LONDON – War in the Middle East and Europe. On the rise of the extreme right in Europe. Economic uncertainty. And even the climate emergency. Across the world, discussions of these crises continue to return to a common refrain: “Well, a lot depends on who wins the United States presidential election.”

This week the world is eagerly awaiting the answer.

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Once the last voter in a state casts their ballot and the polls close, the process of announcing the winner begins. Then Election Day becomes Election Night and each state begins reporting its vote totals.

Some states — like Florida, Georgia and North Carolina — report their votes quickly, while others like Arizona, Nevada and California typically take longer, more than a week or two, to record most of their ballots. In many states, the way votes are reported makes it difficult to tell in the middle of election night who the eventual winner will be.

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Let's be clear: the polls cannot tell us who will win the presidential election. Or which party will control Congress. Or who will win a particular state?

They don't tell us who will win – but we'll know that soon enough. The polls can already help explain the forces shaping this election and how either former President Donald Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris could emerge victorious.

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Americans have two big questions ahead of another election with a deeply divided electorate: Who will win and when will they know?

In 2020, election week replaced election night: Joe Biden was only declared the winner on Saturday. This year it could go either way. It could take up to a week for the NBC News Decision Desk to predict a presidential winner, or it could happen as early as Wednesday, even Wednesday morning.