After all the drama of a campaign like no other, election day is almost here. It’s been a super tight race between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump and more twists and turns are guaranteed after the polls close on November 5.

So sit down and buckle up. Our election night guide covers the key times and things to look out for as we wait for a result.

After months of wondering what the American public will decide, we will now get a glimpse of their thoughts and motivations when the first set of exit poll data is released.

Exit polls in Britain provide a projection of the final outcome once the polls close, but the American ones are very different. Rather than predicting the outcome, they provide insight into people’s priorities and opinions – and later, how different demographic groups voted. Pollsters combine Election Day interviews with telephone polls, both nationally and in the US seven swing states.

Expect experts to talk a lot about these states throughout the night – Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania And Wisconsin – where votes are difficult to predict and can be Republican (red) or Democrat (blue).

Swing states They are believed to hold the keys to the White House. Both campaigns heavily targeted voters in these battleground areas.

The polls will now be closer Indiana, Kentucky, South Carolina, Vermont And Virginiabut these are not swing states, so the results will be predictable.

But voting will also close in the first swing state of the night, Georgia. A win for either candidate could be a strong indication of the direction the election could go.

Georgia was narrowly won by Joe Biden last time. It also became the subject of false claims by Trump, who is accused of a criminal conspiracy to overturn his 2020 defeat.

The candidate with more votes than anyone else in Georgia gets 16 crucial votes out of 538 under the electoral college system.

Harris and Trump both want to secure a majority of 270 electoral college votes to win the White House. That is more important than the ‘popular vote’ or the national support they receive.

Shortly afterwards, at 7:30 PM EST (00:30 GMT), polls close in three more states, including North Carolina. Outside of the presidential election, there is great interest in the battle for state governor, pitting Attorney General Josh Stein against Trump-backed candidate Mark Robinson, whose campaign has been hit by scandal.

The polling stations close at the same time Ohiowhere Trump’s running mate JD Vance is a senator. Meanwhile, the two campaigns will gather at their headquarters tonight – which we know will be in West Palm Beach. Floridain the case of Trump.

At this point, some states could be ‘called out’ by the US media. They use models to project (or determine) which way a state voted, even before the full number of votes have been counted.

This happens when they believe that a candidate has gained an advantage that cannot be defeated by his opponent. In some closely contested swing states, this could take a long time.

The models the media use are based on a variety of data, such as exit polls and actual votes counted by officials. The BBC gets this data from a company called Edison Research.

More polls are closing, including, crucially, in Pennsylvaniathe largest prize among the swing states of 2024 with 19 electoral votes. It is also a state that is part of the Rust Belt – areas once dominated by manufacturing that have experienced an industrial decline in recent decades.

This is where a handful of counties, like Erie and Northampton, could ultimately make a difference.

Around now, at 8:30 PM EST (01:30 GMT), we expect to receive more exit poll data, including a national breakdown of voting by age, race, and college education level. This is preliminary data that will be refined over a period of weeks.

The polls are closing in closely watched battleground states including Michigan And Wisconsin. That’s 02:00 GMT for those in Britain burning the midnight oil right now.

The polls also closed Arizona – a focal point for the national immigration debate – followed by Nevada, where, an hour later, both parties have tried to appeal to working-class voters by promising to abolish taxes on tips.

At 11:00 PM EDT (04:00 GMT), polls will close in the remaining states bordering the US mainland. The last two states close a little later – Hawaii at 00:00 EDT (05:00 GMT) and Alaska at 1:00 AM EDT on Wednesday (06:00 GMT).

Traditionally, this has been shortly after voting closes at 11:00 PM EDT California that the race as a whole was for one candidate or the other. Not long later, a concession speech from the losing candidate followed.

But few observers expect a quick resolution this year, with some suggesting it could take days rather than hours before the victor is declared.

In recent elections, an increased number of votes cast by mail has often slowed down the process. And different states have different rules about when they start counting them.

A candidate who takes an early lead by voting in person may eventually be overtaken when mail-in voting and other types of mail-in ballots are added later. This means early numbers can be misleading.

Despite so much attention to the presidency, voters will also choose new members Congresswho pass laws and initiate spending plans. All 435 seats in the House of Representatives are selectable. In the Senatewhere members vote on key government appointments, 34 seats are contested.

The Republicans currently control the House of Representatives, while the Democrats control the Senate.

These two chambers can act as a check on the White House’s plans if the controlling party in either chamber disagrees with the president.

Voters in Montana, ArizonaMissouri, Nebraska, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, NevadaNew York And South Dakota They will also be asked how their state should regulate abortion, which has become one of the most emotional issues of the election.

If it’s still your turn, then it’s good that you made it this far, but there’s a chance we’ll have to wait a little longer to find out who won. The more exciting the race, the more votes must be counted before a winner can be projected in any given location. The complete national count usually takes days or weeks.

To give you a preview – the results will be available in 2020 Pennsylvania And Nevada was projected four days after election day, and in Arizonaafter just over a week at most outlets.

A very close battle could feel like a repeat of 2020. Or 2024 could be similar to the year 2000, between George W. Bush and Al Gore, which was contested and ultimately settled by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The neck-and-neck vote predicted by polls and pundits in 2024 could potentially open the door to legal challenges on both sides.

That would make the evening just the beginning of the drama — and not the final word on the 2024 election.

North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher provides insight into the race for the White House in his biweekly US Election Unspun newsletter. Readers in Great Britain you can register here. Those outside Britain can sign up here.