Whoever is elected the 46th President of the United States will have major implications for Australia and the world.

More than 97 million Americans have already cast their ballot.

That’s more than two-thirds of the votes that were counted when Hillary Clinton went up against Donald Trump for the presidency in 2016 and, to the shock of pundits, lost.

This time around, the coronavirus pandemic has resulted in an unprecedented number of people opting to post their votes, creating uncertainty around when the new president will be announced.

But there is a lot that we can already bank on.

Here’s a quick guide of what to watch out for on Wednesday, November 4 (November 3 in the US).

When will the election coverage begin?

By the time you’ve woken up on Wednesday, election day in the US will have already started.

What time will polls open and close?

All election polls will have opened by 9pm on Tuesday (Australian time) and closed by 3pm on Wednesday.

How can I watch the results?

Turn your TV on by 11am, and you’ll find that most major Australian stations are live with special coverage of the US election.

That includes ABC TV, SBS, and channels Seven, Nine and Ten.

Seven will be ahead of the pack, starting its election coverage at 10am.

Don’t worry about having to tune in on the dot as most TV networks will continue broadcasting about the election until about 5pm.

An election worker carries mail-in ballots in US Postal Service containers to be processed by election workers. Photo: Getty

If you have access to subscription TV, then your go-to will either be BBC, CNN, Sky News, Fox News, or Al Jazeera English.

American stations such as NBC and CBS, as well as ABC, will live-stream their election coverage on YouTube.

If you’re someone who doesn’t have time to sit in front of a TV or computer screen for hours on end and would prefer to be updated when there is a result or something significant has happened, you might prefer a live blog.

News websites such as the ABC, Guardian, New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, NBC News and Fox News will be live-blogging about the election.

Of course, The New Daily has you covered, too. Check our election coverage here.

When will the new US president be announced?

In any other election year, we would know the winner of the presidential race any time between 1pm and 3pm (Australian time) on Wednesday.

But with a global pandemic and so many people voting by mail, the timing for that is up in the air, with some suggesting it might take days or even weeks.

Regardless, it’s expected that winners and losers in each state will be announced throughout election day.

It’s likely Donald Trump will make an announcement about 4pm (AEDST).

We will have to wait and see if he will claim victory.