What time will the winner be declared?

[#TheShadowyAbyss]

What time do you think the winner will be declared on Election Night?

[Lachi]

The way it's going now, probably just after 10.

[Xing]

I still doubt it will happen before 11 PM. Even if Hillary has a great night, and most of the swing states are called before then, making the map look like this:

She'd still only be at 263. And that's still being quite generous to her. She'd need a state like AZ or GA to be called for her before 11, or have both IA and NE-02 called for her. That seems like an enormous stretch.

[elcorazon]

Perhaps technically this is true, but once NC or FL is called for Hillary it's over, so I say before 9

[Gass3268]

Once California closes.

[rob in cal]

  One nice thing about Indiana early poll closing is that you can start getting results soon after their 6:30 EST closing.  I remember in 2006 looking at how badly the incumbent GOP congressman was doing in Vigo county and thinking here comes Speaker Pelosi. In 2012 when Romney was winning some rural Indiana counties by decent margins, but not Bush 2004 I figured right then and there it was going to be an Obama win. This year of course Pence is on the ticket so the Indiana early pre-view sample will have to be looked at more cautiously.

[GMantis]

Perhaps technically this is true, but once NC or FL is called for Hillary it's over, so I say before 9

Florida has very slow voting and it's the last place where mass media would want to make a per-mature call. Florida likely won't be called before the winner is decided, which won't happen until voting ends on the West Coast, ie 11 PM EST.

[calvinhobbesliker]

Hillary's sufficient states are New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Virginia, and  Colorado. All except the last 2 were called before 11 PM in 2012, and Hillary should win VA and CO by close to double digits, so those should be called quickly to. Therefore, I expect the election to be called at exactly 11 PM when Hillary wins California and the rest of the West Coast.

[Erc]

I still doubt it will happen before 11 PM. Even if Hillary has a great night, and most of the swing states are called before then, making the map look like this:

She'd still only be at 263. And that's still being quite generous to her. She'd need a state like AZ or GA to be called for her before 11, or have both IA and NE-02 called for her. That seems like an enormous stretch.

Georgia closes its polls at 7; if she wins by more than a point or so, it could easily be called for her before 11.  NC, which closes later, may actually be called later than GA, even though Clinton will presumably win by a larger margin there.

Voted 10:30-11.

[ProudModerate2]

You forgot to include "right now" as an option.

[ElectionsGuy]

Once California closes.

[GeorgiaModerate]

I still doubt it will happen before 11 PM. Even if Hillary has a great night, and most of the swing states are called before then, making the map look like this:

She'd still only be at 263. And that's still being quite generous to her. She'd need a state like AZ or GA to be called for her before 11, or have both IA and NE-02 called for her. That seems like an enormous stretch.

Georgia closes its polls at 7; if she wins by more than a point or so, it could easily be called for her before 11.  NC, which closes later, may actually be called later than GA, even though Clinton will presumably win by a larger margin there.

Voted 10:30-11.

I expect Georgia to be called quite late.  It's going to be close either way, and the heavily Democratic inner Atlanta counties, which will be crucial, are usually slow to report.

[Likely Voter]

In 1996 Bill Clinton won by 8.5% and CNN called the race at 9pm. But the networks obviously got a lot shyer about calling races after 2000. Obama won by 7% in 2008 and by 10:59 they had only called 220EVs for Obama.  Maybe Clinton will win by 10% and if so then a call before 11pm is possible, but in today's polarized world are wins of 10%+ still possible?

[GeorgiaModerate]

I still doubt it will happen before 11 PM. Even if Hillary has a great night, and most of the swing states are called before then, making the map look like this:

She'd still only be at 263. And that's still being quite generous to her. She'd need a state like AZ or GA to be called for her before 11, or have both IA and NE-02 called for her. That seems like an enormous stretch.

This.  In 2012, it was obvious by 9 p.m. that Obama was going to win, but they didn't call it for him until the West Coast polls closed at 11.  I expect something similar will happen this year.

[Enduro]

Once California closes.

[TDAS04]

Once Pennsylvania is called, we'll have a good idea who the next president will be, and that's an understatement.  Though it won't be officially called until California closes.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

Once California closes.

[Lief 🗽]

In 1996 Bill Clinton won by 8.5% and CNN called the race at 9pm. But the networks obviously got a lot shyer about calling races after 2000. Obama won by 7% in 2008 and by 10:59 they had only called 220EVs for Obama.  Maybe Clinton will win by 10% and if so then a call before 11pm is possible, but in today's polarized world are wins of 10%+ still possible?

In 1996, when they called the race for Clinton, he wasn't even at 270 yet. Very different from post-2000.

[BL53931]

I am a bit worried about NC, probably needlessly. Not sure how the flooding will affect turnout. Also McCrory may be looking good after having his mug on every video of flood coverage. 

[LimoLiberal]

Virginia should give us a good idea of what North Carolina will do.

[Hammy]

Hard to tell honestly. I can easily imagine things getting delayed from electoral violence if Trump does poorly in early states.

[Rand]

Agreed, at 11 PM.  Clinton will not reach 270 electoral votes before 11, and I think it is an insurance policy for the networks to wait until the vast number of states have stopped voting to avoid the claim of voter depression as a result of calling the race too early.  Like in 2008 we will know intuitively who is going to win early on, but it won't be official until the West Coast closes.

[Likely Voter]

In 1996 Bill Clinton won by 8.5% and CNN called the race at 9pm. But the networks obviously got a lot shyer about calling races after 2000. Obama won by 7% in 2008 and by 10:59 they had only called 220EVs for Obama.  Maybe Clinton will win by 10% and if so then a call before 11pm is possible, but in today's polarized world are wins of 10%+ still possible?

In 1996, when they called the race for Clinton, he wasn't even at 270 yet. Very different from post-2000.

At 9pm CNN gave Clinton NY, WI, MN, RI, and NM and his total hit 275 and declared him the winner

You can see it here: 
https://youtu.be/aUcrcNtVAxc?t=1h50m16s

[Breton Racer]

Either when the West Coast is called or if Ohio is called foHillary, or a combination of Arizona and Iowa.

[Lief 🗽]

In 1996 Bill Clinton won by 8.5% and CNN called the race at 9pm. But the networks obviously got a lot shyer about calling races after 2000. Obama won by 7% in 2008 and by 10:59 they had only called 220EVs for Obama.  Maybe Clinton will win by 10% and if so then a call before 11pm is possible, but in today's polarized world are wins of 10%+ still possible?

In 1996, when they called the race for Clinton, he wasn't even at 270 yet. Very different from post-2000.

At 9pm CNN gave Clinton NY, WI, MN, RI, and NM and his total hit 275 and declared him the winner

You can see it here:  
https://youtu.be/aUcrcNtVAxc?t=1h50m16s

Huh, that's weird. When they actually show the national map (just six minutes later) Clinton's only at 267 electoral votes.