Election Day will become an election week, or even an election month, for millions of voters across the country.

In 2020, the last polls closed on Tuesday, November 3, but it took four days – until Saturday, November 7 – for President Biden to be projected as the winner due to delays in tabulating the ballots, leading to unsubstantiated claims of fraud by Donald Trump and his allies who continue to resonate.

This time, even without the wrinkle of a global pandemic, Republicans and Democrats will wait a while longer for several states to certify their results.

While the slowness of some of these states won’t be critical to the outcome of the presidential race, they could delay calls in key voting rounds — as well as the battle for control of Congress.

Here are some of the slowest slowpokes among the 50 states.

Alaska

Polling stations close: 12 a.m. ET Wednesday in most of the state, 1 a.m. Wednesday in parts of the Aleutian Islands.

Despite the fact that the Last Frontier has the third-smallest population of any state in the union, it is infamous for being one of the last to have ballots counted thanks to its peculiar election rules and dispersed, mostly rural population.

State law requires that early votes submitted to county elections offices on or before the Thursday before Election Day (in this case, Oct. 31) be counted on election night.

However, according to the Alaska Division of Elections, absentee ballots and early votes cast after that time frame must be tallied seven days after the polls close (Nov. 12).

That means the House of Representatives race between Democratic incumbent Mary Peltola and Republican challenger Nick Begich III could be one of the last to be called.

Arizona

Polling stations close: 9:00 PM ET

Arizona allows election officials to begin processing mail-in ballots after early voting begins — but crucially requires officials to wait until after polls close to count them.

During the 2022 midterm elections, about 20% of mail-in votes were dropped on Election Day, requiring time-consuming verification procedures to ensure the ballots were legitimate.

The bulk of ballots will be cast in Maricopa County, which includes metro Phoenix and is home to about three-fifths of Arizona’s population. In 2022, election officials there needed until the Sunday after voting day to complete vote processing.

There is also the potential for lawsuits that could cause further delays in declaring a result, not only in the presidential race but also in the 1st Congressional District, which is currently held by Republican David Schweikert and by the Cook Political Report until a “toss-up” is declared.

Four years ago, Biden won Arizona from Trump by 0.3%.

California

Polling stations close: 11:00 PM ET

The nation’s most populous state has a notorious history of taking days and even weeks to complete the rudimentary task of counting ballots.

This is largely due to the fact that most Californians vote by mail. During the 2020 cycle, 72% of votes came from mail-in ballots. During the 2024 primaries, that figure rose to 89%, according to data from the California Secretary of State.

The Golden State requires county officials to undergo an extensive signature verification process and gives counties 30 days to count ballots — a much longer time frame than the seven days most other mail-in states have.

Vice President Kamala Harris (born in the Bay Area) will almost certainly get California’s 54 electoral votes in the presidential election. But as many as five House Republicans (John Duarte, David Valadao, Mike Garcia, Ken Calvert and Michelle Steel) could be in for a very anxious Thanksgiving, waiting to see if they’ll be back in Washington in January 2025.

Nevada

Polling stations close: 10pm ET

The Silver State was the third-to-last state Biden was called on four years ago, and has taken steps to ensure they are a little faster this time.

In Nevada, mail-in ballots may be counted up to four days after the election, provided they are postmarked on or before Election Day.

Earlier this year, Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar told officials they could begin counting early votes in person as soon as ballots arrive on Election Day, rather than waiting until after the polls close. the race, as Tuesday turns into Wednesday.

However, with polls showing a tight race between Harris and Trump, who hopes to be the first Republican since George W. Bush to take Nevada in 2004, it will likely be a long wait for both the Democratic and Republican camps.

North Carolina

Polling stations close: 7:30 PM ET

In 2020, North Carolina was called for Trump only ten days after the election (only Georgia took longer to declare a winner).

While it may not take as long to pick a winner this time, the Tar Heel State has a new policy that makes ballot processing even slower than before.

Unlike four years ago, officials will no longer be allowed to count early votes until after polls close on Nov. 5, under a state law that took effect last year.

Pennsylvania

Polling stations close: 8:00 PM ET

The state that many believe will decide the presidency does not allow ballots to be counted before Election Day, which has historically led to delays in predicting an outcome.

Four years ago, most media outlets called the Keystone State for Biden on November 7, sparking a wild celebration among his supporters.

This time, officials will hope for an outcome similar to 2016, when Trump was expected to win the state in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Wisconsin

Polling stations close: 9:00 PM ET

History doesn’t necessarily suggest that Wisconsin will be as slow as some of the others on this list. But the results may not be ready on election night.

Under Wisconsin law, ballots cannot be counted until Election Day. Complicating matters is that the Badger State appears to be one of the few states where early and absentee voting has not declined following the COVID pandemic, even causing delays in some locations last week.

Four years ago, Wisconsin was called for Biden only the day after the polls closed.

Will Georgia struggle again?

Polling stations close: 7:00 PM ET

Georgia was the very last state to be declared four years ago.

Since then, lawmakers in the Peach State have taken steps to speed up reporting of results and reform the election process.

The biggest step was the passage of the Election Integrity Act of 2021, which Biden-led Democrats decried as voter suppression, with the president describing it as “Jim Crow 2.0.”

The new law was intended to streamline and strengthen the means for processing and verifying ballots. Absentee ballots now require the last four digits of a social security number or a copy of an ID to minimize the complexity of signature verification.

Despite the controversy, Georgia’s 2022 elections went off without a hitch. This year, voters have already broken records for early election turnout, with more than 2.1 million ballots already cast and another 320,000 absentee ballots requested, according to data from Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s office. .

“All early votes and all early accepted ballots must have their results reported by 8 p.m.,” Raffensperger told CBS’ “Face the Nation” earlier this month. “That’s 70, maybe even 75% of all vote totals will be reported by 8 p.m. on election night.”

Also auguring well for a quick outcome in Georgia is the fact that a judge in Fulton County recently imposed a late-stage rule by the Georgia State Election Board, which ordered officials to analyze ballots by hand.

What about Michigan?

Polling stations close: 8:00 PM ET in most of the state, 9:00 PM ET in parts of the Upper Peninsula

Another state Biden was called for on the 2020 election Wednesday, Michigan, has taken steps toward faster reporting of results, allowing counties with more than 5,000 voters to begin counting ballots on Oct. 28.

As a result, Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson predicts that her state will see unofficial results no later than one day after the final vote is cast.