Here's how to watch the US elections in Australia and when to expect a result

Just a few days after the vote, the 2024 US presidential election is shaping up to be one of the closest in living memory.

And remain neck-and-neck in the polls as people around the world watch in anticipation to see who among them will become the next occupant of the White House.

Here’s how to follow the action from Australia in real time.

When are the US elections?

The US presidential election will be held on Tuesday, November 5 local time, meaning most of the action will take place on Wednesday, November 6, Australian time.

How to watch live US election coverage in Australia

SBS World News presenter Janice Peterson will host a US election special, with reporting from SBS’s US broadcast partner, PBS News.

Co-hosts Amna Nawaz and Geoff Bennett will provide live, continuous reporting from each jurisdiction as the polls close for the presidential, vice-presidential, House of Representatives and Senate elections.

The special kicks off at 10:30am AEDT on Wednesday, November 6 and can be watched live on free TV or .

What about online reporting?

Live coverage of the US elections will be available on the And .

There you will also find a range of explainers, analyzes and features that cover everything Unpleasant on important issues, or could help determine the outcome, and .

If podcasts are more your thing, you can listen to SBS News’ US Election Unplugged series .

When will the US election results come in?

Election results won’t come in until polls close, which varies by U.S. state and time zone.

Polls will begin closing in the eastern states from 10am AEDT on Wednesday, with the first results filtering through some time later.

By 12pm AEDT, voting will have stopped in almost 30 states – inclusive of Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina and Pennsylvania – as well as the District of Columbia.

Polls in the three remaining battleground states will close at 2pm AEDT – and in all other states at 5pm AEDT.

Results from states generally considered “safe,” such as New York for Democrats and Texas for Republicans, are likely to emerge sooner than battleground states.

When will we know who won the US elections?

If Harris or Trump have a significant lead over the other, the election outcome could become clear within hours.

But given how tight the race is, the winner may not be declared that night.

Do you want more politics? You can stream gripping political documentaries in the SBS On Demand ‘Politics and Power’ collection and stay up to date with the daily news bulletins in the .

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