When Will We Know Who Won?

By Mark Memmott

Published November 5, 2012 at 5:19 PM CST

We'll know who won eventually. But when?

Everybody tries to predict who will win.

What we wonder, though, is when will we know whether it will be President Obama or Republican challenger Mitt Romney taking the oath of office next January?

With polls signalling a tight race and lawyers from both campaigns poised to challenge the results, there are all sorts of scenarios about hours, days or even weeks of waiting. That has, of course, happened before.

So let's see what everyone thinks. We'll keep this question open until 7 p.m. ET Tuesday.

Mark Memmott

Mark Memmott is NPR's supervising senior editor for Standards & Practices. In that role, he's a resource for NPR's journalists – helping them raise the right questions as they do their work and uphold the organization's standards.

See stories by Mark Memmott