Former President Donald Trump will win Wisconsin’s Electoral College votes, earning him enough support to secure another term in the White House, according to NBC News.
Trump broke through in several key states on Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning, securing projected victories in Georgia and Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin’s 10 Electoral College votes will put him over the top, according to NBC News.
When he takes the oath of office, Trump will become just the second person in history to serve two non-consecutive terms in the White House, joining Grover Cleveland in that group.
The president-elect will also have at least Republican control of the Senate as well, with Republican Bernie Moreno projected to beat Sen. Sherrod Brown in Ohio and West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice capturing that state’s seat.
Election Map Live Results: Presidential Election Across the U.S.
Experts initially warned that projecting a winner could take days.
Local
In key swing states like Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, clerks are unable to process mail-in ballots prior to Election Day. In 2020, those states were decided by approximately 20,000 and 80,000 votes, respectively.
Experts told NBC Chicago the gap between the candidates will play a major factor in when results are called and what happens in the days after the election.
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This time, both campaigns believed the race was extremely close across the seven swing states that were expected to decide the election, barring a major surprise: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
As of Wednesday morning, NBC projected Trump had clinched Wisconsin. States where votes were still begin counted were Nevada, Arizona, Michigan and Maine, where the race remains too close to call.
In 2020, it took four days before President Joe Biden was officially called the winner. In 2000, results hinged on just 537 votes in Florida, with networks calling the state for Al Gore, then George Bush before ruling the race "too close to call."
"I do want people to not freak out about the election because actually we've gotten better at running these elections than we did in 2000," said Professor Michael Kang of the Northwestern University School of Law. "There's no comparison to how efficiently elections are run today and how professionally they're run today as compared to 25 years ago."
Still, the 2016 election was decided just hours after most polls closed.
When does the president get inaugurated?
Before the inauguration, there's a few key dates to pay attention to:
Certification of Election Results
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, there are a variety of dates by which governments have to certify the vote counts in their states.
Here is a sample of battleground state dates:
Arizona – Third Monday after the election (Nov. 25)
Georgia – The 17th day after the election (Nov. 22)
Michigan – 20th day after the election (Nov. 25)
Wisconsin – Dec. 1
Electoral College Vote
According to U.S. law, the Electoral College’s votes are required to be cast on the first Tuesday after the second Wednesday in December, which this year falls on Dec. 17.
The Electoral College votes from all 50 states and the District of Columbia are cast on that date, and are prepared to be send to designated federal and state officials.
New Congress is Seated
The new members of Congress assemble on Jan. 3, and on that date, the Archivist transfers sets of certifications of Electoral College votes to lawmakers.
Electoral College Votes Counted
On Jan. 6, the Electoral College’s votes are counted during a joint session of Congress. Vice President Harris will oversee the count.
New President is Sworn In
At noon on Jan. 20, the new president and vice president will be sworn into office in Washington.
We will update this story with more details as they become available.
