This Election Day, Americans are flocking to the polls to vote for president.
That’s in addition to the 82 million voters who already cast their ballots early this year.
And while polls officially close across the country Tuesday night, that doesn’t mean a winner will be named.
Election experts are warning Americans to beware of any candidate who quickly declares victory. In the historically tight race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, experts say it could take days for a winner to be declared.
Despite this being the case, Trump is repeatedly demanding that the race be called on election night.
This is similar to his actions during the 2020 election, when Trump falsely claimed he won the race against President Joe Biden just hours after the polls closed that year. That led to demands from Trump's allies for election officials to stop counting ballots, and also led to efforts to overturn the results.
Now, Trump is once again claiming without evidence that "crooked people” will somehow steal this election from him.
But experts reiterate that the election process can be a long one.
In the days following an election, bipartisan officials have to inspect and certify each vote, which can take time.
While laws in states like Michigan allow votes to be processed early, other parts of the country, like the battleground states of Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, don’t allow early processing. This means counts can't begin until Election Day.
In the 2020 election, it took until the Saturday after Election Day for votes in Pennsylvania to be fully tabulated.
The 2024 presidential election is the closest race the U.S. has seen in more than 60 years.
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