How to watch US election 2020 in the UK – final vote count

And Donald Trump has continued to make unfounded accusations of voter fraud on Twitter, with the current president tweeting on several occasions in a bid to stop the legal counting of votes.

Trump also falsely declared that he had already won the election.

Earlier polls that suggested Democrat Biden could win the election comfortably led some to believe the outcome would be a foregone conclusion, but it's proved to be tighter than some pundits had predicted.

Due to the complications of the coronavirus pandemic, with many voters choosing to post their ballots in advance of election day in order to avoid crowds, it was always expected that we might have to wait a while to find out the definitive result.

And that has proved to be the case, with the possibility of days and weeks passing before the winner is officially declared.

Here's hoping that the news comes sooner rather than later, as those with a keen interest in politics will likely find it hard to truly relax until this election is settled.

Make sure to also check out our list of the best US Election podcasts to listen to for more information on this hotly contested race.

How to watch US election final count in the UK

Viewers can keep up to date with the latest developments on various news channels including BBC News and Sky News, with updates likely to continue pouring in for days to come.

US election results prediction – who will win, Trump or Biden?

As of the morning of Thursday 5th November, it's still a close call.

Who wins depends largely on which candidate secures the votes of swing states with a large number of electoral college votes, such as Arizona, Georgia, Michigan and Wisconsin.

To win the election, a candidate needs at least 270 out of the 538 electoral college votes.

The Guardian currently has Biden at 264 and Trump at 214, meaning if Nevada is called for Biden, he looks set to win.

Polls have been wrong many times in the past, including at the 2016 US Election, where many predicted that Hillary Clinton would be voted the next President of the United States.

For this reason, it's hard to say with any great certainty who the winner of the election will be, especially with the added complication caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Due to the increased number of postal votes, it is likely to take longer than usual for every ballot to be counted, meaning we may not have a confirmed winner for several days, if not longer.

In 2000, George W Bush was not confirmed as winner of the US election until a Supreme Court ruling made one month after the vote, so there is a precedent for these proceedings to drag out.

US Election results times

In previous elections, the winner of the Presidential race became clear by 11pm EST (4am GMT), which is when the West Coast polls close, although in the 2016 election, Pennsylvania wasn't declared for Donald Trump until 1:35am EST (6:35am GMT), confirming the current president's victory over Hillary Clinton.

This year, we're having to wait a lot longer, given that 50.3 per cent of the votes were cast by mail due to COVID-19.

As mail-in votes take more time to process and can arrive after election day as long as they're posted by November 3rd, we may have to wait days or even weeks for the vote count to be completed.

Results in key states such as Nevada, Arizona, Pennsylvania, and Georgia are still to be declared.

More results are expected to be announced in Nevada on Thursday, while counting is also expected to finish in Arizona on Thursday but final counts for Pennsylvania and Georgia could take a little longer.

Of course, there may still be a recount – as seen during the 2000 election in which George W Bush and Al Gore competed against one another – which will delay matters even further and could even lead to legal battles in some cases.

The US Presidential Election Day is Tuesday 3rd November. Check out what else is on with our TV Guide, or take a look at our new TV shows 2020 page to find out what’s airing this autumn and beyond.