US election 2020 results | Donald Trump wants poll results announced by November 3 midnight, but is it possible?

The United States saw a record-breaking 99 million people cast their votes ahead of election day on November 3, making the 2020 presidential race between Joe Biden and Donald Trump the first in American history where more people voted before election day.

Not just the citizens of the US, but people across the world are waiting eagerly to know the results of US election 2020. So, when is it expected?

Though incumbent US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has made an ahistorical claim that the polls must "end on November 3, not weeks later", it is likely to be delayed a fair bit, especially given the unusual circumstances in which voting concluded and counting is being done.

No state has ever announced the result on election night and they are not legally bound to do so either. Also, in three of the past five elections in the US – in 2000, 2004, and 2016 – result counting concluded way past midnight.

Also, it is not possible in today’s day and age - with voters exceeding 160 million - to conclude counting, tabulating, and declaring the election result on the same day voting concludes. The only reason some Americans may believe they get to know the election outcome on the day of voting itself, because media outlets start projecting winners on the basis of partial counts.

Since most votes were cast this year through mail-in ballots because of COVID-19, neither in-person votes, nor mail-in votes will be able to give an idea of the full picture. Moreover, the general confusion around voting rules pushed several voters to opt for provisional ballots, which means election officials would first have to verify their eligibility and then count their votes – something that would prolong the process further.

To top that, the US is now grappling with a fresh wave of the coronavirus pandemic outbreak, which is expected to slow down counting further.

However, despite all the roadblocks, experts are of the opinion that a definitive answer should be available by November 5 or 6, at the latest.