US election 2024: Is there an exit poll and what time are projections announced?

Current Democratic vice president Kamala Harris or Republican rival and former president Donald Trump will soon be announced as the new president of the United States.

US citizens are taking to the polls on Tuesday, November 4, to cast their votes in all 50 states in what is looking like an extremely close contest between the two candidates.

The result will likely come down to seven swing states - Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina and Pennsylvania, which holds the most sway with 19 votes in the electoral college.

READ MORE: Where to watch the US presidential election in UK tonight

The next president will be decided by who can secure the most electoral college votes, with each state having a set number based on the size of its population. A total of 538 electoral college votes are up for grabs meaning a candidate needs 270 to win and, in all but two states, the candidate that comes out on top takes the total number of electoral college votes for that state.

Going into election day, the two candidates were neck and neck with pollsters putting Ms Harris down for a marginal lead of less than one percentage point.

But when will we know who has won? In the UK, the exit poll predicts the winner as soon as polls close and it's usually highly accurate. So does the US have an exit poll? Here's everything you need to know.

The US does exit polls slightly differently to the UK.

In the UK, polls close across the country at 10pm. Fieldworkers anonymously ask voters which candidate they selected as they leave polling stations and their answers form the basis of the poll. The exit poll is then broadcast by major news channels almost immediately after the polls close.

In the US, because of the