How many remaining states does Trump need to win to be president?

WASHINGTON — It’s officially early Wednesday on the East Coast and as expected, the U.S. is still left wondering who the next president will be. 

The race between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris is extremely close and rests on wins in just a few key states. 

As of 1:22 a.m. Eastern, the former president has 247 electoral college votes and Harris has 214 votes. 

North Carolina was the first of the battleground states to be called on election night by the Associated Press, with the 16 electoral votes going to Trump.

The Associated Press projected a win for the former president in Georgia, granting him another 16 electoral votes.

There are 77 electoral votes remaining.

Early on, there were few surprises on election night with reliable states giving each candidates their expected votes. Five battleground states will decide the outcome the election.

Wins in Arizona (11), Michigan (15), Nevada (6), Pennsylvania (19) and Wisconsin (10) would help Trump cross over the 270 electoral college votes needed to secure the presidency. 

Pennsylvania carries the biggest number of electoral votes of the battleground states, with 19 votes. 

Without Pennsylvania, Trump would have fewer ways to win. A path to victory is still possible if he secures a win in a handful of the other battleground states.

Election Day in the United States is now often considered election week as each state follows its own rules and practices for counting ballots — not to mention the legal challenges — that can delay the results. But the truth is, nobody knows how long it will take for the winner to be announced this time.

In 2020, The Associated Press declared President Joe Biden the winner on Saturday afternoon — four days after polls closed. But even then, The AP called North Carolina for Trump 10 days after Election Day and Georgia for Biden 16 days later after hand recounts.

Four years earlier, the 2016 election was decided just hours after most polls closed. The AP declared Trump the winner on election night at 2:29 a.m. (it was technically Wednesday morning on the East Coast).

The size of the map and the tightness of the race make it hard to predict when a winner could be declared.