As America chooses its next president, an Election Day guide for the world

U.S. voters each get one vote to elect a president, but the race is not determined by winning the overall number of votes.

States are allocated a certain number of “electors,” depending on their population size, who are expected to cast votes for the candidate that wins the popular vote in their state.

To win the presidency, the candidates need to win at least 270 of the 538 electoral votes.

The earliest polls close at 6 p.m. Eastern time , when the first unofficial results will start coming in, with the latest polls closing in Alaska seven hours later .

It will take hours — if not days — for the votes to be counted and the overall winner of the presidential race to be projected.

In 2020 , it took four days for news organizations to call the presidency for Biden in Arizona .

On Dec. 17 , state electors will meet to cast their electoral college votes.

They must be received by the president of the Senate and the head of the National Archives no later than Christmas .

On Jan. 6 , the new Congress will meet and count the electoral votes.

The president and vice president will take office after being sworn in on Jan. 20 , known as Inauguration Day .