Live Updates: Donald Trump, Kamala Harris Election News

It was called the “red mirage” or the “blue shift.”

This is the latest phenomenon in which an apparent Republican lead early after election night is wiped out by the counting of mail-in ballots later that evening or in the days following Election Day.

Former President Donald Trump has pointed to the red mirage to support his baseless claims of election fraud. In reality, this is a result of the increase in mail-in voting and the often peculiar rules about when those ballots can be counted.

What happened in 2020: As most Americans went to bed on election night in 2020, November 3rd, The end result was anything but clear.

The contest between then-President Trump and now-President Joe Biden was too early to include the key states of Arizona, North Carolina, Nevada, Wisconsin, Michigan, Maine, Georgia and Pennsylvania.

Dramatic hours were spent in the following days watching the counting of votes in these states. The vote count did not reflect a Biden lead in Georgia until the early morning of November 6, when, as CNN's Phil Mattingly showed viewers on the Magic Wall, small amounts of votes were counted and impacted the very close election.

CNN was able to predict that Biden would win the election four days after Election Day, on November 7, but counting would continue. An analysis by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that counties won by Biden counted slower on average than counties won by Trump.

In 2020, the states with the lowest counts were places like California, which lean heavily Democratic and where every voter is registered a postal ballot will be sent. This means that there could still be a blue shift in the popular vote, even if it does not delay the determination of the presidential election results.

Remember: While news networks like CNN may predict a winner when it is clear who will win, the races are not officially confirmed until later. Certification deadlines vary from state to state, but all have until December 11, 2024 to complete recounts and resolve disputes if necessary Presidential results.

Read more about the “red mirage”.