voted, the exit poll also questions voters on their demographics and what motivated their decision.
When will we know who won the election?
If one candidate has a significant lead over the other, then the result may be clear within a matter of hours.
However, a fine margin of victory will mean delays in how long it will take for experts to declare whether Ms Harris or Trump has come out on top.
Previous contests have taken days or even weeks to be called.
In 2000, when Al Gore and George W Bush competed for the White House, polling day was on Nov 7 but the election was not called until Dec 12.
It hinged on the result in Florida, where votes were subject to an automatic recount because of Mr Bush’s fine margin of victory.
The saga eventually ended in the Supreme Court, where justices voted to terminate the recount, prompting Mr Gore to concede shortly afterwards.
If the 2024 election hinges on a handful of votes in a single state, a similar legal battle could break out between the two parties.
When will the election results be announced?
Although the result will likely be called well before, the winner will not officially be announced until January.
First, the states need to certify the results for the presidential election, with that taking place in either November or December.
A joint session of Congress then counts the electoral votes and will declare the election winner on Jan 6 2025, as set out by the 12th Amendment.
It was the certification process in 2021 that prompted the storming of the Capitol by supporters of Donald Trump.
When was the 2020 election result called?
The 2020 election was called for Joe Biden by TV networks on Nov 7 – four days after polls closed and ballot counting began.
CNN was the first to break cover, and was followed in a matter of seconds by CNS, MSNBC, CBS and a series of other networks.
The latest batch of votes counted in Pennsylvania had put Mr Biden out of reach by Trump by giving the Democrat a lead of more than 30,000 votes. Trump had declared victory in the state three days earlier even while more than a million ballots remained uncounted.
“America, I’m honoured that you have chosen me to lead our great country,” Mr Biden wrote on social media later the same day.
“The work ahead of us will be hard, but I promise you this: I will be a president for all Americans – whether you voted for me or not.”
