Once the polls close, people turn to news media for results and analysis of what they mean. They watch maps and numbers change, often every few minutes, as they wait for election officials to finish counting votes. It’s a stressful time for everyone involved.
In addition to votes cast on Election Day, some ballots are cast before and after Election Day through early in-person voting or mail ballots that arrive by a state deadline. These ballots are counted after the polls close as part of a process called “the canvass.”
When local officials complete their canvasses, they will report unofficial results to the public and, in the case of a federal or state race, to their respective states. Then, after multiple steps to verify the count’s accuracy, state elections offices will certify final results for federal and state races.
During this process, news outlets report updates and make predictions about who will win each race. They may also track the percentage of voting locations that have reported their results, which can help them keep viewers up to date on how many ballots remain to be counted. But they can’t know who will win until all votes are counted and verified, which could take weeks or longer.