Americans may face delays in knowing the presidential election outcome due to close vote counts in battleground states and the late processing of mail-in ballots. Polls show Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are nearly tied in key states, which could prolong the final result. In-person votes are counted faster, but mail-in ballots take longer, a factor Trump exploited in 2020 to cast doubt on the results. If the race is tight, the winner may not be known until all ballots are counted, and initial leads could change as more votes are tallied.