Today’s the day. After over a year of campaigning it’s the final day of the US Election which sees Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump go head to head, both hoping to become the 45th US president.
Sure, that super woke British guy in your newsfeed who’s based in South London and has around 450 Facebook friends persistently begging people in swing states not to vote for Trump is starting to get pretty annoying right about now but, him aside, the stakes are very high in this election.
When we wake up tomorrow Americans will either have elected their first ever female president or they will have elected their first ever sexistreality TV billionaire megalomaniac who wants to build a wall between the US and Mexico and ban Muslims from entering the country.
We might not be able to vote but the interest in this election means that more of us than usual are likely to being staying up past our bedtimes in order to see the results in on this side of the pond.
So, if you are planning to watch the election coverage tonight what are the key things you need to look out for?
When do the polls close?
Unlike the UK people in the US are voting across six different time zones. Polling stations close from 19.00 EST (that’s 24.00 GMT) and 20.00 EST (01.00 GMT).
Once this has happened there will be projections about how each candidate is doing. However, they might not be accurate.
Which are the states to watch out for?
The bigger the state, the more electoral colleges it contains. This means that large states like Ohio, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Florida, Pennsylvania, Colorado and Arizona are worth watching out for.
Swing states, which have previously been both Republican and Democrat are also worth keeping an eye on. Virginia, which voted for Obama in 2008 and 2012, but prior to that was a Republican state is also one to watch.
So, when will we know who the next American president is?
Well, officially we won’t know until around 23.00 EST (that’s 4.00am our time). This is when the polls on the West Coast close and it’s generally when the winner is declared. The concession speech of the loser is normally given at around 00.00 EST (5.00am our time). Depending on which candidate wins which states it’s possible that we’ll have a clear winner by 2.00am GMT though.
However, while media outlets are likely to be calling the winner at this point it’s possible that nobody will have conceded. In 2004, John Kerry didn’t admit defeat until the following day.
The BBC notes that they rely on ABC’s projections, because it can actually take days for ballots to be properly counted.
Trump has been vocal about conspiracies and said he plans to contest the result if he doesn’t win. It’s possible that he won’t go quietly, he could insist it was all rigged and demand a recount if he does lose.
If that happens when we will actually, officially, know who the next US president is anyone’s guess.
*The Debrief will be covering the US election from 10pm GMT, with contributions from Sky News. You can tune in via our Facebook Page and Instagram Stories. *
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.