Millions of Americans voted for a candidate to be the next U.S. president on Tuesday, November 3rd—Election Day. The results of the election have not yet been declared, leaving many wondering when the world will know the outcome.
A candidate must obtain at least 270 of the 538 electoral college votes to become president. A state’s total number of representatives in Congress determines the number of electors each state has. Each elector casts one electoral vote for whichever candidate won the popular vote in that state.
Traditionally, media outlets call the winner of each state on election night as votes are counted and reported, so Americans go to sleep with an idea of who the next president will be. This year, many states were not called Tuesday night and the winner of the election is still a mystery.
In response to the coronavirus pandemic, many states modified their voting rules, broadening access to mail-in voting. Mailed-in ballots—with envelopes to open and signatures to check—simply take longer to count than in-person votes.
The first polls closed on the East Coast at 7 p.m. local time on election night, and the last didn’t close until after 12 a.m. Eastern time. States started reporting some of their results as soon as their polls closed.
As of Thursday, November 5th, The Associated Press called 45 out of the 50 states either red or blue. These states total to 214 electoral votes for Trump and 264 electoral votes for Biden.
60 electoral votes still remain undeclared two days after the general election. Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania have not yet been called. Out of all of those states, Nevada is the only one “leaning blue” with Biden holding 49.5% and Trump 48.5% of the vote. Votes are still being counted and with a current difference of only 1% it is still possible that Nevada could change to red. Biden only needs 6 more electoral votes to become the president-elect and winning the majority in Nevada would give him exactly 6 votes. Trump, on the other hand, would need to claim all 4 remaining battleground states to reach 270 to win.
At the moment, the election is still up in the air. The Republican Party has expressed concerns about the integrity of the election, so Americans should expect potential recounts and other legal battles before the winner is declared.
President Donald Trump’s campaign said Wednesday it would ask for a recount of the race in Wisconsin, saying it was “a razor-thin race” between him and Democratic nominee Joe Biden and citing reports of “irregularities in several Wisconsin counties which raise serious doubts about the validity of the results.”
President Donald Trump’s campaign filed lawsuits Wednesday in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Georgia over ballot counting.
Wednesday Trump tweeted, “Our lawyers have asked for ‘meaningful access,’ but what good does that do? The damage has already been done to the integrity of our system, and to the Presidential Election itself.”
The uncertainty will likely last at least until the rest of the states are called. When that will be is unknown, but Americans expect to watch someone be sworn into office on January 20th.

UPDATE Monday 11/09/20 11 a.m. CST:

Biden was confirmed as the president-elect on Saturday, November 7th when Associated Press called Pennsylvania for Biden. With 20 electoral votes from Pennsylvania, Democrat Joe Biden surpassed the 270 electoral vote threshold to become the 46th president of the United States.

Biden said in a statement Saturday, “With the campaign over, it’s time to put the anger and the harsh rhetoric behind us and come together as a nation.”
“We are the United States of America,” he wrote. “And there’s nothing we can’t do, if we do it together.”

His running mate, Kamala Harris, made history as the first woman on a winning presidential ticket.

Vice President-elect Kamala Harris said in response to her victory, “While I may be the first woman in this office, I will not be the last.”

Incumbent Donald Trump said in response to Biden’s win, “We all know why Joe Biden is rushing to falsely pose as the winner, and why his media allies are trying so hard to help him: they don’t want the truth to be exposed.”

In his victory speech, Biden made no mention of his opponent, President Donald Trump, who has not yet conceded the race.

Trump’s campaign and the Republican Party are taking legal action to increase access for campaign observers in locations where ballots are being processed and investigate the possibility of voter fraud in some of the swing states. For Trump to win he would need to win multiple suits in multiple states to reach 270 electoral votes.

Over the next several weeks, each state will certify its results for the presidential election. Once that’s finalized, the Electoral College will meet on December 14. If there are any election disputes related to the presidential race, states must resolve these by December 8.

Americans can still expect an inauguration on January 20th, and with the current election results, Joe Biden is prepared to be the man with his right and raised, ready to assume office as the 46th president of the United States.