ATLANTA — Election Day is on Tuesday. Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are locked in a tight race and much like 2020, it could be days before a winner is declared.
Both campaigns have their eyes locked on seven battleground states, including Georgia and its 16 electoral votes.
Here’s what to know about Georgia election results. Check back on Tuesday night after the polls close to get real-time election results on Channel 2 Action News, WSBTV.com and the WSB-TV breaking news app.
When will election results start to come in?
Most polls in Georgia close at 7 p.m. unless an emergency order is issued for certain locations to stay open.
During the 2020 election, the first results for Georgia started to come in at 7:20 p.m.
Which votes will come in first?
When the first results come in after 7 p.m., they will mainly include early in-person votes and mail-in ballots.
The Georgia Secretary of State’s Office says 4,004,588 voters have cast ballots either by voting early or absentee by mail. That accounts for 55.3% of registered voters in Georgia who have already voted.
State law allowed county election officials to start processing, batching and scanning absentee ballots two weeks ago. They cannot tabulate them until after the polls close.
Election officials can start working on early in person votes when polls open at 7 a.m.
The memory cards can be entered for tabulation starting at 7 p.m.
County election offices are required to have those tabulation reported by 8 p.m. to the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office.
The State Election Board passed a rule in September that would require poll workers to hand count the paper ballots at the polling locations. A judge blocked that rule in October.
When does a race get called?
Channel 2 Action News does not call races. The races will be called instead by the Associated Press and/or ABC News.
The AP doesn’t make projections and will declare a winner only when it has determined there is no scenario that would allow the trailing candidates to close the gap.
When a race is called, that does not mean the race is official. The results still need to be certified by the county election boards and the state.
It could be days before the presidential race is called. During the 2020 election, President Joe Biden wasn’t declared the winner until two weeks after Election Day.
MORE ELECTION 2024
- Here’s what to watch as Election Day approaches
- What you need to bring with you to vote in Georgia
- How do you vote by absentee ballot in Georgia?
- Georgia judge blocks lawsuit trying to stop counties from accepting hand-returned ballots
- Battleground Georgia: What could surge of early votes in GA mean for presidential race?