(Photo : Brett Sayles/Pexels)

Election results might extend beyond election night, or even election week, if the contest between this year's presidential bets get close-but here are some moments you can expect.

With the record-shattering vote count of 96 million people who already cast their ballots before Election Day, the 2020 elections just made history.

This is the first time people voted in advance of the U.S. Election Day than on it, said The Guardian.

As New York Times said, President Donald Trump and his allies have been laying the groundwork to challenge the election results if he loses.

For Trump, election results can only be reliable if election officials don't count votes past election night.

But the surge of votes could cause some problems and election night irregularities: election results may come in fast for some places but not so for others.

There is a good chance that election results won't be clear even through midnight on Tuesday. It's something that's happened in three of the last five elections: in 2000, 2004 and 2016.

In fact, no state has ever reported final results on election night and they aren't legally expected to do so.

Related article: US Election 2020: When Will We Get Election Results?

True to form, election results become clear by the end of Election Day, said BBC.

So, what exactly happens on election night?

6pm ET (3pm PT, 11pm GMT, 10am AEDT)

Different states stop voting at different times. For most of Indiana and Kentucky, that time is 6pm.

Indiana's Vigo County normally votes for the winner of the presidential election every time since 1956. But vote counting in the state has been known to be slow so don't wait on it.

Kentucky is expected to give Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell a shot at reelection. If he does, he'll be returning as majority leader unless Democrats win Senate control over the night.

A running total of votes will start once these states begin counting.

Media outlets will normally "call candidates in states where they have an unbeatable lead.

7pm ET (4pm PT, midnight GMT, 11am AEDT)

Some polls also close at 7pm. Things start getting exciting from here because key state Florida will close most polls at this time.

The state is known for fast vote counting.

Read also: Presidential Election Explainer: How the Electoral College Works

Georgia will also start proving at this time if Biden's inroads in the state will reflect in the polls. But don't expect immediate results.

From Florida, votes will also start streaming in from North Carolina, which also counts early ballots quickly and tends to report them first.

The state might see an early lead for Biden since many Democrats voted early in the state.

Ohio, on the other hand, has weeks to process early ballots but will report them promptly. Votes from here could lead to a Trump surge.

8pm ET (5pm PT, 1am GMT, 12pm AEDT)

Arizona votes will start flowing in by this time.

Early results in the state tend to be more Republican but Democrats are hoping for a Senate pickup with candidate Mark Kelly.

Colorado is also expected to have early results, where Democrats are also hoping for a Senate pickup.

Following this is the really red state of Nebraska. Lastly, there's Wisconsin where Republicans are also expected to have a strong lead.

10-11pm ET (7-8pm PT, 3-4am GMT, 2-3pm AEDT)

By this time, people will want to look out for Trump's margin at Utah and Biden's difficult race in Nevada.

Iowa will also be getting votes in by this time.

West coast states will start closing polls at 11pm: California, Oregon, Washington and Hawaii.

If the race is not close, these states will produce a definitive call to the elections.

1am ET (10pm PT, 6am GMT, 5pm AEDT)

If you're still awake at this time and you live at the east coast, it's probably good to look at election results in Alaska.

By this time, the night has already opened up some big secrets wherever you may be.