US Elections 2016: When do results come in?

As 130 million Americans vote on Tuesday, here's our guide to when and where a clear winner may emerge

 

 

By the end of November 8, the world will know whether Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton will lead America in the next four years as the 45th US President.

Some 130 million voters out of an eligible population of 225m will cast ballots across 50 states to elect the next set of leaders of the most powerful nation on earth from 6am  (Eastern Startand Time) on Tuesday.

But in America's rather complicated electoral system, it’s not enough to have majority of the votes for either Trump or Clinton to go to the White House.

Rather, Tuesday elections will be a race to secure a majority of the 538 votes in the electoral college —by securing at least 270 votes

These are the important times, dates and numbers:

US election day:  November 8, 2016, polls start from 6am EST (3pm Dubai) 

Time polling closes: 4am GMT, November 9, 2016 (8am Dubai)

This the earliest time pollsters may call the election results. But this could be pushed back depending on how individual states are projected.

What to watch out for: To predict the winner of the elections, US media organisations will look at projections from “swing” states and “bellwether” states (see infographic).

Clinton' advantage in the electoral college may allow her to lose traditional battlegrounds such as Florida and Ohio, and still win the race.

However, if that happens, losing in states such as Pennsylvania and North Carolina could destroy her White House hopes.

On the other hand, if Trump loses in Florida and Ohio, it would scuttle his chances of victory.

One big "swing" vote for Hillary requires that Latino voters in Arizona, Florida and Nevada — states where the number of Hispanics is huge — must turn out in huge numbers.

A second key bloc of Hillary supporters could be delivered by African-American voters, provided they go to the polls in huge numbers in North Carolina and Ohio.

In the event of a tight race during the electoral college count, Georgia (with 16), Michigan (16), Utah (6) and Wisconsin (10) all could emerge as important.

Georgia and Utah are traditionally Republican strongholds, while Michigan and Wisconsin are part of a “Blue Wall” that the Democrats had hoped would help deliver a Clinton victory.