It used to be that media outlets would announce the winner of the presidential election on Election Night. But let’s be honest: Those days are past.

It is very unlikely any of us will go to sleep on Election Night knowing who will be our next president. And there are many reasons for that.

First, the way we vote has changed. Most citizens now have a choice of when and how to vote. We can vote by mail from the comfort of our own homes. We can vote from home and then put our ballot in a secure drop box. We can go vote early in person at a polling location. Or we can vote in person on Election Day. Each state has different laws that determine when each of these votes can be counted.

In Pennsylvania, Republicans blocked efforts to count votes more quickly, meaning election officials cannot process any early or mail-in votes until the morning of Election Day. We know this will lead to a delay in getting results. In Nevada, ballots post-marked Nov 5 can be counted up to four days after Election Day, so final results will be delayed. In North Carolina, mail ballots received on Election Day, as military ballots from overseas, are counted in the 10-day period after Election Day.

[READ MORE: Writers & Authors Need To Get Political]

In all cases, every valid ballot will be counted. In some cases, we have to wait. All that to say: BE PATIENT.

And don’t listen to liars and conspiracy theorists, especially those who spread misinformation about the 2020 election. This is America, and every person’s voice matters. In a strong democracy, we can wait for election officials to count every ballot. Fairness overrides our need for quick results. If you are impatient to know, listen to the words of Taylor Swift: You need to calm down.

Based on information from Reuters, I created this handy chart of what to expect from the seven key battleground states (WI, MI, PA, NC, GA, NV, and AZ). The chart explains when we can expect different types of ballots (early, mail, Election Day) to be counted, and gives clear information about the vote-counting process in each state. The “likely called” column is simply my best guess of when media outlets will call the race in that state.

Best case scenario: We know the results in Michigan, Georgia, and North Carolina on Election Night. Maybe Wisconsin, if you count the wee hours of the morning as “Election Night,” and that’s a long shot. It is doubtful we will know Pennsylvania, Arizona, or Nevada on Election Night.

And this means it is unlikely the media will declare a presumptive winner on Election Night.

As a reminder: If Harris sweeps the “Blue Wall” states (Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania), she likely wins the election. If Trump wins Pennsylvania, Harris would need to win [one of NC, GA, or AZ] plus NV to win. There are a bunch of other scenarios – feel free to explore them yourself at a site like 270towin that has an interactive map.

Polls show an incredibly tight race, so again: BE PATIENT. We’ll know when we know.