What's the longest we've waited for a US election result?

George W Bush and Al Gore’s battle for the White House took 36 days

Donald Trump may have already, albeit falsely, declared victory in the 2020 presidential election but as ballot-counting continues, the wait for the final result becomes ever-more agonising - even though Joe Biden is edging closer to the 270 electoral college votes he needs.

Although drawn-out presidential elections in the US are not unheard of, this year’s race is unlike most in recent history.

In four of the last five elections, the result had been clear and was announced either on election night or the following day.

However, the 2000 fight for the White House between George W Bush and Al Gore was drawn out for 36 days, making it the longest in modern American history.

The delay began when Florida, with its 29 electoral college votes, had the deciding vote as results from the other 49 states left the two candidates neck and neck.

Commentators initially called the state in Mr Gore’s favour, but later returned its status to “too close to call” before declaring victory for Mr Bush.

What followed were multiple recounts and a legal fight that ended up in the Supreme Court, which ultimately saw Mr Bush take the presidency.

He won by just 537 ballots in Florida on a turnout of 6.1 million.

The ambiguity of the result was blamed on the hanging chads – a voting card that had not been neatly punched through, resulting in it not being counted by the tabulating machines.

Polling cards that had a clear indentation but no hole were dubbed “pregnant chads”, while “swinging chads” were still attached at two corners, also leading to the votes being discarded.

Mr Gore sought a recount of a small sample of Florida’s disputed ballots and it was estimated 2.9 per cent of votes cast never made it into the certified totals.

The battle between Bush and Gore was one of the closest elections in US history (AFP via Getty Images)

The Democrat’s lawyers launched a bid for a recount of all 1.8 million ballots cast in four predominantly Democratic counties, before calling for further recounts elsewhere.

The Florida Supreme Court ordered a statewide recount of “undervotes” – a ballot that does not clearly indicate the voter’s preference – on 8 December.

It was seemingly a huge victory for Mr Gore, but it was stopped the next day by the US Supreme Court and the legal action returned to state courts.

On 13 December, the closest presidential contest in decades finally ended 36 days after election day following a 5-4 vote by the US Supreme Court that allowed Mr Bush’s victory to stand.

Mr Gore accepted the verdict, and with that Mr Bush was on his way to the White House.

Additional reporting by Press Association