Throughout Election Night, this page will be updated with Electoral College vote totals and tracking the results of the state-by-state poll closings.
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UPDATED–2016 Election Night Time Line
- Nov. 8 7:05 pm
Indiana
Indiana closed their polls at 7 pm and early projections were that the state would be won by Donald Trump and his running mate, Mike Pence–the former governor of Indiana.
11 electoral votes
- 7:10 pm
Kentucky
Early projections also indicated that Trump won this Deep South state.
8 electoral votes
- 7:10 pm
Vermont
Clinton’s first state win of the night was projected to be Vermont.
3 electoral votes
- 7:30 pm
West Virginia
Another early win for Trump, but one that was expected based on polls in recent days.
5 electoral votes
- 8:00 pm
<>New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Washington D.C.
As the 8:00 hour hit and a wide group of eastern state’s polls closed, the television networks began calling some projections in new parts of the nation.
Massachusetts (11 electoral votes), Maryland (10 votes), New Jersey (14 electoral votes), and Delaware (3 electoral votes), Rhode Island (4 electoral votes) and the nation’s capital (3 electoral votes) added 38 new votes to Clinton’s total.
- 8:05 pm
Oklahoma
Trump picked up a new state win with this state during its very early polls closure.
7 electoral votes
- 8:05 pm
Florida and Ohio and North Carolina
These key swing states had their polls close early in the evening (by 8 pm) but the vote totals kept see-sawing back and forth and individual counties reported their totals and as the numbers were calculated.
These states that could be key to the victory of either candidate was too close to call.
- 8:10 pm
Illinois
Clinton gained a big win with Illinois–the state where she was born.
20 electoral votes
- 8:25 pm
<>Tennessee, Alabama, South Carolina, and Mississippi
In several of the southern states, the television networks projected that Donald Trump won the states of Tennessee (11 electoral votes) and Mississippi (6 electoral votes). Trump also was projected to win in Alabama (9 electoral votes) and South Carolina (9 electoral votes). None of these wins for Trump were seen as particularly surprising.
- 9:01pm
<>North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, and Wyoming
As the night wore on, and the Plains states polls closed, television networks projected early voting results that awarded the states of North Dakota (3 electoral votes), South Dakota (3 electoral votes), Nebraska (3 electoral votes), Wyoming (3 electoral votes), and Kansas (6 electoral votes).
- 9:10 pm
New York
Clinton claimed the state of New York, where she has lived in recent years and the state that she represented in the U.S. Senate before working with President Obama in the State Department.
29 electoral votes
- 9:15 pm
<>Texas and Arkansas
Trump jumped up to a big lead in the Electoral College with an expected win in the states of Texas. That state has 38 electoral votes to award. Trump was also the projected winner in Arkansas (6 electoral votes).
- 9:40 pm
Connecticut
Clinton cracked 100 Electoral College votes with a needed win in Connecticut.
7 electoral votes.
- 9:40 pm
Louisiana
Donald Trump continued his strong performance in the Deep South with another win in Louisiana.
This gave him an additional 8 electoral votes.
- 10:00 pm
Montana
Donald Trump stretched his lead a bit with another high plains win in Montana.This gave him an additional 3 electoral votes.
- 10:15 pm
New Mexico
Hillary Clinton captured the expected state of New Mexico, which bumped her Electoral College vote total up by an additional 5 votes.
- 10:15 pm
Missouri
Donald Trump added another southern state win by capturing Missouri and its 10 electoral votes.
- 10:28 pm
Ohio
Donald Trump notched a very significant win by claiming a clear victory in the swing state of Ohio. As you will no doubt read, no Republican has ever won the White House without first winning Ohio.
18 Electoral College votes.
- 10:35 pm
Virginia
Hillary Clinton claimed a very important late night win with a narrow victory in the state of Virginia. At this point of the night, the total Electoral College results vote is still very close and Trump holds a strong path to victory.13 Electoral College votes
- 10:48 pm
Colorado
Hillary Clinton claimed a rare win in a state west of the Mississippi River, when the television networks declared that she had won the state of Colorado.
9 Electoral College votes
- 11:01 pm
<>California and Hawaii
Hillary Clinton took the Electoral College lead late in the night but it was due to the entirely expected win in the state of California. It’s 55 electoral votes pushed her into the lead at the time. The television networks also projected that Hawaii would add its 4 Electoral College votes to her total. This was another expected outcome.
- 11:02 pm
Idaho
Donald Trump won the state of Idaho late in the evening to narrow the Electoral College vote once more.
4 Electoral College votes.
- 11:06 pm
North Carolina
Donald Trump continued to win in some of the most critical swing states that would predominantly affect the results of the election. This was true when he claimed the hotly contested state of North Carolina before midnight. This added another 15 electoral votes to his total.
- 11:15 pm
Oregon
Secretary Clinton claimed Oregon before midnight. She gained another 7 electoral votes.
- 11:38 pm
Florida
Donald Trump added another southern state to his win column with a late night win in Florida. It added valuable electoral votes to his total and made him the first candidate of the night to break the 200 Electoral College vote barrier.29 Electoral College votes
- 11:40 pm
Washington
By adding a projected win in Washington (12 electoral votes), Hillary Clinton also broke the 200 Electoral College vote barrier. - 11:48 pm
Georgia
It was not that much of a surprise that Donald Trump would win in Georgia, but putting it in his win column so late in the night made it seem more dramatic. It made his Electoral Vote total inch closer to the minimum 270 total needed to win the White House.
16 Electoral College votes
- Nov. 9 12:08 am
Iowa
As the clock passed midnight and Tuesday became Wednesday, Donald Trump won another state in Iowa. He added another 6 Electoral College votes to his total. - Nov. 9 12:34 am
Nevada
Clinton tried to tighten the race with Trump with a win in Nevada. It gained her an additional 6 Electoral College votes.
- Nov. 9 12:54 am
Still Unable to Call the Winner
Trump: 238 Electoral College votes
Clinton: 215 Electoral College votes
As the night stretched into the early hours of the next day, there were still states that had not counted all of their votes and so there was not yet a clear winner.
Pennsylvania, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Maine, New Hampshire, Utah, and Arizona were still too close to call. The polls in Alaska had also not yet been reported.
- Nov. 9 1:44 am
Pennsylvania
In a tight outcome, Donald Trump was given the state of Pennsylvania (20 electoral votes).
- Nov. 9 2:01 am
Maine
As Trump was within reach of the 270 votes in the Electoral College, Hillary Clinton captured the state of Maine and 3 of the state’s 4 electoral votes.
- Nov. 9 2:44 am
Wisconsin
In a state result that newsmakers had been watching all night, Donald Trump won the state of Wisconsin in the very early hours of the morning. This win flipped a state that has been reliably Democrat in presidential elections and in other races for many years. It was a signal to the surprising results that the Trump campaign had achieved on election night.
10 Electoral College votes
- Nov. 9 2:44 am
Donald J. Trump projected as the winnter
Soon after Donald Trump was announced the projected winner in Wisconsin, the television media and other news outlets began announcing that he was the winner of the election.
While there were very tight races still to call–notably in Michigan (16 electoral votes) and New Hampshire (4 votes)–the math was continuing to not add up for Hillary Clinton. Trump exceeded the minimum of 270 Electoral College votes needed to be the winner and take on the title of president-elect.
Secretary Clinton soon called to concede the race to Trump and congratulate his victory. Both candidates appeared in the very early hours to speak to their supporters.
- Nov. 9 5:01 am
<>Alaska, Arizona, and Utah
After Trump was declared the winner, he claimed the states of Alaska (3 electoral votes) and Arizona (11 electoral votes) and Utah (6 electoral votes).
- Nov. 10 5:00 pm
Minnesota
After approval of the vote counts, Hillary Clinton was awarded the 10 Electoral College votes in the state of Minnesota.
- Nov. 14 9:01 pm
New Hampshire
A week after Election Night, the final results in New Hampshire have been double-checked and approved. Hillary Clinton was awarded this state’s 4 electoral votes.
This added to her overall total in the Electoral College, but has not changed the outcome of the election itself. Donald Trump remains over the minimum number of votes needed to win the presidency, though Clinton continues to hold a slight lead in the popular vote totals.
NOTE: There are still outstanding totals in the last state, Michigan. Thought this will not change the outcome of the election either.
- Nov. 28 2:28 pm
Michigan
After several weeks of checking and recounting, the state of Michigan’s 16 Electoral College votes were finally awarded to Donald Trump. This pushed his final Electoral College vote count above 300 but did not affect the results of the presidential race outcome.
- Nov. 28 5:00 pm
Recounts called for in three states
Green Party candidate Jill Stein called for official recounts in the states of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania today.
The Clinton campaign did not push for this result, but they stated that as long as recounts are occurring, then they will send a lawyer as a representative.
- Dec. 20 9:00 am
Electoral College Casts Ballots
On Monday, December 19, the members of the Electoral College cast their final votes, certifying the 2016 presidential election. Donald Trump received 304 votes. Hillary Clinton received 227 votes. A few “faithless electors” did not cast their official ballots for either Trump or Clinton–as the results of their state votes indicated. But it only totaled as 7 votes cast for other candidates, including Rand Paul, John Kasich, or other people.
In the end, Donald Trump officially has received well over the 270 minimum number of Electoral College votes to claim the election win.
Data update: The Electoral College cast their official ballots for the election on Monday, December 19. Vote totals for Trump and Clinton are now updated.
David Martin
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